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GPUTexture: createView() method

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{{APIRef("WebGPU API")}}{{SecureContext_Header}}{{AvailableInWorkers}}

The createView() method of the {{domxref("GPUTexture")}} interface creates a {{domxref("GPUTextureView")}} representing a specific view of the GPUTexture.

Syntax

js-nolint
createView()
createView(descriptor)

Parameters

  • descriptor {{optional_inline}}
    • : An object containing the following properties:

      • arrayLayerCount {{optional_inline}}

        • : A number defining how many array layers are accessible to the view, starting with the baseArrayLayer value.

          If arrayLayerCount is omitted, it is given a value as follows:

          • If dimension is "1d", "2d", or "3d", arrayLayerCount is 1.
          • If dimension is "cube", arrayLayerCount is 6.
          • If dimension is "2d-array", or "cube-array", arrayLayerCount is {{domxref("GPUTexture.depthOrArrayLayers")}} - baseArrayLayer.

      • aspect {{optional_inline}}

        • : An enumerated value specifying which aspect(s) of the texture are accessible to the texture view. Possible values are:

          • "all"
            • : All available aspects of the texture format will be accessible to the view, which can mean all or any of color, depth, and stencil, depending on what kind of format you are dealing with.
          • "depth-only"
          • "stencil-only"
            • : Only the stencil aspect of a depth-or-stencil format will be accessible to the view.

          If omitted, aspect takes a value of "all".

      • baseArrayLayer {{optional_inline}}

        • : A number defining the index of the first array layer accessible to the view. If omitted, baseArrayLayer takes a value of 0.

      • baseMipLevel {{optional_inline}}

        • : A number representing the first (most detailed) mipmap level accessible to the view. If omitted, baseMipLevel takes a value of 0.

      • dimension {{optional_inline}}

        • : An enumerated value specifying the format to view the texture as. Possible values are:

          • "1d": The texture is viewed as a one-dimensional image.
          • "2d": The texture is viewed as a single two-dimensional image.
          • "2d-array": The texture is viewed as an array of two-dimensional images.
          • "cube": The texture is viewed as a cubemap. The view has 6 array layers, corresponding to the [+X, -X, +Y, -Y, +Z, -Z] faces of the cube. Sampling is done seamlessly across the faces of the cubemap.
          • "cube-array": The texture is viewed as a packed array of N cubemaps, each with 6 array layers corresponding to the [+X, -X, +Y, -Y, +Z, -Z] faces of the cube. Sampling is done seamlessly across the faces of the cubemaps.
          • "3d": The texture is viewed as a three-dimensional image.

          If dimension is omitted, it is given a value as follows:

          • If {{domxref("GPUTexture.dimension")}} is "1d", dimension is "1d".
          • If {{domxref("GPUTexture.dimension")}} is "2d" and {{domxref("GPUTexture.depthOrArrayLayers")}} is 1, dimension is "2d".
          • If {{domxref("GPUTexture.dimension")}} is "2d" and {{domxref("GPUTexture.depthOrArrayLayers")}} is more than 1, dimension is "2d-array".
          • If {{domxref("GPUTexture.dimension")}} is "3d", dimension is "3d".

      • format {{optional_inline}}

        • : An enumerated value specifying the format of the texture view. See the Texture formats section of the specification for all the possible values.

          If format is omitted, it will be given a value as follows:

          • If aspect is "depth-only" or "stencil-only", and {{domxref("GPUTexture.format")}} is a depth-or-stencil format, format will be set equal to the appropriate aspect-specific format.
          • Otherwise it will be set equal to {{domxref("GPUTexture.format")}}.

      • label {{optional_inline}}

        • : A string providing a label that can be used to identify the object, for example in {{domxref("GPUError")}} messages or console warnings.

      • mipLevelCount {{optional_inline}}

        • : A number defining how many mipmap levels are accessible to the view, starting with the baseMipLevel value.

          If mipLevelCount is omitted, it will be given a value of {{domxref("GPUTexture.mipLevelCount")}} - baseMipLevel.

      • swizzle {{optional_inline}}

        • : A string containing four characters. The position of each character maps to the texture view's red, green, blue, and alpha channel values, respectively. The value of each character specifies the value each of those channels will take when the view is accessed by a shader. Possible values are:

          • r
            • : The texture's red channel value.
          • g
            • : The texture's green channel value.
          • b
            • : The texture's blue channel value.
          • a
            • : The texture's alpha channel value.
          • 0
            • : Enforces a value of 0.
          • 1
            • : Enforces a value of 1.

          For example, swizzle: "grba" would result in the texture's red and green channel values being swapped when a shader accesses the view. Texture component swizzle allows developers to optimize performance, correct component ordering mismatches, and reuse shader code across various texture formats when sampling textures.

