.VS

Task 790: .VS File Format

Task 790: .VS File Format

thinkmelt@protonmail.com

• 5 min read

File Format Specifications for the .VS File Format

The .VS file extension is primarily associated with vertex shader files used in 3D graphics programming for APIs such as OpenGL and DirectX. These files contain source code written in shading languages like GLSL (OpenGL Shading Language) or HLSL (High-Level Shading Language). The format is plain text, typically encoded in ASCII or UTF-8, without a fixed binary structure. The content defines how vertices in 3D models are processed for rendering, including transformations, lighting calculations, and output to fragment shaders. There is no standardized binary header or rigid field layout, as the file serves as human-readable source code that is compiled at runtime or build time by graphics tools. Specifications are governed by the shading language standards (e.g., GLSL version declarations like #version 330 core), but the file itself is not a proprietary binary format requiring decoding beyond text parsing.

1. List of All Properties of This File Format Intrinsic to Its File System

Given that .VS files are plain text, the intrinsic properties relate to the file's content and standard file system metadata. The core property specific to the format is the shader source code itself. File system-intrinsic properties common to all files but applicable here include:

  • File name (including the .vs extension)
  • File size (in bytes)
  • Creation timestamp
  • Last modification timestamp
  • Last access timestamp
  • File permissions (e.g., read/write/execute modes)
  • Owner/user ID
  • Group ID
    The format-specific property is:
  • Shader source code (the full text content, which may include version directive, input attributes, output variables, uniforms, and the main function body)

These properties can be retrieved via file system APIs without parsing the content beyond reading it as text.

3. Ghost Blog Embedded HTML JavaScript for Drag-and-Drop .VS File Dump

The following is a self-contained HTML snippet with embedded JavaScript that can be embedded in a Ghost blog post. It allows users to drag and drop a .VS file, reads it as text, retrieves file system-like properties (name, size, last modified), and dumps the shader source code along with these properties to the screen.

Drag and drop a .VS file here

4. Python Class for Handling .VS Files

The following Python class opens a .VS file, reads its content (as text), prints the properties (including file system metadata via os.stat and the source code), and supports writing new content to a file.

import os
import time

class VSFileHandler:
    def __init__(self, filepath):
        self.filepath = filepath
        self.content = None
        self.stat = None

    def read(self):
        with open(self.filepath, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
            self.content = f.read()
        self.stat = os.stat(self.filepath)

    def decode_and_print(self):
        if self.content is None or self.stat is None:
            self.read()
        print("File Name:", os.path.basename(self.filepath))
        print("File Size:", self.stat.st_size, "bytes")
        print("Creation Timestamp:", time.ctime(self.stat.st_ctime))
        print("Last Modification Timestamp:", time.ctime(self.stat.st_mtime))
        print("Last Access Timestamp:", time.ctime(self.stat.st_atime))
        print("File Permissions:", oct(self.stat.st_mode)[-3:])
        print("Owner ID:", self.stat.st_uid)
        print("Group ID:", self.stat.st_gid)
        print("Shader Source Code:\n", self.content)

    def write(self, new_content):
        with open(self.filepath, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
            f.write(new_content)
        print("File written successfully.")

# Example usage:
# handler = VSFileHandler('example.vs')
# handler.decode_and_print()
# handler.write('#version 330 core\n...')

5. Java Class for Handling .VS Files

The following Java class opens a .VS file, reads its content, prints the properties (using Files and BasicFileAttributes), and supports writing new content.

import java.io.*;
import java.nio.file.*;
import java.nio.file.attribute.BasicFileAttributes;
import java.time.Instant;

public class VSFileHandler {
    private String filepath;
    private String content;
    private BasicFileAttributes attrs;

    public VSFileHandler(String filepath) {
        this.filepath = filepath;
    }

    public void read() throws IOException {
        this.content = new String(Files.readAllBytes(Paths.get(filepath)));
        this.attrs = Files.readAttributes(Paths.get(filepath), BasicFileAttributes.class);
    }

