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1<!-- markdownlint-disable MD041 -->
2[![Khronos Vulkan][1]][2]
3
4[1]: https://vulkan.lunarg.com/img/Vulkan_100px_Dec16.png "https://www.khronos.org/vulkan/"
5[2]: https://www.khronos.org/vulkan/
6
7# Architecture of the Vulkan Loader Interfaces <!-- omit from toc -->
8[![Creative Commons][3]][4]
9
10<!-- Copyright &copy; 2015-2023 LunarG, Inc. -->
11
12[3]: https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nd/4.0/88x31.png "Creative Commons License"
13[4]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
14## Table of Contents <!-- omit from toc -->
15
16- [Overview](#overview)
17  - [Who Should Read This Document](#who-should-read-this-document)
18  - [The Loader](#the-loader)
19    - [Goals of the Loader](#goals-of-the-loader)
20  - [Layers](#layers)
21  - [Drivers](#drivers)
22    - [Installable Client Drivers](#installable-client-drivers)
23  - [VkConfig](#vkconfig)
24- [Important Vulkan Concepts](#important-vulkan-concepts)
25  - [Instance Versus Device](#instance-versus-device)
26    - [Instance-Specific](#instance-specific)
27      - [Instance Objects](#instance-objects)
28      - [Instance Functions](#instance-functions)
29      - [Instance Extensions](#instance-extensions)
30    - [Device-Specific](#device-specific)
31      - [Device Objects](#device-objects)
32      - [Device Functions](#device-functions)
33      - [Device Extensions](#device-extensions)
34  - [Dispatch Tables and Call Chains](#dispatch-tables-and-call-chains)
35    - [Instance Call Chain Example](#instance-call-chain-example)
36    - [Device Call Chain Example](#device-call-chain-example)
37- [Elevated Privilege Caveats](#elevated-privilege-caveats)
38- [Application Interface to the Loader](#application-interface-to-the-loader)
39- [Layer Interface with the Loader](#layer-interface-with-the-loader)
40- [Driver Interface With the Loader](#driver-interface-with-the-loader)
41- [Debugging Issues](#debugging-issues)
42- [Loader Policies](#loader-policies)
43- [Filter Environment Variable Behaviors](#filter-environment-variable-behaviors)
44  - [Comparison Strings](#comparison-strings)
45  - [Comma-Delimited Lists](#comma-delimited-lists)
46  - [Globs](#globs)
47  - [Case-Insensitive](#case-insensitive)
48  - [Environment Variable Priority](#environment-variable-priority)
49- [Table of Debug Environment Variables](#table-of-debug-environment-variables)
50  - [Active Environment Variables](#active-environment-variables)
51  - [Deprecated Environment Variables](#deprecated-environment-variables)
52- [Glossary of Terms](#glossary-of-terms)
53
54## Overview
55
56Vulkan is a layered architecture, made up of the following elements:
57  * The Vulkan Application
58  * [The Vulkan Loader](#the-loader)
59  * [Vulkan Layers](#layers)
60  * [Drivers](#drivers)
61  * [VkConfig](#vkconfig)
62
63![High Level View of Loader](./images/high_level_loader.png)
64
65The general concepts in this document are applicable to the loaders available
66for Windows, Linux, Android, and macOS systems.
67
68
69### Who Should Read This Document
70
71While this document is primarily targeted at developers of Vulkan applications,
72drivers and layers, the information contained in it could be useful to anyone
73wanting a better understanding of the Vulkan runtime.
74
75
76### The Loader
77
78The application sits at the top and interfaces directly with the Vulkan
79loader.
80At the bottom of the stack sits the drivers.
81A driver can control one or more physical devices capable of rendering Vulkan,
82implement a conversion from Vulkan into a native graphics API (like
83[MoltenVk](https://github.com/KhronosGroup/MoltenVK), or implement a fully
84software path that can be executed on a CPU to simulate a Vulkan device (like
85[SwiftShader](https://github.com/google/swiftshader) or LavaPipe).
86Remember, Vulkan-capable hardware may be graphics-based, compute-based, or
87both.
88Between the application and the drivers, the loader can inject any number of
89optional [layers](#layers) that provide special functionality.
90The loader is critical to managing the proper dispatching of Vulkan
91functions to the appropriate set of layers and drivers.
92The Vulkan object model allows the loader to insert layers into a call-chain
93so that the layers can process Vulkan functions prior to the driver being
94called.
95
96This document is intended to provide an overview of the necessary interfaces
97between each of these.
98
99
100#### Goals of the Loader
101
102The loader was designed with the following goals in mind:
103 1. Support one or more Vulkan-capable drivers on a user's system without them
104 interfering with one another.
105 2. Support Vulkan Layers which are optional modules that can be enabled by an
106application, developer, or standard system settings.
107 3. Keep the overall overhead of the loader to the minimum possible.
108
109
110### Layers
111
112Layers are optional components that augment the Vulkan development environment.
113They can intercept, evaluate, and modify existing Vulkan functions on their
114way from the application down to the drivers and back up.
115Layers are implemented as libraries that can be enabled in different ways
116and are loaded during CreateInstance.
117Each layer can choose to hook, or intercept, Vulkan functions which in
118turn can be ignored, inspected, or augmented.
119Any function a layer does not hook is simply skipped for that layer and the
120control flow will simply continue on to the next supporting layer or
121driver.
122Because of this, a layer can choose whether to intercept all known Vulkan
123functions or only a subset it is interested in.
124
125Some examples of features that layers may expose include:
126 * Validating API usage
127 * Tracing API calls
128 * Debugging aids
129 * Profiling
130 * Overlay
131
132Because layers are optional and dynamically loaded, they can be enabled
133and disabled as desired.
134For example, while developing and debugging an application, enabling
135certain layers can assist in making sure it properly uses the Vulkan API.
136But when releasing the application, those layers are unnecessary
137and thus won't be enabled, increasing the speed of the application.
138
139
140### Drivers
141
142The library that implements Vulkan, either through supporting a physical
143hardware device directly, converting Vulkan commands into native graphics
144commands, or simulating Vulkan through software, is considered "a driver".
145The most common type of driver is still the Installable Client Driver (or ICD).
146The loader is responsible for discovering available Vulkan drivers on the
147system.
148Given a list of available drivers, the loader can enumerate all the available
149physical devices and provide this information for an application.
150
151
152#### Installable Client Drivers
153
154Vulkan allows multiple ICDs each supporting one or more devices.
155Each of these devices is represented by a Vulkan `VkPhysicalDevice` object.
