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DirectX Intermediate Language

This document presents the design of the DirectX Intermediate Language (DXIL) for GPU shaders. DXIL is intended to support a direct mapping of the HLSL programming language into Low-Level Virtual Machine Intermediate Representation (LLVM IR), suitable for consumption in GPU drivers. This version of the specification is based on LLVM 3.7 in the use of metadata syntax.

Prior to being converted into the low-level DXIL IR, a higher level IR is generated by codegen which is then transformed into DXIL by the optimizer. This lowers high-level constructs, such as user-defined types, multi-dimensional arrays, matrices, and vectors into simpler abstractions more suitable for fast JIT-ing in the driver compilers. DXIL is derived from LLVM IR.

LLVM is quickly becoming a de facto standard in modern compilation technology. The LLVM framework offers several distinct features, such as a vibrant ecosystem, complete compilation framework, modular design, and reasonable documentation. We can leverage these to achieve two important objectives.

First, unification of shader compilation tool chain. DXIL is a contract between IR producers, such as compilers for HLSL and other domain-specific languages, and IR consumers, such as IHV driver JIT compilers or offline XBOX shader compiler. In addition, the design provides for conversion the current HLSL IL, called DXBC IL in this document, to DXIL.

Second, leveraging the LLVM ecosystem. Microsoft will publicly document DXIL to attract domain language implementers and spur innovation. Using LLVM-based IR offers reduced entry costs for small teams, simply because small teams are likely to use LLVM and Clang as their main compilation framework. We will provide DXIL verifier to check consistency of generated DXIL.

The following diagram shows how some of these components tie together:

HLSL   Other shading langs  DSL          DXBC IL
+      +                    +            +
|      |                    |            |
v      v                    v            v
Clang  Clang                Other Tools  dxbc2dxil
+      +                    +            +
|      |                    |            |
v      v                    v            |
+------+--------------------+---------+  |
|          High level IR              |  |
+-------------------------------------+  |
                  |                      |
                  |                      |
                  v                      |
              Optimizer <-----+ Linker   |
              +      ^             +     |
              |      |             |     |
              |      |             |     |
 +------------v------+-------------v-----v-------+
 |              Low level IR (DXIL)              |
 +------------+----------------------+-----------+
              |                      |
              v                      v
      Driver Compiler             Verifier

The dxbc2dxil element in the diagram is a component that converts existing DXBC shader byte code into DXIL. The Optimizer element is a component that consumes the high level IR, verifies it is valid, optimizes it, and produces a valid DXIL form. The Verifier element is a public component that verifies and signs DXIL. The Linker is a component that combines precompiled DXIL libraries with the entry function to produce a valid shader.

DXIL does not support the following HLSL features that were present in prior implementations.

  • Shader models 9 and below. Microsoft may implement 10level9 shader models via DXIL capability tiers.
  • Effects.
  • HLSL interfaces.
  • Shader compression/decompression.
  • Partial precision. Half data type should be used instead.
  • min10float type. Half data type should be used instead.
  • HLSL uniform parameter qualifier.
  • Current fxc legacy compatibility mode for old shader models (e.g., c-register binding).
  • PDB. Debug Information annotations are used instead.
  • Compute shader model cs_4_0.
  • DXBC label, call, fcall constructs.

The following principles are used to ease reuse with LLVM components and aid extensibility.

  • DXIL uses a subset of LLVM IR constructs that makes sense for HLSL.
  • No modifications to the core LLVM IR; i.e., no new instructions or fundamental types.
  • Additional information is conveyed via metadata, LLVM intrinsics or external functions.
  • Name prefixes: 'llvm.dx.', 'llvm.dxil.', 'dx.', and 'dxil.' are reserved.

LLVM IR has three equivalent forms: human-readable, binary (bitcode), and in-memory. DXIL is a binary format and is based on a subset of LLVM IR bitcode format. The document uses only human-readable form to describe DXIL.

There are three versioning mechanisms in DXIL shaders: shader model, DXIL version, and LLVM bitcode version.

At a high-level, the shader model describes the target execution model and environment; DXIL provides a mechanism to express programs (including rules around expressing data types and operations); and LLVM bitcode provides a way to encode a DXIL program.

The shader model in DXIL is similar to DXBC shader model. A shader model specifies the execution model, the set of capabilities that shader instructions can use and the constraints that a shader program must adhere to.

The shader model is specified as a named metadata in DXIL:

!dx.shaderModel = !{ !0 }
!0 = !{ !"<shadelModelName>", i32 <major>, i32 <minor> }

The following values of <shaderModelName>_<major>_<minor> are supported:

The DXIL verifier ensures that DXIL conforms to the specified shader model.

For shader models prior to 6.0, only the rules applicable to the DXIL representation are valid. For example, the limits on maximum number of resources is honored, but the limits on registers aren't because DXIL does not have a representation for registers.

The primary mechanism to evolve HLSL capabilities is through shader models. However, DXIL version is reserved for additional flexibility of future extensions. There are two currently defined versions: 1.0 and 1.1.

DXIL version has major and minor versions that are specified as named metadata:

!dx.version = !{ !0 }
!0 = !{ i32 <major>, i32 <minor> }

DXIL version must be declared exactly once per LLVM module (translation unit) and is valid for the entire module.

DXIL will evolve in a manner that retains backward compatibility.

Main two features that were introduced for DXIL1.1 (Shader Model 6.1) are view instancing and barycentric coordinates. Specifically, there are following changes to the DXIL representation.

  • New Intrinsics - AttributeAtVertex, ViewID
  • New System Generated Value - SV_Barycentrics
  • New Container Part - ILDN
  • RawBufferLoad and RawBufferStore DXIL operations for ByteAddressBuffer and StructuredBuffer
  • Denorm mode as a function attribute for float32 "fp32-denorm-mode"=<value>

The current version of DXIL is based on LLVM bitcode v3.7. This encoding is necessarily implied by something outside the DXIL module.

An important goal is to enable HLSL to be closer to a strict subset of C/C++. This has implications for DXIL design and future hardware feature requests outlined below.

Resource refers to one of the following:

  • SRV - shader resource view (read-only)
  • UAV - unordered access view (read-write)
  • CBV - constant buffer view (read-only)
  • Sampler

Intrinsics typically refer to operations missing in the core LLVM IR. DXIL represents HLSL built-in functions (also called intrinsics) not as LLVM intrinsics, but rather as external function calls.

DXIL has level of abstraction similar to a 'scalarized' DXBC. DXIL is a lower level IR amenable to fast and robust JIT-ing in driver compilers.

In particular, the following passes are performed to lower the HLSL abstractions down to DXIL:

  • optimize function parameter copies
  • inline functions
  • allocate and transform shader signatures
  • lower matrices, optimizing intermediate storage
  • linearize multi-dimensional arrays and user-defined type accesses
  • scalarize vectors

DXIL operations work with scalar quantities. Several scalar quantities may be grouped together in a struct to represent several return values, which is used for memory operations, e.g., load/store, sample, etc., that benefit from access coalescing.

Metadata, resource declarations, and debugging info may contain vectors to more closely convey source code shape to tools and debuggers.

Future versions of IR may contain vectors or grouping hints for less-than-32-bit quantities, such as half and i16.

DXIL conceptually aligns with DXBC in how different memory types are accessed. Out-of-bounds behavior and various restrictions are preserved.

Indexable thread-local and groupshared variables are represented as variables and accessed via LLVM C-like pointers.

Swizzled resources, such as textures, have opaque memory layouts from a DXIL point of view. Accesses to these resources are done via intrinsics.

There are two layouts for constant buffer memory: (1) legacy, matching DXBC's layout and (2) linear layout. SM6 DXIL uses intrinsics to read cbuffer for either layout.

Shader signatures require packing and are located in a special type of memory that cannot be viewed as linear. Accesses to signature values are done via special intrinsics in DXIL. If a signature parameter needs to be passed to a function, a copy is created first in threadlocal memory and the copy is passed to the function.

Typed buffers represent memory with in-flight data conversion. Typed buffer load/store/atomics are done via special functions in DXIL with element-granularity indexing.

The following pointer types are supported:

  • Non-indexable thread-local variables.
  • Indexable thread-local variables (DXBC x-registers).
  • Groupshared variables (DXBC g-registers).
  • Device memory pointer.
  • Constant-buffer-like memory pointer.

The type of DXIL pointer is differentiated by LLVM addrspace construct. The HLSL compiler will make the best effort to infer the exact pointer addrspace such that a driver compiler can issue the most efficient instruction.

A pointer can come into being in a number of ways:

  • Global Variables.
  • AllocaInst.
  • Synthesized as a result of some pointer arithmetic.

DXIL uses 32-bit pointers in its representation.

Indexable thread-local accesses are done via LLVM pointer and have C-like OOB semantics. Groupshared accesses are done via LLVM pointer too. The origin of a groupshared pointer must be a single TGSM allocation. If a groupshared pointer uses in-bound GEP instruction, it should not OOB. The behavior for an OOB access for in-bound pointer is undefined. For groupshared pointer from regular GEP, OOB will has same behavior as DXBC. Loads return 0 for OOB accesses; OOB stores are silently dropped.

Resource accesses keeps the same out-of-bounds behavior as DXBC. Loads return 0 for OOB accesses; OOB stores are silently dropped.

OOB pointer accesses in SM6.0 and later have undefined (C-like) behavior. LLVM memory optimization passes can be used to optimize such accesses. Where out-of-bound behavior is desired, intrinsic functions are used to access memory.

Intrinsic and resource accesses may imply a wider access than requested by an instruction. DXIL defines memory accesses for i1, i16, i32, i64, f16, f32, f64 on thread local memory, and i32, f32, f64 for memory I/O (that is, groupshared memory and memory accessed via resources such as CBs, UAVs and SRVs).

There is no limit on the number of virtual values in DXIL. The IR is guaranteed to be in an SSA form. For optimized shaders, the optimizer will run -mem2reg LLVM pass as well as perform other memory to register promotions if profitable.

The DXIL control-flow graph must be reducible, as checked by T1-T2 test. DXIL does not preserve structured control flow of DXBC. Preserving structured control-flow property would impose significant burden on third-party tools optimizing to DXIL via LLVM, reducing appeal of DXIL.

DXIL allows fall-through for switch label blocks. This is a difference from DXBC, in which the fall-through is prohibited.

DXIL will not support the DXBC label and call instructions; LLVM functions can be used instead (see below). The primary uses for these are (1) HLSL interfaces, which are not supported, and (2) outlining of case-bodies in a switch statement annotated with [call], which is not a scenario of interest.

Instead of DXBC labels/calls, DXIL supports functions and call instructions. Recursion is not allowed; DXIL validator enforces this.

The functions are regular LLVM functions. Parameters can be passed by-value or by-reference. The functions are to facilitate separate compilation for big, complex shaders. However, driver compilers are free to inline functions as they see fit.

DXIL identifiers must conform to LLVM IR identifier rules.

Identifier mangling rules are the ones used by Clang 3.7 with the HLSL target.

The following identifier prefixes are reserved:

  • dx.*, dxil.*
  • llvm.dx.*, llvm.dxil.*

DXIL will use only 32-bit addresses for pointers. Byte offsets are also 32-bit.

There is no support for the following in DXIL:

  • recursion
  • exceptions
  • indirect function calls and dynamic dispatch

The dx.entryPoints metadata specifies a list of entry point records, one for each entry point. Libraries could specify more than one entry point per module but currently exist outside the DXIL specification; the other shader models must specify exactly one entry point.

For example:

define void @"\01?myfunc1@@YAXXZ"() #0 { ... }
define float @"\01?myfunc2@@YAMXZ"() #0 { ... }

!dx.entryPoints = !{ !1, !2 }

!1 = !{ void  ()* @"\01?myfunc1@@YAXXZ", !"myfunc1", !3, null, null }
!2 = !{ float ()* @"\01?myfunc2@@YAMXZ", !"myfunc2", !5, !6, !7 }

Each entry point metadata record specifies:

  • reference to the entry point function global symbol
  • unmangled name
  • list of signatures
  • list of resources
  • list of tag-value pairs of shader capabilities and other properties

A 'null' value specifies absence of a particular node.

Shader capabilities are properties that are additional to properties dictated by shader model. The list is organized as pairs of i32 tag, followed immediately by the value itself.

The hull shader is represented as two functions, related via metadata: (1) control point phase function, which is the entry point of the hull shader, and (2) patch constant phase function.

For example:

!dx.entryPoints = !{ !1 }
!1 = !{ void ()* @"ControlPointFunc", ..., !2 }  ; shader entry record
!2 = !{ !"HS", !3 }
!3 = !{ void ()* @"PatchConstFunc", ... }        ; additional hull shader state

The patch constant function represents original HLSL computation, and is not separated into fork and join phases, as it is the case in DXBC. The driver compiler may perform such separation if this is profitable for the target GPU.

In DXBC to DXIL conversion, the original patch constant function cannot be recovered during DXBC-to-DXIL conversion. Instead, instructions of each fork and join phases are 'wrapped' by a loop that iterates the corresponding number of phase-instance-count iterations. Thus, fork/join instance ID becomes the loop induction variable. LoadPatchConstant intrinsic (see below) represents load from DXBC vpc register.

The following table summarizes the names of intrinsic functions to load inputs and store outputs of hull and domain shaders. CP stands for Control Point, PC - for Patch Constant.

Operation Control Point (Hull) Patch Constant Domain
Store Input CP      
Load Input CP LoadInput LoadInput  
Store Output CP StoreOutput    
Load Output CP   LoadOutputControlPoint LoadInput
Store PC   StorePatchConstant  
Load PC   LoadPatchConstant LoadPatchConstant
Store Output Vertex     StoreOutput

LoadPatchConstant function in PC stage is generated only by DXBC-to-DXIL converter, to access DXBC vpc registers. HLSL compiler produces IR that references LLVM IR values directly.

Most of LLVM type system constructs are legal in DXIL.

The following types are supported:

  • void
  • metadata
  • i1, i8, i16, i32, i64
  • half, float, double

SM6.0 assumes native hardware support for i32 and float types.

i8 is supported only in a few intrinsics to signify masks, enumeration constant values, or in metadata. It's not supported for memory access or computation by the shader.

HLSL min12int, min16int and min16uint data types are mapped to i16.

half and i16 are treated as corresponding DXBC min-presicion types (min16float, min16int/min16uint) in SM6.0.

The HLSL compiler optimizer treats half, i16 and i8 data as data types natively supported by the hardware; i.e., saturation, range clipping, INF/NaN are done according to the IEEE standard. Such semantics allow the optimizer to reuse LLVM optimization passes.

Hardware support for doubles in optional and is guarded by RequiresHardwareDouble CAP bit.

Hardware support for i64 is optional and is guarded by a CAP bit.

HLSL vectors are scalarized. They do not participate in computation; however, they may be present in declarations to convey original variable layout to tools, debuggers, and reflection.

Future DXIL may add support for <2 x half> and <2 x i16> vectors or hints for packing related half and i16 quantities.

Matrices are lowered to vectors, and are not referenced by instructions. They may be present in declarations to convey original variable layout to tools, debuggers, and reflection.

Instructions may reference only 1D arrays of primitive types. However, complex arrays, e.g., multidimensional arrays or user-defined types, may be present to convey original variable layout to tools, debuggers, and reflection.

Original HLSL UDTs are lowered and are not referenced by instructions. However, they may be present in declarations to convey original variable layout to tools, debuggers, and reflection. Some resource operations return 'grouping' UDTs that group several return values; such UDTs are immediately 'decomposed' into components that are then consumed by other instructions.

Explicit conversions between types are supported via LLVM instructions.

By default, all floating-point HLSL operations are considered 'fast' or non-precise. HLSL and driver compilers are allowed to refactor such operations. Non-precise LLVM instructions: fadd, fsub, fmul, fdiv, frem, fcmp are marked with 'fast' math flags.

HLSL precise type qualifier requires that all operations contributing to the value be IEEE compliant with respect to optimizations. The /Gis compiler switch implicitly declares all variables and values as precise.

Precise behavior is represented in LLVM instructions: fadd, fsub, fmul, fdiv, frem, fcmp by not having 'fast' math flags set. Each relevant call instruction that contributes to computation of a precise value is annotated with dx.precise metadata that indicates that it is illegal for the driver compiler to perform IEEE-unsafe optimizations.

User-defined types are annotated in DXIL to 'attach' additional properties to structure fields. For example, DXIL may contain type annotations of structures and funcitons for reflection purposes:

namespace MyNameSpace {
  struct MyType {
      float field1;
      int2 field2;
  };
}

float main(float col : COLOR) : SV_Target {
  .....
}

!dx.typeAnnotations = !{!3, !7}
!3 = !{i32 0, %"struct.MyNameSpace::MyType" undef, !4}
!4 = !{i32 12, !5, !6}
!5 = !{i32 6, !"field1", i32 3, i32 0, i32 7, i32 9}
!6 = !{i32 6, !"field2", i32 3, i32 4, i32 7, i32 4}
!7 = !{i32 1, void (float, float*)* @"main", !8}
!8 = !{!9, !11, !14}
!9 = !{i32 0, !10, !10}
!10 = !{}
!11 = !{i32 0, !12, !13}
!12 = !{i32 4, !"COLOR", i32 7, i32 9}
!13 = !{i32 0}
!14 = !{i32 1, !15, !13}
!15 = !{i32 4, !"SV_Target", i32 7, i32 9}
!16 = !{null, !"lib.no::entry", null, null, null}

The type/field annotation metadata hierarchy recursively mimics LLVM type hierarchy. dx.typeAnnotations is a metadata of type annotation nodes, where each node represents type annotation of a certain type:

!dx.typeAnnotations = !{!3, !7}

For each type annotation node, the first value represents the type of the annotation:

!3 = !{i32 0, %"struct.MyNameSpace::MyType" undef, !4}
!7 = !{i32 1, void (float, float*)* @"main", !8}
Idx Type
0 Structure Annotation
1 Function Annotation

The second value represents the name, the third is a corresponding type metadata node.

