lovr.graphics.newShaderBlock

Creates a new ShaderBlock from a table of variable definitions with their names and types.

shaderBlock = lovr.graphics.newShaderBlock(type, uniforms, flags)

Arguments

Name	Type	Default	Description
type	BlockType		Whether the block will be used for read-only uniform data or compute shaders.
uniforms	table		A table where the keys are uniform names and the values are uniform types. Uniform arrays can be specified by supplying a table as the uniform's value containing the type and the array size.
flags	table	{}	Optional settings.
.usage	BufferUsage	dynamic	How the data in the block will be updated.
.readable	boolean	false	Whether the data in the block can be read using ShaderBlock:read.

Returns

Name	Type	Description
shaderBlock	ShaderBlock	The new ShaderBlock.

Notes

compute blocks can only be true if compute shaders are supported, see lovr.graphics.getFeatures. Compute blocks may be slightly slower than uniform blocks, but they can also be much, much larger. Uniform blocks are usually limited to around 16 kilobytes in size, depending on hardware.

Example

Create a ShaderBlock to hold a block of useful shader data.

function lovr.load()
  block = lovr.graphics.newShaderBlock('uniform', {
    time = 'float',
    lightCount = 'int',
    lightPositions = { 'vec3', 16 },
    lightColors = { 'vec3', 16 },
    objectCount = 'int',
    objectTransforms = { 'mat4', 256 }
  }, 'uniform')

  shader = lovr.graphics.newShader(
    block:getShaderCode('Block') .. -- Define the block in the shader
    [[
      vec4 lovrMain() {
        // ...use the object transforms from the block
        return lovrProjection * lovrTransform * lovrVertex;
      }
    ]],

    block:getShaderCode('Block') ..
    [[
      vec4 lovrMain() {
        // ...use the lights from the block
        return lovrGraphicsColor * texture(lovrDiffuseTexture, lovrTexCoord);
      }
    ]]
  )

  -- Bind the block to the shader
  shader:sendBlock('Block', block)
end

-- Update the data in the block every frame
function lovr.update(dt)
  block:send('time', lovr.timer.getTime())
  block:send('lightCount', lightCount)
  block:send('lightPositions', { { x, y, z}, { x, y, z } })
  -- etc.
end

See also

• lovr.graphics.newShader
• lovr.graphics.newComputeShader
• lovr.graphics