156The loader is responsible for discovering available Vulkan ICDs via the standard
157driver search on the system.
158
159
160### VkConfig
161
162VkConfig is a tool LunarG has developed to assist with modifying the Vulkan
163environment on the local system.
164It can be used to find layers, enable them, change layer settings, and other
165useful features.
166VkConfig can be found by either installing the
167[Vulkan SDK](https://vulkan.lunarg.com/) or by building the source out of the
168[LunarG VulkanTools GitHub Repo](https://github.com/LunarG/VulkanTools).
169
170VkConfig generates three outputs, two of which work with the Vulkan loader and
171layers.
172These outputs are:
173 * The Vulkan Override Layer
174 * The Vulkan Layer Settings File
175 * VkConfig Configuration Settings
176
177These files are found in different locations based on your platform:
178
179<table style="width:100%">
180  <tr>
181    <th>Platform</th>
182    <th>Output</th>
183    <th>Location</th>
184  </tr>
185  <tr>
186    <th rowspan="3">Linux</th>
187    <td>Vulkan Override Layer</td>
188    <td>$USER/.local/share/vulkan/implicit_layer.d/VkLayer_override.json</td>
189  </tr>
190  <tr>
191    <td>Vulkan Layer Settings</td>
192    <td>$USER/.local/share/vulkan/settings.d/vk_layer_settings.txt</td>
193  </tr>
194  <tr>
195    <td>VkConfig Configuration Settings</td>
196    <td>$USER/.local/share/vulkan/settings.d/vk_layer_settings.txt</td>
197  </tr>
198  <tr>
199    <th rowspan="3">Windows</th>
200    <td>Vulkan Override Layer</td>
201    <td>%HOME%\AppData\Local\LunarG\vkconfig\override\VkLayerOverride.json</td>
202  </tr>
203  <tr>
204    <td>Vulkan Layer Settings</td>
205    <td>(registry) HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Khronos\Vulkan\LoaderSettings</td>
206  </tr>
207  <tr>
208    <td>VkConfig Configuration Settings</td>
209    <td>(registry) HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\LunarG\vkconfig </td>
210  </tr>
211</table>
212
213The [Override Meta-Layer](./LoaderLayerInterface.md#override-meta-layer) is
214an important part of how VkConfig works.
215This layer, when found by the loader, forces the loading of the desired layers
216that were enabled inside of VkConfig as well as disables those layers that
217were intentionally disabled (including implicit layers).
218
219The Vulkan Layer Settings file can be used to specify certain behaviors and
220actions each enabled layer is expected to perform.
221These settings can also be controlled by VkConfig, or they can be manually
222enabled.
223For details on what settings can be used, refer to the individual layers.
224
225In the future, VkConfig may have additional interactions with the Vulkan
226loader.
227
228More details on VkConfig can be found in its
229[GitHub documentation](https://github.com/LunarG/VulkanTools/blob/main/vkconfig/README.md).
230<br/>
231<br/>
232
233
234## Important Vulkan Concepts
235
236Vulkan has a few concepts that provide a fundamental basis for its organization.
237These concepts should be understood by any one attempting to use Vulkan or
238develop any of its components.
239
240
241### Instance Versus Device
242
243An important concept to understand, which is brought up repeatedly throughout this
244document, is how the Vulkan API is organized.
245Many objects, functions, extensions, and other behavior in Vulkan can be
246separated into two groups:
247 * [Instance-specific](#instance-specific)
248 * [Device-specific](#device-specific)
249
250
251#### Instance-Specific
252
253A "Vulkan instance" (`VkInstance`) is a high-level construct used to provide
254Vulkan system-level information and functionality.
255
256##### Instance Objects
257
258A few Vulkan objects associated directly with an instance are:
259 * `VkInstance`
260 * `VkPhysicalDevice`
261 * `VkPhysicalDeviceGroup`
262
263##### Instance Functions
264
265An "instance function" is any Vulkan function where the first parameter is an
266[instance object](#instance-objects) or no object at all.
267
268Some Vulkan instance functions are:
269 * `vkEnumerateInstanceExtensionProperties`
270 * `vkEnumeratePhysicalDevices`
271 * `vkCreateInstance`
272 * `vkDestroyInstance`
273
274An application can link directly to all core instance functions through the
275Vulkan loader's headers.
276Alternatively, an application can query function pointers using
277`vkGetInstanceProcAddr`.
278`vkGetInstanceProcAddr` can be used to query any instance or device entry-points
279in addition to all core entry-points.
280
281If `vkGetInstanceProcAddr` is called using a `VkInstance`, then any function
282pointer returned is specific to that `VkInstance` and any additional objects
283that are created from it.
284
285##### Instance Extensions
286
287Extensions to Vulkan are similarly associated based on what type of
288functions they provide.
289Because of this, extensions are broken up into instance or device extensions
290where most, if not all of the functions, in the extension are of the
291corresponding type.
292For example, an "instance extension" is composed primarily of "instance
293functions" which primarily take instance objects.
294These will be discussed in more detail later.
295
296
297#### Device-Specific
298
299A Vulkan device (`VkDevice`), on the other-hand, is a logical identifier used
300to associate functions with a particular Vulkan physical device
301(`VkPhysicalDevice`) through a particular driver on a user's system.
302
303##### Device Objects
304
305A few of the Vulkan constructs associated directly with a device include:
306 * `VkDevice`
307 * `VkQueue`
308 * `VkCommandBuffer`
309
310##### Device Functions
311
312A "device function" is any Vulkan function which takes any device object as its
313first parameter or a child object of the device.
314The vast majority of Vulkan functions are device functions.
315Some Vulkan device functions are:
316 * `vkQueueSubmit`
317 * `vkBeginCommandBuffer`
318 * `vkCreateEvent`
319
320Vulkan devices functions may be queried using either `vkGetInstanceProcAddr` or
321`vkGetDeviceProcAddr`.
322If an application chooses to use `vkGetInstanceProcAddr`, each call will have
323additional function calls built into the call chain, which will reduce
324performance slightly.
325If, instead, the application uses `vkGetDeviceProcAddr`, the call chain will be
326more optimized to the specific device, but the returned function pointers will
327**only** work for the device used when querying them.
328Unlike `vkGetInstanceProcAddr`, `vkGetDeviceProcAddr` can only be used on
329Vulkan device functions.
330
331The best solution is to query instance extension functions using
332`vkGetInstanceProcAddr`, and to query device extension functions using
333`vkGetDeviceProcAddr`.
