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BufferAttribute

This class stores data for an attribute (such as vertex positions, face indices, normals, colors, UVs, and any custom attributes ) associated with a BufferGeometry, which allows for more efficient passing of data to the GPU. See that page for details and a usage example. When working with vector-like data, the .fromBufferAttribute( attribute, index ) helper methods on Vector2, Vector3, Vector4, and Color classes may be helpful.

Constructor

BufferAttribute

function BufferAttribute( array: TypedArray, itemSize: Integer, normalized:
Boolean ): void;

array -- Must be a TypedArray. Used to instantiate the buffer.
This array should have

itemSize * numVertices  

elements, where numVertices is the number of vertices in the associated BufferGeometry.

itemSize -- the number of values of the array that should be associated with a particular vertex. For instance, if this attribute is storing a 3-component vector (such as a position, normal, or color), then itemSize should be 3.

normalized -- (optional) Applies to integer data only. Indicates how the underlying data in the buffer maps to the values in the GLSL code. For instance, if array is an instance of UInt16Array, and normalized is true, the values 0 - +65535 in the array data will be mapped to 0.0f - +1.0f in the GLSL attribute. An Int16Array (signed) would map from -32768 - +32767 to -1.0f - +1.0f. If normalized is false, the values will be converted to floats unmodified, i.e. 32767 becomes 32767.0f.

Properties

array

array: TypedArray;  

The array holding data stored in the buffer.

count

count: Integer;  

Stores the array's length divided by the itemSize.

If the buffer is storing a 3-component vector (such as a position, normal, or color), then this will count the number of such vectors stored.

gpuType

gpuType: Number;  

Configures the bound GPU type for use in shaders. Either THREE.FloatType or THREE.IntType, default is THREE.FloatType. Note: this only has an effect for integer arrays and is not configurable for float arrays. For lower precision float types, see THREE.Float16BufferAttribute.

isBufferAttribute

isBufferAttribute: Boolean;  

Read-only flag to check if a given object is of type BufferAttribute.

itemSize

itemSize: Integer;  

The length of vectors that are being stored in the array.

name

name: String;  

Optional name for this attribute instance. Default is an empty string.

needsUpdate

needsUpdate: Boolean;  

Flag to indicate that this attribute has changed and should be re-sent to the GPU. Set this to true when you modify the value of the array.

Setting this to true also increments the version.

normalized

normalized: Boolean;  

Indicates how the underlying data in the buffer maps to the values in the GLSL shader code. See the constructor above for details.

onUploadCallback

onUploadCallback: Function;  

A callback function that is executed after the Renderer has transferred the attribute array data to the GPU.

updateRange

updateRange: Object;  

Object containing:
offset: Default is 0. Position at which to start update.
count: Default is -1, which means don't use update ranges.

This can be used to only update some components of stored vectors (for example, just the component related to color).

usage

usage: Usage;  

Defines the intended usage pattern of the data store for optimization purposes. Corresponds to the usage parameter of WebGLRenderingContext.bufferData(). Default is StaticDrawUsage. See usage constants for all possible values.

Note: After the initial use of a buffer, its usage cannot be changed. Instead, instantiate a new one and set the desired usage before the next render.

version

version: Integer;  

A version number, incremented every time the needsUpdate property is set to true.

Methods

applyMatrix3

function applyMatrix3( m: Matrix3 ): this;  

Applies matrix m to every Vector3 element of this BufferAttribute.

applyMatrix4

function applyMatrix4( m: Matrix4 ): this;  

Applies matrix m to every Vector3 element of this BufferAttribute.

applyNormalMatrix

function applyNormalMatrix( m: Matrix3 ): this;  

Applies normal matrix m to every Vector3 element of this BufferAttribute.

transformDirection

function transformDirection( m: Matrix4 ): this;  

Applies matrix m to every Vector3 element of this BufferAttribute, interpreting the elements as a direction vectors.

clone

function clone( ): BufferAttribute;  

Return a copy of this bufferAttribute.

copy

function copy( bufferAttribute: BufferAttribute ): this;  

Copies another BufferAttribute to this BufferAttribute.

copyArray

function copyArray( ): this;  

Copy the array given here (which can be a normal array or TypedArray) into array.

See TypedArray.set for notes on requirements if copying a TypedArray.

copyAt

function copyAt( index1: Integer, bufferAttribute: BufferAttribute, index2:
Integer ): this;

Copy a vector from bufferAttribute[index2] to array[index1].

getX

function getX( index: Integer ): Number;  

Returns the x component of the vector at the given index.

getY

function getY( index: Integer ): Number;  

Returns the y component of the vector at the given index.

getZ

function getZ( index: Integer ): Number;  

Returns the z component of the vector at the given index.

getW

function getW( index: Integer ): Number;  

Returns the w component of the vector at the given index.

onUpload

function onUpload( callback: Function ): this;  

Sets the value of the onUploadCallback property.

In the [example:webgl_buffergeometry WebGL / Buffergeometry] this is used to free memory after the buffer has been transferred to the GPU.

set

function set( value: Array, offset: Integer ): this;  

value -- an Array or TypedArray from which to copy values.
offset -- (optional) index of the array at which to start copying.

Calls TypedArray.set( value, offset ) on the array.

In particular, see that page for requirements on value being a TypedArray.

setUsage

function setUsage( value: Usage ): this;  

Set usage to value. See usage constants for all possible input values.

Note: After the initial use of a buffer, its usage cannot be changed. Instead, instantiate a new one and set the desired usage before the next render.

setX

function setX( index: Integer, x: Float ): this;  

Sets the x component of the vector at the given index.

setY

function setY( index: Integer, y: Float ): this;  

Sets the y component of the vector at the given index.

setZ

function setZ( index: Integer, z: Float ): this;  

Sets the z component of the vector at the given index.

setW

function setW( index: Integer, w: Float ): this;  

Sets the w component of the vector at the given index.

setXY

function setXY( index: Integer, x: Float, y: Float ): this;  

Sets the x and y components of the vector at the given index.

setXYZ

function setXYZ( index: Integer, x: Float, y: Float, z: Float ): this;  

Sets the x, y and z components of the vector at the given index.

setXYZW

function setXYZW( index: Integer, x: Float, y: Float, z: Float, w: Float ):
this;

Sets the x, y, z and w components of the vector at the given index.

Source

src/core/BufferAttribute.js