Here is what I want to do in my dx11 vertex shader:

struct VertexInput
{
	//imediate data
	float3 PositionLocal		: POSITION;
	int index		        : TEXCOORD;
	//instance data
	float3 Translation		: NORMAL;
	float Altitudes[3]		: TEXCOORD;
};

struct VertexOutput
{
	float3 PositionWorld	: POSITION;
	float2 MainTexCoord	: TEXCOORD;
};

VertexOutput VS(VertexInput vin)
{
	VertexOutput vout;

	//Add altitudes
	float3 transPos = vin.PositionLocal + vin.Translation;
	transPos.y += vin.Altitudes[vin.Index];

	vout.MainTexCoord = transPos.xz;
	vout.PositionWorld = transPos;

	return vout;
}

Is it allowed to use an array this way in dx11? I can easily fake it with swizzling I suppose, but I would prefer that the code convey its meaning more clearly. What would be the proper way to create the input elements for an array?

So, would I specify that each element in the array is its own element in the input layout, or should I just use a three element R32G32B32_FLOAT and access it with an index? I'm still kindof new to dx11, so I'm unsure exactly how to do this properly. In dx9 I would have just used a vector3 and swizzled x for 0, y for 1 and z for 2.

EDIT: The fact that my array only has three elements confounds what I'm trying to learn here, since its easy to access a Vector3 with an index. What if I wanted an array in my input stream with 10 elements though? Would that be possible? I have no idea how to set that up.

struct VertexInput
{
float3 PositionLocal : POSITION;
int index : TEXCOORD;
float3 Translation : NORMAL;
float3 Altitudes : TEXCOORD;
};

If your Altitudes is defines as float3 (as above), you may access xyz-elements as Altitudes[0], Altitudes[1] .. etc, while using R32G32B32_FLOAT in your vertex declarations.

Cheers!

Thanks everyone for the replies.

struct VertexInput
{
float3 PositionLocal : POSITION;
int index : TEXCOORD;
float3 Translation : NORMAL;
float3 Altitudes : TEXCOORD;
};

If your Altitudes is defines as float3 (as above), you may access xyz-elements as Altitudes[0], Altitudes[1] .. etc, while using R32G32B32_FLOAT in your vertex declarations.

Cheers!

This seems a very easy way to do it, but for completeness sake I have a question. In previous shader models, swizzling Altitudes[0], Altitudes[1] etc. is NOT the same as saying Altitudes[vin.index] because the previous example is resolvable at compile time, while the latter can only be resolved at run time.

So the question is, in DX11, can I use a variable index for swizzling at run time? As per the OP,can I use Altitudes[vin.index] if Altitudes is a float3 in a single register?