Structure Annotation starts with the size of the structure in bytes, followed by the list of field annotations:

!4 = !{i32 12, !5, !6}
!5 = !{i32 6, !"field1", i32 3, i32 0, i32 7, i32 9}
!6 = !{i32 6, !"field2", i32 3, i32 4, i32 7, i32 4}

Field Annotation is a series of pairs with tag number followed by its value. Field Annotation pair is defined as follows

Idx Type
0 SNorm
1 UNorm
2 Matrix
3 Buffer Offset
4 Semantic String
5 Interpolation Mode
6 Field Name
7 Component Type
8 Precise

Function Annotation is a series of parameter annotations:

!7 = !{i32 1, void (float, float*)* @"main", !8}
!8 = !{!9, !11, !14}

Each Parameter Annotation contains Input/Output type, field annotation, and semantic index:

!9 = !{i32 0, !10, !10}
!10 = !{}
!11 = !{i32 0, !12, !13}
!12 = !{i32 4, !"COLOR", i32 7, i32 9}
!13 = !{i32 0}
!14 = !{i32 1, !15, !13}
!15 = !{i32 4, !"SV_Target", i32 7, i32 9}

Additional shader properties are specified via tag-value pair list, which is the last element in the entry function description record.

Shaders have additional flags that covey their capabilities via tag-value pair with tag kDxilShaderFlagsTag (0), followed by an i64 bitmask integer. The bits have the following meaning:

Bit Description
0 Disable shader optimizations
1 Disable math refactoring
2 Shader uses doubles
3 Force early depth stencil
4 Enable raw and structured buffers
5 Shader uses min-precision, expressed as half and i16
6 Shader uses double extension intrinsics
7 Shader uses MSAD
8 All resources must be bound for the duration of shader execution
9 Enable view port and RT array index from any stage feeding rasterizer
10 Shader uses inner coverage
11 Shader uses stencil
12 Shader uses intrinsics that access tiled resources
13 Shader uses relaxed typed UAV load formats
14 Shader uses Level9 comparison filtering
15 Shader uses up to 64 UAVs
16 Shader uses UAVs
17 Shader uses CS4 raw and structured buffers
18 Shader uses Rasterizer Ordered Views
19 Shader uses wave intrinsics
20 Shader uses int64 instructions

Geometry shader properties are specified via tag-value pair with tag kDxilGSStateTag (1), followed by a list of GS properties. The format of this list is the following.

Idx Type Description
0 i32 Input primitive (InputPrimitive enum value).
1 i32 Max vertex count.
2 i32 Primitive topology for stream 0 (PrimitiveTopology enum value).
3 i32 Primitive topology for stream 1 (PrimitiveTopology enum value).
4 i32 Primitive topology for stream 2 (PrimitiveTopology enum value).
5 i32 Primitive topology for stream 3 (PrimitiveTopology enum value).

Domain shader properties are specified via tag-value pair with tag kDxilDSStateTag (2), followed by a list of DS properties. The format of this list is the following.

Idx Type Description
0 i32 Tessellator domain (TessellatorDomain enum value).
1 i32 Input control point count.

Hull shader properties are specified via tag-value pair with tag kDxilHSStateTag (3), followed by a list of HS properties. The format of this list is the following.

Idx Type Description
0 MDValue Patch constant function (global symbol).
1 i32 Input control point count.
2 i32 Output control point count.
3 i32 Tessellator domain (TessellatorDomain enum value).
4 i32 Tessellator partitioning (TessellatorPartitioning enum value).
5 i32 Tessellator output primitive (TessellatorOutputPrimitive enum value).
6 float Max tessellation factor.

Compute shader has the following tag-value properties.

Tag Value Description
kDxilNumThreadsTag(4) MD list: (i32, i32, i32) Number of threads (X,Y,Z) for compute shader.
kDxilWaveSizeTag MD list: (i32) Wave size the shader is compatible with (optional).

This section formalizes how HLSL shader input and output parameters are expressed in DXIL.

Formal parameters of a shader entry function in HLSL specify how the shader interacts with the graphics pipeline. Input parameters, referred to as an input signature, specify values received by the shader. Output parameters, referred to as an output signature, specify values produced by the shader. The shader compiler maps HLSL input and output signatures into DXIL specifications that conform to hardware constraints outlined in the Direct3D Functional Specification. DXIL specifications are also called signatures.

Signature mapping is a complex process, as there are many constraints. All signature parameters must fit into a finite space of N 4x32-bit registers. For efficiency reasons, parameters are packed together in a way that does not violate specification constraints. The process is called signature packing. Most signatures are tightly packed; however, the VS input signature is not packed, as the values are coming from the Input Assembler (IA) stage rather than the graphics pipeline. Alternately, the PS output signature is allocated to align the SV_Target semantic index with the output register index.

Each HLSL signature parameter is defined via C-like type, interpolation mode, and semantic name and index. The type defines parameter shape, which may be quite complex. Interpolation mode adds to the packing constraints, namely that parameters packed together must have compatible interpolation modes. Semantics are extra names associated with parameters for the following purposes: (1) to specify whether a parameter is as a special System Value (SV) or not, (2) to link parameters to IA or StreamOut API streams, and (3) to aid debugging. Semantic index is used to disambiguate parameters that use the same semantic name, or span multiple rows of the register space.

SV semantics add specific meanings and constraints to associated parameters. A parameter may be supplied by the hardware, and is then known as a System Generated Value (SGV). Alternatively, a parameter may be interpreted by the hardware and is then known as System Interpreted Value (SIV). SGVs and SIVs are pipeline-stage dependent; moreover, some participate in signature packing and some do not. Non-SV semantics always participate in signature packing.

Most System Generated Values (SGV) are loaded using special Dxil intrinsic functions, rather than loading the input from a signature. These usually will not be present in the signature at all. Their presence may be detected by the declaration and use of the special instrinsic function itself. The exceptions to this are notible. In one case they are present and loaded from the signature instead of a special intrinsic because they must be part of the packed signature potentially passed from the prior stage, allowing the prior stage to override these values, such as for SV_PrimitiveID and SV_IsFrontFace that may be written in the the Geometry Shader. In another case, they identify signature elements that still contribute to DXBC signature for informational purposes, but will only use the special intrinsic function to read the value, such as for SV_PrimitiveID for GS input and SampleIndex for PS input.

The classification of behavior for various system values in various signature locations is described in a table organized by SemanticKind and SigPointKind. The SigPointKind is a new classification that uniquely identifies each set of parameters that may be input or output for each entry point. For each combination of SemanticKind and SigPointKind, there is a SemanticInterpretationKind that defines the class of treatment for that location.

Each SigPointKind also has a corresponding element allocation (or packing) behavior called PackingKind. Some SigPointKinds do not result in a signature at all, which corresponds to the packing kind of PackingKind::None.

Signature Points are enumerated as follows in the SigPointKind

ID SigPoint Related ShaderKind PackingKind SignatureKind Description
0 VSIn Invalid Vertex InputAssembler Input Ordinary Vertex Shader input from Input Assembler
1 VSOut Invalid Vertex Vertex Output Ordinary Vertex Shader output that may feed Rasterizer
2 PCIn HSCPIn Hull None Invalid Patch Constant function non-patch inputs
3 HSIn HSCPIn Hull None Invalid Hull Shader function non-patch inputs
4 HSCPIn Invalid Hull Vertex Input Hull Shader patch inputs - Control Points
5 HSCPOut Invalid Hull Vertex Output Hull Shader function output - Control Point
6 PCOut Invalid Hull PatchConstant PatchConstOrPrim Patch Constant function output - Patch Constant data passed to Domain Shader
7 DSIn Invalid Domain PatchConstant PatchConstOrPrim Domain Shader regular input - Patch Constant data plus system values
8 DSCPIn Invalid Domain Vertex Input Domain Shader patch input - Control Points
9 DSOut Invalid Domain Vertex Output Domain Shader output - vertex data that may feed Rasterizer
10 GSVIn Invalid Geometry Vertex Input Geometry Shader vertex input - qualified with primitive type
11 GSIn GSVIn Geometry None Invalid Geometry Shader non-vertex inputs (system values)
12 GSOut Invalid Geometry Vertex Output Geometry Shader output - vertex data that may feed Rasterizer
13 PSIn Invalid Pixel Vertex Input Pixel Shader input
14 PSOut Invalid Pixel Target Output Pixel Shader output
15 CSIn Invalid Compute None Invalid Compute Shader input
16 MSIn Invalid Mesh None Invalid Mesh Shader input
17 MSOut Invalid Mesh Vertex Output Mesh Shader vertices output
18 MSPOut Invalid Mesh Vertex PatchConstOrPrim Mesh Shader primitives output
19 ASIn Invalid Amplification None Invalid Amplification Shader input

Semantic Interpretations are as follows (SemanticInterpretationKind)

ID Name Description
0 NA Not Available
1 SV Normal System Value
2 SGV System Generated Value (sorted last)
3 Arb Treated as Arbitrary
4 NotInSig Not included in signature (intrinsic access)
5 NotPacked Included in signature, but does not contribute to packing
6 Target Special handling for SV_Target
7 TessFactor Special handling for tessellation factors
8 Shadow Shadow element must be added to a signature for compatibility
8 ClipCull Special packing rules for SV_ClipDistance or SV_CullDistance

Semantic Interpretations for each SemanticKind at each SigPointKind are as follows

Semantic VSIn VSOut PCIn HSIn HSCPIn HSCPOut PCOut DSIn DSCPIn DSOut GSVIn GSIn GSOut PSIn PSOut CSIn MSIn MSOut MSPOut ASIn
Arbitrary Arb Arb NA NA Arb Arb Arb Arb Arb Arb Arb NA Arb Arb NA NA NA Arb Arb NA
VertexID SV NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
InstanceID SV Arb NA NA Arb Arb NA NA Arb Arb Arb NA Arb Arb NA NA NA NA NA NA
Position Arb SV NA NA SV SV Arb Arb SV SV SV NA SV SV NA NA NA SV NA NA
RenderTargetArrayIndex Arb SV NA NA SV SV Arb Arb SV SV SV NA SV SV NA NA NA NA SV NA
ViewPortArrayIndex Arb SV NA NA SV SV Arb Arb SV SV SV NA SV SV NA NA NA NA SV NA
ClipDistance Arb ClipCull NA NA ClipCull ClipCull Arb Arb ClipCull ClipCull ClipCull NA ClipCull ClipCull NA NA NA ClipCull NA NA
CullDistance Arb ClipCull NA NA ClipCull ClipCull Arb Arb ClipCull ClipCull ClipCull NA ClipCull ClipCull NA NA NA ClipCull NA NA
OutputControlPointID NA NA NA NotInSig NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
DomainLocation NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NotInSig NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
PrimitiveID NA NA NotInSig NotInSig NA NA NA NotInSig NA NA NA Shadow SGV SGV NA NA NA NA SV NA
GSInstanceID NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NotInSig NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
SampleIndex NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Shadow _41 NA NA NA NA NA NA
IsFrontFace NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA SGV SGV NA NA NA NA NA NA
Coverage NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NotInSig _50 NotPacked _41 NA NA NA NA NA
InnerCoverage NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NotInSig _50 NA NA NA NA NA NA
Target NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Target NA NA NA NA NA
Depth NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NotPacked NA NA NA NA NA
DepthLessEqual NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NotPacked _50 NA NA NA NA NA
DepthGreaterEqual NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NotPacked _50 NA NA NA NA NA
StencilRef NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NotPacked _50 NA NA NA NA NA
DispatchThreadID NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NotInSig NotInSig NA NA NotInSig
GroupID NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NotInSig NotInSig NA NA NotInSig
GroupIndex NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NotInSig NotInSig NA NA NotInSig
GroupThreadID NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NotInSig NotInSig NA NA NotInSig
TessFactor NA NA NA NA NA NA TessFactor TessFactor NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
InsideTessFactor NA NA NA NA NA NA TessFactor TessFactor NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
ViewID NotInSig _61 NA NotInSig _61 NotInSig _61 NA NA NA NotInSig _61 NA NA NA NotInSig _61 NA NotInSig _61 NA NA NotInSig NA NA NA
Barycentrics NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NotPacked _61 NA NA NA NA NA NA
ShadingRate NA SV _64 NA NA SV _64 SV _64 NA NA SV _64 SV _64 SV _64 NA SV _64 SV _64 NA NA NA NA SV NA
CullPrimitive NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NotInSig NA NA NA NA NotPacked NA

Below is a vertex shader example that is used for illustration throughout this section:

struct Foo {
  float a;
  float b[2];
};

struct VSIn {
  uint    vid     : SV_VertexID;
  float3  pos     : Position;
  Foo     foo[3]  : SemIn1;
  float   f       : SemIn10;
};

struct VSOut
{
  float   f       : SemOut1;
  Foo     foo[3]  : SemOut2;
  float4  pos     : SV_Position;
};

void main(in  VSIn  In,        // input  signature
          out VSOut Out)       // output signature
{
  ...
}

Signature packing must be efficient. It should use as few registers as possible, and the packing algorithm should run in reasonable time. The complication is that the problem is NP complete, and the algorithm needs to resort to using a heuristic.

While the details of the packing algorithm are not important at the moment, it is important to outline some concepts related to how a packed signature is represented in DXIL. Packing is further complicated by the complexity of parameter shapes induced by the C/C++ type system. In the example above, fields of Out.foo array field are actually arrays themselves, strided in memory. Allocating such strided shapes efficiently is hard. To simplify packing, the first step is to break user-defined (struct) parameters into constituent components and to make strided arrays contiguous. This preparation step enables the algorithm to operate on dense rectangular shapes, which we call signature elements. The output signature in the example above has the following elements: float Out_f, float Out_foo_a[3], float Out_foo_b[2][3], and float4 pos. Each element is characterized by the number of rows and columns. These are 1x1, 3x1, 6x1, and 1x4, respectively. The packing algorithm reduces to fitting these elements into Nx4 register space, satisfying all packing-compatibility constraints.

Each signature element is represented in DXIL as a metadata record.

For above example output signature, the element records are as follows:

;  element ID, semantic name, etype, sv, s.idx, interp,  rows, cols, start row, col, ext. list
!20 = !{i32 6, !"SemOut",      i8 0, i8 0, !40,   i8 2, i32 1, i8 1, i32 1,    i8 2, null}
!21 = !{i32 7, !"SemOut",      i8 0, i8 0, !41,   i8 2, i32 3, i8 1, i32 1,    i8 1, null}
!22 = !{i32 8, !"SemOut",      i8 0, i8 0, !42,   i8 2, i32 6, i8 1, i32 1,    i8 0, null}
!23 = !{i32 9, !"SV_Position", i8 0, i8 3, !43,   i8 2, i32 1, i8 4, i32 0,    i8 0, null}

A record contains the following fields.

Idx Type Description
0 i32 Unique signature element record ID, used to identify the element in operations.
1 String metadata Semantic name.
2 i8 ComponentType (enum value).
3 i8 SemanticKind (enum value).
4 Metadata Metadata list that enumerates all semantic indexes of the flattened parameter.
5 i8 InterpolationMode (enum value).
6 i32 Number of element rows.
7 i8 Number of element columns.
8 i32 Starting row of element packing location.
9 i8 Starting column of element packing location.
10 Metadata Metadata list of additional tag-value pairs; can be 'null' or empty.

Semantic name system values always start with 'S', 'V', '_' , and it is illegal to start a user semantic with this prefix. Non-SVs can be ignored by drivers. Debug layers may use these to help validate signature compatibility between stages.

The last metadata list is used to specify additional properties and future extensions.

A shader typically has two signatures: input and output, while domain shader has an additional patch constant signature. The signatures are composed of signature element records and are attached to the shader entry metadata. The examples below clarify metadata details.

Vertex shader HLSL

Here is the HLSL of the above vertex shader. The semantic index assignment is explained in section below:

struct Foo
{
  float a;
  float b[2];
};

struct VSIn
{
  uint    vid     : SV_VertexID;
  float3  pos     : Position;
  Foo     foo[3]  : SemIn1;
    // semantic index assignment:
    // foo[0].a     : SemIn1
    // foo[0].b[0]  : SemIn2
    // foo[0].b[1]  : SemIn3
    // foo[1].a     : SemIn4
    // foo[1].b[0]  : SemIn5
    // foo[1].b[1]  : SemIn6
    // foo[2].a     : SemIn7
    // foo[2].b[0]  : SemIn8
    // foo[2].b[1]  : SemIn9
  float   f       : SemIn10;
};

struct VSOut
{
  float   f       : SemOut1;
  Foo     foo[3]  : SemOut2;
    // semantic index assignment:
    // foo[0].a     : SemOut2
    // foo[0].b[0]  : SemOut3
    // foo[0].b[1]  : SemOut4
    // foo[1].a     : SemOut5
    // foo[1].b[0]  : SemOut6
    // foo[1].b[1]  : SemOut7
    // foo[2].a     : SemOut8
    // foo[2].b[0]  : SemOut9
    // foo[2].b[1]  : SemOut10
  float4  pos     : SV_Position;
};

void main(in  VSIn  In,        // input  signature
          out VSOut Out)       // output signature
{
  ...
}

The input signature is packed to be compatible with the IA stage. A packing algorithm must assign the following starting positions to the input signature elements:

Input element Rows Columns Start row Start column
uint VSIn.vid 1 1 0 0
float3 VSIn.pos 1 3 1 0
float VSIn.foo.a[3] 3 1 2 0
float VSIn.foo.b[6] 6 1 5 0
float VSIn.f 1 1 11 0

A reasonable packing algorithm would assign the following starting positions to the output signature elements:

Input element Rows Columns Start row Start column
uint VSOut.f 1 1 1 2
float VSOut.foo.a[3] 3 1 1 1
float VSOut.foo.b[6] 6 1 1 0
float VSOut.pos 1 4 0 0

Semantic index assignment

Semantic index assignment in DXIL is exactly the same as for DXBC. Semantic index assignment, abbreviated s.idx above, is a consecutive enumeration of all fields under the same semantic name as if the signature were packed for the IA stage. That is, given a complex signature element, e.g., VSOut's foo[3] with semantic name SemOut and starting index 2, the element is flattened into individual fields: foo[0].a, foo[0].b[0], ..., foo[2].b[1], and the fields receive consecutive semantic indexes 2, 3, ..., 10, respectively. Semantic-index pairs are used to set up the IA stage and to capture values of individual signature registers via the StreamOut API.

