Name

    AMD_multi_draw_indirect

Name Strings

    GL_AMD_multi_draw_indirect

Contact

    Graham Sellers, AMD (graham.sellers 'at' amd.com)

Contributors

    Graham Sellers

Status

    Complete, shipping.

Version

    Last Modified Date: Febuary 14, 2011
    Revision: 2

Number

    408

Dependencies

    OpenGL 4.0 or ARB_draw_indirect is required.

    The extension is written against the OpenGL 4.1 Specification, Core Profile,
    July 25, 2010

Overview

    The ARB_draw_indirect extension (included in OpenGL 4.0) introduced
    mechanisms whereby the parameters for a draw function may be provided in
    a structure contained in a buffer object rather than as parameters to the
    drawing procedure. This is known as an indirect draw and is exposed as two
    new functions, glDrawArraysIndirect and glDrawElementsIndirect. Each of
    these functions generates a single batch of primitives.

    This extension builds on this functionality by providing procedures to
    invoke multiple draws from a single procedure call. This allows large
    batches of drawing commands to be assembled in server memory (via a buffer
    object) which may then be dispatched through a single function call.

New Procedures and Functions

        void MultiDrawArraysIndirectAMD(enum mode,
                                        const void *indirect,
                                        sizei primcount,
                                        sizei stride);

        void MultiDrawElementsIndirectAMD(enum mode,
                                          enum type,
                                          const void *indirect,
                                          sizei primcount,
                                          sizei stride);

New Tokens

    None.

Additions to Chapter 2 of the OpenGL 4.1 (Core) Specification (OpenGL Operation)

    Additions to Section 2.8.3, "Drawing Commands"

    After the description of MultiDrawArrays and before the introduction of
    DrawElementsInstanced, insert the following on p.36:

        The command

        void MultiDrawArraysIndirectAMD(enum mode,
                                        const void *indirect,
                                        sizei primcount,
                                        sizei stride);

    behaves identically to DrawArraysIndirect, except that <indirect> is
    treated as an array of <primcount> DrawArraysIndirectCommand structures.
    <indirect> contains the offset of the first element of the array within the
    buffer currently bound to the DRAW_INDIRECT buffer binding.<stride>
    specifies the distance, in basic machine units, between the elements of the
    array. If <stride> is zero, the array elements are treated as tightly
    packed. <stride> must be a multiple of four, otherwise an INVALID_VALUE
    error is generated.

    It has the same effect as:

        if (<mode> is invalid)
            generate appropriate error
        else {
            const ubyte * ptr = (const ubyte *)indirect;
            for (i = 0; i < primcount; i++) {
                DrawArraysIndirect(mode,
                                   (DrawArraysIndirectCommand*)ptr);
                if (stride == 0)
                {
                    ptr += sizeof(DrawArraysIndirectCommand);
                } else
                {
                    ptr += stride;
                }
            }
        }

    <primcount> must be positive, otherwise an INVALID_VALUE error will be
    generated.

    After the description of DrawElementsIndirect and before the introduction
    of MultiDrawElementsBaseVertex, insert the following on p.39:

        The command

        void MultiDrawElementsIndirectAMD(enum mode,
                                          enum type,
                                          const void *indirect,
                                          sizei primcount,
                                          sizei stride);

    behaves identically to DrawElementsIndirect, except that <indirect> is
    treated as an array of <primcount> DrawElementsIndirectCommand structures.
    <indirect> contains the offset of the first element of the array within the
    buffer currently bound to the DRAW_INDIRECT buffer binding. <stride>
    specifies the distance, in basic machine units, between the elements of the
    array. If <stride> is zero, the array elements are treated as tightly
    packed. <stride> must be a multiple of four, otherwise an INVALID_VALUE
    error is generated.

    It has the same effect as:

        if (<mode> or <type> is invalid)
            generate appropriate error
        else {
            const ubyte * ptr = (const ubyte *)indirect;
            for (i = 0; i < primcount; i++) {
                DrawElementsIndirect(mode,
                                     type,
                                     (DrawElementsIndirectCommand*)ptr);
                if (stride == 0)
                {
                    ptr += sizeof(DrawElementsIndirectCommand);
                } else
                {
                    ptr += stride;
                }
            }
        }

    Modifications to Section 2.9.8 "Indirect Commands in Buffer Objects"

    Modify both instances of "DrawArraysIndirect and DrawElementsIndirect" on
    p.51 to read "DrawArraysIndirect, DrawElementsIndirect,
    MultiDrawArraysIndirect and MultiDrawElementsIndirect".

Additions to Chapter 3 of the OpenGL 4.1 (Core) Specification (Rasterization)

    None.

Additions to Chapter 4 of the OpenGL 4.1 (Core) Specification (Per-Fragment Operations
and the Framebuffer)

    None.

Additions to Chapter 5 of the OpenGL 4.1 (Core) Specification (Special
Functions)

    None.

Additions to Chapter 6 of the OpenGL 4.1 (Core) Specification (State and
State Requests)

    None.

Additions to the AGL/GLX/WGL Specifications

    None.

GLX Protocol

    None.

Errors

    INVALID_VALUE is generated by MultiDrawArraysIndirect or
    MultiDrawElementsIndirect if <primcount> is negative.

    INVALID_VALUE is generated by MultiDrawArraysIndirect or
    MultiDrawElementsIndirect if <stride> is not a multipe of four.

New State

    None.

New Implementation Dependent State

    None.

Issues

    None, so far.

Revision History

    Rev.    Date      Author    Changes
    ----  --------    --------  -----------------------------------------

     2    02/14/2011  gsellers  Add stride parameters
     1    01/06/2011  gsellers  Initial draft