GLSLANGVALIDATOR(1)

📦 version 12.0.0, in debian bookworm, ubuntu jammy

💖 glslangValidator — the OpenGL (ES) Shading Language Reference Compiler 💖

okay bestie, listen. this one's from the General Commands Manual (section 1, so it's a command, not some library thing), and it's literally the official reference compiler front end. let's get into it 🦋

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

glslangValidator [OPTION]... [FILE]...

like, options, then files. that's the whole vibe. 💅

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

Glslang is the official reference compiler front end for the OpenGL ES and OpenGL shading languages. it implements a strict interpretation of the specs for these languages, no chill, no vibes-based leniency. it's open and free for anyone to use, either from a command line or programmatically. and the OpenGL and OpenGL ES working groups are committed to maintaining consistency between the reference compiler and the corresponding shading language specifications. iconic behavior tbh 👑

the whole point of the reference compiler is to identify shader portability issues. here's the tea:

  • if glslang accepts a shader without errors, then all OpenGL and OpenGL ES implementations claiming to support the shader's language version should also accept the shader without errors. no cap.
  • likewise, if glslang reports an error when compiling a shader, all OpenGL and OpenGL ES implementations for that language version should report errors too — unless the glslang errors are caused by differences in implementation-defined limits or extension support. (so like, sometimes it's not the shader's fault, it's the limits' fault 🙈)

Glslang can also be used to generate SPIR-V from GLSL. but bestie, hear me — this feature is experimental and non-optimized. it's giving "it works but don't make it your whole personality." 💀

🎀 FILE 🎀

the file extension of FILE results in auto-stage classification. the compiler just knows. iykyk.

  • .conf — to provide a config file that replaces the default configuration (see the -c option below for generating a template)
  • .vert — for a vertex shader
  • .tesc — for a tessellation control shader
  • .tese — for a tessellation evaluation shader
  • .geom — for a geometry shader
  • .frag — for a fragment shader
  • .comp — for a compute shader