DXIL for VS signatures

The corresponding DXIL metadata is presented below:

!dx.entryPoints = !{ !1 }
!1 = !{ void @main(), !"main", !2, null, null }
; Signatures: In,   Out,  Patch Constant (optional)
!2 = !{       !3,   !4,   null }

; Input signature (packed accordiong to IA rules)
!3 = !{ !10, !11, !12, !13, !14 }
; element idx, semantic name, etype, sv, s.idx, interp,  rows, cols, start row, col, ext. list
!10 = !{i32 1, !"SV_VertexID", i8 0, i8 1, !30,  i32 0, i32 1, i8 1, i32 0,    i8 0, null}
!11 = !{i32 2, !"Position",    i8 0, i8 0, !30,  i32 0, i32 1, i8 3, i32 1,    i8 0, null}
!12 = !{i32 3, !"SemIn",       i8 0, i8 0, !32,  i32 0, i32 3, i8 1, i32 2,    i8 0, null}
!13 = !{i32 4, !"SemIn",       i8 0, i8 0, !33,  i32 0, i32 6, i8 1, i32 5,    i8 0, null}
!14 = !{i32 5, !"SemIn",       i8 0, i8 0, !34,  i32 0, i32 1, i8 1, i32 11,   i8 0, null}
; semantic index assignment:
!30 = !{ i32 0 }
!32 = !{ i32 1, i32 4, i32 7 }
!33 = !{ i32 2, i32 3, i32 5, i32 6, i32 8, i32 9 }
!34 = !{ i32 10 }

; Output signature (tightly packed according to pipeline stage packing rules)
!4 = !{ !20, !21, !22, !23 }
;  element ID, semantic name, etype, sv, s.idx, interp,  rows, cols, start row, col, ext. list
!20 = !{i32 6, !"SemOut",      i8 0, i8 0, !40,  i32 2, i32 1, i8 1, i32 1,    i8 2, null}
!21 = !{i32 7, !"SemOut",      i8 0, i8 0, !41,  i32 2, i32 3, i8 1, i32 1,    i8 1, null}
!22 = !{i32 8, !"SemOut",      i8 0, i8 0, !42,  i32 2, i32 6, i8 1, i32 1,    i8 0, null}
!23 = !{i32 9, !"SV_Position", i8 0, i8 3, !43,  i32 2, i32 1, i8 4, i32 0,    i8 0, null}
; semantic index assignment:
!40 = !{ i32 1 }
!41 = !{ i32 2, i32 5, i32 8 }
!42 = !{ i32 3, i32 4, i32 6, i32 7, i32 9, i32 10 }
!43 = !{ i32 0 }

Hull shader example

A hull shader (HS) is defined by two entry point functions: control point (CP) function to compute control points, and patch constant (PC) function to compute patch constant data, including the tessellation factors. The inputs to both functions are the input control points for an entire patch, and therefore each element may be indexed by row and, in addition, is indexed by vertex.

Here is an HS example entry point metadata and signature list:

; !105 is extended parameter list containing reference to HS State:
!101 = !{ void @HSMain(), !"HSMain", !102, null, !105 }
; Signatures: In,   Out,  Patch Constant
!102 = !{     !103, !104, !204 }

The entry point record specifies: (1) CP function HSMain as the main symbol, and (2) PC function via optional metadata node !105.

CP-input signature describing one input control point:

!103 = !{ !110, !111 }
;  element ID, semantic name, etype, sv, s.idx, interp,  rows, cols, start row, col, ext. list
!110= !{i32 1, !"SV_Position", i8 0, i8 3, !130, i32 0, i32 1, i8 4, i32 0,    i8 0, null}
!111= !{i32 2, !"array",       i8 0, i8 0, !131, i32 0, i32 4, i8 3, i32 1,    i8 0, null}
; semantic indexing for flattened elements:
!130 = !{ i32 0 }
!131 = !{ i32 0, i32 1, i32 2, i32 3 }

Note that SV_OutputControlPointID and SV_PrimitiveID input elements are SGVs loaded through special Dxil intrinsics, and are not present in the signature at all. These have a semantic interpretation of SemanticInterpretationKind::NotInSig.

CP-output signature describing one output control point:

!104 = !{ !120, !121 }
;  element ID, semantic name, etype, sv, s.idx, interp,  rows, cols, start row, col, ext. list
!120= !{i32 3, !"SV_Position", i8 0, i8 3, !130, i32 0, i32 1, i8 4, i32 0,    i8 0, null}
!121= !{i32 4, !"array",       i8 0, i8 0, !131, i32 0, i32 4, i8 3, i32 1,    i8 0, null}

Hull shaders require an extended parameter that defines extra state:

; extended parameter HS State
!105 = !{ i32 3, !201 }

; HS State record defines patch constant function and other properties
; Patch Constant Function, in CP count, out CP count, tess domain, tess part, out prim, max tess factor
!201 = !{  void @PCMain(), 4,           4,            3,           1,         3,        16.0 }

PC-output signature:

!204 = !{ !220, !221, !222 }
;  element ID, semantic name,         etype,   sv, s.idx,  interp, rows, cols, start row, col, ext. list
!220= !{i32 3, !"SV_TessFactor",       i8 0, i8 25, !130,  i32 0, i32 4, i8 1, i32 0, i8 3, null}
!221= !{i32 4, !"SV_InsideTessFactor", i8 0, i8 26, !231,  i32 0, i32 2, i8 1, i32 4, i8 3, null}
!222= !{i32 5, !"array",               i8 0, i8 0,  !131,  i32 0, i32 4, i8 3, i32 0, i8 0, null}
; semantic indexing for flattened elements:
!231 = !{ i32 0, i32 1 }

There are no function parameters or variables that correspond to signature elements. Instead loadInput and storeOutput functions are used to access signature element values in operations. The accesses are scalar.

These are the operation signatures:

; overloads: SM5.1: f16|f32|i16|i32,  SM6.0: f16|f32|f64|i8|i16|i32|i64
declare float @dx.op.loadInput.f32(
    i32,                            ; opcode
    i32,                            ; input ID
    i32,                            ; row (relative to start row of input ID)
    i8,                             ; column (relative to start column of input ID), constant in [0,3]
    i32)                            ; vertex index

; overloads: SM5.1: f16|f32|i16|i32,  SM6.0: f16|f32|f64|i8|i16|i32|i64
declare void @dx.op.storeOutput.f32(
    i32,                            ; opcode
    i32,                            ; output ID
    i32,                            ; row (relative to start row of output ID)
    i8,                             ; column (relative to start column of output ID), constant in [0,3]
    float)                          ; value to store

LoadInput/storeOutput takes input/output element ID, which is the unique ID of a signature element metadata record. The row parameter is the array element row index from the start of the element; the register index is obtained by adding the start row of the element and the row parameter value. Similarly, the column parameter is relative column index; the packed register component is obtained by adding the start component of the element (packed col) and the column value. Several overloads exist to access elements of different primitive types. LoadInput takes an additional vertex index parameter that represents vertex index for DS CP-inputs and GS inputs; vertex index must be undef in other cases.

Signature elements must be packed into a space of N 4-32-bit registers according to runtime constraints. DXIL contains packed signatures. The packing algorithm is more aggressive than that for DX11. However, DXIL packing is only a suggestion to the driver implementation. Driver compilers can rearrange signature elements as they see fit, while preserving compatibility of connected pipeline stages. DXIL is designed in such a way that it is easy to 'relocate' signature elements - loadInput/storeOutput row and column indices do not need to change since they are relative to the start row/column for each element.

Signature packing types

Two pipeline stages can connect in four different ways, resulting in four packing types.

  1. Input Assembly: VS input only * Elements all map to unique registers, they may not be packed together. * Interpolation mode is not used.
  2. Connects to Rasterizer: VS output, HS CP-input/output and PC-input, DS CP-input/output, GS input/output, PS input * Elements can be packed according to constraints. * Interpolation mode is used and must be consistent between connecting signatures. * While HS CP-output and DS CP-input signatures do not go through the rasterizer, they are still treated as such. The reason is the pass-through HS case, in which HS CP-input and HS CP-output must have identical packing for efficiency.
  3. Patch Constant: HS PC-output, DS PC-input * SV_TessFactor and SV_InsideTessFactor are the only SVs relevant here, and this is the only location where they are legal. These have special packing considerations. * Interpolation mode is not used.
  4. Pixel Shader Output: PS output only * Only SV_Target maps to output register space. * No packing is performed, semantic index corresponds to render target index.

Packing constraints

The packing algorithm is stricter and more aggressive in DXIL than in DXBC, although still compatible. In particular, array signature elements are not broken up into scalars, even if each array access can be disambiguated to a literal index. DXIL and DXBC signature packing are not identical, so linking them together into a single pipeline is not supported across compiler generations.

The row dimension of a signature element represents an index range. If constraints permit, two adjacent or overlapping index ranges are coalesced into a single index range.

Packing constraints are as follows:

  1. A register must have only one interpolation mode for all 4 components.
  2. Register components containing SVs must be to the right of components containing non-SVs.
  3. SV_ClipDistance and SV_CullDistance have additional constraints: a. May be packed together b. Must occupy a maximum of 2 registers (8-components) c. SV_ClipDistance must have linear interpolation mode
  4. Registers containing SVs may not be within an index range, with the exception of Tessellation Factors (TessFactors).
  5. If an index range R1 overlaps with a TessFactor index range R2, R1 must be contained within R2. As a consequence, outside and inside TessFactors occupy disjoint index ranges when packed.
  6. Non-TessFactor index ranges are combined into a larger range, if they overlap.
  7. SGVs must be packed after all non-SGVs have been packed. If there are several SGVs, they are packed in the order of HLSL declaration.

Packing for SGVs

Non-SGV portions of two connecting signatures must match; however, SGV portions don't have to. An example would be a PS declaring SV_PrimitiveID as an input. If VS connects to PS, PS's SV_PrimitiveID value is synthesized by hardware; moreover, it is illegal to output SV_PrimitiveID from a VS. If GS connects PS, GS may declare SV_PrimitiveID as its output.

Unfortunately, SGV specification creates a complication for separate compilation of connecting shaders. For example, GS outputs SV_PrimitiveID, and PS inputs SV_IsFrontFace and SV_PrimitiveID in this order. The positions of SV_PrimitiveID are incompatible in GS and PS signatures. Not much can be done about this ambiguity in SM5.0 and earlier; the programmers will have to rely on SDKLayers to catch potential mismatch.

SM5.1 and later shaders work on D3D12+ runtime that uses PSO objects to describe pipeline state. Therefore, a driver compiler has access to both connecting shaders during compilation, even though the HLSL compiler does not. The driver compiler can resolve SGV ambiguity in signatures easily. For SM5.1 and later, the HLSL compiler will ensure that declared SGVs fit into packed signature; however, it will set SGV's start row-column location to (-1, 0) such that the driver compiler must resolve SGV placement during PSO compilation.

All global resources referenced by entry points of an LLVM module are described via named metadata dx.resources, which consists of four metadata lists of resource records:

!dx.resources = !{ !1, !2, !3, !4 }

Resource lists are as follows.

Idx Type Description
0 Metadata SRVs - shader resource views.
1 Metadata UAVs - unordered access views.
2 Metadata CBVs - constant buffer views.
3 Metadata Samplers.

Each resource list contains resource records. Each resource record contains fields that are common for each resource type, followed by fields specific to each resource type, followed by a metadata list of tag/value pairs, which can be used to specify additional properties or future extensions and may be null or empty.

Common fields:

Idx Type Description
0 i32 Unique resource record ID, used to identify the resource record in createHandle operation.
1 Pointer Pointer to a global constant symbol with the original shape of resource and element type.
2 Metadata string Name of resource variable.
3 i32 Bind space ID of the root signature range that corresponds to this resource.
4 i32 Bind lower bound of the root signature range that corresponds to this resource.
5 i32 Range size of the root signature range that corresponds to this resource.

When the shader has reflection information, the name is the original, unmangled HLSL name. If reflection is stripped, the name is empty string.

SRV-specific fields:

Idx Type Description
6 i32 SRV resource shape (enum value).
7 i32 SRV sample count.
8 Metadata Metadata list of additional tag-value pairs.

SRV-specific tag/value pairs:

Idx Tag Type Resource Type Description
0 0 i32 Any resource, except RawBuffer and StructuredBuffer Element type.
1 1 i32 StructuredBuffer Element stride or StructureBuffer, in bytes.

The symbol names for the are kDxilTypedBufferElementTypeTag (0) and kDxilStructuredBufferElementStrideTag (1).

UAV-specific fields:

Idx Type Description
6 i32 UAV resource shape (enum value).
7 i1 1 - globally-coherent UAV; 0 - otherwise.
8 i1 1 - UAV has counter; 0 - otherwise.
9 i1 1 - UAV is ROV (rasterizer ordered view); 0 - otherwise.
10 Metadata Metadata list of additional tag-value pairs.

UAV-specific tag/value pairs:

Idx Tag Type Resource Type Description
0 0 i32 RW resource, except RWRawBuffer and RWStructuredBuffer Element type.
1 1 i32 RWStructuredBuffer Element stride or StructureBuffer, in bytes.

The symbol names for the are kDxilTypedBufferElementTypeTag (0) and kDxilStructuredBufferElementStrideTag (1).

CBV-specific fields:

Idx Type Description
6 i32 Constant buffer size in bytes.
7 Metadata Metadata list of additional tag-value pairs.

Sampler-specific fields:

Idx Type Description
6 i32 Sampler type (enum value).
7 Metadata Metadata list of additional tag-value pairs.

The following example demonstrates SRV metadata:

; Original HLSL
; Texture2D<float4> MyTexture2D : register(t0, space0);
; StructuredBuffer<NS1::MyType1> MyBuffer[2][3] : register(t1, space0);

!1 = !{ !2, !3 }

; Scalar resource: Texture2D<float4> MyTexture2D.
%dx.types.ResElem.v4f32 = type { <4 x float> }
@MyTexture2D = external addrspace(1) constant %dx.types.ResElem.v4f32, align 16
!2 = !{ i32 0, %dx.types.ResElem.v4f32 addrspace(1)* @MyTexture2D, !"MyTexture2D",
        i32 0, i32 0, i32 1, i32 2, i32 0, null }

; Array resource: StructuredBuffer<MyType1> MyBuffer[2][3].
%struct.NS1.MyType1 = type { float, <2 x i32> }
%dx.types.ResElem.NS1.MyType1 = type { %struct.NS1.MyType1 }
@MyBuffer = external addrspace(1) constant [2x [3 x %dx.types.ResElem.NS1.MyType1]], align 16
!3 = !{ i32 1, [2 x [3 x %dx.types.ResElem.NS1.MyType1]] addrspace(1)* @MyBuffer, !"MyBuffer",
        i32 0, i32 1, i32 6, i32 11, i32 0, null }

The type name of the variable is constructed by appending the element name (primitive, vector or UDT name) to dx.types.ResElem prefix. The type configuration of the resource range variable conveys (1) resource range shape and (2) resource element type.

Resource reflection data is conveyed via the resource's metadata record and global, external variable. The metadata record contains the original HLSL name, root signature range information, and the reference to the global resource variable declaration. The resource variable declaration conveys resource range shape, resource type and resource element type.

The following disassembly provides an example:

; Scalar resource: Texture2D<float4> MyTexture2D.
%dx.types.ResElem.v4f32 = type { <4 x float> }
@MyTexture2D = external addrspace(1) constant %dx.types.ResElem.v4f32, align 16
!0 = !{ i32 0, %dx.types.ResElem.v4f32 addrspace(1)* @MyTexture2D, !"MyTexture2D",
        i32 0, i32 3, i32 1, i32 2, i32 0, null }

; struct MyType2 { float4 field1; int2 field2; };
; Constant buffer: ConstantBuffer<MyType2> MyCBuffer1[][3] : register(b5, space7)
%struct.MyType2 = type { <4 x float>, <2 x i32> }
; Type reflection information (optional)
!struct.MyType2 = !{ !1, !2 }
!1 = !{ !"field1", null }
!2 = !{ !"field2", null }

%dx.types.ResElem.MyType1 = type { %struct.MyType2 }

@MyCBuffer1 = external addrspace(1) constant [0 x [3 x %dx.types.ResElem.MyType2]], align 16

!3 = !{ i32 0, [0 x [3 x %dx.types.ResElem.MyType1]] addrspace(1)* @MyCBuffer1, !"MyCBuffer1",
        i32 7, i32 5, i32 -1, null }

The reflection information can be removed from DXIL by obfuscating the resource HLSL name and resource variable name as well as removing reflection type annotations, if any.

Operations involving shader resources and samplers are expressed via external function calls.

Below is an example for the sample method:

%dx.types.ResRet.f32 = type { float, float, float, float, i32 }

declare %dx.types.ResRet.f32 @dx.op.sample.f32(
    i32,                      ; opcode
    %dx.types.ResHandle,      ; texture handle
    %dx.types.SamplerHandle,  ; sampler handle
    float,                    ; coordinate c0
    float,                    ; coordinate c1
    float,                    ; coordinate c2
    float,                    ; coordinate c3
    i32,                      ; offset o0
    i32,                      ; offset o1
    i32,                      ; offset o2
    float)                    ; clamp

The method always returns five scalar values that are aggregated in dx.types.ResRet.f32 type and extracted into scalars via LLVM's extractelement right after the call. The first four elements are sample values and the last field is the status of operation for tiled resources. Some return values may be unused, which is easily determined from the SSA form. The driver compiler is free to specialize the sample instruction to the most efficient form depending on which return values are used in computation.

