Method for creating shader program outside render time so we can create ...

[TwoPints]

...the program before creating a VAO as the attributes need setting before we can call glVertexAttribPointer etc. Probably needs implementing a bit better than this.

[PrimaryFeather]

Could you give me a little more information about what you're trying to achieve? Maybe a sample code of how you want to call that additional method? (And why you can't call 'prepareToDraw' instead.) Just so that I know exactly was this is about, and can make the change in a way that's most useful. Thanks!

[TwoPints]

prepareToDraw works, it however has the extra overhead of needless gl calls, and the function name itself implies something in this context that you're not doing.

This is code within a classes init: method so not called within a render. The suggestion I'm asking for is just a separation of concerns, so the body within prepareForRender can call to generateProgram (or a more appropriate name), I should have done that as part of the pull request in hindsight to make it more clear. As is, it also has the problem of having to have a valid texture to create a textured program, even though it's not necessarily used for a while, just cached.

The more I think about it, the more the pull request needs changing. :)

for (int i=0; i<NUM_VERTEX_VBO_BUFFERS; ++i) {
                baseEffect[i] = [[SPBaseEffect alloc]init];
                baseEffect[i].texture = [mTextures lastObject];
                [baseEffect[i] prepareToDraw];
                //[baseEffect[i] createProgram];

                numQuads[i] = activeQuads;
                numVertices[i] = activeQuads * 4;
                numIndices[i] = activeQuads * 6;

                // Generate dynamic vbo so we can change the data later, copy the prefab data to stop any bitching.
                glGenBuffers(1, &vertexVBO[i]);
                glBindBuffer(GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, vertexVBO[i]);
                glBufferData(GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, _numVertices * sizeof(TiledVertexDef), vertexBuffer, GL_DYNAMIC_DRAW);
                glBindBuffer(GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, 0);

                // Create vertex array object for speed, not sure if it helps in the scheme of things as presentRenderBuffer takes more time (unless this is idle time?)
                glGenVertexArraysOES(1, &vao[i]);
                glBindVertexArrayOES(vao[i]);

                glBindBuffer(GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, vertexVBO[i]);
                glBindBuffer(GL_ELEMENT_ARRAY_BUFFER, indexVBO);
                glVertexAttribPointer(baseEffect[i].attribPosition, 2, GL_SHORT, GL_FALSE, sizeof(TiledVertexDef), (void *)(offsetof(TiledVertexDef, x)));
                glEnableVertexAttribArray(baseEffect[i].attribPosition);
                glVertexAttribPointer(baseEffect[i].attribColor, 4, GL_UNSIGNED_BYTE, GL_TRUE, sizeof(TiledVertexDef), (void *)(offsetof(TiledVertexDef, color)));
                glEnableVertexAttribArray(baseEffect[i].attribColor);
                glVertexAttribPointer(baseEffect[i].attribTexCoords, 2, GL_FLOAT, GL_TRUE, sizeof(TiledVertexDef), (void *)(offsetof(TiledVertexDef, u)));
                glEnableVertexAttribArray(baseEffect[i].attribTexCoords);
        glBindVertexArrayOES(0);
                glBindBuffer(GL_ELEMENT_ARRAY_BUFFER, 0);
                glBindBuffer(GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, 0);
    }

etc

[PrimaryFeather]

Why did you close the request? Did you find another solution / or do you want to send a new one with the final version?

[HexTank]

I've closed it as I realised creating the program requires a texture as its parameter rather than a bool even though it's not used (apart from checking it as if it were a bool) so I need to do more changes than the initial pull request and probably need to think about it more.