glMapBufferRange

glMapBufferRange: man3/glMapBufferRange.xml

glMapBufferRange maps all or part of the data store of a buffer object into the client's address space. target specifies the target to which the buffer is bound and must be one of GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, GL_COPY_READ_BUFFER, GL_COPY_WRITE_BUFFER, GL_ELEMENT_ARRAY_BUFFER, GL_PIXEL_PACK_BUFFER, GL_PIXEL_UNPACK_BUFFER, GL_TEXTURE_BUFFER, GL_TRANSFORM_FEEDBACK_BUFFER, or GL_UNIFORM_BUFFER. offset and length indicate the range of data in the buffer object htat is to be mapped, in terms of basic machine units. access is a bitfield containing flags which describe the requested mapping. These flags are described below. If no error occurs, a pointer to the beginning of the mapped range is returned once all pending operations on that buffer have completed, and may be used to modify and/or query the corresponding range of the buffer, according to the following flag bits set in access :

1. GL_MAP_READ_BIT indicates that the returned pointer may be used to read buffer object data. No GL error is generated if the pointer is used to query a mapping which excludes this flag, but the result is undefined and system errors (possibly including program termination) may occur.
2. GL_MAP_WRITE_BIT indicates that the returned pointer may be used to modify buffer object data. No GL error is generated if the pointer is used to modify a mapping which excludes this flag, but the result is undefined and system errors (possibly including program termination) may occur.

Furthermore, the following flag bits in access may be used to modify the mapping:

1. GL_MAP_INVALIDATE_RANGE_BIT indicates that the previous contents of the specified range may be discarded. Data within this range are undefined with the exception of subsequently written data. No GL error is generated if sub- sequent GL operations access unwritten data, but the result is undefined and system errors (possibly including program termination) may occur. This flag may not be used in combination with GL_MAP_READ_BIT.
2. GL_MAP_INVALIDATE_BUFFER_BIT indicates that the previous contents of the entire buffer may be discarded. Data within the entire buffer are undefined with the exception of subsequently written data. No GL error is generated if subsequent GL operations access unwritten data, but the result is undefined and system errors (possibly including program termination) may occur. This flag may not be used in combination with GL_MAP_READ_BIT.
3. GL_MAP_FLUSH_EXPLICIT_BIT indicates that one or more discrete subranges of the mapping may be modified. When this flag is set, modifications to each subrange must be explicitly flushed by calling glFlushMappedBufferRange. No GL error is set if a subrange of the mapping is modified and not flushed, but data within the corresponding subrange of the buffer are undefined. This flag may only be used in conjunction with GL_MAP_WRITE_BIT. When this option is selected, flushing is strictly limited to regions that are explicitly indicated with calls to glFlushMappedBufferRange prior to unmap; if this option is not selected glUnmapBuffer will automatically flush the entire mapped range when called.
4. GL_MAP_UNSYNCHRONIZED_BIT indicates that the GL should not attempt to synchronize pending operations on the buffer prior to returning from glMapBufferRange. No GL error is generated if pending operations which source or modify the buffer overlap the mapped region, but the result of such previous and any subsequent operations is undefined.

If an error occurs, glMapBufferRange returns a null pointer.