If applicable, each intrinsic is overloaded on return type, e.g.:

%dx.types.ResRet.f32 = type { float, float, float, float, i32 }
%dx.types.ResRet.f16 = type { half, half, half, half, i32 }

declare %dx.types.ResRet.f32 @dx.op.sample.f32(...)
declare %dx.types.ResRet.f16 @dx.op.sample.f16(...)

Wherever applicable, the return type indicates the "precision" at which the operation is executed. For example, sample intrinsic that returns half data is allowed to be executed at half precision, assuming hardware supports this; however, if the return type is float, the sample operation must be executed in float precision. If lower-precision is not supported by hardware, it is allowed to execute a higher-precision variant of the operation.

The opcode parameter uniquely identifies the sample operation. More details can be found in the Instructions section. The value of opcode is the same for all overloads of an operation.

Some resource operations are "polymorphic" with respect to resource types, e.g., dx.op.sample.f32 operates on several resource types: Texture1D[Array], Texture2D[Array], Texture3D, TextureCUBE[Array].

Each resource/sampler is represented by a pair of i32 values. The first value is a unique (virtual) resource range ID, which corresponds to HLSL declaration of a resource/sampler. Range ID must be a constant for SM5.1 and below. The second integer is a 0-based index within the range. The index must be constant for SM5.0 and below.

Both indices can be dynamic for SM6 and later to provide flexibility in usage of resources/samplers in control flow, e.g.:

Texture2D<float4> a[8], b[8];
...
Texture2D<float4> c;
if(cond)      // arbitrary expression
  c = a[idx1];
else
  c = b[idx2];
... = c.Sample(...);

Resources/samplers used in such a way must reside in descriptor tables (cannot be root descriptors); this will be validated during shader and root signature setup.

The DXIL verifier will ensure that all leaf-ranges (a and b above) of such a resource/sampler live-range have the same resource/sampler type and element type. If applicable, this constraint may be relaxed in the future. In particular, it is logical from HLSL programmer point of view to issue loads on compatible resource types, e.g., Texture2D, RWTexture2D, ROVTexture2D:

Texture2D<float4> a[8];
RWTexture2D<float4> b[6];
...
Texture2D<float4> c;
if(cond)      // arbitrary expression
 c = a[idx1];
else
 c = b[idx2];
... = c.Load(...);

LLVM's undef value is used for unused input parameters. For example, coordinates c2 and c3 in an dx.op.sample.f32 call for Texture2D are undef, as only two coordinates c0 and c1 are required.

If the clamp parameter is unused, its default value is 0.0f.

Resource operations are not overloaded on input parameter types. For example, dx.op.sample.f32 operation does not have an overload where coordinates have half, rather than float, data type. Instead, the precision of input arguments can be inferred from the IR via a straightforward lookup along an SSA edge, e.g.:

%c0 = fpext half %0 to float
%res = call %dx.types.ResRet.f32 @dx.op.sample.f32(..., %c0, ...)

SSA form makes it easy to infer that value %0 of type half got promoted to float. The driver compiler can tailor the instruction to the most efficient form for the target hardware.

The section lists resource access operations. The specification is given for float return type, if applicable. The list of all overloads can be found in the appendix on intrinsic operations.

Some general rules to interpret resource operations:

  • The number of active (meaningful) return components is determined by resource element type. Other return values must be unused; validator ensures this.
  • GPU instruction needs status only if the status return value is used in the program, which is determined through SSA.
  • Overload suffixes are specified for each resource operation.
  • Type of resource determines which inputs must be defined. Unused inputs are passed typed LLVM 'undef' values. This is checked by the DXIL validator.
  • Offset input parameters are i8 constants in [-8,+7] range; default offset is 0.

Resource operation return types

Many resource operations return several scalar values as well as status for tiled resource access. The return values are grouped into a helper structure type, as this is LLVM's way to return several values from the operation. After an operation, helper types are immediately decomposed into scalars, which are used in further computation.

The defined helper types are listed below:

%dx.types.ResRet.i8  = type { i8, i8, i8, i8, i32 }
%dx.types.ResRet.i16 = type { i16, i16, i16, i16, i32 }
%dx.types.ResRet.i32 = type { i32, i32, i32, i32, i32 }
%dx.types.ResRet.i64 = type { i64, i64, i64, i64, i32 }
%dx.types.ResRet.f16 = type { half, half, half, half, i32 }
%dx.types.ResRet.f32 = type { float, float, float, float, i32 }
%dx.types.ResRet.f64 = type { double, double, double, double, i32 }

%dx.types.Dimensions = type { i32, i32, i32, i32 }
%dx.types.SamplePos  = type { float, float }

Resource handles

Resources are identified via handles passed to resource operations. Handles are represented via opaque type:

%dx.types.Handle     = type { i8 * }

The handles are created out of resource range ID and index into the range:

declare %dx.types.Handle @dx.op.createHandle(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    i8,                   ; resource class: SRV=0, UAV=1, CBV=2, Sampler=3
    i32,                  ; resource range ID (constant)
    i32,                  ; index into the range
    i1)                   ; non-uniform resource index: false or true

Resource class is a constant that indicates which metadata list (SRV, UAV, CBV, Sampler) to use for property queries.

Resource range ID is an i32 constant, which is the position of the metadata record in the corresponding metadata list. Range IDs start with 0 and are contiguous within each list.

Index is an i32 value that may be a constant or a value computed by the shader.

CBufferLoadLegacy

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

 ; overloads: SM5.1: f32|i32|f64,  future SM: possibly deprecated
%dx.types.CBufRet.f32 = type { float, float, float, float }
declare %dx.types.CBufRet.f32 @dx.op.cbufferLoadLegacy.f32(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; resource handle
    i32)                      ; 0-based row index (row = 16-byte DXBC register)

Valid resource types: ConstantBuffer. Valid shader model: SM5.1 and earlier.

The operation loads four 32-bit values from a constant buffer, which has legacy, 16-byte layout. Values are extracted via "extractvalue" instruction; unused values may be optimized away by the driver compiler. The operation respects SM5.1 and earlier OOB behavior for cbuffers.

CBufferLoad

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

; overloads: SM5.1: f32|i32|f64,  SM6.0: f16|f32|f64|i16|i32|i64
declare float @dx.op.cbufferLoad.f32(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; resource handle
    i32,                      ; byte offset from the start of the buffer memory
    i32)                  ; read alignment

Valid resource types: ConstantBuffer.

The operation loads a value from a constant buffer, which has linear layout, using 1D index: byte offset from the beginning of the buffer memory. The operation respects SM5.1 and earlier OOB behavior for cbuffers.

Read alignment is a constant value identifying what the byte offset alignment is. If the actual byte offset does not have this alignment, the results of this operation are undefined.

GetDimensions

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

declare %dx.types.Dimensions @dx.op.getDimensions(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; resource handle
    i32)                  ; MIP level

This table describes the return component meanings for each resource type { c0, c1, c2, c3 }.

Valid resource types c0 c1 c2 c3
[RW]Texture1D width undef undef MIP levels
[RW]Texture1DArray width array size undef MIP levels
[RW]Texture2D width height undef MIP levels
[RW]Texture2DArray width height array size MIP levels
[RW]Texture3D width height depth MIP levels
[RW]Texture2DMS width height undef samples
[RW]Texture2DMSArray width height array size samples
TextureCUBE width height undef MIP levels
TextureCUBEArray width height array size MIP levels
[RW]TypedBuffer width undef undef undef
[RW]RawBuffer width undef undef undef
[RW]StructuredBuffer width undef undef undef

MIP levels is always undef for RW resources. Undef means the component will not be used. The validator will verify this. There is no GetDimensions that returns float values.

Sample

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

; overloads: SM5.1: f32,  SM6.0: f16|f32
declare %dx.types.ResRet.f32 @dx.op.sample.f32(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; texture handle
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; sampler handle
    float,                ; coordinate c0
    float,                ; coordinate c1
    float,                ; coordinate c2
    float,                ; coordinate c3
    i32,                  ; offset o0
    i32,                  ; offset o1
    i32,                  ; offset o2
    float)                ; clamp
Valid resource type # of active coordinates # of active offsets
Texture1D 1 (c0) 1 (o0)
Texture1DArray 2 (c0, c1 = array slice) 1 (o0)
Texture2D 2 (c0, c1) 2 (o0, o1)
Texture2DArray 3 (c0, c1, c2 = array slice) 2 (o0, o1)
Texture3D 3 (c0, c1, c2) 3 (o0, o1, o2)
TextureCUBE 3 (c0, c1, c2) 3 (o0, o1, o2)
TextureCUBEArray 4 (c0, c1, c2, c3 = array slice) 3 (o0, o1, o2)

SampleBias

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

; overloads: SM5.1: f32,  SM6.0: f16|f32
declare %dx.types.ResRet.f32 @dx.op.sampleBias.f32(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; texture handle
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; sampler handle
    float,                ; coordinate c0
    float,                ; coordinate c1
    float,                ; coordinate c2
    float,                ; coordinate c3
    i32,                  ; offset o0
    i32,                  ; offset o1
    i32,                  ; offset o2
    float,                ; bias: in [-16.f,15.99f]
    float)                ; clamp

Valid resource types and active components/offsets are the same as for the sample operation.

SampleLevel

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

; overloads: SM5.1: f32,  SM6.0: f16|f32
declare %dx.types.ResRet.f32 @dx.op.sampleLevel.f32(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; texture handle
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; sampler handle
    float,                ; coordinate c0
    float,                ; coordinate c1
    float,                ; coordinate c2
    float,                ; coordinate c3
    i32,                  ; offset o0
    i32,                  ; offset o1
    i32,                  ; offset o2
    float)                ; LOD

Valid resource types and active components/offsets are the same as for the sample operation.

SampleGrad

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

; overloads: SM5.1: f32,  SM6.0: f16|f32
declare %dx.types.ResRet.f32 @dx.op.sampleGrad.f32(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; texture handle
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; sampler handle
    float,                ; coordinate c0
    float,                ; coordinate c1
    float,                ; coordinate c2
    float,                ; coordinate c3
    i32,                  ; offset o0
    i32,                  ; offset o1
    i32,                  ; offset o2
    float,                ; ddx0
    float,                ; ddx1
    float,                ; ddx2
    float,                ; ddy0
    float,                ; ddy1
    float,                ; ddy2
    float)                ; clamp

Valid resource types and active components and offsets are the same as for the sample operation. Valid active ddx and ddy are the same as offsets.

SampleCmp

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

; overloads: SM5.1: f32,  SM6.0: f16|f32
declare %dx.types.ResRet.f32 @dx.op.sampleCmp.f32(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; texture handle
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; sampler handle
    float,                ; coordinate c0
    float,                ; coordinate c1
    float,                ; coordinate c2
    float,                ; coordinate c3
    i32,                  ; offset o0
    i32,                  ; offset o1
    i32,                  ; offset o2
    float,                ; compare value
    float)                ; clamp
Valid resource type # of active coordinates # of active offsets
Texture1D 1 (c0) 1 (o0)
Texture1DArray 2 (c0, c1 = array slice) 1 (o0)
Texture2D 2 (c0, c1) 2 (o0, o1)
Texture2DArray 3 (c0, c1, c2 = array slice) 2 (o0, o1)
TextureCUBE 3 (c0, c1, c2) 3 (o0, o1, o2)
TextureCUBEArray 4 (c0, c1, c2, c3 = array slice) 3 (o0, o1, o2)

SampleCmpLevelZero

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

; overloads: SM5.1: f32,  SM6.0: f16|f32
declare %dx.types.ResRet.f32 @dx.op.sampleCmpLevelZero.f32(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; texture handle
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; sampler handle
    float,                ; coordinate c0
    float,                ; coordinate c1
    float,                ; coordinate c2
    float,                ; coordinate c3
    i32,                  ; offset o0
    i32,                  ; offset o1
    i32,                  ; offset o2
    float)                ; compare value

Valid resource types and active components/offsets are the same as for the sampleCmp operation.

TextureLoad

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

; overloads: SM5.1: f32|i32,  SM6.0: f16|f32|i16|i32
declare %dx.types.ResRet.f32 @dx.op.textureLoad.f32(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; texture handle
    i32,                  ; MIP level; sample for Texture2DMS
    i32,                  ; coordinate c0
    i32,                  ; coordinate c1
    i32,                  ; coordinate c2
    i32,                  ; offset o0
    i32,                  ; offset o1
    i32)                  ; offset o2
Valid resource type MIP level # of active coordinates # of active offsets
Texture1D yes 1 (c0) 1 (o0)
RWTexture1D undef 1 (c0) undef
Texture1DArray yes 2 (c0, c1 = array slice) 1 (o0)
RWTexture1DArray undef 2 (c0, c1 = array slice) undef
Texture2D yes 2 (c0, c1) 2 (o0, o1)
RWTexture2D undef 2 (c0, c1) undef
Texture2DArray yes 3 (c0, c1, c2 = array slice) 2 (o0, o1)
RWTexture2DArray undef 3 (c0, c1, c2 = array slice) undef
Texture3D yes 3 (c0, c1, c2) 3 (o0, o1, o2)
RWTexture3D undef 3 (c0, c1, c2) undef

For Texture2DMS:

Valid resource type Sample index # of active coordinate components
Texture2DMS yes 2 (c0, c1)
Texture2DMSArray yes 3 (c0, c1, c2 = array slice)

TextureStore

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

; overloads: SM5.1: f32|i32,  SM6.0: f16|f32|i16|i32
; returns: status
declare void @dx.op.textureStore.f32(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; texture handle
    i32,                  ; coordinate c0
    i32,                  ; coordinate c1
    i32,                  ; coordinate c2
    float,                ; value v0
    float,                ; value v1
    float,                ; value v2
    float,                ; value v3
    i8)                   ; write mask

The write mask indicates which components are written (x - 1, y - 2, z - 4, w - 8), similar to DXBC. The mask must cover all resource components.

Valid resource type # of active coordinate components
RWTexture1D 1 (c0)
RWTexture1DArray 2 (c0, c1 = array slice)
RWTexture2D 2 (c0, c1)
RWTexture2DArray 3 (c0, c1, c2 = array slice)
RWTexture3D 3 (c0, c1, c2)

CalculateLOD

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

; returns: LOD
declare float @dx.op.calculateLOD.f32(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; texture handle
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; sampler handle
    float,                ; coordinate c0, [0.0, 1.0]
    float,                ; coordinate c1, [0.0, 1.0]
    float,                ; coordinate c2, [0.0, 1.0]
    i1)                   ; true - clamped; false - unclamped
Valid resource type # of active coordinates
Texture1D, Texture1DArray 1 (c0)
Texture2D, Texture2DArray 2 (c0, c1)
Texture3D 3 (c0, c1, c2)
TextureCUBE, TextureCUBEArray 3 (c0, c1, c2)

TextureGather

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

; overloads: SM5.1: f32|i32,  SM6.0: f16|f32|i16|i32
declare %dx.types.ResRet.f32 @dx.op.textureGather.f32(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; texture handle
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; sampler handle
    float,                ; coordinate c0
    float,                ; coordinate c1
    float,                ; coordinate c2
    float,                ; coordinate c3
    i32,                  ; offset o0
    i32,                  ; offset o1
    i32)                  ; channel, constant in {0=red,1=green,2=blue,3=alpha}
Valid resource type # of active coordinates # of active offsets
Texture2D 2 (c0, c1) 2 (o0, o1)
Texture2DArray 3 (c0, c1, c2 = array slice) 2 (o0, o1)
TextureCUBE 3 (c0, c1, c2) 0
TextureCUBEArray 4 (c0, c1, c2, c3 = array slice) 0

TextureGatherCmp

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

; overloads: SM5.1: f32|i32,  SM6.0: f16|f32|i16|i32
declare %dx.types.ResRet.f32 @dx.op.textureGatherCmp.f32(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; texture handle
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; sampler handle
    float,                ; coordinate c0
    float,                ; coordinate c1
    float,                ; coordinate c2
    float,                ; coordinate c3
    i32,                  ; offset o0
    i32,                  ; offset o1
    i32,                  ; channel, constant in {0=red,1=green,2=blue,3=alpha}
    float)                ; compare value

Valid resource types and active components/offsets are the same as for the textureGather operation.

Texture2DMSGetSamplePosition

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

declare %dx.types.SamplePos @dx.op.texture2DMSGetSamplePosition(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; texture handle
    i32)                  ; sample ID

Returns sample position of a texture.

RenderTargetGetSamplePosition

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

declare %dx.types.SamplePos @dx.op.renderTargetGetSamplePosition(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    i32)                  ; sample ID

Returns sample position of a render target.

RenderTargetGetSampleCount

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

declare i32 @dx.op.renderTargetGetSampleCount(
    i32)                  ; opcode

Returns sample count of a render target.

BufferLoad

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

; overloads: SM5.1: f32|i32,  SM6.0: f32|i32
; returns: status
declare %dx.types.ResRet.f32 @dx.op.bufferLoad.f32(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; resource handle
    i32,                  ; coordinate c0
    i32)                  ; coordinate c1

The call respects SM5.1 OOB and alignment rules.

