Vulkan-Docs/doc/specs/vulkan/appendices/VK_KHR_variable_pointers.txt
Jon Leech 0cc6bba634 Change log for September 15, 2017 Vulkan 1.0.61 spec update:
* Bump API patch number and header version number to 61 for this update.

Github Issues:

  * Provide alternate length attributes (altlen=) in the XML schema, for
    those using length attributes to generate code instead of documentation
    (public issue 555).
  * Fix erroneous references to `latex:` being used for asciidoc math
    markup, rather than `latexmath:` (public pull request 556).
  * Add author ID to XML for Kazan software renderer (public pull request
    557).

Internal Issues:

  * Add the <<fundamentals-abi,Application Binary Interface>> section
    describing platform ABI requirements and recommendations, add examples
    of function and function pointer declarations to the
    <<boilerplate-platform-specific-calling-conventions, Platform-Specific
    Calling Conventions>> section, and remove related language that existed
    elsewhere in the specification (internal issue 64).
  * Describe where to document valid usage interactions of chained
    structures in the style guide, and fix one case now appearing in
    slink:VkBufferCreateInfo instead of the child
    slink:VkDedicatedAllocationBufferCreateInfoNV structure (internal issue
    715).
  * Add example to the style guide of describing enumerated types which are
    empty when the spec is built without relevant extensions enabled, and
    apply it to existing examples for
    elink:VkDescriptorSetLayoutCreateFlagBits and
    elink:VkSubpassDescriptionFlagBits (internal issue 864).
  * Add a note to the <<fundamentals-validusage-enums, Valid Usage for
    Enumerated Types>> section that the special values suffixed with
    etext:_BEGIN_RANGE, etext:_END_RANGE, etext:_RANGE_SIZE and
    etext:_MAX_ENUM are not part of the API and should: not be used by
    applications (internal issue 872).
  * Added note to flink:vkCmdUpdateBuffers explaining the performance
    penalty for copies done in this way, and why the upper copy limit is
    what it is (internal issue 952).
  * Update `VK_KHX_device_group` to split some functionality into the new
    `VK_KHR_bind_memory2` extension, and rename that functionality (internal
    issue 969).
  * Remove *Status* fields from extension appendices, since they are by
    definition published and complete by the time they reach the public
    github repository (internal issue 973).

Other Issues:

  * Update Data Format specification dependency to version 1.2 and change
    references to DF sections accordingly.
  * Update XML to make the pname:pAllocator parameter of
    flink:vkRegisterDeviceEventEXT and flink:vkRegisterDisplayEventEXT in
    the `VK_EXT_display_control` extension as optional.

New Extensions:

  * `VK_KHR_bind_memory2`
  * `VK_KHR_image_format_list`
  * `VK_KHR_maintenance2`
  * `VK_KHR_sampler_ycbcr_conversion`
2017-09-14 22:41:33 -07:00

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// Copyright (c) 2016-2017 Khronos Group. This work is licensed under a
// Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License; see
// http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
include::meta/VK_KHR_variable_pointers.txt[]
*Last Modified Date*::
2017-03-14
*IP Status*::
No known IP claims.
*Interactions and External Dependencies*::
- Requires the
https://www.khronos.org/registry/spir-v/extensions/KHR/SPV_KHR_variable_pointers.html[+SPV_KHR_variable_pointers+]
SPIR-V extension.
*Contributors*::
- John Kessenich, Google
- Neil Henning, Codeplay
- David Neto, Google
- Daniel Koch, Nvidia
- Graeme Leese, Broadcom
- Weifeng Zhang, Qualcomm
- Stephen Clarke, Imagination Technologies
- Jason Ekstrand, Intel
- Jesse Hall, Google
The +VK_KHR_variable_pointers+ extension allows implementations to indicate
their level of support for the +SPV_KHR_variable_pointers+ SPIR-V extension.
The SPIR-V extension allows shader modules to use invocation-private
pointers into uniform and/or storage buffers, where the pointer values can
be dynamic and non-uniform.
The +SPV_KHR_variable_pointers+ extension introduces two capabilities.
The first, +VariablePointersStorageBuffer+, must: be supported by all
implementations of this extension.
The second, +VariablePointers+, is optional.
=== New Enum Constants
* Extending elink:VkStructureType:
** ename:VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PHYSICAL_DEVICE_VARIABLE_POINTER_FEATURES_KHR
=== New Structures
* slink:VkPhysicalDeviceVariablePointerFeaturesKHR
=== New SPIR-V Capabilities
* <<spirvenv-capabilities-table-variablepointers,VariablePointersStorageBuffer>>
* <<spirvenv-capabilities-table-variablepointers,VariablePointers>>
=== Issues
1) Do we need an optional property for the SPIR-V
+VariablePointersStorageBuffer+ capability or should it be mandatory when
this extension is advertised?
*RESOLVED*: Add it as a distinct feature, but make support mandatory.
Adding it as a feature makes the extension easier to include in a future
core API version.
In the extension, the feature is mandatory, so that presence of the
extension guarantees some functionality.
When included in a core API version, the feature would be optional.
2) Can support for these capabilities vary between shader stages?
*RESOLVED*: No, if the capability is supported in any stage it must be
supported in all stages.
3) Should the capabilities be features or limits?
*RESOLVED*: Features, primarily for consistency with other similar
extensions.
=== Version History
* Revision 1, 2017-03-14 (Jesse Hall and John Kessenich)
- Internal revisions