334See
335[Best Application Performance Setup](LoaderApplicationInterface.md#best-application-performance-setup)
336section in the
337[LoaderApplicationInterface.md](LoaderApplicationInterface.md) document for more
338information on this.
339
340##### Device Extensions
341
342As with instance extensions, a device extension is a set of Vulkan device
343functions extending the Vulkan language.
344More information about device extensions can be found later in this document.
345
346
347### Dispatch Tables and Call Chains
348
349Vulkan uses an object model to control the scope of a particular action or
350operation.
351The object to be acted on is always the first parameter of a Vulkan call and is
352a dispatchable object (see Vulkan specification section 3.3 Object Model).
353Under the covers, the dispatchable object handle is a pointer to a structure,
354which in turn, contains a pointer to a dispatch table maintained by the loader.
355This dispatch table contains pointers to the Vulkan functions appropriate to
356that object.
357
358There are two types of dispatch tables the loader maintains:
359 - Instance Dispatch Table
360   - Created in the loader during the call to `vkCreateInstance`
361 - Device Dispatch Table
362   - Created in the loader during the call to `vkCreateDevice`
363
364At that time the application and the system can each specify optional layers to
365be included.
366The loader will initialize the specified layers to create a call chain for each
367Vulkan function and each entry of the dispatch table will point to the first
368element of that chain.
369Thus, the loader builds an instance call chain for each `VkInstance` that is
370created and a device call chain for each `VkDevice` that is created.
371
372When an application calls a Vulkan function, this typically will first hit a
373*trampoline* function in the loader.
374These *trampoline* functions are small, simple functions that jump to the
375appropriate dispatch table entry for the object they are given.
376Additionally, for functions in the instance call chain, the loader has an
377additional function, called a *terminator*, which is called after all enabled
378layers to marshall the appropriate information to all available drivers.
379
380
381#### Instance Call Chain Example
382
383For example, the diagram below represents what happens in the call chain for
384`vkCreateInstance`.
385After initializing the chain, the loader calls into the first layer's
386`vkCreateInstance`, which will call the next layer's `vkCreateInstance`
387before finally terminating in the loader again where it will call
388every driver's `vkCreateInstance`.
389This allows every enabled layer in the chain to set up what it needs based on
390the `VkInstanceCreateInfo` structure from the application.
391
392![Instance Call Chain](./images/loader_instance_chain.png)
393
394This also highlights some of the complexity the loader must manage when using
395instance call chains.
396As shown here, the loader's *terminator* must aggregate information to and from
397multiple drivers when they are present.
398This implies that the loader has to be aware of any instance-level extensions
399which work on a `VkInstance` to aggregate them correctly.
400
401
402#### Device Call Chain Example
403
404Device call chains are created in `vkCreateDevice` and are generally simpler
405because they deal with only a single device.
406This allows for the specific driver exposing this device to always be the
407*terminator* of the chain.
408
409![Loader Device Call Chain](./images/loader_device_chain_loader.png)
410<br/>
411
412
413## Elevated Privilege Caveats
414
415To ensure that the system is safe from exploitation, Vulkan applications which
416are run with elevated privileges are restricted from certain operations, such
417as reading environment variables from unsecure locations or searching for
418files in user controlled paths.
419This is done to ensure that an application running with elevated privileges does
420not run using components that were not installed in the proper approved
421locations.
422
423The loader uses platform-specific mechanisms (such as `secure_getenv` and its
424equivalents) for querying sensitive environment variables to avoid accidentally
425using untrusted results.
426
427These behaviors also result in ignoring certain environment variables, such as:
428
429  * `VK_DRIVER_FILES` / `VK_ICD_FILENAMES`
430  * `VK_ADD_DRIVER_FILES`
431  * `VK_LAYER_PATH`
432  * `VK_ADD_LAYER_PATH`
433  * `VK_IMPLICIT_LAYER_PATH`
434  * `VK_ADD_IMPLICIT_LAYER_PATH`
435  * `XDG_CONFIG_HOME` (Linux/Mac-specific)
436  * `XDG_DATA_HOME` (Linux/Mac-specific)
437
438For more information on the affected search paths, refer to
439[Layer Discovery](LoaderLayerInterface.md#layer-discovery) and
440[Driver Discovery](LoaderDriverInterface.md#driver-discovery).
441<br/>
442<br/>
443
444
445## Application Interface to the Loader
446
447The Application interface to the Vulkan loader is now detailed in the
448[LoaderApplicationInterface.md](LoaderApplicationInterface.md) document found in
449the same directory as this file.
450<br/>
451<br/>
452
453
454## Layer Interface with the Loader
455
456The Layer interface to the Vulkan loader is detailed in the
457[LoaderLayerInterface.md](LoaderLayerInterface.md) document found in the same
458directory as this file.
459<br/>
460<br/>
461
462
463## Driver Interface With the Loader
464
465The Driver interface to the Vulkan loader is detailed in the
466[LoaderDriverInterface.md](LoaderDriverInterface.md) document found in the same
467directory as this file.
468<br/>
469<br/>
470
471
472## Debugging Issues
473
474
475If your application is crashing or behaving weirdly, the loader provides
476several mechanisms for you to debug the issues.
477These are detailed in the [LoaderDebugging.md](LoaderDebugging.md) document
478found in the same directory as this file.
479<br/>
480<br/>
481
482
483## Loader Policies
484
485Loader policies with regards to the loader interaction with drivers and layers
486 are now documented in the appropriate sections.
487The intention of these sections is to clearly define expected behavior of the
488loader with regards to its interactions with those components.
489This could be especially useful in cases where a new or specialized loader may
490be required that conforms to the behavior of the existing loader.
491Because of this, the primary focus of those sections is on expected behaviors
492for all relevant components to create a consistent experience across platforms.
493In the long-run, this could also be used as validation requirements for any
494existing Vulkan loaders.
495
496To review the particular policy sections, please refer to one or both of the
497sections listed below:
498 * [Loader And Driver Policy](LoaderDriverInterface.md#loader-and-driver-policy)
499 * [Loader And Layer Policy](LoaderLayerInterface.md#loader-and-layer-policy)
500<br/>
501<br/>
502
503## Filter Environment Variable Behaviors
504
505The filter environment variables provided in certain areas have some common
506restrictions and behaviors that should be listed.
507
508### Comparison Strings
509
510The filter variables will be compared against the appropriate strings for either
511drivers or layers.
512The appropriate string for layers is the layer name provided in the layer's
513manifest file.
514Since drivers don’t have a name like layers, this substring is used to compare
515against the driver manifest's filename.