Valid resource type # of active coordinates
[RW]TypedBuffer 1 (c0 in elements)
[RW]RawBuffer 1 (c0 in bytes)
[RW]StructuredBuffer 2 (c0 in elements, c1 = byte offset into the element)

RawBufferLoad

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

; overloads: SM5.1: f32|i32,  SM6.0: f32|i32, SM6.2: f16|f32|i16|i32
; returns: status
declare %dx.types.ResRet.f32 @dx.op.rawBufferLoad.f32(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; resource handle
    i32,                  ; coordinate c0 (index)
    i32,                  ; coordinate c1 (elementOffset)
    i8,                   ; mask
    i32,                  ; alignment
)

The call respects SM5.1 OOB and alignment rules.

Valid resource type # of active coordinates
[RW]RawBuffer 1 (c0 in bytes)
[RW]StructuredBuffer 2 (c0 in elements, c1 = byte offset into the element)

BufferStore

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

; overloads: SM5.1: f32|i32,  SM6.0: f32|i32
declare void @dx.op.bufferStore.f32(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; resource handle
    i32,                  ; coordinate c0
    i32,                  ; coordinate c1
    float,                ; value v0
    float,                ; value v1
    float,                ; value v2
    float,                ; value v3
    i8)                   ; write mask

The call respects SM5.1 OOB and alignment rules.

The write mask indicates which components are written (x - 1, y - 2, z - 4, w - 8), similar to DXBC. For RWTypedBuffer, the mask must cover all resource components. For RWRawBuffer and RWStructuredBuffer, valid masks are: x, xy, xyz, xyzw.

Valid resource type # of active coordinates
RWTypedBuffer 1 (c0 in elements)
RWRawBuffer 1 (c0 in bytes)
RWStructuredBuffer 2 (c0 in elements, c1 = byte offset into the element)

RawBufferStore

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

; overloads: SM5.1: f32|i32,  SM6.0: f32|i32, SM6.2: f16|f32|i16|i32
declare void @dx.op.rawBufferStore.f32(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; resource handle
    i32,                  ; coordinate c0 (index)
    i32,                  ; coordinate c1 (elementOffset)
    float,                ; value v0
    float,                ; value v1
    float,                ; value v2
    float,                ; value v3
    i8,                   ; write mask
    i32)                  ; alignment

The call respects SM5.1 OOB and alignment rules.

The write mask indicates which components are written (x - 1, y - 2, z - 4, w - 8), similar to DXBC. For RWTypedBuffer, the mask must cover all resource components. For RWRawBuffer and RWStructuredBuffer, valid masks are: x, xy, xyz, xyzw.

Valid resource type # of active coordinates
RWRawbuffer 1 (c0 in bytes)
RWStructuredbuffer 2 (c0 in elements, c1 = byte offset into the element)

BufferUpdateCounter

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

; opcodes: bufferUpdateCounter
declare void @dx.op.bufferUpdateCounter(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    %dx.types.ResHandle,  ; buffer handle
    i8)                   ; 1 - increment, -1 - decrement

Valid resource type: RWRawBuffer.

AtomicBinOp

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

; overloads: SM5.1: i32,  SM6.0: i32
; returns: original value in memory before the operation
declare i32 @dx.op.atomicBinOp.i32(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; resource handle
    i32,                  ; binary operation code: EXCHANGE, IADD, AND, OR, XOR, IMIN, IMAX, UMIN, UMAX
    i32,                  ; coordinate c0
    i32,                  ; coordinate c1
    i32,                  ; coordinate c2
    i32)                  ; new value

The call respects SM5.1 OOB and alignment rules.

Valid resource type # of active coordinates
RWTexture1D 1 (c0)
RWTexture1DArray 2 (c0, c1 = array slice)
RWTexture2D 2 (c0, c1)
RWTexture2DArray 3 (c0, c1, c2 = array slice)
RWTexture3D 3 (c0, c1, c2)
RWTypedBuffer 1 (c0 in elements)
RWRawBuffer 1 (c0 in bytes)
RWStructuredBuffer 2 (c0 in elements, c1 - byte offset into the element)

AtomicBinOp subsumes corresponding DXBC atomic operations that do not return the old value in memory. The driver compiler is free to specialize the corresponding GPU instruction if the return value is unused.

AtomicCompareExchange

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

; overloads: SM5.1: i32,  SM6.0: i32
; returns: original value in memory before the operation
declare i32 @dx.op.atomicCompareExchange.i32(
    i32,                  ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle,     ; resource handle
    i32,                  ; coordinate c0
    i32,                  ; coordinate c1
    i32,                  ; coordinate c2
    i32,                  ; comparison value
    i32)                  ; new value

The call respects SM5.1 OOB and alignment rules.

Valid resource type # of active coordinates
RWTexture1D 1 (c0)
RWTexture1DArray 2 (c0, c1 = array slice)
RWTexture2D 2 (c0, c1)
RWTexture2DArray 3 (c0, c1, c2 = array slice)
RWTexture3D 3 (c0, c1, c2)
RWTypedBuffer 1 (c0 in elements)
RWRawBuffer 1 (c0 in bytes)
RWStructuredBuffer 2 (c0 in elements, c1 - byte offset into the element)

AtomicCompareExchange subsumes DXBC's atomic compare store. The driver compiler is free to specialize the corresponding GPU instruction if the return value is unused.

GetBufferBasePtr (SM6.0)

The following signature shows the operation syntax:

Returns i8* pointer to the base of [RW]RawBuffer instance.
declare i8 addrspace(ASmemory) * @dx.op.getBufferBasePtr.pASmemory (
    i32,                ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle)   ; resource handle
Returns i8* pointer to the base of ConstantBuffer instance.
declare i8 addrspace(AScbuffer) * @dx.op.getBufferBasePtr.pAScbuffer(
    i32,                ; opcode
    %dx.types.Handle)   ; resource handle

Given SM5.1 resource handle, return base pointer to perform pointer-based accesses to the resource memory.

Note: the functionality is requested for SM6.0 to support pointer-based accesses to SM5.1 resources with raw linear memory (raw buffer and cbuffer) in HLSL next. This would be one of the way how a valid pointer is produced in the shader, and would let new-style, pointer-based code access SM5.1 resources with linear memory view.

Atomic operations via pointer

Groupshared memory atomic operations are done via LLVM atomic instructions atomicrmw and cmpxchg. The instructions accept only i32 addrspace(ASgs) * pointers, where ASgs is the addrspace number of groupshared variables. Atomicrmw instruction does not support 'sub' and 'nand' operations. These constraints may be revisited in the future. OOB behavior is undefined. SM6.0 will enable similar mechanism for atomic operations performed on device memory (raw buffer).

There are no intrinsics for samplers. Sampler reflection data is represented similar to other resources.

There is no immediate constant buffer in DXIL. Instead, indexable constants are represented via LLVM global initialized constants in address space ASicb.

A texture buffer is mapped to RawBuffer. Texture buffer variable declarations are present for reflection purposes only.

Groupshared memory (DXBC g-registers) is linear in DXIL. Groupshared variables are declared via global variables in addrspace(ASgs). The optimizer will not group variables; the driver compiler can do this if desired. Accesses to groupshared variables occur via pointer load/store instructions (see below).

Indexable threadlocal memory (DXBC x-registers) is linear in DXIL. Threadlocal variables are "declared" via alloca instructions. Threadlocal variables are assumed to reside in addrspace(0). The variables are not allocated into some memory pool; the driver compiler can do this, if desired. Accesses to threadlocal variables occur via pointer load/store instructions (see below).

HLSL offers several abstractions with linear memory: buffers, cbuffers, groupshared and indexable threadlocal memory, that are conceptually similar, but have different HLSL syntax and some differences in behavior, which are exposed to HLSL developers. The plan is to introduce pointers into HLSL to unify access syntax to such linear-memory resources such that they appear conceptually the same to HLSL programmers.

Each resource memory type is expressed by a unique LLVM address space. The following table shows memory types and their address spaces:

Memory type Address space number n - addrspace(n)
code, local, indexable threadlocal memory AS_default = 0
device memory ([RW]RawBuffer) AS_memory = 1
cbuffer-like memory (ConstantBuffer) AS_cbuffer = 2
groupshared memory AS_groupshared = 3

Pointers can be produced in the shader in a variety of ways (see Memory accesses section). Note that if GetBaseBufferPtr was used on [RW]RawBuffer or ConstantBuffer to produce a pointer, the base pointer is stateless; i.e., it "loses its connection" to the underlying resource and is treated as a stateless pointer into a particular memory type.

TODO: enumerate all additional resource range properties, e.g., ROV, Texture2DMS, globally coherent, UAV counter, sampler mode, CB: immediate/dynamic indexed.

DXIL operations are represented in two ways: using LLVM instructions and using LLVM external functions. The reference list of operations as well as their overloads can be found in the attached Excel spreadsheet "DXIL Operations".

DXIL uses a subset of core LLVM IR instructions that make sense for HLSL, where the meaning of the LLVM IR operation matches the meaning of the HLSL operation.

The following LLVM instructions are valid in a DXIL program, with the specified operand types where applicable. The legend for overload types (v)oid, (h)alf, (f)loat, (d)ouble, (1)-bit, (8)-bit, (w)ord, (i)nt, (l)ong.

Instruction Action Operand overloads
Ret returns a value (possibly void), from a function. vhfd1wil
Br branches (conditional or unconditional)  
Switch performs a multiway switch  
Add returns the sum of its two operands wil
FAdd returns the sum of its two operands hfd
Sub returns the difference of its two operands wil
FSub returns the difference of its two operands hfd
Mul returns the product of its two operands wil
FMul returns the product of its two operands hfd
UDiv returns the quotient of its two unsigned operands wil
SDiv returns the quotient of its two signed operands wil
FDiv returns the quotient of its two operands hfd
URem returns the remainder from the unsigned division of its two operands wil
SRem returns the remainder from the signed division of its two operands wil
FRem returns the remainder from the division of its two operands hfd
Shl shifts left (logical) wil
LShr shifts right (logical), with zero bit fill wil
AShr shifts right (arithmetic), with 'a' operand sign bit fill wil
And returns a bitwise logical and of its two operands 1wil
Or returns a bitwise logical or of its two operands 1wil
Xor returns a bitwise logical xor of its two operands 1wil
Alloca allocates memory on the stack frame of the currently executing function  
Load reads from memory  
Store writes to memory  
GetElementPtr gets the address of a subelement of an aggregate value  
AtomicCmpXchg atomically modifies memory  
AtomicRMW atomically modifies memory  
Trunc truncates an integer 1wil
ZExt zero extends an integer 1wil
SExt sign extends an integer 1wil
FPToUI converts a floating point to UInt hfd1wil
FPToSI converts a floating point to SInt hfd1wil
UIToFP converts a UInt to floating point hfd1wil
SIToFP converts a SInt to floating point hfd1wil
FPTrunc truncates a floating point hfd
FPExt extends a floating point hfd
BitCast performs a bit-preserving type cast hfd1wil
AddrSpaceCast casts a value addrspace  
ICmp compares integers 1wil
FCmp compares floating points hfd
PHI is a PHI node instruction  
Call calls a function  
Select selects an instruction  
ExtractValue extracts from aggregate  

FAdd

%des = fadd float %src0, %src1

The following table shows the results obtained when executing the instruction with various classes of numbers, assuming that "fp32-denorm-mode"="preserve". For "fp32-denorm-mode"="ftz" mode, denorms inputs should be treated as corresponding signed zero, and any resulting denorm is also flushed to zero.

src0src1 -inf -F -denorm -0 +0 +denorm +F +inf NaN
-inf -inf -inf -inf -inf -inf -inf -inf NaN NaN
-F -inf -F -F src0 src0 -F +/-F +inf NaN
-denorm -inf -F -F/denorm src0 src0 +/-denorm +F +inf NaN
-0 -inf src1 src1 -0 +0 src1 src1 +inf NaN
+0 -inf src1 src1 -0 +0 src1 src1 +inf NaN
+denorm -inf -F +/-denorm src0 src0 +F/denorm +F +inf NaN
+F -inf +/-F +F src0 src0 +F +F +inf NaN
+inf NaN +inf +inf +inf +inf +inf +inf +inf NaN
NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN

FDiv

%dest = fdiv float %src0, %src1

The following table shows the results obtained when executing the instruction with various classes of numbers, assuming that fast math flag is not used and "fp32-denorm-mode"="preserve". When "fp32-denorm-mode"="ftz", denorm inputs should be interpreted as corresponding signed zero, and any resulting denorm is also flushed to zero. When fast math is enabled, implementation may use reciprocal form: src0*(1/src1). This may result in evaluating src0*(+/-)INF from src0*(1/(+/-)denorm). This may produce NaN in some cases or (+/-)INF in others.

src0\src1 -inf -F -1 -denorm -0 +0 +denorm +1 +F +inf NaN
-inf NaN +inf +inf +inf +inf -inf -inf -inf -inf NaN NaN
-F +0 +F -src0 +F +inf -inf -F src0 -F -0 NaN
-denorm +0 +denorm -src0 +F +inf -inf -F src0 -denorm -0 NaN
-0 +0 +0 +0 0 NaN NaN 0 -0 -0 -0 NaN
+0 -0 -0 -0 0 NaN NaN 0 +0 +0 +0 NaN
+denorm -0 -denorm -src0 -F -inf +inf +F src0 +denorm +0 NaN
+F -0 -F -src0 -F -inf +inf +F src0 +F +0 NaN
+inf NaN -inf -inf -inf -inf +inf +inf +inf +inf NaN NaN
NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN NaN

Operations missing in core LLVM IR, such as abs, fma, discard, etc., are represented by external functions, whose name is prefixed with dx.op.

The very first parameter of each such external function is the opcode of the operation, which is an i32 constant. For example, dx.op.unary computes a unary function T res = opcode(T input). Opcode defines which unary function to perform.

Opcodes are defined on a dense range and will be provided as enum in a header file. The opcode parameter is introduced for efficiency reasons: grouping of operations to reduce the total number of overloads and more efficient property lookup, e.g., via an array of operation properties rather than a hash table.

