---
title: vertexDescriptor
framework: modelio
role: symbol
role_heading: Instance Property
path: modelio/mdlmesh/vertexdescriptor
---

# vertexDescriptor

A description of the format and layout of the mesh’s vertex buffers.

## Declaration

```swift
@NSCopying var vertexDescriptor: MDLVertexDescriptor { get set }
```

## Discussion

Discussion Read this property to determine the vertex data format to be used in rendering the mesh. By writing a new value to this property, you can restructure the vertex data in the mesh. important: Changing a mesh’s vertex descriptor can be an expensive or destructive operation. Depending on the differences between the current and new vertex descriptors, reformatting may copy up to the entire vertex data into a new structure and delete any vertex data corresponding to attributes that are not present in the new vertex descriptor.

## See Also

### Working with Vertex Data

- [boundingBox](modelio/mdlmesh/boundingbox.md)
- [submeshes](modelio/mdlmesh/submeshes.md)
- [vertexBuffers](modelio/mdlmesh/vertexbuffers.md)
- [vertexCount](modelio/mdlmesh/vertexcount.md)
- [allocator](modelio/mdlmesh/allocator.md)
- [addAttribute(withName:format:)](modelio/mdlmesh/addattribute(withname:format:).md)
- [addAttribute(withName:format:type:data:stride:)](modelio/mdlmesh/addattribute(withname:format:type:data:stride:).md)
- [addAttribute(withName:format:type:data:stride:time:)](modelio/mdlmesh/addattribute(withname:format:type:data:stride:time:).md)
- [removeAttributeNamed(_:)](modelio/mdlmesh/removeattributenamed(_:).md)
- [replaceAttributeNamed(_:with:)](modelio/mdlmesh/replaceattributenamed(_:with:).md)
- [updateAttributeNamed(_:with:)](modelio/mdlmesh/updateattributenamed(_:with:).md)
- [addUnwrappedTextureCoordinates(forAttributeNamed:)](modelio/mdlmesh/addunwrappedtexturecoordinates(forattributenamed:).md)
- [vertexAttributeData(forAttributeNamed:)](modelio/mdlmesh/vertexattributedata(forattributenamed:).md)
- [vertexAttributeData(forAttributeNamed:as:)](modelio/mdlmesh/vertexattributedata(forattributenamed:as:).md)