DirectX - Direct3D - Interfacing Initialization

Hi,

we like to interface Direct3D by Dolphin 5.1. Whats the best way. Has
anybody already worked with this stuff. Are there any examples
(interfacing initialization available). Any hint would be great.

Christopher J. Demers asked here Jan 2003, I like to repeat!
Is the old OA package even worth looking at anymore, or should I just
generate the ActiveX classes myself?


Thanks
Christoph J. Bachinger.

Christoph,

> Christopher J. Demers asked here Jan 2003, I like to repeat!
> Is the old OA package even worth looking at anymore, or should I just
> generate the ActiveX classes myself?

I am not certain whether MS followed through on their plans to kill
retained mode; if they did, then I _think_ most of the old package is
largely useless.  Some form of retained mode (drawing/manipulating
objects instead of triangles) is quite useful, at least for simple work.
  The relationship between Croquet's 3D objects and Baloon3D might be of
value in figuring out how to use a generated DirectX wrapper.

At a minimum, some of the wrapper methods in the old package should be
of use, if only to serve as examples of how to write helpers to simplify
using the generated classes.

A final nutty thought: if Croquet is indeed going to utilize Baloon3D
(which seems to be the case), then perhaps we should consider porting
Baloon3D to Dolphin.  One caveat is that Croquet is apparently quite
dependent on OpenGL, and if Baloon3D is also moving in that direction,
then it might be better to simply use an existing OpenGL wrapper for
Dolphin.

Have a good one,

Bill

--
Wilhelm K. Schwab, Ph.D.
[hidden email]

"Christoph J. Bachinger" <[hidden email]> wrote in message
news:[hidden email]...
> we like to interface Direct3D by Dolphin 5.1. Whats the best way. Has
> anybody already worked with this stuff. Are there any examples
> (interfacing initialization available). Any hint would be great.
>
> Christopher J. Demers asked here Jan 2003, I like to repeat!
> Is the old OA package even worth looking at anymore, or should I just
> generate the ActiveX classes myself?

I did not get back into doing 3D with Dolphin.  I actually decided to try
SmalltalkMT for that (DirectX is installed, and includes examples), but
haven't had a chance to even start that.  I did however recently need to do
some more advanced sound stuff, so I used DirectSound for it.  I first tried
to find the OA package on the web.  I did a Google search, but all I found
were broken links, and a setup program that told me it was corrupt when I
tried to install it.  I ended up just generating all the DirectX classes
myself.  DirectSound worked for me.  I did not try using any DirectDraw or
Direct3D stuff so I am not sure how many changes would be required.  However
be careful, apparently it can replace some classes included in the system.
When it does this they are in the DirectX package which causes a system
dependency, which means it will cause a cyclical reference.  I was using an
experimental image, so I have not tried to unravel the cyclical references
yet.  Perhaps one could get away with not replacing the system classes.
However I am not sure if the DirectX versions of those classes add anything
new.  I would be interested to know how you fare with DirectX in Dolphin.

Chris

Hi Christopher,
still sorting out how to interface, so some questions to you!

> I did not get back into doing 3D with Dolphin.  I actually decided to try
> SmalltalkMT for that (DirectX is installed, and includes examples), but
> haven't had a chance to even start that.  I did however recently need to do
> some more advanced sound stuff, so I used DirectSound for it.  I first tried
> to find the OA package on the web.  I did a Google search, but all I found
> were broken links, and a setup program that told me it was corrupt when I
> tried to install it.  I ended up just generating all the DirectX classes
> myself.

How did you generate this classes. By the ActiveX Component Wizard, if
yes, what COM library you have used. If not, what dlls did you interface.

   DirectSound worked for me.  I did not try using any DirectDraw or
> Direct3D stuff so I am not sure how many changes would be required.

Is there any code available.

   However
> be careful, apparently it can replace some classes included in the system.

On my system I saw this after using the ActiveX Component Wizard on the
VB Library dx8vb.dll (DirectX 8 for Visual Basic Type Library). But I'm
not sure if this library is the best entry to start. I like Smalltalk
not VB.

I would be interested to know how you fare with DirectX in Dolphin.
You will be informed. Thanks for your answer Chris.

CJB

Bill,

Is there any valid link to the old package.

> A final nutty thought: if Croquet is indeed going to utilize Baloon3D
> (which seems to be the case), then perhaps we should consider porting
> Baloon3D to Dolphin.  One caveat is that Croquet is apparently quite
> dependent on OpenGL, and if Baloon3D is also moving in that direction,
> then it might be better to simply use an existing OpenGL wrapper for
> Dolphin.

Thanks
CJB

Bill,

 > I am not certain whether MS followed through on their plans to kill
retained mode; if they did, then I _think_ most of the old package is
largely useless.  Some form of retained mode (drawing/manipulating
objects instead of triangles) is quite useful, at least for simple work.
  The relationship between Croquet's 3D objects and Baloon3D might be of
value in figuring out how to use a generated DirectX wrapper.
 >
 > At a minimum, some of the wrapper methods in the old package should
be of use, if only to serve as examples of how to write helpers to
simplify using the generated classes.


Is there any valid link to the old package.

 > A final nutty thought: if Croquet is indeed going to utilize Baloon3D
(which seems to be the case), then perhaps we should consider porting
Baloon3D to Dolphin.  One caveat is that Croquet is apparently quite
dependent on OpenGL, and if Baloon3D is also moving in that direction,
then it might be better to simply use an existing OpenGL wrapper for
Dolphin.


Thanks
CJB

I used the old DX framework for D3 with D5 and DX9 and after a couple of
fixes it worked good. I plan to do some heavy use of it, so it would be
great to keep in contact with people that is using it.