ID Name Description
0 TempRegLoad Helper load operation
1 TempRegStore Helper store operation
2 MinPrecXRegLoad Helper load operation for minprecision
3 MinPrecXRegStore Helper store operation for minprecision
4 LoadInput Loads the value from shader input
5 StoreOutput Stores the value to shader output
6 FAbs returns the absolute value of the input value.
7 Saturate clamps the result of a single or double precision floating point value to [0.0f...1.0f]
8 IsNaN Returns true if x is NAN or QNAN, false otherwise.
9 IsInf Returns true if x is +INF or -INF, false otherwise.
10 IsFinite Returns true if x is finite, false otherwise.
11 IsNormal returns IsNormal
12 Cos returns cosine(theta) for theta in radians.
13 Sin returns sine(theta) for theta in radians.
14 Tan returns tan(theta) for theta in radians.
15 Acos Returns the arccosine of the specified value. Input should be a floating-point value within the range of -1 to 1.
16 Asin Returns the arccosine of the specified value. Input should be a floating-point value within the range of -1 to 1
17 Atan Returns the arctangent of the specified value. The return value is within the range of -PI/2 to PI/2.
18 Hcos returns the hyperbolic cosine of the specified value.
19 Hsin returns the hyperbolic sine of the specified value.
20 Htan returns the hyperbolic tangent of the specified value.
21 Exp returns 2^exponent
22 Frc extract fracitonal component.
23 Log returns log base 2.
24 Sqrt returns square root
25 Rsqrt returns reciprocal square root (1 / sqrt(src)
26 Round_ne floating-point round to integral float.
27 Round_ni floating-point round to integral float.
28 Round_pi floating-point round to integral float.
29 Round_z floating-point round to integral float.
30 Bfrev Reverses the order of the bits.
31 Countbits Counts the number of bits in the input integer.
32 FirstbitLo Returns the location of the first set bit starting from the lowest order bit and working upward.
33 FirstbitHi Returns the location of the first set bit starting from the highest order bit and working downward.
34 FirstbitSHi Returns the location of the first set bit from the highest order bit based on the sign.
35 FMax returns a if a >= b, else b
36 FMin returns a if a < b, else b
37 IMax IMax(a,b) returns a if a > b, else b
38 IMin IMin(a,b) returns a if a < b, else b
39 UMax unsigned integer maximum. UMax(a,b) = a > b ? a : b
40 UMin unsigned integer minimum. UMin(a,b) = a < b ? a : b
41 IMul multiply of 32-bit operands to produce the correct full 64-bit result.
42 UMul multiply of 32-bit operands to produce the correct full 64-bit result.
43 UDiv unsigned divide of the 32-bit operand src0 by the 32-bit operand src1.
44 UAddc unsigned add of 32-bit operand with the carry
45 USubb unsigned subtract of 32-bit operands with the borrow
46 FMad floating point multiply & add
47 Fma fused multiply-add
48 IMad Signed integer multiply & add
49 UMad Unsigned integer multiply & add
50 Msad masked Sum of Absolute Differences.
51 Ibfe Integer bitfield extract
52 Ubfe Unsigned integer bitfield extract
53 Bfi Given a bit range from the LSB of a number, places that number of bits in another number at any offset
54 Dot2 Two-dimensional vector dot-product
55 Dot3 Three-dimensional vector dot-product
56 Dot4 Four-dimensional vector dot-product
57 CreateHandle creates the handle to a resource
58 CBufferLoad loads a value from a constant buffer resource
59 CBufferLoadLegacy loads a value from a constant buffer resource
60 Sample samples a texture
61 SampleBias samples a texture after applying the input bias to the mipmap level
62 SampleLevel samples a texture using a mipmap-level offset
63 SampleGrad samples a texture using a gradient to influence the way the sample location is calculated
64 SampleCmp samples a texture and compares a single component against the specified comparison value
65 SampleCmpLevelZero samples a texture and compares a single component against the specified comparison value
66 TextureLoad reads texel data without any filtering or sampling
67 TextureStore reads texel data without any filtering or sampling
68 BufferLoad reads from a TypedBuffer
69 BufferStore writes to a RWTypedBuffer
70 BufferUpdateCounter atomically increments/decrements the hidden 32-bit counter stored with a Count or Append UAV
71 CheckAccessFullyMapped determines whether all values from a Sample, Gather, or Load operation accessed mapped tiles in a tiled resource
72 GetDimensions gets texture size information
73 TextureGather gathers the four texels that would be used in a bi-linear filtering operation
74 TextureGatherCmp same as TextureGather, except this instrution performs comparison on texels, similar to SampleCmp
75 Texture2DMSGetSamplePosition gets the position of the specified sample
76 RenderTargetGetSamplePosition gets the position of the specified sample
77 RenderTargetGetSampleCount gets the number of samples for a render target
78 AtomicBinOp performs an atomic operation on two operands
79 AtomicCompareExchange atomic compare and exchange to memory
80 Barrier inserts a memory barrier in the shader
81 CalculateLOD calculates the level of detail
82 Discard discard the current pixel
83 DerivCoarseX computes the rate of change per stamp in x direction.
84 DerivCoarseY computes the rate of change per stamp in y direction.
85 DerivFineX computes the rate of change per pixel in x direction.
86 DerivFineY computes the rate of change per pixel in y direction.
87 EvalSnapped evaluates an input attribute at pixel center with an offset
88 EvalSampleIndex evaluates an input attribute at a sample location
89 EvalCentroid evaluates an input attribute at pixel center
90 SampleIndex returns the sample index in a sample-frequency pixel shader
91 Coverage returns the coverage mask input in a pixel shader
92 InnerCoverage returns underestimated coverage input from conservative rasterization in a pixel shader
93 ThreadId reads the thread ID
94 GroupId reads the group ID (SV_GroupID)
95 ThreadIdInGroup reads the thread ID within the group (SV_GroupThreadID)
96 FlattenedThreadIdInGroup provides a flattened index for a given thread within a given group (SV_GroupIndex)
97 EmitStream emits a vertex to a given stream
98 CutStream completes the current primitive topology at the specified stream
99 EmitThenCutStream equivalent to an EmitStream followed by a CutStream
100 GSInstanceID GSInstanceID
101 MakeDouble creates a double value
102 SplitDouble splits a double into low and high parts
103 LoadOutputControlPoint LoadOutputControlPoint
104 LoadPatchConstant LoadPatchConstant
105 DomainLocation DomainLocation
106 StorePatchConstant StorePatchConstant
107 OutputControlPointID OutputControlPointID
108 PrimitiveID PrimitiveID
109 CycleCounterLegacy CycleCounterLegacy
110 WaveIsFirstLane returns 1 for the first lane in the wave
111 WaveGetLaneIndex returns the index of the current lane in the wave
112 WaveGetLaneCount returns the number of lanes in the wave
113 WaveAnyTrue returns 1 if any of the lane evaluates the value to true
114 WaveAllTrue returns 1 if all the lanes evaluate the value to true
115 WaveActiveAllEqual returns 1 if all the lanes have the same value
116 WaveActiveBallot returns a struct with a bit set for each lane where the condition is true
117 WaveReadLaneAt returns the value from the specified lane
118 WaveReadLaneFirst returns the value from the first lane
119 WaveActiveOp returns the result the operation across waves
120 WaveActiveBit returns the result of the operation across all lanes
121 WavePrefixOp returns the result of the operation on prior lanes
122 QuadReadLaneAt reads from a lane in the quad
123 QuadOp returns the result of a quad-level operation
124 BitcastI16toF16 bitcast between different sizes
125 BitcastF16toI16 bitcast between different sizes
126 BitcastI32toF32 bitcast between different sizes
127 BitcastF32toI32 bitcast between different sizes
128 BitcastI64toF64 bitcast between different sizes
129 BitcastF64toI64 bitcast between different sizes
130 LegacyF32ToF16 legacy fuction to convert float (f32) to half (f16) (this is not related to min-precision)
131 LegacyF16ToF32 legacy fuction to convert half (f16) to float (f32) (this is not related to min-precision)
132 LegacyDoubleToFloat legacy fuction to convert double to float
133 LegacyDoubleToSInt32 legacy fuction to convert double to int32
134 LegacyDoubleToUInt32 legacy fuction to convert double to uint32
135 WaveAllBitCount returns the count of bits set to 1 across the wave
136 WavePrefixBitCount returns the count of bits set to 1 on prior lanes
137 AttributeAtVertex returns the values of the attributes at the vertex.
138 ViewID returns the view index
139 RawBufferLoad reads from a raw buffer and structured buffer
140 RawBufferStore writes to a RWByteAddressBuffer or RWStructuredBuffer
141 InstanceID The user-provided InstanceID on the bottom-level acceleration structure instance within the top-level structure
142 InstanceIndex The autogenerated index of the current instance in the top-level structure
143 HitKind Returns the value passed as HitKind in ReportIntersection(). If intersection was reported by fixed-function triangle intersection, HitKind will be one of HIT_KIND_TRIANGLE_FRONT_FACE or HIT_KIND_TRIANGLE_BACK_FACE.
144 RayFlags uint containing the current ray flags.
145 DispatchRaysIndex The current x and y location within the Width and Height
146 DispatchRaysDimensions The Width and Height values from the D3D12_DISPATCH_RAYS_DESC structure provided to the originating DispatchRays() call.
147 WorldRayOrigin The world-space origin for the current ray.
148 WorldRayDirection The world-space direction for the current ray.
149 ObjectRayOrigin Object-space origin for the current ray.
150 ObjectRayDirection Object-space direction for the current ray.
151 ObjectToWorld Matrix for transforming from object-space to world-space.
152 WorldToObject Matrix for transforming from world-space to object-space.
153 RayTMin float representing the parametric starting point for the ray.
154 RayTCurrent float representing the current parametric ending point for the ray
155 IgnoreHit Used in an any hit shader to reject an intersection and terminate the shader
156 AcceptHitAndEndSearch Used in an any hit shader to abort the ray query and the intersection shader (if any). The current hit is committed and execution passes to the closest hit shader with the closest hit recorded so far
157 TraceRay initiates raytrace
158 ReportHit returns true if hit was accepted
159 CallShader Call a shader in the callable shader table supplied through the DispatchRays() API
160 CreateHandleForLib create resource handle from resource struct for library
161 PrimitiveIndex PrimitiveIndex for raytracing shaders
162 Dot2AddHalf 2D half dot product with accumulate to float
163 Dot4AddI8Packed signed dot product of 4 x i8 vectors packed into i32, with accumulate to i32
164 Dot4AddU8Packed unsigned dot product of 4 x u8 vectors packed into i32, with accumulate to i32
165 WaveMatch returns the bitmask of active lanes that have the same value
166 WaveMultiPrefixOp returns the result of the operation on groups of lanes identified by a bitmask
167 WaveMultiPrefixBitCount returns the count of bits set to 1 on groups of lanes identified by a bitmask
168 SetMeshOutputCounts Mesh shader intrinsic SetMeshOutputCounts
169 EmitIndices emit a primitive's vertex indices in a mesh shader
170 GetMeshPayload get the mesh payload which is from amplification shader
171 StoreVertexOutput stores the value to mesh shader vertex output
172 StorePrimitiveOutput stores the value to mesh shader primitive output
173 DispatchMesh Amplification shader intrinsic DispatchMesh
174 WriteSamplerFeedback updates a feedback texture for a sampling operation
175 WriteSamplerFeedbackBias updates a feedback texture for a sampling operation with a bias on the mipmap level
176 WriteSamplerFeedbackLevel updates a feedback texture for a sampling operation with a mipmap-level offset
177 WriteSamplerFeedbackGrad updates a feedback texture for a sampling operation with explicit gradients
178 AllocateRayQuery allocates space for RayQuery and return handle
179 RayQuery_TraceRayInline initializes RayQuery for raytrace
180 RayQuery_Proceed advances a ray query
181 RayQuery_Abort aborts a ray query
182 RayQuery_CommitNonOpaqueTriangleHit commits a non opaque triangle hit
183 RayQuery_CommitProceduralPrimitiveHit commits a procedural primitive hit
184 RayQuery_CommittedStatus returns uint status (COMMITTED_STATUS) of the committed hit in a ray query
185 RayQuery_CandidateType returns uint candidate type (CANDIDATE_TYPE) of the current hit candidate in a ray query, after Proceed() has returned true
186 RayQuery_CandidateObjectToWorld3x4 returns matrix for transforming from object-space to world-space for a candidate hit.
187 RayQuery_CandidateWorldToObject3x4 returns matrix for transforming from world-space to object-space for a candidate hit.
188 RayQuery_CommittedObjectToWorld3x4 returns matrix for transforming from object-space to world-space for a Committed hit.
189 RayQuery_CommittedWorldToObject3x4 returns matrix for transforming from world-space to object-space for a Committed hit.
190 RayQuery_CandidateProceduralPrimitiveNonOpaque returns if current candidate procedural primitive is non opaque
191 RayQuery_CandidateTriangleFrontFace returns if current candidate triangle is front facing
192 RayQuery_CommittedTriangleFrontFace returns if current committed triangle is front facing
193 RayQuery_CandidateTriangleBarycentrics returns candidate triangle hit barycentrics
194 RayQuery_CommittedTriangleBarycentrics returns committed triangle hit barycentrics
195 RayQuery_RayFlags returns ray flags
196 RayQuery_WorldRayOrigin returns world ray origin
197 RayQuery_WorldRayDirection returns world ray direction
198 RayQuery_RayTMin returns float representing the parametric starting point for the ray.
199 RayQuery_CandidateTriangleRayT returns float representing the parametric point on the ray for the current candidate triangle hit.
200 RayQuery_CommittedRayT returns float representing the parametric point on the ray for the current committed hit.
201 RayQuery_CandidateInstanceIndex returns candidate hit instance index
202 RayQuery_CandidateInstanceID returns candidate hit instance ID
203 RayQuery_CandidateGeometryIndex returns candidate hit geometry index
204 RayQuery_CandidatePrimitiveIndex returns candidate hit geometry index
205 RayQuery_CandidateObjectRayOrigin returns candidate hit object ray origin
206 RayQuery_CandidateObjectRayDirection returns candidate object ray direction
207 RayQuery_CommittedInstanceIndex returns committed hit instance index
208 RayQuery_CommittedInstanceID returns committed hit instance ID
209 RayQuery_CommittedGeometryIndex returns committed hit geometry index
210 RayQuery_CommittedPrimitiveIndex returns committed hit geometry index
211 RayQuery_CommittedObjectRayOrigin returns committed hit object ray origin
212 RayQuery_CommittedObjectRayDirection returns committed object ray direction
213 GeometryIndex The autogenerated index of the current geometry in the bottom-level structure
214 RayQuery_CandidateInstanceContributionToHitGroupIndex returns candidate hit InstanceContributionToHitGroupIndex
215 RayQuery_CommittedInstanceContributionToHitGroupIndex returns committed hit InstanceContributionToHitGroupIndex
216 AnnotateHandle annotate handle with resource properties
217 CreateHandleFromBinding create resource handle from binding
218 CreateHandleFromHeap create resource handle from heap
219 Unpack4x8 unpacks 4 8-bit signed or unsigned values into int32 or int16 vector
220 Pack4x8 packs vector of 4 signed or unsigned values into a packed datatype, drops or clamps unused bits
221 IsHelperLane returns true on helper lanes in pixel shaders
222 QuadVote compares boolean accross a quad
223 TextureGatherRaw Gather raw elements from 4 texels with no type conversions (SRV type is constrained)
224 SampleCmpLevel samples a texture and compares a single component against the specified comparison value
225 TextureStoreSample stores texel data at specified sample index

Acos

The return value is within the range of -PI/2 to PI/2.

src -inf [-1,1] -denorm -0 +0 +denorm +inf NaN
acos(src) NaN (-PI/2,+PI/2) PI/2 PI/2 PI/2 PI/2 NaN NaN

Asin

The return value is within the range of -PI/2 to PI/2.

src -inf [-1,1] -denorm -0 +0 +denorm +inf NaN
asin(src) NaN (-PI/2,+PI/2) 0 0 0 0 NaN NaN

Atan

src -inf -F -denorm -0 +0 +denorm +F +inf NaN
atan(src) -PI/2 (-PI/2,+PI/2) 0 0 0 0 (-PI/2,+PI/2) PI/2 NaN

Returns the arctangent of the specified value. The return value is within the range of -PI/2 to PI/2

AttributeAtVertex

returns the values of the attributes at the vertex. VertexID ranges from 0 to 2.

Bfi

Given a bit range from the LSB of a number, place that number of bits in another number at any offset.

dst = Bfi(src0, src1, src2, src3);

The LSB 5 bits of src0 provide the bitfield width (0-31) to take from src2. The LSB 5 bits of src1 provide the bitfield offset (0-31) to start replacing bits in the number read from src3. Given width, offset: bitmask = (((1 << width)-1) << offset) & 0xffffffff, dest = ((src2 << offset) & bitmask) | (src3 & ~bitmask)

Bfrev

Reverses the order of the bits. For example given 0x12345678 the result would be 0x1e6a2c48.

Cos

Theta values can be any IEEE 32-bit floating point values.

The maximum absolute error is 0.0008 in the interval from -100*Pi to +100*Pi.

src -inf -F -denorm -0 +0 +denorm +F +inf NaN
cos(src) NaN [-1 to +1] +1 +1 +1 +1 [-1 to +1] NaN NaN

Countbits

Counts the number of bits in the input integer.

DerivCoarseX

dst = DerivCoarseX(src);

Computes the rate of change per stamp in x direction. Only a single x derivative pair is computed for each 2x2 stamp of pixels. The data in the current Pixel Shader invocation may or may not participate in the calculation of the requested derivative, given the derivative will be calculated only once per 2x2 quad: As an example, the x derivative could be a delta from the top row of pixels. The exact calculation is up to the hardware vendor. There is also no specification dictating how the 2x2 quads will be aligned/tiled over a primitive.

DerivCoarseY

dst = DerivCoarseY(src);

Computes the rate of change per stamp in y direction. Only a single y derivative pair is computed for each 2x2 stamp of pixels. The data in the current Pixel Shader invocation may or may not participate in the calculation of the requested derivative, given the derivative will be calculated only once per 2x2 quad: As an example, the y derivative could be a delta from the left column of pixels. The exact calculation is up to the hardware vendor. There is also no specification dictating how the 2x2 quads will be aligned/tiled over a primitive.

DerivFineX

dst = DerivFineX(src);

Computes the rate of change per pixel in x direction. Each pixel in the 2x2 stamp gets a unique pair of x derivative calculations The data in the current Pixel Shader invocation always participates in the calculation of the requested derivative. There is no specification dictating how the 2x2 quads will be aligned/tiled over a primitive.

DerivFineY

dst = DerivFineY(src);

Computes the rate of change per pixel in y direction. Each pixel in the 2x2 stamp gets a unique pair of y derivative calculations The data in the current Pixel Shader invocation always participates in the calculation of the requested derivative. There is no specification dictating how the 2x2 quads will be aligned/tiled over a primitive.

Dot2

Two-dimensional vector dot-product

Dot3

Three-dimensional vector dot-product

Dot4

Four-dimensional vector dot-product

Exp

Returns 2^exponent. Note that hlsl log intrinsic returns the base-e exponent. Maximum relative error is e^-21.

src -inf -F -denorm -0 +0 +denorm +F +inf NaN
exp(src) 0 +F 1 1 1 1 +F +inf NaN

FAbs

The FAbs instruction takes simply forces the sign of the number(s) on the source operand positive, including on INF and denorm values. Applying FAbs on NaN preserves NaN, although the particular NaN bit pattern that results is not defined.

FMad

Floating point multiply & add. This operation is not fused for "precise" operations. FMad(a,b,c) = a * b + c

FMax

>= is used instead of > so that if min(x,y) = x then max(x,y) = y.

NaN has special handling: If one source operand is NaN, then the other source operand is returned. If both are NaN, any NaN representation is returned. This conforms to new IEEE 754R rules.

Denorms are flushed (sign preserved) before comparison, however the result written to dest may or may not be denorm flushed.

a b
-inf F +inf NaN
-inf -inf b +inf -inf
F a a or b +inf a
+inf +inf +inf +inf +inf
NaN -inf b +inf NaN

FMin

NaN has special handling: If one source operand is NaN, then the other source operand is returned. If both are NaN, any NaN representation is returned. This conforms to new IEEE 754R rules.

Denorms are flushed (sign preserved) before comparison, however the result written to dest may or may not be denorm flushed.

a b
-inf F +inf NaN
-inf -inf -inf -inf -inf
F -inf a or b a a
+inf -inf b +inf +inf
NaN -inf b +inf NaN

FirstbitHi

Returns the integer position of the first bit set in the 32-bit input starting from the MSB. For example, 0x10000000 would return 3. Returns 0xffffffff if no match was found.

FirstbitLo

Returns the integer position of the first bit set in the 32-bit input starting from the LSB. For example, 0x00000000 would return 1. Returns 0xffffffff if no match was found.

FirstbitSHi

Returns the first 0 from the MSB if the number is negative, else the first 1 from the MSB. Returns 0xffffffff if no match was found.

Fma

Fused multiply-add. This operation is only defined in double precision. Fma(a,b,c) = a * b + c

Frc

src -inf -F -denorm -0 +0 +denorm +F +inf NaN
log(src) NaN [+0,1) +0 +0 +0 +0 [+0,1) NaN NaN

Hcos

Returns the hyperbolic cosine of the specified value.

src -inf -F -denorm -0 +0 +denorm +F +inf NaN
hcos(src) +inf (1, +inf) +1 +1 +1 +1 (1, +inf) +inf NaN

Hsin

Returns the hyperbolic sine of the specified value.

src -inf -F -denorm -0 +0 +denorm +F +inf NaN
hsin(src) -inf -F 0 0 0 0 +F +inf NaN

Htan

Returns the hyperbolic tangent of the specified value.

src -inf -F -denorm -0 +0 +denorm +F +inf NaN
htan(src) -1 -F 0 0 0 0 +F +1 NaN

IMad

Signed integer multiply & add

IMad(a,b,c) = a * b + c

IMax

IMax(a,b) returns a if a > b, else b. Optional negate modifier on source operands takes 2's complement before performing operation.