516
517### Comma-Delimited Lists
518
519All of the filter environment variables accept comma-delimited input.
520Therefore, you can chain multiple strings together and it will use the strings
521to individually enable or disable the appropriate item in the current list of
522available items.
523
524### Globs
525
526To provide enough flexibility to limit name searches to only those wanted by the
527developer, the loader uses a limited glob format for strings.
528Acceptable globs are:
529 - Prefixes:   `"string*"`
530 - Suffixes:   `"*string"`
531 - Substrings:  `"*string*"`
532 - Whole strings: `"string"`
533   - In the case of whole strings, the string will be compared against each
534     layer or driver file name in its entirety.
535   - Because of this, it will only match the specific target such as:
536     `VK_LAYER_KHRONOS_validation` will match the layer name
537     `VK_LAYER_KHRONOS_validation`, but **not** a layer named
538     `VK_LAYER_KHRONOS_validation2` (not that there is such a layer).
539
540This is especially useful because it is difficult sometimes to determine the
541full name of a driver manifest file or even some commonly used layers
542such as `VK_LAYER_KHRONOS_validation`.
543
544### Case-Insensitive
545
546All of the filter environment variables assume the strings inside of the glob
547are not case-sensitive.
548Therefore, “Bob”, “bob”, and “BOB” all amount to the same thing.
549
550### Environment Variable Priority
551
552The values from the *disable* environment variable will be considered
553**before** the *enable* or *select* environment variable.
554Because of this, it is possible to disable a layer/driver using the *disable*
555environment variable, only to have it be re-enabled by the *enable*/*select*
556environment variable.
557This is useful if you disable all layers/drivers with the intent of only
558enabling a smaller subset of specific layers/drivers for issue triaging.
559
560## Table of Debug Environment Variables
561
562The following are all the Debug Environment Variables available for use with the
563Loader.
564These are referenced throughout the text, but collected here for ease of
565discovery.
566
567### Active Environment Variables
568
569<table style="width:100%">
570  <tr>
571    <th>Environment Variable</th>
572    <th>Behavior</th>
573    <th>Restrictions</th>
574    <th>Example Format</th>
575  </tr>
576  <tr>
577    <td><small>
578        <i>VK_ADD_DRIVER_FILES</i>
579    </small></td>
580    <td><small>
581        Provide a list of additional driver JSON files that the loader will use
582        in addition to the drivers that the loader would find normally.
583        The list of drivers will be added first, prior to the list of drivers
584        that would be found normally.
585        The value contains a list of delimited full path listings to
586        driver JSON Manifest files.<br/>
587    </small></td>
588    <td><small>
589        If a global path to the JSON file is not used, issues may be encountered.
590        <br/> <br/>
591        <a href="#elevated-privilege-caveats">
592            Ignored when running Vulkan application with elevated privileges.
593        </a>
594    </small></td>
595    <td><small>
596        export<br/>
597        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_ADD_DRIVER_FILES=<br/>
598        &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<folder_a>/intel.json:<folder_b>/amd.json
599        <br/> <br/>
600        set<br/>
601        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_ADD_DRIVER_FILES=<br/>
602        &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<folder_a>\nvidia.json;<folder_b>\mesa.json
603    </small></td>
604  </tr>
605  <tr>
606    <td><small>
607        <i>VK_ADD_LAYER_PATH</i>
608    </small></td>
609    <td><small>
610        Provide a list of additional paths that the loader will use to search
611        for explicit layers in addition to the loader's standard layer library
612        search paths when looking for layer manifest files.
613        The paths will be added first, prior to the list of folders that would
614        be searched normally.
615    </small></td>
616    <td><small>
617        <a href="#elevated-privilege-caveats">
618            Ignored when running Vulkan application with elevated privileges.
619        </a>
620    </small></td>
621    <td><small>
622        export<br/>
623        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_ADD_LAYER_PATH=<br/>
624        &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;path_a&gt;:&lt;path_b&gt;<br/><br/>
625        set<br/>
626        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_ADD_LAYER_PATH=<br/>
627        &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;path_a&gt;;&lt;path_b&gt;</small>
628    </td>
629  </tr>
630    <tr>
631    <td><small>
632        <i>VK_ADD_IMPLICIT_LAYER_PATH</i>
633    </small></td>
634    <td><small>
635        Provide a list of additional paths that the loader will use to search
636        for implicit layers in addition to the loader's standard layer library
637        search paths when looking for layer manifest files.
638        The paths will be added first, prior to the list of folders that would
639        be searched normally.
640    </small></td>
641    <td><small>
642        <a href="#elevated-privilege-caveats">
643            Ignored when running Vulkan application with elevated privileges.
644        </a>
645    </small></td>
646    <td><small>
647        export<br/>
648        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_ADD_IMPLICIT_LAYER_PATH=<br/>
649        &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;path_a&gt;:&lt;path_b&gt;<br/><br/>
650        set<br/>
651        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_ADD_IMPLICIT_LAYER_PATH=<br/>
652        &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;path_a&gt;;&lt;path_b&gt;</small>
653    </td>
654  </tr>
655  <tr>
656    <td><small>
657        <i>VK_DRIVER_FILES</i>
658    </small></td>
659    <td><small>
660        Force the loader to use the specific driver JSON files.
661        The value contains a list of delimited full path listings to
662        driver JSON Manifest files and/or
663        paths to folders containing driver JSON files.<br/>
664        <br/>
665        This has replaced the older deprecated environment variable
666        <i>VK_ICD_FILENAMES</i>, however the older environment variable will
667        continue to work.
668    </small></td>
669    <td><small>
670        This functionality is only available with Loaders built with version
671        1.3.207 of the Vulkan headers and later.<br/>
672        It is recommended to use absolute paths to JSON files.
673        Relative paths may have issues due to how the loader transforms relative library
674        paths into absolute ones.
675        <br/> <br/>
676        <a href="#elevated-privilege-caveats">
677            Ignored when running Vulkan application with elevated privileges.
678        </a>
679    </small></td>
680    <td><small>
681        export<br/>
682        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_DRIVER_FILES=<br/>
683        &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<folder_a>/intel.json:<folder_b>/amd.json
684        <br/> <br/>
685        set<br/>
686        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_DRIVER_FILES=<br/>
687        &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<folder_a>\nvidia.json;<folder_b>\mesa.json
688        </small>
689    </td>
690  </tr>
691  <tr>
692    <td><small>
693        <i>VK_LAYER_PATH</i></small></td>
694    <td><small>
695        Override the loader's standard explicit layer search paths and use the
696        provided delimited files and/or folders to locate layer manifest files.
