(This is the documentation for SDL3, which is the current stable version. SDL2 was the previous version!)

SDL_BeginGPUComputePass

Begins a compute pass on a command buffer.

Header File

Syntax

SDL_GPUComputePass* SDL_BeginGPUComputePass(
    SDL_GPUCommandBuffer *command_buffer,
    const SDL_GPUStorageTextureReadWriteBinding *storage_texture_bindings,
    Uint32 num_storage_texture_bindings,
    const SDL_GPUStorageBufferReadWriteBinding *storage_buffer_bindings,
    Uint32 num_storage_buffer_bindings);

Function Parameters

SDL_GPUCommandBuffer *	command_buffer	a command buffer.
const SDL_GPUStorageTextureReadWriteBinding *	storage_texture_bindings	an array of writeable storage texture binding structs.
Uint32	num_storage_texture_bindings	the number of storage textures to bind from the array.
const SDL_GPUStorageBufferReadWriteBinding *	storage_buffer_bindings	an array of writeable storage buffer binding structs.
Uint32	num_storage_buffer_bindings	the number of storage buffers to bind from the array.

Return Value

(SDL_GPUComputePass *) Returns a compute pass handle.

Remarks

A compute pass is defined by a set of texture subresources and buffers that may be written to by compute pipelines. These textures and buffers must have been created with the COMPUTE_STORAGE_WRITE bit or the COMPUTE_STORAGE_SIMULTANEOUS_READ_WRITE bit. If you do not create a texture with COMPUTE_STORAGE_SIMULTANEOUS_READ_WRITE, you must not read from the texture in the compute pass. All operations related to compute pipelines must take place inside of a compute pass. You must not begin another compute pass, or a render pass or copy pass before ending the compute pass.

A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE - Reads and writes in compute passes are NOT implicitly synchronized. This means you may cause data races by both reading and writing a resource region in a compute pass, or by writing multiple times to a resource region. If your compute work depends on reading the completed output from a previous dispatch, you MUST end the current compute pass and begin a new one before you can safely access the data. Otherwise you will receive unexpected results. Reading and writing a texture in the same compute pass is only supported by specific texture formats. Make sure you check the format support!

Version

This function is available since SDL 3.1.3.