C Specification

The VkAttachmentDescription structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
typedef struct VkAttachmentDescription {
    VkAttachmentDescriptionFlags    flags;
    VkFormat                        format;
    VkSampleCountFlagBits           samples;
    VkAttachmentLoadOp              loadOp;
    VkAttachmentStoreOp             storeOp;
    VkAttachmentLoadOp              stencilLoadOp;
    VkAttachmentStoreOp             stencilStoreOp;
    VkImageLayout                   initialLayout;
    VkImageLayout                   finalLayout;
} VkAttachmentDescription;

Members

  • flags is a bitmask of VkAttachmentDescriptionFlagBits specifying additional properties of the attachment.

  • format is a VkFormat value specifying the format of the image view that will be used for the attachment.

  • samples is a VkSampleCountFlagBits value specifying the number of samples of the image.

  • loadOp is a VkAttachmentLoadOp value specifying how the contents of color and depth components of the attachment are treated at the beginning of the subpass where it is first used.

  • storeOp is a VkAttachmentStoreOp value specifying how the contents of color and depth components of the attachment are treated at the end of the subpass where it is last used.

  • stencilLoadOp is a VkAttachmentLoadOp value specifying how the contents of stencil components of the attachment are treated at the beginning of the subpass where it is first used.

  • stencilStoreOp is a VkAttachmentStoreOp value specifying how the contents of stencil components of the attachment are treated at the end of the last subpass where it is used.

  • initialLayout is the layout the attachment image subresource will be in when a render pass instance begins.

  • finalLayout is the layout the attachment image subresource will be transitioned to when a render pass instance ends.

Description

If the attachment uses a color format, then loadOp and storeOp are used, and stencilLoadOp and stencilStoreOp are ignored. If the format has depth and/or stencil components, loadOp and storeOp apply only to the depth data, while stencilLoadOp and stencilStoreOp define how the stencil data is handled. loadOp and stencilLoadOp define the load operations for the attachment. storeOp and stencilStoreOp define the store operations for the attachment. If an attachment is not used by any subpass, loadOp, storeOp, stencilStoreOp, and stencilLoadOp will be ignored for that attachment, and no load or store ops will be performed. However, any transition specified by initialLayout and finalLayout will still be executed.

If flags includes VK_ATTACHMENT_DESCRIPTION_MAY_ALIAS_BIT, then the attachment is treated as if it shares physical memory with another attachment in the same render pass. This information limits the ability of the implementation to reorder certain operations (like layout transitions and the loadOp) such that it is not improperly reordered against other uses of the same physical memory via a different attachment. This is described in more detail below.

If a render pass uses multiple attachments that alias the same device memory, those attachments must each include the VK_ATTACHMENT_DESCRIPTION_MAY_ALIAS_BIT bit in their attachment description flags. Attachments aliasing the same memory occurs in multiple ways:

  • Multiple attachments being assigned the same image view as part of framebuffer creation.

  • Attachments using distinct image views that correspond to the same image subresource of an image.

  • Attachments using views of distinct image subresources which are bound to overlapping memory ranges.

Note

Render passes must include subpass dependencies (either directly or via a subpass dependency chain) between any two subpasses that operate on the same attachment or aliasing attachments and those subpass dependencies must include execution and memory dependencies separating uses of the aliases, if at least one of those subpasses writes to one of the aliases. These dependencies must not include the VK_DEPENDENCY_BY_REGION_BIT if the aliases are views of distinct image subresources which overlap in memory.

Multiple attachments that alias the same memory must not be used in a single subpass. A given attachment index must not be used multiple times in a single subpass, with one exception: two subpass attachments can use the same attachment index if at least one use is as an input attachment and neither use is as a resolve or preserve attachment. In other words, the same view can be used simultaneously as an input and color or depth/stencil attachment, but must not be used as multiple color or depth/stencil attachments nor as resolve or preserve attachments.

If a set of attachments alias each other, then all except the first to be used in the render pass must use an initialLayout of VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_UNDEFINED, since the earlier uses of the other aliases make their contents undefined. Once an alias has been used and a different alias has been used after it, the first alias must not be used in any later subpasses. However, an application can assign the same image view to multiple aliasing attachment indices, which allows that image view to be used multiple times even if other aliases are used in between.

Note

Once an attachment needs the VK_ATTACHMENT_DESCRIPTION_MAY_ALIAS_BIT bit, there should be no additional cost of introducing additional aliases, and using these additional aliases may allow more efficient clearing of the attachments on multiple uses via VK_ATTACHMENT_LOAD_OP_CLEAR.