697    </small></td>
698    <td><small>
699        <a href="#elevated-privilege-caveats">
700            Ignored when running Vulkan application with elevated privileges.
701        </a>
702    </small></td>
703    <td><small>
704        export<br/>
705        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_LAYER_PATH=<br/>
706        &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;path_a&gt;:&lt;path_b&gt;<br/><br/>
707        set<br/>
708        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_LAYER_PATH=<br/>
709        &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;path_a&gt;;&lt;path_b&gt;
710    </small></td>
711  </tr>
712  <tr>
713    <td><small>
714        <i>VK_IMPLICIT_LAYER_PATH</i></small></td>
715    <td><small>
716        Override the loader's standard implicit layer search paths and use the
717        provided delimited files and/or folders to locate layer manifest files.
718    </small></td>
719    <td><small>
720        <a href="#elevated-privilege-caveats">
721            Ignored when running Vulkan application with elevated privileges.
722        </a>
723    </small></td>
724    <td><small>
725        export<br/>
726        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_IMPLICIT_LAYER_PATH=<br/>
727        &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;path_a&gt;:&lt;path_b&gt;<br/><br/>
728        set<br/>
729        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_IMPLICIT_LAYER_PATH=<br/>
730        &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;path_a&gt;;&lt;path_b&gt;
731    </small></td>
732  </tr>
733  <tr>
734    <td><small>
735        <i>VK_LOADER_DEBUG</i>
736    </small></td>
737    <td><small>
738        Enable loader debug messages using a comma-delimited list of level
739        options.  These options are:<br/>
740        &nbsp;&nbsp;* error (only errors)<br/>
741        &nbsp;&nbsp;* warn (only warnings)<br/>
742        &nbsp;&nbsp;* info (only info)<br/>
743        &nbsp;&nbsp;* debug (only debug)<br/>
744        &nbsp;&nbsp;* layer (layer-specific output)<br/>
745        &nbsp;&nbsp;* driver (driver-specific output)<br/>
746        &nbsp;&nbsp;* all (report out all messages)<br/><br/>
747        To enable multiple options (outside of "all") like info, warning and
748        error messages, set the value to "error,warn,info".
749    </small></td>
750    <td><small>
751        None
752    </small></td>
753    <td><small>
754        export<br/>
755        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_LOADER_DEBUG=all<br/>
756        <br/>
757        set<br/>
758        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_LOADER_DEBUG=warn
759    </small></td>
760  </tr>
761  <tr>
762    <td><small>
763        <i>VK_LOADER_DEVICE_SELECT</i>
764    </small></td>
765    <td><small>
766        Allows the user to force a particular device to be prioritized above all
767        other devices in the return order of <i>vkGetPhysicalDevices<i> and
768        <i>vkGetPhysicalDeviceGroups<i> functions.<br/>
769        The value should be "<hex vendor id>:<hex device id>".<br/>
770        <b>NOTE:</b> This DOES NOT REMOVE devices from the list on reorders them.
771    </small></td>
772    <td><small>
773        <b>Linux Only</b>
774    </small></td>
775    <td><small>
776        set VK_LOADER_DEVICE_SELECT=0x10de:0x1f91
777    </small></td>
778  </tr>
779  <tr>
780    <td><small>
781        <i>VK_LOADER_DISABLE_SELECT</i>
782    </small></td>
783    <td><small>
784        Allows the user to disable the consistent sorting algorithm run in the
785        loader before returning the set of physical devices to layers.<br/>
786    </small></td>
787    <td><small>
788        <b>Linux Only</b>
789    </small></td>
790    <td><small>
791        set VK_LOADER_DISABLE_SELECT=1
792    </small></td>
793  </tr>
794  <tr>
795    <td><small>
796        <i>VK_LOADER_DISABLE_INST_EXT_FILTER</i>
797    </small></td>
798    <td><small>
799        Disable the filtering out of instance extensions that the loader doesn't
800        know about.
801        This will allow applications to enable instance extensions exposed by
802        drivers but that the loader has no support for.<br/>
803    </small></td>
804    <td><small>
805        <b>Use Wisely!</b> This may cause the loader or application to crash.
806    </small></td>
807    <td><small>
808        export<br/>
809        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_LOADER_DISABLE_INST_EXT_FILTER=1<br/><br/>
810        set<br/>
811        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_LOADER_DISABLE_INST_EXT_FILTER=1
812    </small></td>
813  </tr>
814  <tr>
815    <td><small>
816        <i>VK_LOADER_DRIVERS_SELECT</i>
817    </small></td>
818    <td><small>
819        A comma-delimited list of globs to search for in known drivers and
820        used to select only the drivers whose manifest file names match one or
821        more of the provided globs.<br/>
822        Since drivers don’t have a name like layers, this glob is used to
823        compare against the manifest filename.
824        Known driver manifests being those files that are already found by the
825        loader taking into account default search paths and other environment
826        variables (like <i>VK_ICD_FILENAMES</i> or <i>VK_ADD_DRIVER_FILES</i>).
827    </small></td>
828    <td><small>
829        This functionality is only available with Loaders built with version
830        1.3.234 of the Vulkan headers and later.<br/>
831        If no drivers are found with a manifest filename that matches any of the
832        provided globs, then no driver is enabled and it <b>may</b> result
833        in Vulkan applications failing to run properly.
834    </small></td>
835    <td><small>
836        export<br/>
837        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_LOADER_DRIVERS_SELECT=nvidia*<br/>
838        <br/>
839        set<br/>
840        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_LOADER_DRIVERS_SELECT=nvidia*<br/><br/>
841        The above would select only the Nvidia driver if it was present on the
842        system and already visible to the loader.
843    </small></td>
844  </tr>
845  <tr>
846    <td><small>
847        <i>VK_LOADER_DRIVERS_DISABLE</i>
848    </small></td>
849    <td><small>
850        A comma-delimited list of globs to search for in known drivers and
851        used to disable only the drivers whose manifest file names match one or
852        more of the provided globs.<br/>
853        Since drivers don’t have a name like layers, this glob is used to
854        compare against the manifest filename.
855        Known driver manifests being those files that are already found by the
856        loader taking into account default search paths and other environment
857        variables (like <i>VK_ICD_FILENAMES</i> or <i>VK_ADD_DRIVER_FILES</i>).
