Documentation Docs/en/reference/effect-format/syntax.md

Effect File Syntax

Generated reference. Do not edit directly. Update BuildTools/EffectFormatInterface.json, then run python BuildTools/docs_effect_format.py --write.

Index

Syntax

A minimal one-pass effect contains the required config section and one vertex/fragment shader pair:

[Effect]

[VertexShader]
layout(set = 0, binding = 0, std140) uniform ProjBuf { mat4 ProjMatrix; };
layout(location = 0) in vec3 InPosition;
void main(void) { gl_Position = ProjMatrix * vec4(InPosition, 1.0); }

[FragmentShader]
layout(location = 0) out vec4 FragColor;
void main(void) { FragColor = vec4(1.0); }

Stable ID	Section	Requirement	Why	Source
`effect-format.section.effect`	[Effect]	Every .fofx source must contain an Effect section. It stores pass count, shader version, shadow-pass selection, and default or per-pass render state.	Both the baker and runtime loader reject a source without this section.	Source/Tools/EffectBaker.cpp, Source/Frontend/Rendering.cpp
`effect-format.section.shader-common`	[ShaderCommon]	ShaderCommon is optional raw shader text prepended to both stages of every pass after the Engine-generated prelude.	It is the only format-level reuse block; the .fofx parser has no include directive.	Source/Tools/EffectBaker.cpp
`effect-format.section.vertex`	[VertexShader] and [VertexShader PassN]	Each declared pass needs non-empty vertex shader text. The baker first reads VertexShader PassN and falls back to the generic VertexShader section when the pass-specific section is empty.	A shared vertex stage can serve all passes while selected passes override it.	Source/Tools/EffectBaker.cpp
`effect-format.section.fragment`	[FragmentShader] and [FragmentShader PassN]	Each declared pass needs non-empty fragment shader text. The baker first reads FragmentShader PassN and falls back to the generic FragmentShader section when the pass-specific section is empty.	Multi-pass effects often share geometry processing and vary only the fragment stage.	Source/Tools/EffectBaker.cpp