IMin

IMin(a,b) returns a if a < b, else b. Optional negate modifier on source operands takes 2's complement before performing operation.

IMul

IMul(src0, src1) = destHi, destLo multiply of 32-bit operands src0 and src1 (note they are signed), producing the correct full 64-bit result. The low 32 bits are placed in destLO. The high 32 bits are placed in destHI.

Either of destHI or destLO may be specified as NULL instead of specifying a register, in the case high or low 32 bits of the 64-bit result are not needed.

Optional negate modifier on source operands takes 2's complement before performing arithmetic operation.

Ibfe

dest = Ibfe(src0, src1, src2)

Given a range of bits in a number, shift those bits to the LSB and sign extend the MSB of the range.

width : The LSB 5 bits of src0 (0-31).

offset: The LSB 5 bits of src1 (0-31)

if( width == 0 )
{
    dest = 0
}
else if( width + offset < 32 )
{
    shl dest, src2, 32-(width+offset)
    ishr dest, dest, 32-width
}
else
{
    ishr dest, src2, offset
}

IsFinite

Returns true if x is finite, false otherwise.

IsInf

Returns true if x is +INF or -INF, false otherwise.

IsNaN

Returns true if x is NAN or QNAN, false otherwise.

IsNormal

Returns IsNormal.

LoadInput

Loads the value from shader input

Log

Returns log base 2. Note that hlsl log intrinsic returns natural log.

src -inf -F -denorm -0 +0 +denorm +F +inf NaN
log(src) NaN NaN -inf -inf -inf -inf F +inf NaN

MinPrecXRegLoad

Helper load operation for minprecision

MinPrecXRegStore

Helper store operation for minprecision

Msad

Returns the masked Sum of Absolute Differences.

dest = msad(ref, src, accum)

ref: contains 4 packed 8-bit unsigned integers in 32 bits.

src: contains 4 packed 8-bit unsigned integers in 32 bits.

accum: a 32-bit unsigned integer, providing an existing accumulation.

dest receives the result of the masked SAD operation added to the accumulation value.

UINT msad( UINT ref, UINT src, UINT accum )
{
    for (UINT i = 0; i < 4; i++)
    {
        BYTE refByte, srcByte, absDiff;

        refByte = (BYTE)(ref >> (i * 8));
        if (!refByte)
        {
            continue;
        }

        srcByte = (BYTE)(src >> (i * 8));
        if (refByte >= srcByte)
        {
            absDiff = refByte - srcByte;
        }
        else
        {
            absDiff = srcByte - refByte;
        }

        // The recommended overflow behavior for MSAD is
        // to do a 32-bit saturate. This is not
        // required, however, and wrapping is allowed.
        // So from an application point of view,
        // overflow behavior is undefined.
        if (UINT_MAX - accum < absDiff)
        {
            accum = UINT_MAX;
            break;
        }

        accum += absDiff;
    }

    return accum;
}

Round_ne

Floating-point round of the values in src, writing integral floating-point values to dest.

round_ne rounds towards nearest even. For halfway, it rounds away from zero.

src -inf -F -denorm -0 +0 +denorm +F +inf NaN
round_ne(src) -inf -F -0 -0 +0 +0 +F +inf NaN

Round_ni

Floating-point round of the values in src, writing integral floating-point values to dest.

round_ni rounds towards -INF, commonly known as floor().

src -inf -F -denorm -0 +0 +denorm +F +inf NaN
round_ni(src) -inf -F -0 -0 +0 +0 +F +inf NaN

Round_pi

Floating-point round of the values in src, writing integral floating-point values to dest.

round_pi rounds towards +INF, commonly known as ceil().

src -inf -F -denorm -0 +0 +denorm +F +inf NaN
round_pi(src) -inf -F -0 -0 +0 +0 +F +inf NaN

Round_z

Floating-point round of the values in src, writing integral floating-point values to dest.

round_z rounds towards zero.

src -inf -F -denorm -0 +0 +denorm +F +inf NaN
round_z(src) -inf -F -0 -0 +0 +0 +F +inf NaN

Rsqrt

Maximum relative error is 2^21.

src -inf -F -denorm -0 +0 +denorm +F +inf NaN
rsqrt(src) -inf -F -0 -0 +0 +0 +F +inf NaN

Saturate

The Saturate instruction performs the following operation on its input value:

min(1.0f, max(0.0f, value))

where min() and max() in the above expression behave in the way Min and Max behave.

Saturate(NaN) returns 0, by the rules for min and max.

Sin

Theta values can be any IEEE 32-bit floating point values.

The maximum absolute error is 0.0008 in the interval from -100*Pi to +100*Pi.

src -inf -F -denorm -0 +0 +denorm +F +inf NaN
sin(src) NaN [-1 to +1] -0 -0 +0 +0 [-1 to +1] NaN NaN

Sqrt

Precision is 1 ulp.

src -inf -F -denorm -0 +0 +denorm +F +inf NaN
sqrt(src) NaN NaN -0 -0 +0 +0 +F +inf NaN

StoreOutput

Stores the value to shader output

Tan

Theta values can be any IEEE 32-bit floating point values.

src -inf -F -denorm -0 +0 +denorm +F +inf NaN
tan(src) NaN [-inf to +inf] -0 -0 +0 +0 [-inf to +inf] NaN NaN

TempRegLoad

Helper load operation

TempRegStore

Helper store operation

UAddc

dest0, dest1 = UAddc(src0, src1)

unsigned add of 32-bit operands src0 and src1, placing the LSB part of the 32-bit result in dest0. dest1 is written with: 1 if a carry is produced, 0 otherwise. Dest1 can be NULL if the carry is not needed

UDiv

destQUOT, destREM = UDiv(src0, src1);

unsigned divide of the 32-bit operand src0 by the 32-bit operand src1.

The results of the divides are the 32-bit quotients (placed in destQUOT) and 32-bit remainders (placed in destREM).

Divide by zero returns 0xffffffff for both quotient and remainder.

Either destQUOT or destREM may be specified as NULL instead of specifying a register, in the case the quotient or remainder are not needed.

Unsigned subtract of 32-bit operands src1 from src0, placing the LSB part of the 32-bit result in dest0. dest1 is written with: 1 if a borrow is produced, 0 otherwise. Dest1 can be NULL if the borrow is not needed

UMad

Unsigned integer multiply & add.

Umad(a,b,c) = a * b + c

UMax

unsigned integer maximum. UMax(a,b) = a > b ? a : b

UMin

unsigned integer minimum. UMin(a,b) = a < b ? a : b

UMul

multiply of 32-bit operands src0 and src1 (note they are unsigned), producing the correct full 64-bit result. The low 32 bits are placed in destLO. The high 32 bits are placed in destHI. Either of destHI or destLO may be specified as NULL instead of specifying a register, in the case high or low 32 bits of the 64-bit result are not needed

USubb

dest0, dest1 = USubb(src0, src1)

Ubfe

dest = ubfe(src0, src1, src2)

Given a range of bits in a number, shift those bits to the LSB and set remaining bits to 0.

width : The LSB 5 bits of src0 (0-31).

offset: The LSB 5 bits of src1 (0-31).

Given width, offset:

if( width == 0 )
{
    dest = 0
}
else if( width + offset < 32 )
{
    shl dest, src2, 32-(width+offset)
    ushr dest, dest, 32-width
}
else
{
    ushr dest, src2, offset
}

Instructions for third-party extensions will be specially-prefixed external function calls, identified by a declared extension-set-prefix. Additional metadata will be included to provide hints about uniformity, pure or const guarantees, alignment, etc.

The following rules are verified by the Validator component and thus can be relied upon by downstream consumers.

The set of validation rules that are known to hold for a DXIL program is identifier by the 'dx.valver' named metadata node, which consists of a two-element tuple of constant int values, a major and minor version. Minor version numbers are increments as rules are added to a prior table or as the implementation fixes issues.

