WebGL2RenderingContext: vertexAttribIPointer() method

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since September 2021.

Note: This feature is available in Web Workers.

The WebGL2RenderingContext.vertexAttribIPointer() method of the WebGL 2 API specifies integer data formats and locations of vertex attributes in a vertex attributes array.

Syntax

js
vertexAttribIPointer(index, size, type, stride, offset)

Parameters

index

A GLuint specifying the index of the vertex attribute that is to be modified.

size

A GLint specifying the number of components per vertex attribute. Must be 1, 2, 3, or 4.

type

A GLenum specifying the data type of each component in the array. Must be one of: gl.BYTE, gl.UNSIGNED_BYTE, gl.SHORT, gl.UNSIGNED_SHORT, gl.INT, or gl.UNSIGNED_INT.

stride

A GLsizei specifying the offset in bytes between the beginning of consecutive vertex attributes.

offset

A GLintptr specifying an offset in bytes of the first component in the vertex attribute array. Must be a multiple of type.

Return value

None (undefined).

Description

Very similar to WebGLRenderingContext.vertexAttribPointer(). The main difference is that while values specified by vertexAttribPointer are always interpreted as floating-point values in the shader (even if they were originally specified as integers in the buffer), this method allows specifying values which are interpreted as integers in the shader.

Examples

Linear Blend Skinning

js
// Describe the layout of the buffer:
// 1. position
gl.vertexAttribPointer(0, 3, gl.FLOAT, false, 20, 0);
gl.enableVertexAttribArray(0);
// 2. bone weights, normalized to [0, 1]
gl.vertexAttribPointer(1, 4, gl.UNSIGNED_BYTE, true, 20, 12);
gl.enableVertexAttribArray(1);
// 3. bone indices, interpreted as integer
gl.vertexAttribIPointer(2, 4, gl.UNSIGNED_BYTE, 20, 16);
gl.enableVertexAttribArray(2);

// Connect to attributes from the vertex shader
gl.bindAttribLocation(shaderProgram, 0, "position");
gl.bindAttribLocation(shaderProgram, 1, "boneWeights");
gl.bindAttribLocation(shaderProgram, 2, "boneIndices");
html
<script id="shader-vs" type="x-shader/x-vertex">
  #version 300 es

  uniform mat4 mvMatrix;
  uniform mat4 bones[120];

  in vec3 position;
  in vec4 boneWeights;
  in uvec4 boneIndices;//read as 4-component unsigned integer

  void main() {
      vec4 skinnedPosition =
          bones[boneIndices.s] * vec4(position, 1.0) * boneWeights.s +
          bones[boneIndices.t] * vec4(position, 1.0) * boneWeights.t +
          bones[boneIndices.p] * vec4(position, 1.0) * boneWeights.p +
          bones[boneIndices.q] * vec4(position, 1.0) * boneWeights.q;
      gl_Position = mvMatrix * skinnedPosition;
  }
</script>

Specifications

Specification
WebGL 2.0 Specification
# 3.7.8

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
vertexAttribIPointer
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 56 (Release date: 2017-01-25)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 79 (Release date: 2020-01-15)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 51 (Release date: 2017-01-24)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 43 (Release date: 2017-02-07)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 15 (Release date: 2021-09-20)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 58 (Release date: 2017-04-25)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 51 (Release date: 2017-01-24)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 43 (Release date: 2017-09-27)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 15 (Release date: 2021-09-20)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 7 (Release date: 2018-03-16)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 58 (Release date: 2017-04-25)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 15 (Release date: 2021-09-20)
footnote Full support

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support

See also