          [!NOTE] To use the swizzle property, you must enable the texture-component-swizzle feature in your {{domxref("GPUDevice")}} by specifying it in the requiredFeatures array of the {{domxref("GPUAdapter.requestDevice()")}} descriptor. If this feature is not enabled, the swizzle property will have no effect.

      • usage {{optional_inline}}

        • : A set of {{glossary("bitwise flags")}} representing a subset of the source texture's usage flags (available in the {{domxref("GPUTexture.usage")}} property) that are compatible with the chosen view format. This can be used to restrict the allowed view usage in cases where the view format is incompatible with certain usages. The available usage flags are listed in the GPUTexture.usage value table.

          The default value is 0, which represents the source texture's full set of usage flags. If the view's format doesn't support all of the texture's usages, the default will fail, and the view's usage must be specified explicitly.

Return value

A {{domxref("GPUTextureView")}} object instance.

Validation

The following criteria must be met when calling createView(), otherwise a {{domxref("GPUValidationError")}} is generated and an invalid {{domxref("GPUTextureView")}} object is returned:

  • If aspect is "all", format is equal to {{domxref("GPUTexture.format")}}, or one of the viewFormats specified in the originating {{domxref("GPUDevice.createTexture()")}} call's descriptor object.
  • If aspect is "depth-only" or "stencil-only", format is equal to the appropriate aspect-specific format of the depth-or-stencil format.
  • mipLevelCount is greater than 0.
  • mipLevelCount + baseMipLevel is less than or equal to {{domxref("GPUTexture.mipLevelCount")}}.
  • arrayLayerCount is greater than 0.
  • arrayLayerCount + baseArrayLayer is less than or equal to {{domxref("GPUTexture.depthOrArrayLayers")}} if {{domxref("GPUTexture.dimension")}} is "2d", or less than or equal to 1 if {{domxref("GPUTexture.dimension")}} is "1d" or "3d".
  • If sampleCount is greater than 1, dimension is "2d".
  • If dimension is:
    • "1d"
      • {{domxref("GPUTexture.dimension")}} is "1d"
      • arrayLayerCount is 1
    • "2d"
      • {{domxref("GPUTexture.dimension")}} is "2d"
      • arrayLayerCount is 1
    • "2d-array"
      • {{domxref("GPUTexture.dimension")}} is "2d"
    • "cube"
      • {{domxref("GPUTexture.dimension")}} is "2d"
      • arrayLayerCount is 6
      • {{domxref("GPUTexture.width")}} is equal to {{domxref("GPUTexture.height")}}
    • "cube-array"
      • {{domxref("GPUTexture.dimension")}} is "2d"
      • arrayLayerCount is a multiple of 6
      • {{domxref("GPUTexture.width")}} is equal to {{domxref("GPUTexture.height")}}
    • "3d"
      • {{domxref("GPUTexture.dimension")}} is "3d"
      • arrayLayerCount is 1
  • The view's format supports all of the usages specified in the usage property.

Examples

Typical createView() usage

In the WebGPU Samples Cubemap demo, you will see multiple examples of how createView() is used, both as to create a view resource for a {{domxref("GPUDevice.createBindGroup()")}} call, and to provide a view in the depthStencilAttachment object of a {{domxref("GPUCommandEncoder.beginRenderPass()")}} descriptor.

js
const uniformBindGroup = device.createBindGroup({
  layout: pipeline.getBindGroupLayout(0),
  entries: [
    {
      binding: 0,
      resource: {
        buffer: uniformBuffer,
        offset: 0,
        size: uniformBufferSize,
      },
    },
    {
      binding: 1,
      resource: sampler,
    },
    {
      binding: 2,
      resource: cubemapTexture.createView({
        dimension: "cube",
      }),
    },
  ],
});

const renderPassDescriptor: GPURenderPassDescriptor = {
  colorAttachments: [
    {
      view: undefined, // Assigned later
      loadOp: "clear",
      storeOp: "store",
    },
  ],
  depthStencilAttachment: {
    view: depthTexture.createView(),

    depthClearValue: 1.0,
    depthLoadOp: "clear",
    depthStoreOp: "store",
  },
};

// …

const commandEncoder = device.createCommandEncoder();
const passEncoder = commandEncoder.beginRenderPass(renderPassDescriptor);

// …

createView() with usage restriction

In this snippet, we create a texture and then create a view that has its usage restricted via the usage property.

js
const texture = myDevice.createTexture({
  size: [4, 4],
  format: "rgba8unorm",
  usage:
    GPUTextureUsage.RENDER_ATTACHMENT |
    GPUTextureUsage.TEXTURE_BINDING |
    GPUTextureUsage.STORAGE_BINDING,
  viewFormats: ["rgba8unorm-srgb"],
});

const view = texture.createView({
  format: "rgba8unorm-srgb",
  usage: GPUTextureUsage.RENDER_ATTACHMENT, // Restrict allowed usage
});

Specifications

{{Specifications}}

Browser compatibility

{{Compat}}

See also