WebGL2RenderingContext: bufferData() method

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since September 2021.

Note: This feature is available in Web Workers.

The WebGL2RenderingContext.bufferData() method of the WebGL API creates and initializes the buffer object's data store.

Syntax

js
bufferData(target, size, usage)
bufferData(target, srcData, usage)
bufferData(target, srcData, usage, srcOffset)
bufferData(target, srcData, usage, srcOffset, length)

Parameters

target

A GLenum specifying the binding point (target). Possible values:

gl.ARRAY_BUFFER

Buffer containing vertex attributes, such as vertex coordinates, texture coordinate data, or vertex color data.

gl.ELEMENT_ARRAY_BUFFER

Buffer used for element indices.

gl.COPY_READ_BUFFER

Buffer for copying from one buffer object to another.

gl.COPY_WRITE_BUFFER

Buffer for copying from one buffer object to another.

gl.TRANSFORM_FEEDBACK_BUFFER

Buffer for transform feedback operations.

gl.UNIFORM_BUFFER

Buffer used for storing uniform blocks.

gl.PIXEL_PACK_BUFFER

Buffer used for pixel transfer operations.

gl.PIXEL_UNPACK_BUFFER

Buffer used for pixel transfer operations.

size Optional

A GLsizeiptr setting the size in bytes of the buffer object's data store. One of size and srcData must be provided.

srcData Optional

An ArrayBuffer, SharedArrayBuffer, a TypedArray or a DataView that will be copied into the data store. If null, a data store is still created, but the content is uninitialized and undefined. One of size and srcData must be provided.

usage

A GLenum specifying the intended usage pattern of the data store for optimization purposes. Possible values:

gl.STATIC_DRAW

The contents are intended to be specified once by the application, and used many times as the source for WebGL drawing and image specification commands.

gl.DYNAMIC_DRAW

The contents are intended to be respecified repeatedly by the application, and used many times as the source for WebGL drawing and image specification commands.

gl.STREAM_DRAW

The contents are intended to be specified once by the application, and used at most a few times as the source for WebGL drawing and image specification commands.

gl.STATIC_READ

The contents are intended to be specified once by reading data from WebGL, and queried many times by the application.

gl.DYNAMIC_READ

The contents are intended to be respecified repeatedly by reading data from WebGL, and queried many times by the application.

gl.STREAM_READ

The contents are intended to be specified once by reading data from WebGL, and queried at most a few times by the application

gl.STATIC_COPY

The contents are intended to be specified once by reading data from WebGL, and used many times as the source for WebGL drawing and image specification commands.

gl.DYNAMIC_COPY

The contents are intended to be respecified repeatedly by reading data from WebGL, and used many times as the source for WebGL drawing and image specification commands.

gl.STREAM_COPY

The contents are intended to be specified once by reading data from WebGL, and used at most a few times as the source for WebGL drawing and image specification commands.

srcOffset Optional

A GLuint specifying the element index offset where to start reading the buffer. Only allowed if srcData is provided.

length Optional

A GLuint defaulting to 0. Only allowed if srcOffset is given.

Return value

None (undefined).

Exceptions

  • A gl.OUT_OF_MEMORY error is thrown if the context is unable to create a data store with the given size.
  • A gl.INVALID_VALUE error is thrown if size is negative.
  • A gl.INVALID_ENUM error is thrown if target or usage are not one of the allowed enums.

Specifications

Specification
WebGL Specification
# 5.14.5

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also