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WebGLShader

The WebGLShader is part of the WebGL API and can either be a vertex or a fragment shader. A WebGLProgram requires both types of shaders.

Description

To create a WebGLShader use WebGLRenderingContext.createShader, then hook up the GLSL source code using WebGLRenderingContext.shaderSource(), and finally invoke WebGLRenderingContext.compileShader() to finish and compile the shader. At this point the WebGLShader is still not in a usable form and must still be attached to a WebGLProgram.

function createShader (gl, sourceCode, type) {
  // Compiles either a shader of type gl.VERTEX_SHADER or gl.FRAGMENT_SHADER
  var shader = gl.createShader( type );
  gl.shaderSource( shader, sourceCode );
  gl.compileShader( shader );

  if ( !gl.getShaderParameter(shader, gl.COMPILE_STATUS) ) {
    var info = gl.getShaderInfoLog( shader );
    throw 'Could not compile WebGL program. \n\n' + info;
  }
  return shader;
}

See WebGLProgram for information on attaching the shaders.

Examples

Creating a vertex shader

Note that there are many other strategies for writing and accessing shader source code strings. These example are for illustration purposes only.

var vertexShaderSource =
  'attribute vec4 position;\n' +
  'void main() {\n' +
  '  gl_Position = position;\n' +
  '}\n';

//Use the createShader function from the example above
var vertexShader = createShader(gl, vertexShaderSource, gl.VERTEX_SHADER)

Creating a fragment shader

var fragmentShaderSource =
  'void main() {\n' +
  '  gl_FragColor = vec4(1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0);\n' +
  '}\n';

//Use the createShader function from the example above
var fragmentShader = createShader(gl, fragmentShaderSource, gl.FRAGMENT_SHADER)

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
WebGL 1.0
The definition of 'WebGLShader' in that specification.
Recommendation Initial definition.

Browser compatibilityUpdate compatibility data on GitHub

Desktop
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari
Basic support 9 12 4 11 12 5.1
Available in workers No No 44
Disabled
44
Disabled
Disabled From version 44: this feature is behind the gfx.offscreencanvas.enabled preference (needs to be set to true). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.
No No No
Mobile
Android webview Chrome for Android Edge Mobile Firefox for Android Opera for Android iOS Safari Samsung Internet
Basic support Yes 25 Yes Yes 12 8.1 Yes
Available in workers No No No No No No No

See also

© 2005–2018 Mozilla Developer Network and individual contributors.
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/WebGLShader