GPUTexture: createView() method

Syntax

createView()
createView(descriptor)

Parameters

descriptor Optional

An object containing the following properties:

arrayLayerCount Optional

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 GPUTexture.depthOrArrayLayers - baseArrayLayer.

aspect Optional

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"

Only the depth aspect of a depth-or-stencil format will be accessible to the view.

"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

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

baseMipLevel Optional

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

dimension Optional

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 GPUTexture.dimension is "1d", dimension is "1d".
• If GPUTexture.dimension is "2d" and GPUTexture.depthOrArrayLayers is 1, dimension is "2d".
• If GPUTexture.dimension is "2d" and GPUTexture.depthOrArrayLayers is more than 1, dimension is "2d-array".
• If GPUTexture.dimension is "3d", dimension is "3d".

format Optional

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 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 GPUTexture.format.

label Optional

A string providing a label that can be used to identify the object, for example in GPUError messages or console warnings.

mipLevelCount Optional

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 GPUTexture.mipLevelCount - baseMipLevel.

swizzle Optional

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 GPUDevice by specifying it in the requiredFeatures array of the GPUAdapter.requestDevice() descriptor. If this feature is not enabled, the swizzle property will have no effect.

usage Optional

A set of bitwise flags representing a subset of the source texture's usage flags (available in the 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 GPUTextureView object instance.

Validation

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

• If aspect is "all", format is equal to GPUTexture.format, or one of the viewFormats specified in the originating 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 GPUTexture.mipLevelCount.
• arrayLayerCount is greater than 0.
• arrayLayerCount + baseArrayLayer is less than or equal to GPUTexture.depthOrArrayLayers if GPUTexture.dimension is "2d", or less than or equal to 1 if GPUTexture.dimension is "1d" or "3d".
• If sampleCount is greater than 1, dimension is "2d".
• If dimension is:
  • "1d"
    • GPUTexture.dimension is "1d"
    • arrayLayerCount is 1
  • "2d"
    • GPUTexture.dimension is "2d"
    • arrayLayerCount is 1
  • "2d-array"
    • GPUTexture.dimension is "2d"
  • "cube"
    • GPUTexture.dimension is "2d"
    • arrayLayerCount is 6
    • GPUTexture.width is equal to GPUTexture.height
  • "cube-array"
    • GPUTexture.dimension is "2d"
    • arrayLayerCount is a multiple of 6
    • GPUTexture.width is equal to GPUTexture.height
  • "3d"
    • 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 GPUDevice.createBindGroup() call, and to provide a view in the depthStencilAttachment object of a GPUCommandEncoder.beginRenderPass() descriptor.

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.

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

Browser compatibility

See also

• The WebGPU API