A source, or one export of it, that only a compile naming it builds — the three spellings, which build paths leave it alone, and what a compile that does not name it does with its asset.

NoGeneration

DreamShader » Generation » NoGeneration

(after 2.1.2) A source, or one export of it, that only a compile naming it builds. Every other compile leaves its asset as it is on disk, and whatever uses that asset uses it as it is.


Spellings	`#pragma nogeneration` (the whole file) · `/// @nogeneration` on an `export` (that asset) · `NoGeneration = true` in a 1.x block's header (that block's asset)
Applies to	every asset a source builds: materials, instances (`.dsi`), material functions, layers and blends, Custom Pass pipelines (`.dsp`)
Built by	Compile in the Material Content Browser, Revert to Source, creating an instance of the material, a bridge request for the file, `compile -Source`, `check -Source -Shaders`
Left alone by	the editor's startup sweep, a save, the rebuild of a source it depends on (a header, a `.dsi`'s parent, a `.dsp`'s material), Recompile All, `compile -All`, `check -All -Shaders`, a cook

Use it for an asset that is expensive to rebuild, or that someone tunes by hand in the editor and should not be rebuilt under them every time a shared header changes.

Writing it

// M_Ocean.dss -- none of its assets is rebuilt unless the file is compiled by name.
#pragma nogeneration

export void M_Ocean(inout material m) { … }

// Only MF_Heavy is left alone; MF_Light is built as usual.
/// @nogeneration
export float3 MF_Heavy(float3 p) { … }

export float3 MF_Light(float3 p) { return MF_Heavy(p) * 0.5; }

// 1.x: on any block that builds an asset -- Shader, ShaderFunction, ShaderLayer, ShaderLayerBlend.
ShaderFunction(Name = "Noise/MF_Heavy", NoGeneration = true)
{
    …
}

A 1.x file may also write #pragma nogeneration at its top level, for every block of the file. dsc migrate writes NoGeneration = true as /// @nogeneration.

Mistake	Code
`NoGeneration =` something other than `true`, `false`, `1` or `0`	`DSH2260` — the block is built as if it were `false`
`#pragma nogeneration(…)`	`DSH3219` — the arguments are ignored and the file stays marked
`#pragma nogeneration` in a header	`DSH7235` — ignored; the files that include it are not marked
`/// @nogeneration` on a helper, a `@custom` function or an `extern`	`DSH7224` — it marks an asset, and only an `export` has one

What a compile that does not name it does

The source is still read, bound and checked, so a save still reports its errors. Then, for each NoGeneration asset:

The asset	What happens	Reported as
exists	left as it is, even when the source has changed since it was built	info `DSH8277`; the result line `Skipped <path> from <source>; the source marks it NoGeneration, …`
has never been built	nothing is written	warning `DSH8278`; `Skipped <path> from <source>; … it has never been built.`

The other assets of the file are built as usual. One that calls a NoGeneration export of the same file calls the asset on disk; when there is none, it fails with DSH8279.

What uses it

Nothing compiles a NoGeneration source first on its behalf:

Reference	With the asset on disk	Without
a `.dsi` whose `Parent` it builds	the instance is built against that asset — its parameters are read off it, not off the source	`DSH8279`
a `.dsp` pass whose `Material` it builds	checked against that asset	`DSH8279`
a `.dss` that reads the buffers of a `.dsp` it builds	checked against that pipeline	`DSH8279`
an `extern` function, or a 1.x `MaterialFunctionCall`, naming the asset	the asset, as with any asset	the emitter's `DSH8219`

DSH8279 asks you to compile the source by name once; from then on its users build against what that compile wrote.

A NoGeneration asset is never rebuilt behind your back, so a hand edit to it survives every compile that does not name the source. A compile that does name it is an ordinary rebuild, and the divergence check still stops it from overwriting a hand edit without asking.

NoGeneration

NoGeneration

Writing it

What a compile that does not name it does

What uses it

Hand edits

See also

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