Name

VK_EXT_layer_settings - instance extension

VK_EXT_layer_settings

Name String

VK_EXT_layer_settings

Extension Type

Instance extension

Registered Extension Number

497

Revision

2

Ratification Status

Ratified

Extension and Version Dependencies

None

Contact

• Christophe Riccio @christophe%0A*Here describe the issue or question you have about the VK_EXT_layer_settings extension*

Extension Proposal

VK_EXT_layer_settings

Other Extension Metadata

Last Modified Date

2023-09-23

IP Status

No known IP claims.

Contributors

• Christophe Riccio, LunarG
• Mark Lobodzinski, LunarG
• Charles Giessen, LunarG
• Spencer Fricke, LunarG
• Juan Ramos, LunarG
• Daniel Rakos, RasterGrid
• Shahbaz Youssefi, Google
• Lina Versace, Google
• Bill Hollings, The Brenwill Workshop
• Jon Leech, Khronos
• Tom Olson, Arm

Description

This extension provides a mechanism for configuring programmatically through the Vulkan API the behavior of layers.

This extension provides the LayerSettingsCreateInfoEXT structure that can be included in the pNext chain of the InstanceCreateInfo structure passed as the pCreateInfo parameter of createInstance.

The structure contains an array of LayerSettingEXT structure values that configure specific features of layers.

The VK_EXT_layer_settings extension subsumes all the functionality provided in the VK_EXT_validation_flags extension and the VK_EXT_validation_features extension.

New Structures

• LayerSettingEXT

• Extending InstanceCreateInfo:

  • LayerSettingsCreateInfoEXT

New Enums

• LayerSettingTypeEXT

New Enum Constants

• EXT_LAYER_SETTINGS_EXTENSION_NAME

• EXT_LAYER_SETTINGS_SPEC_VERSION

• Extending StructureType:

  • STRUCTURE_TYPE_LAYER_SETTINGS_CREATE_INFO_EXT

Example

One example usage of VK_EXT_layer_settings is as implemented by the Vulkan Profiles layer.

It allows the profiles layer tests used by the profiles layer C.I. to programmatically configure the layer for each test without affecting the C.I. environment, allowing to run multiple tests concurrently.

const char* profile_file_data = JSON_TEST_FILES_PATH "VP_KHR_roadmap_2022.json";
const char* profile_name_data = "VP_KHR_roadmap_2022";
VkBool32 emulate_portability_data = VK_TRUE;
const char* simulate_capabilities[] = {
    "SIMULATE_API_VERSION_BIT",
    "SIMULATE_FEATURES_BIT",
    "SIMULATE_PROPERTIES_BIT",
    "SIMULATE_EXTENSIONS_BIT",
    "SIMULATE_FORMATS_BIT",
    "SIMULATE_QUEUE_FAMILY_PROPERTIES_BIT"
};
const char* debug_reports[] = {
    "DEBUG_REPORT_ERROR_BIT",
    "DEBUG_REPORT_WARNING_BIT",
    "DEBUG_REPORT_NOTIFICATION_BIT",
    "DEBUG_REPORT_DEBUG_BIT"
};

const VkLayerSettingEXT settings[] = {
     {kLayerName, kLayerSettingsProfileFile, VK_LAYER_SETTING_TYPE_STRING_EXT, 1, &profile_file_data},
     {kLayerName, kLayerSettingsProfileName, VK_LAYER_SETTING_TYPE_STRING_EXT, 1, &profile_name_data},
     {kLayerName, kLayerSettingsEmulatePortability, VK_LAYER_SETTING_TYPE_BOOL32_EXT, 1, &emulate_portability_data},
     {kLayerName, kLayerSettingsSimulateCapabilities, VK_LAYER_SETTING_TYPE_STRING_EXT,
        static_cast<uint32_t>(std::size(simulate_capabilities)), simulate_capabilities},
     {kLayerName, kLayerSettingsDebugReports, VK_LAYER_SETTING_TYPE_STRING_EXT,
        static_cast<uint32_t>(std::size(debug_reports)), debug_reports}
};

const VkLayerSettingsCreateInfoEXT layer_settings_create_info{
    VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_LAYER_SETTINGS_CREATE_INFO_EXT, nullptr,
    static_cast<uint32_t>(std::size(settings)), settings};

VkInstanceCreateInfo inst_create_info = {};
...
inst_create_info.pNext = &layer_settings_create_info;
vkCreateInstance(&inst_create_info, nullptr, &_instances);

Issues

• How should application developers figure out the list of available settings?

This extension does not provide a reflection API for layer settings. Layer settings are described in each layer JSON manifest and the documentation of each layer which implements this extension.

Version History

• Revision 1, 2020-06-17 (Mark Lobodzinski)

  • Initial revision for Validation layer internal usages

• Revision 2, 2023-09-26 (Christophe Riccio)

  • Refactor APIs for any layer usages and public release

See Also

No cross-references are available

Document Notes

For more information, see the Vulkan Specification.

This page is a generated document. Fixes and changes should be made to the generator scripts, not directly.