SHBIN

Overview

The SHBIN (SHader BINary) file is used to contain compiled and linked shader programs. These can include vertex shaders (typically compiled from .vsh files) and geometry shaders (typically compiled from .gsh files, though .asm have been observed). In commercial games/apps, SHBIN files can be found as standalone files with the extension .shbin, or contained within .bcsdr files. BCSDR files use CGFX as a container, but the underlying DVLB/DVLP/DVLE structure remains unchanged.

A SHBIN's structure starts with a header, then a DVLP, then DVLE(s).

DVLB Header

Offset	Size	Description
0x0	0x4	Magic "DVLB"
0x4	0x4	N = number of DVLEs in SHBIN
0x8	0x4*N	DVLE offset table; each offset is a u32 relative to the start of the DVLB section

The DVLP file comes directly after the header.

DVLP

Offset	Size	Description
0x0	0x4	Magic "DVLP"
0x4	0x4	? (Maybe a version number?)
0x8	0x4	Offset (relative to DVLP start) to the compiled shader binary blob
0xC	0x4	Size of compiled shader binary blob, in words
0x10	0x4	Offset (relative to DVLP start) to shader instruction extension table
0x14	0x4	Number of shader instruction extension table entries (each entry is 8-byte long)
0x18	0x4	Offset (relative to DVLP start) to filename symbol table

DVLE

Offset	Size	Description
0x0	0x4	Magic "DVLE"
0x6	0x1	Shader type (0x0 = vertex shader, 0x1 = geometry shader; might contain other flags)
0x8	0x4	Program's main offset in binary blob (in words)
0xC	0x4	Program's endmain offset in binary blob (in words)
0x18	0x4	Offset (relative to DVLE start) to constant table
0x1C	0x4	Number of entries in constant table (each entry is 0x14-byte long)
0x20	0x4	Offset (relative to DVLE start) to label table
0x24	0x4	Number of entries in label table (each entry is 0x10-byte long)
0x28	0x4	Offset (relative to DVLE start) to output register table
0x2C	0x4	Number of entries in output register table (each entry is 0x8-byte long)
0x30	0x4	Offset (relative to DVLE start) to uniform table
0x34	0x4	Number of entries in uniform table (each entry is 0x8-byte long)
0x38	0x4	Offset (relative to DVLE start) to symbol table
0x3C	0x4	Size of symbol table (in bytes)

Label table entry :

Offset	Size	Description
0x0	0x1	Label ID
0x4	0x4	Offset (relative to shader program blob start) to label's location, in words
0x8	0x4	?
0xC	0x4	Offset (relative to DVLE symbol table start) to label's symbol

Constant table entry header :

Offset	Size	Description
0x0	0x1	Constant type
0x2	0x1	Uniform ID

There are (at least) 3 types of constants : 0 is boolean, 1 is integer and 2 is float24 vec4.

Corresponding constant entry formats :

Offset	Size	Description
0x0	0x1	0x0
0x2	0x1	Uniform bool ID
0x4	0x1	Value (boolean)

Offset	Size	Description
0x0	0x1	0x2
0x2	0x1	Uniform vector ID
0x4	0x4	x (float24)
0x8	0x4	y (float24)
0xC	0x4	z (float24)
0x10	0x4	w (float24)

Output register table entry:

Bit	Description
0-3	Output type (see table below)
16-19	Register ID
32-35	Output attribute component mask (e.g. 5=xz)

Output types (vertex shader) :

ID	Description
0x0	result.position
0x1	result.normalquat
0x2	result.color
0x3	result.texcoord0
0x4	?
0x5	result.texcoord1
0x6	result.texcoord2
0x7	?
0x8	result.view
0x9	result.normal

Uniform table entry :

Offset	Size	Description
0x0	0x4	Offset (relative to DVLE symbol table start) to variable's symbol
0x4	0x2	Variable start register
0x6	0x2	Variable end register

Each DVLE is associated to an individual shader shader program contained in the binary blob. A single shader binary blob may contain multiple shader programs of the same kind.

Each program's constants are stored as vec4 in a uniform table. These are sent over to the GPU when changing to a give program.

Instruction Set

For a description of the instruction set, see the following page : Shader Instruction Set