From bde0ef6b161c6d304cc793cdb5c7d511bc4f6765 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Xiaoji Chen <Pessimistress@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2024 10:28:43 -0800
Subject: [PATCH] Avoid creating empty buffer for attributes (#8576)

---
 modules/core/src/lib/attribute/attribute.ts   | 1 +
 modules/core/src/lib/attribute/data-column.ts | 9 +++------
 2 files changed, 4 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/modules/core/src/lib/attribute/attribute.ts b/modules/core/src/lib/attribute/attribute.ts
index b447571e0e5..8b663199e76 100644
--- a/modules/core/src/lib/attribute/attribute.ts
+++ b/modules/core/src/lib/attribute/attribute.ts
@@ -214,6 +214,7 @@ export default class Attribute extends DataColumn<AttributeOptions, AttributeInt
         // no value was assigned during update
       } else if (
         this.constant ||
+        !this.buffer ||
         this.buffer.byteLength < (this.value as TypedArray).byteLength + this.byteOffset
       ) {
         this.setData({
diff --git a/modules/core/src/lib/attribute/data-column.ts b/modules/core/src/lib/attribute/data-column.ts
index 958b561ac25..710c0dc69f5 100644
--- a/modules/core/src/lib/attribute/data-column.ts
+++ b/modules/core/src/lib/attribute/data-column.ts
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ export default class DataColumn<Options, State> {
   value: NumericArray | null;
   doublePrecision: boolean;
 
-  protected _buffer: Buffer | null;
+  protected _buffer: Buffer | null = null;
   protected state: DataColumnInternalState<Options, State>;
 
   /* eslint-disable max-statements */
@@ -190,9 +190,6 @@ export default class DataColumn<Options, State> {
       bounds: null,
       constant: false
     };
-
-    // TODO(v9): Can we pre-allocate the correct size, instead?
-    this._buffer = this._createBuffer(0);
   }
   /* eslint-enable max-statements */
 
@@ -429,7 +426,7 @@ export default class DataColumn<Options, State> {
       // A small over allocation is used as safety margin
       // Shader attributes may try to access this buffer with bigger offsets
       const requiredBufferSize = value.byteLength + byteOffset + stride * 2;
-      if (buffer.byteLength < requiredBufferSize) {
+      if (!buffer || buffer.byteLength < requiredBufferSize) {
         buffer = this._createBuffer(requiredBufferSize);
       }
 
@@ -479,7 +476,7 @@ export default class DataColumn<Options, State> {
     const {byteOffset} = this;
     let {buffer} = this;
 
-    if (buffer.byteLength < value.byteLength + byteOffset) {
+    if (!buffer || buffer.byteLength < value.byteLength + byteOffset) {
       buffer = this._createBuffer(value.byteLength + byteOffset);
       if (copy && oldValue) {
         // Upload the full existing attribute value to the GPU, so that updateBuffer