MaterialRegistry.h File Reference

Central registry for loading, creating, and managing material assets. More...

#include "FileWatch.hpp"
#include "Raven/Raven.h"
#include "Renderer/Material.h"
#include <glaze/glaze.hpp>

Classes
struct	Raven::MaterialHandle
	Opaque handle referencing a material in the registry. More...
struct	Raven::TextureSlot
	Lightweight descriptor of a texture binding inside a material. More...
struct	Raven::MaterialAsset
	Serializable description of a material. More...
struct	glz::meta< Raven::MaterialAsset >
class	Raven::MaterialRegistry
	Central manager for material lifetimes and asset persistence. More...

Namespaces
namespace	Raven

Detailed Description

Central registry for loading, creating, and managing material assets.

Author

PhilikusHD

The MaterialRegistry provides an indirection layer between engine systems and actual Material instances. It maintains versioned handles to materials, handles persistence (serialize/deserialize via JSON with Glaze), and ensures safe reuse of GPU indices and slot entries.

Key responsibilities:

• Load material definitions from disk (*.json).
• Create transient runtime-only materials.
• Persist and reload material assets for iteration workflows.
• Track materials via lightweight MaterialHandles, which remain valid as long as their slot version matches.

Integration notes:

• Internally, the registry stores materials in a slot vector. Freed slots are recycled via a free-list while bumping a version counter.
• GPU indices are assigned sequentially for backend binding.
• Assets may be hot-reloaded (planned) via file watchers.