858    </small></td>
859    <td><small>
860        This functionality is only available with Loaders built with version
861        1.3.234 of the Vulkan headers and later.<br/>
862        If all available drivers are disabled using this environment variable,
863        then no drivers will be found by the loader and <b>will</b> result
864        in Vulkan applications failing to run properly.<br/>
865        This is also checked before other driver environment variables (such as
866        <i>VK_LOADER_DRIVERS_SELECT</i>) so that a user may easily disable all
867        drivers and then selectively re-enable individual drivers using the
868        enable environment variable.
869    </small></td>
870    <td><small>
871        export<br/>
872        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_LOADER_DRIVERS_DISABLE=*amd*,*intel*<br/>
873        <br/>
874        set<br/>
875        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_LOADER_DRIVERS_DISABLE=*amd*,*intel*<br/><br/>
876        The above would disable both Intel and AMD drivers if both were present
877        on the system and already visible to the loader.
878    </small></td>
879  </tr>
880  <tr>
881    <td><small>
882        <i>VK_LOADER_LAYERS_ENABLE</i>
883    </small></td>
884    <td><small>
885        A comma-delimited list of globs to search for in known layers and
886        used to select only the layers whose layer name matches one or more of
887        the provided globs.<br/>
888        Known layers are those which are found by the loader taking into account
889        default search paths and other environment variables
890        (like <i>VK_LAYER_PATH</i>).
891        <br/>
892        This has replaced the older deprecated environment variable
893        <i>VK_INSTANCE_LAYERS</i>
894    </small></td>
895    <td><small>
896        This functionality is only available with Loaders built with version
897        1.3.234 of the Vulkan headers and later.
898    </small></td>
899    <td><small>
900        export<br/>
901        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_LOADER_LAYERS_ENABLE=*validation,*recon*<br/>
902        <br/>
903        set<br/>
904        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_LOADER_LAYERS_ENABLE=*validation,*recon*<br/><br/>
905        The above would enable the Khronos validation layer and the
906        GfxReconstruct layer, if both were present on the system and already
907        visible to the loader.
908    </small></td>
909  </tr>
910  <tr>
911    <td><small>
912        <i>VK_LOADER_LAYERS_DISABLE</i>
913    </small></td>
914    <td><small>
915        A comma-delimited list of globs to search for in known layers and
916        used to disable only the layers whose layer name matches one or more of
917        the provided globs.<br/>
918        Known layers are those which are found by the loader taking into account
919        default search paths and other environment variables
920        (like <i>VK_LAYER_PATH</i>).
921    </small></td>
922    <td><small>
923        This functionality is only available with Loaders built with version
924        1.3.234 of the Vulkan headers and later.<br/>
925        Disabling a layer that an application intentionally enables as an
926        explicit layer <b>may</b> cause the application to not function
927        properly.<br/>
928        This is also checked before other layer environment variables (such as
929        <i>VK_LOADER_LAYERS_ENABLE</i>) so that a user may easily disable all
930        layers and then selectively re-enable individual layers using the
931        enable environment variable.
932    </small></td>
933    <td><small>
934        export<br/>
935        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_LOADER_LAYERS_DISABLE=*MESA*,~implicit~<br/>
936        <br/>
937        set<br/>
938        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_LOADER_LAYERS_DISABLE=*MESA*,~implicit~<br/><br/>
939        The above would disable any Mesa layer and all other implicit layers
940        that would normally be enabled on the system.
941    </small></td>
942  </tr>
943  <tr>
944  <td><small>
945    <i>VK_LOADER_LAYERS_ALLOW</i>
946    </small></td>
947    <td><small>
948        A comma-delimited list of globs to search for in known layers and
949        used to prevent layers whose layer name matches one or more of
950        the provided globs from being disabled by <i>VK_LOADER_LAYERS_DISABLE</i>.<br/>
951        Known layers are those which are found by the loader taking into account
952        default search paths and other environment variables
953        (like <i>VK_LAYER_PATH</i>).
954    </small></td>
955    <td><small>
956        This functionality is only available with Loaders built with version
957        1.3.262 of the Vulkan headers and later.<br/>
958        This will not cause layers to be enabled if the normal mechanism to
959        enable them
960    </small></td>
961    <td><small>
962        export<br/>
963        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_LOADER_LAYERS_ALLOW=*validation*,*recon*<br/>
964        <br/>
965        set<br/>
966        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_LOADER_LAYERS_ALLOW=*validation*,*recon*<br/><br/>
967        The above would allow any layer whose name is validation or recon to be
968        enabled regardless of the value of <i>VK_LOADER_LAYERS_DISABLE</i>.
969    </small></td>
970  </tr>
971  <tr>
972    <td><small>
973        <i>VK_LOADER_DISABLE_DYNAMIC_LIBRARY_UNLOADING</i>
974    </small></td>
975    <td><small>
976        If set to "1", causes the loader to not unload dynamic libraries during vkDestroyInstance.
977        This option allows leak sanitizers to have full stack traces.
978    </small></td>
979    <td><small>
980        This functionality is only available with Loaders built with version
981        1.3.259 of the Vulkan headers and later.<br/>
982    </small></td>
983    <td><small>
984        export<br/>
985        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_LOADER_DISABLE_DYNAMIC_LIBRARY_UNLOADING=1<br/>
986        <br/>
987        set<br/>
988        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_LOADER_DISABLE_DYNAMIC_LIBRARY_UNLOADING=1<br/><br/>
989    </small></td>
990  </tr>
991</table>
992
993<br/>
994
995### Deprecated Environment Variables
996
997These environment variables are still active and supported, however support
998may be removed in a future loader release.
999
1000<table style="width:100%">
1001  <tr>
1002    <th>Environment Variable</th>
1003    <th>Behavior</th>
1004    <th>Replaced By</th>
1005    <th>Restrictions</th>
1006    <th>Example Format</th>
1007  </tr>
1008  <tr>
1009    <td><small><i>VK_ICD_FILENAMES</i></small></td>
1010    <td><small>
1011            Force the loader to use the specific driver JSON files.
1012            The value contains a list of delimited full path listings to
1013            driver JSON Manifest files.<br/>
1014            <br/>
1015            <b>NOTE:</b> If a global path to the JSON file is not used, issues
1016            may be encountered.<br/>
1017    </small></td>
1018    <td><small>
1019        This has been replaced by <i>VK_DRIVER_FILES</i>.
1020    </small></td>
1021    <td><small>
1022        <a href="#elevated-privilege-caveats">
1023            Ignored when running Vulkan application with elevated privileges.
1024        </a>
1025    </small></td>
1026    <td><small>
1027        export<br/>
1028        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_ICD_FILENAMES=<br/>
1029        &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<folder_a>/intel.json:<folder_b>/amd.json
1030        <br/><br/>
1031        set<br/>
1032        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_ICD_FILENAMES=<br/>
1033        &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<folder_a>\nvidia.json;<folder_b>\mesa.json
1034    </small></td>
1035  </tr>
1036  <tr>
1037    <td><small>
1038        <i>VK_INSTANCE_LAYERS</i>
1039    </small></td>
1040    <td><small>
1041        Force the loader to add the given layers to the list of Enabled layers
1042        normally passed into <b>vkCreateInstance</b>.