Rule Code Description
BITCODE.VALID Module must be bitcode-valid
CONTAINER.PARTINVALID DXIL Container must not contain unknown parts
CONTAINER.PARTMATCHES DXIL Container Parts must match Module
CONTAINER.PARTMISSING DXIL Container requires certain parts, corresponding to module
CONTAINER.PARTREPEATED DXIL Container must have only one of each part type
CONTAINER.ROOTSIGNATUREINCOMPATIBLE Root Signature in DXIL Container must be compatible with shader
DECL.ATTRSTRUCT Attributes parameter must be struct type
DECL.DXILFNEXTERN External function must be a DXIL function
DECL.DXILNSRESERVED The DXIL reserved prefixes must only be used by built-in functions and types
DECL.EXTRAARGS Extra arguments not allowed for shader functions
DECL.FNATTRIBUTE Functions should only contain known function attributes
DECL.FNFLATTENPARAM Function parameters must not use struct types
DECL.FNISCALLED Functions can only be used by call instructions
DECL.NOTUSEDEXTERNAL External declaration should not be used
DECL.PARAMSTRUCT Callable function parameter must be struct type
DECL.PAYLOADSTRUCT Payload parameter must be struct type
DECL.RESOURCEINFNSIG Resources not allowed in function signatures
DECL.SHADERMISSINGARG payload/params/attributes parameter is required for certain shader types
DECL.SHADERRETURNVOID Shader functions must return void
DECL.USEDEXTERNALFUNCTION External function must be used
DECL.USEDINTERNAL Internal declaration must be used
FLOW.DEADLOOP Loop must have break.
FLOW.FUNCTIONCALL Function with parameter is not permitted
FLOW.NORECUSION Recursion is not permitted.
FLOW.REDUCIBLE Execution flow must be reducible.
INSTR.ALLOWED Instructions must be of an allowed type.
INSTR.ATOMICCONST Constant destination to atomic.
INSTR.ATOMICINTRINNONUAV Non-UAV destination to atomic intrinsic.
INSTR.ATOMICOPNONGROUPSHARED Non-groupshared destination to atomic operation.
INSTR.ATTRIBUTEATVERTEXNOINTERPOLATION Attribute %0 must have nointerpolation mode in order to use GetAttributeAtVertex function.
INSTR.BARRIERMODEFORNONCS sync in a non-Compute/Amplification/Mesh Shader must only sync UAV (sync_uglobal).
INSTR.BARRIERMODENOMEMORY sync must include some form of memory barrier - _u (UAV) and/or _g (Thread Group Shared Memory). Only _t (thread group sync) is optional.
INSTR.BARRIERMODEUSELESSUGROUP sync can't specify both _ugroup and _uglobal. If both are needed, just specify _uglobal.
INSTR.BUFFERUPDATECOUNTERONRESHASCOUNTER BufferUpdateCounter valid only when HasCounter is true.
INSTR.BUFFERUPDATECOUNTERONUAV BufferUpdateCounter valid only on UAV.
INSTR.CALLOLOAD Call to DXIL intrinsic must match overload signature
INSTR.CANNOTPULLPOSITION pull-model evaluation of position disallowed
INSTR.CBUFFERCLASSFORCBUFFERHANDLE Expect Cbuffer for CBufferLoad handle.
INSTR.CBUFFEROUTOFBOUND Cbuffer access out of bound.
INSTR.CHECKACCESSFULLYMAPPED CheckAccessFullyMapped should only be used on resource status.
INSTR.COORDINATECOUNTFORRAWTYPEDBUF raw/typed buffer don't need 2 coordinates.
INSTR.COORDINATECOUNTFORSTRUCTBUF structured buffer require 2 coordinates.
INSTR.CREATEHANDLEIMMRANGEID Local resource must map to global resource.
INSTR.DXILSTRUCTUSER Dxil struct types should only be used by ExtractValue.
INSTR.DXILSTRUCTUSEROUTOFBOUND Index out of bound when extract value from dxil struct types.
INSTR.EVALINTERPOLATIONMODE Interpolation mode on %0 used with eval_* instruction must be linear, linear_centroid, linear_noperspective, linear_noperspective_centroid, linear_sample or linear_noperspective_sample.
INSTR.EXTRACTVALUE ExtractValue should only be used on dxil struct types and cmpxchg.
INSTR.FAILTORESLOVETGSMPOINTER TGSM pointers must originate from an unambiguous TGSM global variable.
INSTR.HANDLENOTFROMCREATEHANDLE Resource handle should returned by createHandle.
INSTR.IMMBIASFORSAMPLEB bias amount for sample_b must be in the range [%0,%1], but %2 was specified as an immediate.
INSTR.INBOUNDSACCESS Access to out-of-bounds memory is disallowed.
INSTR.MINPRECISIONNOTPRECISE Instructions marked precise may not refer to minprecision values.
INSTR.MINPRECISONBITCAST Bitcast on minprecison types is not allowed.
INSTR.MIPLEVELFORGETDIMENSION Use mip level on buffer when GetDimensions.
INSTR.MIPONUAVLOAD uav load don't support mipLevel/sampleIndex.
INSTR.MISSINGSETMESHOUTPUTCOUNTS Missing SetMeshOutputCounts call.
INSTR.MULTIPLEGETMESHPAYLOAD GetMeshPayload cannot be called multiple times.
INSTR.MULTIPLESETMESHOUTPUTCOUNTS SetMeshOUtputCounts cannot be called multiple times.
INSTR.NOGENERICPTRADDRSPACECAST Address space cast between pointer types must have one part to be generic address space.
INSTR.NOIDIVBYZERO No signed integer division by zero.
INSTR.NOINDEFINITEACOS No indefinite arccosine.
INSTR.NOINDEFINITEASIN No indefinite arcsine.
INSTR.NOINDEFINITEDSXY No indefinite derivative calculation.
INSTR.NOINDEFINITELOG No indefinite logarithm.
INSTR.NONDOMINATINGDISPATCHMESH Non-Dominating DispatchMesh call.
INSTR.NONDOMINATINGSETMESHOUTPUTCOUNTS Non-Dominating SetMeshOutputCounts call.
INSTR.NOREADINGUNINITIALIZED Instructions should not read uninitialized value.
INSTR.NOTONCEDISPATCHMESH DispatchMesh must be called exactly once in an Amplification shader.
INSTR.NOUDIVBYZERO No unsigned integer division by zero.
INSTR.OFFSETONUAVLOAD uav load don't support offset.
INSTR.OLOAD DXIL intrinsic overload must be valid.
INSTR.ONLYONEALLOCCONSUME RWStructuredBuffers may increment or decrement their counters, but not both.
INSTR.OPCODERESERVED Instructions must not reference reserved opcodes.
INSTR.OPCONST DXIL intrinsic requires an immediate constant operand
INSTR.OPCONSTRANGE Constant values must be in-range for operation.
INSTR.OPERANDRANGE DXIL intrinsic operand must be within defined range
INSTR.PTRBITCAST Pointer type bitcast must be have same size.
INSTR.RESOURCECLASSFORLOAD load can only run on UAV/SRV resource.
INSTR.RESOURCECLASSFORSAMPLERGATHER sample, lod and gather should be on srv resource.
INSTR.RESOURCECLASSFORUAVSTORE store should be on uav resource.
INSTR.RESOURCECOORDINATEMISS coord uninitialized.
INSTR.RESOURCECOORDINATETOOMANY out of bound coord must be undef.
INSTR.RESOURCEKINDFORBUFFERLOADSTORE buffer load/store only works on Raw/Typed/StructuredBuffer.
INSTR.RESOURCEKINDFORCALCLOD lod requires resource declared as texture1D/2D/3D/Cube/CubeArray/1DArray/2DArray.
INSTR.RESOURCEKINDFORGATHER gather requires resource declared as texture/2D/Cube/2DArray/CubeArray.
INSTR.RESOURCEKINDFORGETDIM Invalid resource kind on GetDimensions.
INSTR.RESOURCEKINDFORSAMPLE sample/_l/_d requires resource declared as texture1D/2D/3D/Cube/1DArray/2DArray/CubeArray.
INSTR.RESOURCEKINDFORSAMPLEC samplec requires resource declared as texture1D/2D/Cube/1DArray/2DArray/CubeArray.
INSTR.RESOURCEKINDFORTEXTURELOAD texture load only works on Texture1D/1DArray/2D/2DArray/3D/MS2D/MS2DArray.
INSTR.RESOURCEKINDFORTEXTURESTORE texture store only works on Texture1D/1DArray/2D/2DArray/3D.
INSTR.RESOURCEKINDFORTRACERAY TraceRay should only use RTAccelerationStructure.
INSTR.RESOURCEMAPTOSINGLEENTRY Fail to map resource to resource table.
INSTR.RESOURCEOFFSETMISS offset uninitialized.
INSTR.RESOURCEOFFSETTOOMANY out of bound offset must be undef.
INSTR.RESOURCEUSER Resource should only be used by Load/GEP/Call.
INSTR.SAMPLECOMPTYPE sample_* instructions require resource to be declared to return UNORM, SNORM or FLOAT.
INSTR.SAMPLEINDEXFORLOAD2DMS load on Texture2DMS/2DMSArray require sampleIndex.
INSTR.SAMPLERMODEFORLOD lod instruction requires sampler declared in default mode.
INSTR.SAMPLERMODEFORSAMPLE sample/_l/_d/_cl_s/gather instruction requires sampler declared in default mode.
INSTR.SAMPLERMODEFORSAMPLEC sample_c_*/gather_c instructions require sampler declared in comparison mode.
INSTR.SIGNATUREOPERATIONNOTINENTRY Dxil operation for input output signature must be in entryPoints.
INSTR.STATUS Resource status should only be used by CheckAccessFullyMapped.
INSTR.STRUCTBITCAST Bitcast on struct types is not allowed.
INSTR.TEXTUREOFFSET offset texture instructions must take offset which can resolve to integer literal in the range -8 to 7.
INSTR.TGSMRACECOND Race condition writing to shared memory detected, consider making this write conditional.
INSTR.UNDEFINEDVALUEFORUAVSTORE Assignment of undefined values to UAV.
INSTR.UNDEFRESULTFORGETDIMENSION GetDimensions used undef dimension %0 on %1.
INSTR.WRITEMASKFORTYPEDUAVSTORE store on typed uav must write to all four components of the UAV.
INSTR.WRITEMASKGAPFORUAV UAV write mask must be contiguous, starting at x: .x, .xy, .xyz, or .xyzw.
INSTR.WRITEMASKMATCHVALUEFORUAVSTORE uav store write mask must match store value mask, write mask is %0 and store value mask is %1.
META.BARYCENTRICSFLOAT3 only 'float3' type is allowed for SV_Barycentrics.
META.BARYCENTRICSINTERPOLATION SV_Barycentrics cannot be used with 'nointerpolation' type.
META.BARYCENTRICSTWOPERSPECTIVES There can only be up to two input attributes of SV_Barycentrics with different perspective interpolation mode.
META.BRANCHFLATTEN Can't use branch and flatten attributes together.
META.CLIPCULLMAXCOMPONENTS Combined elements of SV_ClipDistance and SV_CullDistance must fit in 8 components
META.CLIPCULLMAXROWS Combined elements of SV_ClipDistance and SV_CullDistance must fit in two rows.
META.CONTROLFLOWHINTNOTONCONTROLFLOW Control flow hint only works on control flow inst.
META.DENSERESIDS Resource identifiers must be zero-based and dense.
META.DUPLICATESYSVALUE System value may only appear once in signature
META.ENTRYFUNCTION entrypoint not found.
META.FLAGSUSAGE Flags must match usage.
META.FORCECASEONSWITCH Attribute forcecase only works for switch.
META.GLCNOTONAPPENDCONSUME globallycoherent cannot be used with append/consume buffers: '%0'.
META.INTEGERINTERPMODE Interpolation mode on integer must be Constant
META.INTERPMODEINONEROW Interpolation mode must be identical for all elements packed into the same row.
META.INTERPMODEVALID Interpolation mode must be valid
META.INVALIDCONTROLFLOWHINT Invalid control flow hint.
META.KNOWN Named metadata should be known
META.MAXTESSFACTOR Hull Shader MaxTessFactor must be [%0..%1]. %2 specified.
META.NOENTRYPROPSFORENTRY Entry point %0 must have entry properties.
META.NOSEMANTICOVERLAP Semantics must not overlap
META.REQUIRED Required metadata missing.
META.SEMAKINDMATCHESNAME Semantic name must match system value, when defined.
META.SEMAKINDVALID Semantic kind must be valid
META.SEMANTICCOMPTYPE %0 must be %1.
META.SEMANTICINDEXMAX System value semantics have a maximum valid semantic index
META.SEMANTICLEN Semantic length must be at least 1 and at most 64.
META.SEMANTICSHOULDBEALLOCATED Semantic should have a valid packing location
META.SEMANTICSHOULDNOTBEALLOCATED Semantic should have a packing location of -1
META.SIGNATURECOMPTYPE signature %0 specifies unrecognized or invalid component type.
META.SIGNATUREDATAWIDTH Data width must be identical for all elements packed into the same row.
META.SIGNATUREILLEGALCOMPONENTORDER Component ordering for packed elements must be: arbitrary < system value < system generated value
META.SIGNATUREINDEXCONFLICT Only elements with compatible indexing rules may be packed together
META.SIGNATUREOUTOFRANGE Signature elements must fit within maximum signature size
META.SIGNATUREOVERLAP Signature elements may not overlap in packing location.
META.STRUCTBUFALIGNMENT StructuredBuffer stride not aligned
META.STRUCTBUFALIGNMENTOUTOFBOUND StructuredBuffer stride out of bounds
META.SYSTEMVALUEROWS System value may only have 1 row
META.TARGET Target triple must be 'dxil-ms-dx'
META.TESSELLATOROUTPUTPRIMITIVE Invalid Tessellator Output Primitive specified. Must be point, line, triangleCW or triangleCCW.
META.TESSELLATORPARTITION Invalid Tessellator Partitioning specified. Must be integer, pow2, fractional_odd or fractional_even.
META.TEXTURETYPE elements of typed buffers and textures must fit in four 32-bit quantities.
META.USED All metadata must be used by dxil.
META.VALIDSAMPLERMODE Invalid sampler mode on sampler .
META.VALUERANGE Metadata value must be within range.
META.VERSIONSUPPORTED Version in metadata must be supported.
META.WELLFORMED Metadata must be well-formed in operand count and types.
SM.64BITRAWBUFFERLOADSTORE i64/f64 rawBufferLoad/Store overloads are allowed after SM 6.3.
SM.AMPLIFICATIONSHADERPAYLOADSIZE For amplification shader with entry '%0', payload size %1 is greater than maximum size of %2 bytes.
SM.AMPLIFICATIONSHADERPAYLOADSIZEDECLARED For amplification shader with entry '%0', payload size %1 is greater than declared size of %2 bytes.
SM.APPENDANDCONSUMEONSAMEUAV BufferUpdateCounter inc and dec on a given UAV (%d) cannot both be in the same shader for shader model less than 5.1.
SM.CBUFFERARRAYOFFSETALIGNMENT CBuffer array offset must be aligned to 16-bytes
SM.CBUFFERELEMENTOVERFLOW CBuffer elements must not overflow
SM.CBUFFEROFFSETOVERLAP CBuffer offsets must not overlap
SM.CBUFFERSIZE CBuffer size must not exceed 65536 bytes
SM.CBUFFERTEMPLATETYPEMUSTBESTRUCT D3D12 constant/texture buffer template element can only be a struct.
SM.COMPLETEPOSITION Not all elements of SV_Position were written.
SM.CONSTANTINTERPMODE Interpolation mode must be constant for MS primitive output.
SM.COUNTERONLYONSTRUCTBUF BufferUpdateCounter valid only on structured buffers.
SM.CSNOSIGNATURES Compute shaders must not have shader signatures.
SM.DOMAINLOCATIONIDXOOB DomainLocation component index out of bounds for the domain.
SM.DSINPUTCONTROLPOINTCOUNTRANGE DS input control point count must be [0..%0]. %1 specified.
SM.DXILVERSION Target shader model requires specific Dxil Version
SM.GSINSTANCECOUNTRANGE GS instance count must be [1..%0]. %1 specified.
SM.GSOUTPUTVERTEXCOUNTRANGE GS output vertex count must be [0..%0]. %1 specified.
SM.GSTOTALOUTPUTVERTEXDATARANGE Declared output vertex count (%0) multiplied by the total number of declared scalar components of output data (%1) equals %2. This value cannot be greater than %3.
SM.GSVALIDINPUTPRIMITIVE GS input primitive unrecognized.
SM.GSVALIDOUTPUTPRIMITIVETOPOLOGY GS output primitive topology unrecognized.
SM.HSINPUTCONTROLPOINTCOUNTRANGE HS input control point count must be [0..%0]. %1 specified.
SM.HULLPASSTHRUCONTROLPOINTCOUNTMATCH For pass thru hull shader, input control point count must match output control point count
SM.INSIDETESSFACTORSIZEMATCHDOMAIN InsideTessFactor rows, columns (%0, %1) invalid for domain %2. Expected %3 rows and 1 column.
SM.INVALIDRESOURCECOMPTYPE Invalid resource return type.
SM.INVALIDRESOURCEKIND Invalid resources kind.
SM.INVALIDSAMPLERFEEDBACKTYPE Invalid sampler feedback type.
SM.INVALIDTEXTUREKINDONUAV TextureCube[Array] resources are not supported with UAVs.
SM.ISOLINEOUTPUTPRIMITIVEMISMATCH Hull Shader declared with IsoLine Domain must specify output primitive point or line. Triangle_cw or triangle_ccw output are not compatible with the IsoLine Domain.
SM.MAXMSSMSIZE Total Thread Group Shared Memory storage is %0, exceeded %1.
SM.MAXTGSMSIZE Total Thread Group Shared Memory storage is %0, exceeded %1.
SM.MAXTHEADGROUP Declared Thread Group Count %0 (X*Y*Z) is beyond the valid maximum of %1.
SM.MESHPSIGROWCOUNT For shader '%0', primitive output signatures are taking up more than %1 rows.
SM.MESHSHADERINOUTSIZE For shader '%0', payload plus output size is greater than %1.
SM.MESHSHADERMAXPRIMITIVECOUNT MS max primitive output count must be [0..%0]. %1 specified.
SM.MESHSHADERMAXVERTEXCOUNT MS max vertex output count must be [0..%0]. %1 specified.
SM.MESHSHADEROUTPUTSIZE For shader '%0', vertex plus primitive output size is greater than %1.
SM.MESHSHADERPAYLOADSIZE For mesh shader with entry '%0', payload size %1 is greater than maximum size of %2 bytes.
SM.MESHSHADERPAYLOADSIZEDECLARED For mesh shader with entry '%0', payload size %1 is greater than declared size of %2 bytes.
SM.MESHTOTALSIGROWCOUNT For shader '%0', vertex and primitive output signatures are taking up more than %1 rows.
SM.MESHVSIGROWCOUNT For shader '%0', vertex output signatures are taking up more than %1 rows.
SM.MULTISTREAMMUSTBEPOINT When multiple GS output streams are used they must be pointlists
SM.NAME Target shader model name must be known
SM.NOINTERPMODE Interpolation mode must be undefined for VS input/PS output/patch constant.
SM.NOPSOUTPUTIDX Pixel shader output registers are not indexable.
SM.OPCODE Opcode must be defined in target shader model
SM.OPCODEININVALIDFUNCTION Invalid DXIL opcode usage like StorePatchConstant in patch constant function
SM.OPERAND Operand must be defined in target shader model.
SM.OUTPUTCONTROLPOINTCOUNTRANGE output control point count must be [0..%0]. %1 specified.
SM.OUTPUTCONTROLPOINTSTOTALSCALARS Total number of scalars across all HS output control points must not exceed .
SM.PATCHCONSTANTONLYFORHSDS patch constant signature only valid in HS and DS.
SM.PSCONSISTENTINTERP Interpolation mode for PS input position must be linear_noperspective_centroid or linear_noperspective_sample when outputting oDepthGE or oDepthLE and not running at sample frequency (which is forced by inputting SV_SampleIndex or declaring an input linear_sample or linear_noperspective_sample).
SM.PSCOVERAGEANDINNERCOVERAGE InnerCoverage and Coverage are mutually exclusive.
SM.PSMULTIPLEDEPTHSEMANTIC Pixel Shader only allows one type of depth semantic to be declared.
SM.PSOUTPUTSEMANTIC Pixel Shader allows output semantics to be SV_Target, SV_Depth, SV_DepthGreaterEqual, SV_DepthLessEqual, SV_Coverage or SV_StencilRef, %0 found.
SM.PSTARGETCOL0 SV_Target packed location must start at column 0.
SM.PSTARGETINDEXMATCHESROW SV_Target semantic index must match packed row location.
SM.RAYSHADERPAYLOADSIZE For shader '%0', %1 size is smaller than argument's allocation size.
SM.RAYSHADERSIGNATURES Ray tracing shader '%0' should not have any shader signatures.
SM.RESOURCERANGEOVERLAP Resource ranges must not overlap
SM.ROVONLYINPS RasterizerOrdered objects are only allowed in 5.0+ pixel shaders.
SM.SAMPLECOUNTONLYON2DMS Only Texture2DMS/2DMSArray could has sample count.
SM.SEMANTIC Semantic must be defined in target shader model
SM.STREAMINDEXRANGE Stream index (%0) must between 0 and %1.
SM.TESSFACTORFORDOMAIN Required TessFactor for domain not found declared anywhere in Patch Constant data.
SM.TESSFACTORSIZEMATCHDOMAIN TessFactor rows, columns (%0, %1) invalid for domain %2. Expected %3 rows and 1 column.
SM.TGSMUNSUPPORTED Thread Group Shared Memory not supported %0.
SM.THREADGROUPCHANNELRANGE Declared Thread Group %0 size %1 outside valid range [%2..%3].
SM.TRIOUTPUTPRIMITIVEMISMATCH Hull Shader declared with Tri Domain must specify output primitive point, triangle_cw or triangle_ccw. Line output is not compatible with the Tri domain.
SM.UNDEFINEDOUTPUT Not all elements of output %0 were written.
SM.VALIDDOMAIN Invalid Tessellator Domain specified. Must be isoline, tri or quad.
SM.VIEWIDNEEDSSLOT ViewID requires compatible space in pixel shader input signature
SM.WAVESIZENEEDSDXIL16PLUS WaveSize is valid only for DXIL version 1.6 and higher.
SM.WAVESIZEVALUE Declared WaveSize %0 outside valid range [%1..%2], or not a power of 2.
SM.ZEROHSINPUTCONTROLPOINTWITHINPUT When HS input control point count is 0, no input signature should exist.
TYPES.DEFINED Type must be defined based on DXIL primitives
TYPES.I8 I8 can only be used as immediate value for intrinsic or as i8* via bitcast by lifetime intrinsics.
TYPES.INTWIDTH Int type must be of valid width
TYPES.NOMULTIDIM Only one dimension allowed for array type.
TYPES.NOPTRTOPTR Pointers to pointers, or pointers in structures are not allowed.
TYPES.NOVECTOR Vector types must not be present

HLSL has linking capabilities to enable third-party libraries. The linking step happens before shader DXIL is given to the driver compilers. Experimental library generation is added in DXIL1.1. A library could be created by compile with lib_6_1 profile. A library is a dxil container like the compile result of other shader profiles. The difference is library will keep information for linking like resource link info and entry function signatures. Library support is not part of DXIL spec. Only requirement is linked shader must be valid DXIL.

These additional notes are not normative for DXIL, and are included for the convenience of implementers.

In addition to shader model, DXIL and bitcode representation versions, two other interesting versioned components are discussed: the supporting operating system and runtime, and the HLSL language.

Support is provided in the Microsoft Windows family of operating systems, when running on the D3D12 runtime.

The HLSL language is versioned independently of DXIL, and currently follows an 'HLSL <year>' naming scheme. HLSL 2015 is the dialect supported by the d3dcompiler_47 library; a limited form of support is provided in the open source HLSL on LLVM project. HLSL 2016 is the version supported by the current HLSL on LLVM project, which removes some features (primarily effect framework syntax, backquote operator) and adds new ones (wave intrinsics and basic i64 support).

DXIL is typically encapsulated in a DXIL container. A DXIL container is composed of a header, a sequence of part lengths, and a sequence of parts.

The following C declaration describes this structure:

struct DxilContainerHeader {
  uint32_t  HeaderFourCC;
  uint8_t   Digest[DxilContainerHashSize];
  uint16_t  MajorVersion;
  uint16_t  MinorVersion;
  uint32_t  ContainerSizeInBytes; // From start of this header
  uint32_t  PartCount;
  // Structure is followed by uint32_t PartOffset[PartCount];
  // The offset is to a DxilPartHeader.
};

Each part has a standard header, followed by a part-specify body:

struct DxilPartHeader {
  uint32_t  PartFourCC; // Four char code for part type.
  uint32_t  PartSize;   // Byte count for PartData.
  // Structure is followed by uint8_t PartData[PartSize].
};

The DXIL program is found in a part with the following body:

struct DxilProgramHeader {
  uint32_t          ProgramVersion;   /// Major and minor version of shader, including type.
  uint32_t          SizeInUint32;     /// Size in uint32_t units including this header.
  uint32_t DxilMagic;       // 0x4C495844, ASCII "DXIL".
  uint32_t DxilVersion;     // DXIL version.
  uint32_t BitcodeOffset;   // Offset to LLVM bitcode (from DxilMagic).
  uint32_t BitcodeSize;     // Size of LLVM bitcode.
  // Followed by uint8_t[BitcodeHeader.BitcodeSize] after possible gap from BitcodeOffset
};

The bitcode payload is defined as per bitcode encoding.

This section provides background on future directions for DXIL that may or may not materialize. They imply a new version of DXIL.

It's desirable to support generic pointers, pointing to one of other kinds of pointers. If the compiler fails to disambiguate, memory access is done via a generic pointer; the HLSL compiler will warn the user about each access that it cannot disambiguate. Not supported for SM6.

HLSL will eventually support more primitive types such as i8, i16, i32, i64, half, float, double, as well as declspec(align(n)) and #pragma pack(n) directives. SM6.0 will eventually require byte-granularity access support in hardware, especially writes. Not supported for SM6.

There will be a Requires32BitAlignedAccesses CAP flag. If absent, this would indicate that the shader requires writes that (1) do not write full four bytes, or (2) are not aligned on four-byte boundary. If hardware does not natively support these, the shader is rejected. Programmers can work around this hardware limitation by manually aligning smaller data on four-byte boundary in HLSL.

When libraries are supported as first-class DXIL constructs, "lib_*" shader models can specify more than one entry point per module; the other shader models must specify exactly one entry point.

The target machine specification for HLSL might specify a 64-bit pointer side with 64-bit offsets.

Hardware support for generic pointer is essential for HLSL next as a fallback mechanism for cases when compiler cannot disambiguate pointer's address space.

Future DXIL will change how half and i16 are treated: * i16 will have to be supported natively either in hardware or via emulation, * half's behavior will depend on the value of RequiresHardwareHalf CAP; if it's not set, half can be treated as min-precision type (min16float); i.e., computation may be done with values implicitly promoted to floats; if it's set and hardware does not support half type natively, the driver compiler can either emulate exact IEEE half behavior or fail shader creation.

The following work on this specification is still pending:

  • Consider moving some additional tables and lists into hctdb and cross-reference.
  • Complete the extended documentation for instructions.