DirectX Utility Functions

Introduction

The DirectX Utility library provides a set of helper functions and classes that simplify common tasks when developing graphics applications with DirectX 11/12. These utilities cover resource management, shader compilation, error handling, and format conversion.

Common Utilities

DX::ThrowIfFailed – Checks an HRESULT and throws a std::runtime_error on failure.
DX::ReadDataAsync – Asynchronously reads a file into a std::vector<BYTE>.
DX::CompileShader – Wrapper around D3DCompileFromFile with debug flags.
DX::CreateDevice – Simplified device and swap‑chain creation with optional debug layer.
DX::ConvertToSRGB – Utility to convert linear textures to sRGB format.

Example: Loading and Compiling a Shader

#include <dxgi.h>
#include <d3d11.h>
#include <DirectXMath.h>
#include "DXUtility.h"

using namespace DirectX;

int main()
{
    // Create device and swap chain
    ComPtr<ID3D11Device> device;
    ComPtr<ID3D11DeviceContext> context;
    DX::CreateDevice(device.GetAddressOf(), context.GetAddressOf());

    // Compile vertex shader
    ComPtr<ID3DBlob> vsBlob;
    DX::CompileShader(L"Shaders\\VertexShader.hlsl", "VSMain", "vs_5_0", vsBlob.GetAddressOf());

    // Create vertex shader
    ComPtr<ID3D11VertexShader> vertexShader;
    DX::ThrowIfFailed(device->CreateVertexShader(vsBlob->GetBufferPointer(),
                                                vsBlob->GetBufferSize(),
                                                nullptr,
                                                &vertexShader));

    // ... set up input layout, buffers, render loop ...

    return 0;
}

This snippet demonstrates creating a Direct3D 11 device, compiling a HLSL vertex shader, and creating the shader object using the utility functions.

MSDN Documentation - DirectX Utility

DirectX Utility Functions

Introduction

Common Utilities

Example: Loading and Compiling a Shader

References