Valid Usage
  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-format-06699
    If format includes a color or depth component and loadOp is VK_ATTACHMENT_LOAD_OP_LOAD, then initialLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_UNDEFINED

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-finalLayout-00843
    finalLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_UNDEFINED or VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_PREINITIALIZED

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-format-03280
    If format is a color format, initialLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL or VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-format-03281
    If format is a depth/stencil format, initialLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-format-03282
    If format is a color format, finalLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL or VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-format-03283
    If format is a depth/stencil format, finalLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-format-06487
    If format is a color format, initialLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_ATTACHMENT_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL or VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_READ_ONLY_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-format-06488
    If format is a color format, finalLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_ATTACHMENT_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL or VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_READ_ONLY_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-separateDepthStencilLayouts-03284
    If the separateDepthStencilLayouts feature is not enabled, initialLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL, VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL, VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL, or VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL,

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-separateDepthStencilLayouts-03285
    If the separateDepthStencilLayouts feature is not enabled, finalLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL, VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL, VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL, or VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL,

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-format-03286
    If format is a color format, initialLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL, VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL, VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL, or VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-format-03287
    If format is a color format, finalLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL, VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL, VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL, or VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-format-06906
    If format is a depth/stencil format which includes both depth and stencil components, initialLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL or VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-format-06907
    If format is a depth/stencil format which includes both depth and stencil components, finalLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL or VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-format-03290
    If format is a depth/stencil format which includes only the depth component, initialLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL or VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-format-03291
    If format is a depth/stencil format which includes only the depth component, finalLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL or VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_STENCIL_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-synchronization2-06908
    If the synchronization2 feature is not enabled, initialLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL_KHR or VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL_KHR

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-synchronization2-06909
    If the synchronization2 feature is not enabled, finalLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL_KHR or VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL_KHR

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-attachmentFeedbackLoopLayout-07309
    If the attachmentFeedbackLoopLayout feature is not enabled, initialLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_ATTACHMENT_FEEDBACK_LOOP_OPTIMAL_EXT

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-attachmentFeedbackLoopLayout-07310
    If the attachmentFeedbackLoopLayout feature is not enabled, finalLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_ATTACHMENT_FEEDBACK_LOOP_OPTIMAL_EXT

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-samples-08745
    samples must be a valid VkSampleCountFlagBits value that is set in imageCreateSampleCounts (as defined in Image Creation Limits) for the given format

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-dynamicRenderingLocalRead-09544
    If the dynamicRenderingLocalRead feature is not enabled, initialLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_RENDERING_LOCAL_READ_KHR

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-dynamicRenderingLocalRead-09545
    If the dynamicRenderingLocalRead feature is not enabled, finalLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_RENDERING_LOCAL_READ_KHR

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-format-06698
    format must not be VK_FORMAT_UNDEFINED

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-format-06700
    If format includes a stencil component and stencilLoadOp is VK_ATTACHMENT_LOAD_OP_LOAD, then initialLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_UNDEFINED

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-format-03292
    If format is a depth/stencil format which includes only the stencil component, initialLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL or VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-format-03293
    If format is a depth/stencil format which includes only the stencil component, finalLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL or VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-format-06242
    If format is a depth/stencil format which includes both depth and stencil components, initialLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL or VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-format-06243
    If format is a depth/stencil format which includes both depth and stencil components, finalLayout must not be VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_ATTACHMENT_OPTIMAL or VK_IMAGE_LAYOUT_DEPTH_READ_ONLY_OPTIMAL

Valid Usage (Implicit)
  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-flags-parameter
    flags must be a valid combination of VkAttachmentDescriptionFlagBits values

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-format-parameter
    format must be a valid VkFormat value

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-samples-parameter
    samples must be a valid VkSampleCountFlagBits value

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-loadOp-parameter
    loadOp must be a valid VkAttachmentLoadOp value

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-storeOp-parameter
    storeOp must be a valid VkAttachmentStoreOp value

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-stencilLoadOp-parameter
    stencilLoadOp must be a valid VkAttachmentLoadOp value

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-stencilStoreOp-parameter
    stencilStoreOp must be a valid VkAttachmentStoreOp value

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-initialLayout-parameter
    initialLayout must be a valid VkImageLayout value

  • VUID-VkAttachmentDescription-finalLayout-parameter
    finalLayout must be a valid VkImageLayout value

See Also

Document Notes

For more information, see the Vulkan Specification

This page is extracted from the Vulkan Specification. Fixes and changes should be made to the Specification, not directly.

Copyright 2014-2024 The Khronos Group Inc.

SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0