Modules caching issues

[daniilvinn]

Hello everyone. I am having issues with caching Slang shaders and using precompiled code.
I am using the newest Slang release and built-in serialize / loadModuleFromIRBlob() API. However, I can't get some things right.

All of my slang shaders are defined in the modules. Some modules are built from multiple files (via implementing + __include). Files with entry points declare a module as well.
Note that I 100% have provided correct search paths for compiler, so it can find those modules.

The questions are:

1. Is there any example of how to serialize / deserialize a module or nested modules (e.g. when a module imports other module)?
2. Do I also need to serialize modules that are imported from serialized module?
3. If #2 is yes, then do I also need to serialize __include 'my/path' separately, or only "top file" that includes all those files via __include?

Right now I am facing issues that depend on the setup I have:

1. Slang can always reload shaders even if serialized modules are there
2. Slang fails to load a module from disk, even though it is there - I am having compilation errors as if some imported module was not loaded (should I manually load all modules it depends on?).

Thanks for help.

[expipiplus1]

When you serialize a module, you're serializing the entire translation unit (including all __included files). Files pulled in via __include are part of the same module and don't need separate serialization.

Modules that are imported however are separate modules and need to be handled independently.

You might find docs/user-guide/04-modules-and-access-control.md and docs/user-guide/08-compiling.md useful :)

If you think that slang isn't finding a slang-module file in the search path when it should are you able to share a reproducer please

I hope this helps