Tips & Tricks

=============

.. |go_arrow| image:: ../imgs/icons/action_hover.png

This page is a random hodge-podge of different tips and tricks that might not be
obvious and aren't practical to make clear in the UI - e.g. keyboard shortcuts,
edge cases and suchlike.

#. RenderDoc can be used as an image viewer! If you drag in or use file → open, you
can open images in a variety of formats - ``.dds``, ``.hdr``, ``.exr``, ``.bmp``,
``.jpg``, ``.png``, ``.tga``, ``.gif``, ``.psd``. The image will load up in
RenderDoc's texture viewer and you can use the normal controls to view it as if it
were the only texture in a capture. Note that ``.dds`` files support all DXGI
formats, compressed formats, arrays and mips - all of which will display as
expected. If the file is modified, RenderDoc will reload it and display it. Note
that changing the image's dimensions or format will likely cause problems.
#. If a ``.cap`` file is saved with the "auto-start" option enabled, launching
RenderDoc by opening this file will cause RenderDoc to automatically trigger a
capture with the given options. This is useful for saving a common path & set of
options that you regularly re-run.

For more information check out the :doc:`../window/capture_attach` page.

#. If you'd like to see the geometry data visualised in 3D and with each component
separated out and formatted, either open "Mesh Viewer" under the window menu, or
click the Go Arrow |go_arrow| on the vertex input attributes in the
:doc:`../window/pipeline_state`.
#. Right clicking on one of the channel buttons in the texture viewer (R, G, B, A)
will either select only that channel, or if it's already the only one selected it
will select all of the others. This is useful e.g. to toggle between viewing RGB
and alpha, or for looking at individual channels in a packed texture or render
target.
#. Similarly, right-clicking on the 'auto-fit' button |wand| will auto-fit whenever
the texture or event changes, so that the visible range is maintained as you move
through the frame. This can be useful if jumping between places where the visible
range is very different.
Note though that by default the range will be remembered or each texture, so
once you have fitted the range once for each texture you should be able to flip
back and forth more easily.
#. You can double click on a thumbnail in the texture viewer to open a :doc:`locked
texture <../how/how_view_texture>` tab
#. You can close tabs by middle clicking on them.
#. You can trigger a capture from code. ``renderdoc.dll`` exports an
:doc:`../in_application_api` for this purpose, defined in ``renderdoc_app.h`` in
the distributed builds.
#. To get API debug or error messages, enable "Enable API validation" when
capturing then check out the :doc:`../window/debug_messages` window.
#. You can annotate a capture by adding bookmarks, renaming resources, and adding
comments. These can all be saved and embedded in the capture, so that when you
share it with someone else.
#. Dragging an executable onto the RenderDoc window anywhere will open
the :guilabel:`Launch Executable` panel with the executable path filled in.
#. Detecting RenderDoc from your code can either be done by trying to load and use
the renderdoc :doc:`../in_application_api`, or through API specific ways:

.. highlight:: c++
.. code:: c++
 // For D3D11 / D3D12:
ID3D11Device *devicePointer = ...;
IUnknown *unk = NULL;
HRESULT hr = devicePointer->QueryInterface(MAKE_GUID({A7AA6116-9C8D-4BBA-
9083-B4D816B71B78}), &unk);
if(SUCCEEDED(hr)) { /* renderdoc is present; */ }

// For OpenGL:
// if GL_EXT_debug_tool is present (see
https://renderdoc.org/debug_tool.txt)
glIsEnabled(GL_DEBUG_TOOL_EXT);

// Use reserved enumerants as the extension will not become official

// For Vulkan
// VK_EXT_tooling_info will be available, see the Vulkan specification

#. RenderDoc can be informed about separated debug shader blobs through API
specific ways - see :doc:`../how/how_shader_debug_info` for more details.
#. More coming soon hopefully :).

Keyboard Shortcuts
------------------

#. In the texture viewer you can hit :kbd:`Ctrl-G` to open a popup that lets you
jump to a particular pixel co-ordinate.
#. In the texture viewer, after selecting a pixel you can use the arrow keys to
'nudge' one pixel at a time in any direction to fine-tune the selection.
#. To close a capture, press :kbd:`Ctrl-F4`. This will prompt to save if there are
any unsaved changes.
#. Anywhere in the UI, you can use :kbd:`Ctrl-Left` and :kbd:`Ctrl-Right` to jump
to the previous or next action.
#. If you :doc:`add some bookmarks <../how/how_annotate_capture>` you can globally
press any key from :kbd:`Ctrl-1` to :kbd:`Ctrl-0` to jump to the first 10
bookmarks.