1043        These layers are added first, and the loader will remove any duplicate
1044        layers that appear in both this list as well as that passed into
1045        <i>ppEnabledLayerNames</i>.
1046    </small></td>
1047    <td><small>
1048        This has been deprecated by <i>VK_LOADER_LAYERS_ENABLE</i>.
1049        It also overrides any layers disabled with
1050        <i>VK_LOADER_LAYERS_DISABLE</i>.
1051    </small></td>
1052    <td><small>
1053        None
1054    </small></td>
1055    <td><small>
1056        export<br/>
1057        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_INSTANCE_LAYERS=<br/>
1058        &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;layer_a&gt;;&lt;layer_b&gt;<br/><br/>
1059        set<br/>
1060        &nbsp;&nbsp;VK_INSTANCE_LAYERS=<br/>
1061        &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;layer_a&gt;;&lt;layer_b&gt;
1062    </small></td>
1063  </tr>
1064</table>
1065<br/>
1066<br/>
1067
1068## Glossary of Terms
1069
1070<table style="width:100%">
1071  <tr>
1072    <th>Field Name</th>
1073    <th>Field Value</th>
1074  </tr>
1075  <tr>
1076    <td>Android Loader</td>
1077    <td>The loader designed to work primarily for the Android OS.
1078        This is generated from a different code base than the Khronos loader.
1079        But, in all important aspects, it should be functionally equivalent.
1080    </td>
1081  </tr>
1082  <tr>
1083    <td>Khronos Loader</td>
1084    <td>The loader released by Khronos and currently designed to work primarily
1085        on Windows, Linux, macOS, Stadia, and Fuchsia.
1086        This is generated from a different
1087        <a href="https://github.com/KhronosGroup/Vulkan-Loader">code base</a>
1088        than the Android loader.
1089        But in all important aspects, it should be functionally equivalent.
1090    </td>
1091  </tr>
1092  <tr>
1093    <td>Core Function</td>
1094    <td>A function that is already part of the Vulkan core specification and not
1095        an extension. <br/>
1096        For example, <b>vkCreateDevice()</b>.
1097    </td>
1098  </tr>
1099  <tr>
1100    <td>Device Call Chain</td>
1101    <td>The call chain of functions followed for device functions.
1102        This call chain for a device function is usually as follows: first the
1103        application calls into a loader trampoline, then the loader trampoline
1104        calls enabled layers, and the final layer calls into the driver specific
1105        to the device. <br/>
1106        See the
1107        <a href="#dispatch-tables-and-call-chains">Dispatch Tables and Call
1108        Chains</a> section for more information.
1109    </td>
1110  </tr>
1111  <tr>
1112    <td>Device Function</td>
1113    <td>A device function is any Vulkan function which takes a <i>VkDevice</i>,
1114        <i>VkQueue</i>, <i>VkCommandBuffer</i>, or any child of these, as its
1115        first parameter. <br/><br/>
1116        Some Vulkan device functions are: <br/>
1117        &nbsp;&nbsp;<b>vkQueueSubmit</b>, <br/>
1118        &nbsp;&nbsp;<b>vkBeginCommandBuffer</b>, <br/>
1119        &nbsp;&nbsp;<b>vkCreateEvent</b>. <br/><br/>
1120        See the <a href="#instance-versus-device">Instance Versus Device</a>
1121        section for more information.
1122    </td>
1123  </tr>
1124  <tr>
1125    <td>Discovery</td>
1126    <td>The process of the loader searching for driver and layer files to set up
1127        the internal list of Vulkan objects available.<br/>
1128        On <i>Windows/Linux/macOS</i>, the discovery process typically focuses
1129        on searching for Manifest files.<br/>
1130        On <i>Android</i>, the process focuses on searching for library files.
1131    </td>
1132  </tr>
1133  <tr>
1134    <td>Dispatch Table</td>
1135    <td>An array of function pointers (including core and possibly extension
1136        functions) used to step to the next entity in a call chain.
1137        The entity could be the loader, a layer or a driver.<br/>
1138        See <a href="#dispatch-tables-and-call-chains">Dispatch Tables and Call
1139        Chains</a> for more information.
1140    </td>
1141  </tr>
1142  <tr>
1143    <td>Driver</td>
1144    <td>The underlying library which provides support for the Vulkan API.
1145        This support can be implemented as either an ICD, API translation
1146        library, or pure software.<br/>
1147        See <a href="#drivers">Drivers</a> section for more information.
1148    </td>
1149  </tr>
1150  <tr>
1151    <td>Extension</td>
1152    <td>A concept of Vulkan used to expand the core Vulkan functionality.
1153        Extensions may be IHV-specific, platform-specific, or more broadly
1154        available. <br/>
1155        Always first query if an extension exists, and enable it during
1156        <b>vkCreateInstance</b> (if it is an instance extension) or during
1157        <b>vkCreateDevice</b> (if it is a device extension) before attempting
1158        to use it. <br/>
1159        Extensions will always have an author prefix or suffix modifier to every
1160        structure, enumeration entry, command entry-point, or define that is
1161        associated with it.
1162        For example, `KHR` is the prefix for Khronos authored extensions and
1163        will also be found on structures, enumeration entries, and commands
1164        associated with those extensions.
1165    </td>
1166  </tr>
1167  <tr>
1168    <td>Extension Function</td>
1169    <td>A function that is defined as part of an extension and not part of the
1170        Vulkan core specification. <br/>
1171        As with the extension the function is defined as part of, it will have a
1172        suffix modifier indicating the author of the extension.<br/>
1173        Some example extension suffixes include:<br/>
1174        &nbsp;&nbsp;<b>KHR</b>  - For Khronos authored extensions, <br/>
1175        &nbsp;&nbsp;<b>EXT</b>  - For multi-company authored extensions, <br/>
1176        &nbsp;&nbsp;<b>AMD</b>  - For AMD authored extensions, <br/>
1177        &nbsp;&nbsp;<b>ARM</b>  - For ARM authored extensions, <br/>
1178        &nbsp;&nbsp;<b>NV</b>   - For Nvidia authored extensions.<br/>
1179    </td>
1180  </tr>
1181  <tr>
1182    <td>ICD</td>
1183    <td>Acronym for "Installable Client Driver".