⭐ OPTIONS ⭐

this is the main character section. buckle up. 🌈

  • -C — cascading errors; risk crash from accumulation of error recoveries. yes, that's the actual warning. it's giving chaotic energy. ⚠️
  • -D — input is HLSL
  • -D<macro=def> — (define a pre-processor macro)
  • -D<macro> — define a pre-processor macro
  • -E — print pre-processed GLSL; cannot be used with -l; errors will appear on stderr.
  • -G[ver] — create SPIR-V binary, under OpenGL semantics; turns on -l; default file name is <stage>.spv (-o overrides this). ver, when present, is the version of the input semantics, which will appear in #define GL_SPIRV ver. --client opengl100 is the same as -G100, and --target-env for OpenGL will also imply -G.
  • -H — print human readable form of SPIR-V; turns on -V
  • -I<dir> — add dir to the include search path; the includer's directory is searched first, followed by left-to-right order of -I.
  • -Od — disables optimization. May cause illegal SPIR-V for HLSL. 🚨
  • -Os — optimizes SPIR-V to minimize size.
  • -S <stage> — uses specified stage rather than parsing the file extension. choices for stage are vert, tesc, tese, geom, frag, or comp.
  • -U<macro> — undefine a pre-processor macro
  • -V[ver] — create SPIR-V binary, under Vulkan semantics; turns on -l; default file name is <stage>.spv (-o overrides this). ver, when present, is the version of the input semantics, which will appear in #define VULKAN ver. --client vulkan100 is the same as -V100, and --target-env for Vulkan will also imply -V.
  • -c — configuration dump; creates the default configuration file (redirect to a .conf file).
  • -d — default to desktop (#version 110) when there is no shader #version (default is ES version 100).
  • -e <name> — specify name as the entry-point name.
  • -g — generate debug information
  • -h — print this usage message
  • -i — intermediate tree (glslang AST) is printed out
  • -l — link all input files together to form a single module
  • -m — memory leak mode 🫶
  • -o <file> — save binary to file, requires a binary option (e.g., -V).
  • -q — dump reflection query database
  • -r — synonym for --relaxed-errors
  • -s — silence syntax and semantic error reporting
  • -t — multi-threaded mode
  • -v — print version strings
  • -w — synonym for --suppress-warnings
  • -x — save binary output as text-based 32-bit hexadecimal numbers
  • --auto-map-bindings — automatically bind uniform variables without explicit bindings.
  • --amb — synonym for --auto-map-bindings
  • --auto-map-locations — automatically locate input/output lacking 'location' (fragile, not cross stage). ⚠️ fragile bestie, it said it not me
  • --aml — synonym for --auto-map-locations
  • --client {vulkan<ver>|opengl<ver>} — see -V and -G
  • --flatten-uniform-arrays — flatten uniform texture/sampler arrays to scalars
  • --fua — synonym for --flatten-uniform-arrays
  • --hlsl-offsets — Allow block offsets to follow HLSL rules. Works independently of source language.
  • --hlsl-iomap — Perform IO mapping in HLSL register space
  • --keep-uncalled — don't eliminate uncalled functions
  • --ku — synonym for --keep-uncalled
  • --no-storage-format — use Unknown image format
  • --nsf — synonym for --no-storage-format
  • --relaxed-errors — relaxed GLSL semantic error-checking mode
  • --resource-set-binding [stage] name set binding — Set descriptor set and binding for individual resources
  • --resource-set-binding [stage] set — Set descriptor set for all resources
  • --rsb [stage] type set binding — synonym for --resource-set-binding
  • --shift-image-binding [stage] num — base binding number for images (uav)
  • --shift-image-binding [stage] [num set]... — per-descriptor-set shift values
  • --sib [stage] num — synonym for --shift-image-binding
  • --shift-sampler-binding [stage] num — base binding number for samplers
  • --shift-sampler-binding [stage] [num set]... — per-descriptor-set shift values
  • --ssb [stage] num — synonym for --shift-sampler-binding
  • --shift-ssbo-binding [stage] num — base binding number for SSBOs
  • --shift-ssbo-binding [stage] [num set]... — per-descriptor-set shift values
  • --sbb [stage] num — synonym for --shift-ssbo-binding
  • --shift-texture-binding [stage] num — base binding number for textures
  • --shift-texture-binding [stage] [num set]... — per-descriptor-set shift values
  • --stb [stage] num — synonym for --shift-texture-binding
  • --shift-uav-binding [stage] num — base binding number for UAVs
  • --shift-uav-binding [stage] [num set]... — per-descriptor-set shift values
  • --suavb [stage] num — synonym for --shift-uav-binding
  • --shift-UBO-binding [stage] num — base binding number for UBOs
  • --shift-UBO-binding [stage] [num set]... — per-descriptor-set shift values
  • --shift-cbuffer-binding [stage] num — synonym for --shift-UBO-binding
  • --shift-cbuffer-binding [stage] [num set]... — per-descriptor-set shift values
  • --sub [stage] num — synonym for --shift-UBO-binding
  • --source-entrypoint <name> — the given shader source function is renamed to be the name given in -e
  • --sep — synonym for --source-entrypoint
  • --stdin — Read from stdin instead of from a file. You'll have to provide the shader stage using -S. (yes, it literally says "stageusing". we keep it, character for character 💀)
  • --suppress-warnings — suppress GLSL warnings (except as required by #extension : warn)
  • --target-env {vulkan1.0|opengl} — set the execution environment code will execute in (as opposed to language semantics selected by --client). defaults: 'vulkan1.0' under --client vulkan<ver>, 'opengl' under --client opengl<ver>
  • --variable-name <name> — Creates a C header file that contains a uint32_t array named name initialized with the shader binary code.
  • --vn <name> — synonym for --variable-name <name>
bestie reminder: -E cannot be used with -l, -Od may cause illegal SPIR-V for HLSL, --auto-map-locations is fragile and not cross stage, and the SPIR-V generation feature in general is experimental and non-optimized. slay responsibly. 💅

🦋 ALSO SEE 🦋

that's the whole page, you ate it 🍓 go forth and validate those shaders.

this was glslangValidator, from the General Commands Manual, version/date December 2017 (page id GLSLANGVALIDATOR(1)) — love u, bye 💜✨

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