Diego Coronel

Diego,

nice to hear that anybody is still working under Dolphin 5.x with the
old DX framework. I will ask Object Arts to buy an old lisence. Maybe
after that, you would be so kind to povide me with a package including
your modifications for evaluation.
It seems to me that there is a great interest by the Dolphin users to
get an uptodate Direct-X interface which could be the base of a future
new DX framework. So we will keep in contact.

Thanks CJB

DiegoC schrieb:
> I used the old DX framework for D3 with D5 and DX9 and after a couple of
> fixes it worked good. I plan to do some heavy use of it, so it would be
> great to keep in contact with people that is using it.
>
> Diego Coronel
>

Folks,

Just for reference, you may use whatever version of the D3D kit that
you choose, free of charge. The last one available from our site was a
port of the old Dolphin 2.1 version which is downloadable from here:

http://www.object-arts.com/downloads/5.1/DirectX.zip

The packages there should load in D5 and AFAIK the DirectSound examples
(at least) still work. I'm not sure whether the D3D or DirectDraw stuff
will work with with the latest versions of DX.

It sounds like Diego has advanced this version quite a bit so that
might be a better place to start.

Best Regards

Andy Bower
Dolphin Support
www.object-arts.com

Andy

I will ask Diego for his version.

One further silly question. I searched up and down, left and right in
MSDN for the DirectX 9.x type library to use it together with the
AX-Component-Wizard. Any ideas.

Thanks

"Christoph J. Bachinger" <[hidden email]> wrote in message
news:[hidden email]...
> How did you generate this classes. By the ActiveX Component Wizard, if
> yes, what COM library you have used. If not, what dlls did you interface.

Yes, I used dx8vb.dll, which describes it self as "DirectX 8 for Visual
Basic Type Library".

>   DirectSound worked for me.  I did not try using any DirectDraw or
>> Direct3D stuff so I am not sure how many changes would be required.
>
> Is there any code available.

Here is an example that plays a wave.  It is not the most elegant code, but
I think it worked for me.  I just translated an example from another
language (VB or C# I think) to Smalltalk.  I don't have any DirectDraw or
Direct3D examples at all.
==================
dx := DxVBLibAIDirectX8 new.
ds := dx directSoundCreate: ''.
dsBufferDescription := DxVBLibADSBUFFERDESC new.
dsFormat := DxVBLibAWAVEFORMATEX new.
shell := Shell show.
shell view handle
ds setCooperativeLevel: shell view handle level:  (DxVBLibAConstants at:
'DSSCL_PRIORITY' ).
dsBufferDescription lFlags:
((DxVBLibAConstants at: 'DSBCAPS_CTRLPOSITIONNOTIFY' ) |  (DxVBLibAConstants
at: 'DSBCAPS_CTRLFREQUENCY' )) |  (DxVBLibAConstants at: 'DSBCAPS_CTRLPAN' )
|  (DxVBLibAConstants at: 'DSBCAPS_CTRLVOLUME' ).

dsBuffer1 := ds createSoundBufferFromFile: 'C:\WINDOWS\Media\tada.wav'
bufferDesc: dsBufferDescription .
p := (dsBuffer1 at: 2).
p play: (DxVBLibAConstants at: 'DSBPLAY_LOOPING').
p stop.
p play: (DxVBLibAConstants at: 'DSBPLAY_DEFAULT').
p stop.
p getVolume
==================
>> be careful, apparently it can replace some classes included in the
>> system.
>
> On my system I saw this after using the ActiveX Component Wizard on the VB
> Library dx8vb.dll (DirectX 8 for Visual Basic Type Library). But I'm not
> sure if this library is the best entry to start. I like Smalltalk not VB.

I used the VB type library.  I do not know what the best starting point for
Smalltalk is, but I was able to make the DirectSound stuff work based on the
VB type library.  I am not a VB fan either.  I can usually translate the VB
sample code to Smalltalk.  It sounds like Diago's package, or the package
that Andy posted would be a better starting point for you than wrapping it
yourself, since it sounds like some changes are required to use DirectDraw
or Direct3D.

Good luck,
Chris

Hi Diego,

> I used the old DX framework for D3 with D5 and DX9 and after a couple of
> fixes it worked good. I plan to do some heavy use of it, so it would be
> great to keep in contact with people that is using it.

I plan to do the visualization of our software (carpenter programm for
constuction of wooden houses and roofs) with DirectX. What's the way to
get the modified DX framework from your side. I believe this would be
the best point to start.

Thanks
CJB

Christopher,

i will ask Diego, to get the fixes from him and try the old framework
first. If this does the job not I will move to the VB type library (I
hate VB).

Thanks a lot for your kind support. I will post to the newsgroup about
my advance with the DirectX stuff.

CJB

Christopher,

i will ask Diego, to get the fixes from him and try the old framework
first. If this does the job not I will move to the VB type library (I
hate VB).

Thanks a lot for your kind support. I will post to the newsgroup about
my advance with the DirectX stuff.

CJB

 > I used the VB type library.  I do not know what the best starting
point for Smalltalk is, but I was able to make the DirectSound stuff
work based on the VB type library.  I am not a VB fan either.  I can
usually translate the VB sample code to Smalltalk.  It sounds like
Diago's package, or the package that Andy posted would be a better
starting point for you than wrapping it yourself, since it sounds like
some changes are required to use DirectDraw or Direct3D.
 >
 > Good luck,
 > Chris

Actually, Croquet uses direct access to OpenGL. It uses the B3D
vectors and matrices, but that is all. That allows us to run on Mac,
Win, Linux, and any other OpenGL based platform.

DAS

Hi,

If it's not to late:

I have seen
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/downloads/list/directx.asp

You may find it in DirectX 9.0 SDK Update... the most fresh one is from
december.

Best regards,
Janos