1184        These are drivers that are provided by IHVs to interact with the
1185        hardware they provide. <br/>
1186        These are the most common type of Vulkan drivers. <br/>
1187        See <a href="#installable-client-drivers">Installable Client Drivers</a>
1188        section for more information.
1189    </td>
1190  </tr>
1191  <tr>
1192    <td>IHV</td>
1193    <td>Acronym for an "Independent Hardware Vendor".
1194        Typically the company that built the underlying hardware technology
1195        that is being used. <br/>
1196        A typical examples for a Graphics IHV include (but not limited to):
1197        AMD, ARM, Imagination, Intel, Nvidia, Qualcomm
1198    </td>
1199  </tr>
1200  <tr>
1201    <td>Instance Call Chain</td>
1202    <td>The call chain of functions followed for instance functions.
1203        This call chain for an instance function is usually as follows: first
1204        the application calls into a loader trampoline, then the loader
1205        trampoline calls enabled layers, the final layer calls a loader
1206        terminator, and the loader terminator calls all available
1207        drivers. <br/>
1208        See the <a href="#dispatch-tables-and-call-chains">Dispatch Tables and
1209        Call Chains</a> section for more information.
1210    </td>
1211  </tr>
1212  <tr>
1213    <td>Instance Function</td>
1214    <td>An instance function is any Vulkan function which takes as its first
1215        parameter either a <i>VkInstance</i> or a <i>VkPhysicalDevice</i> or
1216        nothing at all. <br/><br/>
1217        Some Vulkan instance functions are:<br/>
1218        &nbsp;&nbsp;<b>vkEnumerateInstanceExtensionProperties</b>, <br/>
1219        &nbsp;&nbsp;<b>vkEnumeratePhysicalDevices</b>, <br/>
1220        &nbsp;&nbsp;<b>vkCreateInstance</b>, <br/>
1221        &nbsp;&nbsp;<b>vkDestroyInstance</b>. <br/><br/>
1222        See the <a href="#instance-versus-device">Instance Versus Device</a>
1223        section for more information.
1224    </td>
1225  </tr>
1226  <tr>
1227    <td>Layer</td>
1228    <td>Layers are optional components that augment the Vulkan system.
1229        They can intercept, evaluate, and modify existing Vulkan functions on
1230        their way from the application down to the driver.<br/>
1231        See the <a href="#layers">Layers</a> section for more information.
1232    </td>
1233  </tr>
1234  <tr>
1235    <td>Layer Library</td>
1236    <td>The <b>Layer Library</b> is the group of all layers the loader is able
1237        to discover.
1238        These may include both implicit and explicit layers.
1239        These layers are available for use by applications unless disabled in
1240        some way.
1241        For more info, see
1242        <a href="LoaderLayerInterface.md#layer-layer-discovery">Layer Discovery
1243        </a>.
1244    </td>
1245  </tr>
1246  <tr>
1247    <td>Loader</td>
1248    <td>The middleware program which acts as the mediator between Vulkan
1249        applications, Vulkan layers, and Vulkan drivers.<br/>
1250        See <a href="#the-loader">The Loader</a> section for more information.
1251    </td>
1252  </tr>
1253  <tr>
1254    <td>Manifest Files</td>
1255    <td>Data files in JSON format used by the Khronos loader.
1256        These files contain specific information for either a
1257        <a href="LoaderLayerInterface.md#layer-manifest-file-format">Layer</a>
1258        or a
1259        <a href="LoaderDriverInterface.md#driver-manifest-file-format">Driver</a>
1260        and define necessary information such as where to find files and default
1261        settings.
1262    </td>
1263  </tr>
1264  <tr>
1265    <td>Terminator Function</td>
1266    <td>The last function in the instance call chain above the driver and owned
1267        by the loader.
1268        This function is required in the instance call chain because all
1269        instance functionality must be communicated to all drivers capable of
1270        receiving the call. <br/>
1271        See <a href="#dispatch-tables-and-call-chains">Dispatch Tables and Call
1272        Chains</a> for more information.
1273    </td>
1274  </tr>
1275  <tr>
1276    <td>Trampoline Function</td>
1277    <td>The first function in an instance or device call chain owned by the
1278        loader which handles the set up and proper call chain walk using the
1279        appropriate dispatch table.
1280        On device functions (in the device call chain) this function can
1281        actually be skipped.<br/>
1282        See <a href="#dispatch-tables-and-call-chains">Dispatch Tables and Call
1283        Chains</a> for more information.
1284    </td>
1285  </tr>
1286  <tr>
1287    <td>WSI Extension</td>
1288    <td>Acronym for Windowing System Integration.
1289        A Vulkan extension targeting a particular Windowing system and designed
1290        to interface between the Windowing system and Vulkan.<br/>
1291        See
1292        <a href="LoaderApplicationInterface.md#wsi-extensions">WSI Extensions</a>
1293        for more information.
1294    </td>
1295  </tr>
1296  <tr>
1297    <td>Exported Function</td>
1298    <td>A function which is intended to be obtained through the platform specific
1299        dynamic linker, specifically from a Driver or a Layer library.
1300        Functions that are required to be exported are primarily the very first
1301        functions the Loader calls on a Layer or Driver library. <br/>
1302    </td>
1303  </tr>
1304  <tr>
1305    <td>Exposed Function</td>
1306    <td>A function which is intended to be obtained through a Querying Function, such as
1307        `vkGetInstanceProcAddr`.
1308        The exact Querying Function required for a specific exposed function varies
1309        between Layers and Drivers, as well as between interface versions. <br/>
1310    </td>
1311  </tr>
1312  <tr>
1313    <td>Querying Functions</td>
1314    <td>These are functions which allow the Loader to query other functions from
1315        drivers and layers. These functions may be in the Vulkan API but also may be
1316        from the private Loader and Driver Interface or the Loader and Layer Interface. <br/>
1317        These functions are:
1318        `vkGetInstanceProcAddr`, `vkGetDeviceProcAddr`,
1319        `vk_icdGetInstanceProcAddr`, `vk_icdGetPhysicalDeviceProcAddr`, and
1320        `vk_layerGetPhysicalDeviceProcAddr`.
1321    </td>
1322  </tr>
1323</table>
1324