GPURenderPassEncoder: setVertexBuffer() method

Limited availability

This feature is not Baseline because it does not work in some of the most widely-used browsers.

Experimental: This is an experimental technology
Check the Browser compatibility table carefully before using this in production.

Secure context: This feature is available only in secure contexts (HTTPS), in some or all supporting browsers.

Note: This feature is available in Web Workers.

The setVertexBuffer() method of the GPURenderPassEncoder interface sets or unsets the current GPUBuffer for the given slot that will provide vertex data for subsequent drawing commands.

Syntax

js
setVertexBuffer(slot, buffer, offset, size)

Parameters

slot

A number referencing the vertex buffer slot to set the vertex buffer for.

buffer

A GPUBuffer representing the buffer containing the vertex data to use for subsequent drawing commands, or null, in which case any previously-set buffer in the given slot is unset.

offset Optional

A number representing the offset, in bytes, into buffer where the vertex data begins. If omitted, offset defaults to 0.

size Optional

A number representing the size, in bytes, of the vertex data contained in buffer. If omitted, size defaults to the buffer's GPUBuffer.size - offset.

Return value

None (Undefined).

Validation

The following criteria must be met when calling setVertexBuffer(), otherwise a GPUValidationError is generated and the GPURenderPassEncoder becomes invalid:

  • buffer's GPUBuffer.usage contains the GPUBufferUsage.VERTEX flag.
  • slot is less than the GPUDevice's maxVertexBuffers limit.
  • offset + size is less than or equal to the buffer's GPUBuffer.size.
  • offset is a multiple of 4.

Examples

Set vertex buffer

In our basic render demo, several commands are recorded via a GPUCommandEncoder. Most of these commands originate from the GPURenderPassEncoder created via GPUCommandEncoder.beginRenderPass(). setVertexBuffer() is used as appropriate to set the source of vertex data.

js
// ...

const renderPipeline = device.createRenderPipeline(pipelineDescriptor);

// Create GPUCommandEncoder to issue commands to the GPU
// Note: render pass descriptor, command encoder, etc. are destroyed after use, fresh one needed for each frame.
const commandEncoder = device.createCommandEncoder();

// Create GPURenderPassDescriptor to tell WebGPU which texture to draw into, then initiate render pass
const renderPassDescriptor = {
  colorAttachments: [
    {
      clearValue: clearColor,
      loadOp: "clear",
      storeOp: "store",
      view: context.getCurrentTexture().createView(),
    },
  ],
};

const passEncoder = commandEncoder.beginRenderPass(renderPassDescriptor);

// Draw the triangle
passEncoder.setPipeline(renderPipeline);
passEncoder.setVertexBuffer(0, vertexBuffer);
passEncoder.draw(3);

// End the render pass
passEncoder.end();

// End frame by passing array of command buffers to command queue for execution
device.queue.submit([commandEncoder.finish()]);

// ...

Unset vertex buffer

js
// Set vertex buffer in slot 0
passEncoder.setVertexBuffer(0, vertexBuffer);

// Later, unset vertex buffer in slot 0
passEncoder.setVertexBuffer(0, null);

Specifications

Specification
WebGPU
# dom-gpurendercommandsmixin-setvertexbuffer

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also