    public void decodeAndPrint() throws IOException {
        if (content == null || attrs == null) {
            read();
        }
        Path path = Paths.get(filepath);
        System.out.println("File Name: " + path.getFileName());
        System.out.println("File Size: " + attrs.size() + " bytes");
        System.out.println("Creation Timestamp: " + Instant.ofEpochMilli(attrs.creationTime().toMillis()));
        System.out.println("Last Modification Timestamp: " + Instant.ofEpochMilli(attrs.lastModifiedTime().toMillis()));
        System.out.println("Last Access Timestamp: " + Instant.ofEpochMilli(attrs.lastAccessTime().toMillis()));
        // Permissions require PosixFileAttributes for Unix-like systems; omitted for cross-platform simplicity
        System.out.println("Shader Source Code:\n" + content);
    }

    public void write(String newContent) throws IOException {
        Files.write(Paths.get(filepath), newContent.getBytes());
        System.out.println("File written successfully.");
    }

    // Example usage:
    // public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
    //     VSFileHandler handler = new VSFileHandler("example.vs");
    //     handler.decodeAndPrint();
    //     handler.write("#version 330 core\n...");
    // }
}

6. JavaScript Class for Handling .VS Files

The following JavaScript class uses Node.js (with fs module) to open a .VS file, read its content, print the properties to console, and support writing new content.

const fs = require('fs');

class VSFileHandler {
  constructor(filepath) {
    this.filepath = filepath;
    this.content = null;
    this.stat = null;
  }

  read() {
    this.content = fs.readFileSync(this.filepath, 'utf-8');
    this.stat = fs.statSync(this.filepath);
  }

  decodeAndPrint() {
    if (this.content === null || this.stat === null) {
      this.read();
    }
    console.log('File Name:', this.filepath.split('/').pop());
    console.log('File Size:', this.stat.size, 'bytes');
    console.log('Creation Timestamp:', new Date(this.stat.birthtime).toISOString());
    console.log('Last Modification Timestamp:', new Date(this.stat.mtime).toISOString());
    console.log('Last Access Timestamp:', new Date(this.stat.atime).toISOString());
    console.log('File Permissions:', (this.stat.mode & 0o777).toString(8));
    console.log('Owner ID:', this.stat.uid);
    console.log('Group ID:', this.stat.gid);
    console.log('Shader Source Code:\n', this.content);
  }

  write(newContent) {
    fs.writeFileSync(this.filepath, newContent, 'utf-8');
    console.log('File written successfully.');
  }
}

// Example usage:
// const handler = new VSFileHandler('example.vs');
// handler.decodeAndPrint();
// handler.write('#version 330 core\n...');

7. C++ Class for Handling .VS Files

The following C++ class opens a .VS file, reads its content, prints the properties (using stat), and supports writing new content. Compile with a standard C++ compiler (e.g., g++).

#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <string>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#include <ctime>

class VSFileHandler {
private:
    std::string filepath;
    std::string content;
    struct stat fileStat;

public:
    VSFileHandler(const std::string& fp) : filepath(fp) {}

    void read() {
        std::ifstream file(filepath, std::ios::in);
        if (file) {
            content.assign((std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(file)), std::istreambuf_iterator<char>());
            file.close();
        }
        stat(filepath.c_str(), &fileStat);
    }

    void decodeAndPrint() {
        if (content.empty()) {
            read();
        }
        std::cout << "File Name: " << filepath.substr(filepath.find_last_of("/\\") + 1) << std::endl;
        std::cout << "File Size: " << fileStat.st_size << " bytes" << std::endl;
        std::cout << "Creation Timestamp: " << std::ctime(&fileStat.st_ctime);
        std::cout << "Last Modification Timestamp: " << std::ctime(&fileStat.st_mtime);
        std::cout << "Last Access Timestamp: " << std::ctime(&fileStat.st_atime);
        std::cout << "File Permissions: " << std::oct << (fileStat.st_mode & 0777) << std::endl;
        std::cout << "Owner ID: " << fileStat.st_uid << std::endl;
        std::cout << "Group ID: " << fileStat.st_gid << std::endl;
        std::cout << "Shader Source Code:\n" << content << std::endl;
    }

    void write(const std::string& newContent) {
        std::ofstream file(filepath, std::ios::out);
        if (file) {
            file << newContent;
            file.close();
            std::cout << "File written successfully." << std::endl;
        }
    }
};

// Example usage:
// int main() {
//     VSFileHandler handler("example.vs");
//     handler.decodeAndPrint();
//     handler.write("#version 330 core\n...");
//     return 0;
// }