As you create shader compounds, you'll find that you will probably want to create several versions of it, either for fixing bugs or for adding enhancements. You can have control over the versions of shader compounds in a manner that is similar to that of ICE compounds.
This section describes the only issues that are specific to shader compounds, but you can find basic information about versioning ICE compounds in Versioning Compounds.
These are the main differences between versioning ICE and shader compounds:
Shader compound nodes in the render tree do not display an asterisk when you modify them. As a result, if you make a change to a shader compound, you should change the compound version number directly after making a change.
There is no built-in versioning system to automatically increment version numbers and re-export modified compounds as ICE compounds have.
When you import a shader compound that nests other compounds, it uses the exact major.minor version specified rather than the highest minor version of the specified major version, as ICE compounds do. If you want to use the latest minor version, you need to add it to your shader compound manually, then re-export it.
Modifying the Version of a Shader Compound
For complete control over a compound's version numbers, you need to modify the version numbers in the compound's properties and re-export it, as described below.
Shader compounds that already exist in a scene are not updated automatically even if new versions are available. However, you can update them using The Shader Version Manager.
Open the compound's properties as described above in Editing Shader Compound Properties.
Increase the Version number as appropriate:
If desired, enter a Version Tag. This is a character string that you can use to describe this version.
Export the compound as described in Exporting Compounds.
After you update the shader compound version in a scene, you can right-click on a shader compound's node in the render tree, choose the Version menu, then select which of the compound's versions you want to use.
You can also use the The Shader Version Manager to select which compound version to use.
