What is DirectX?

When Epic Megagames

developed Unreal, they didn’t bother about the display card used by your system. They

used DirectX to develop the game. The job of finding your display card, and then

translating generic commands into system-specific ones was left to DirectX.

DirectX is a set of API (Application

Programming Interface) and programming tools. These allow Windows programmers to write

programs that’ll access the display and sound cards in a PC, without needing to know

the specific hardware configuration. It acts as an intermediary between the program and

the hardware drivers, translating generic commands into hardware-specific ones.

DirectX is no longer a game-only

technology, it’s spread to multimedia applications as well. It’s become a part

of Win 98, and gets installed with IE 4.

Do I need DirectX? Which version should

I go in for?

DirectX is as important for

the user as it is for the programmer. It’s become so popular now that you can’t

do without it. Most games being released today are developed using DirectX, and so are

most multimedia applications. Several Web components, like multimedia plug-ins, also use

at least some components of DirectX.

Owing to its growing popularity, DirectX

has undergone several revisions, the latest one being DirectX 7.0. All revisions are

backward-compatible, so if a game was written for a previous version of DirectX,

it’ll work with an updated one too.

Where do I get it?

The best place to look is

this month’s PCQ CD, where we’ve given DirectX 7.0. We carry the latest DirectX

updates, as they become available, on our CDs (You can find DirectX 6.1 on last

month’s CD). It’s usually included with the games that use DirectX components.

The hardware manufacturer may also provide drivers with DirectX functionality.

DirectX can also be downloaded from the

Microsoft Website or other download sites like www.download.com or www. filemine.com.

What do I need–driver or core

updates?

All DirectX versions

before 7.0 were available in two flavors–dxeng.EXE and dxcore.EXE. You should know

which one to install. Dxeng contains driver update files, which help in interacting with

the hardware components in your PC. Dxcore is just a core update for the various

DirectX runtime libraries. It contains no driver updates, and is therefore smaller in

size. If you’ve got the latest video or sound hardware, and the latest drivers, you

should use the core update. Win 98 users should also use the core update, as this already

has the driver updates. Win 95 users should install dxeng.EXE. The filename tells you

which version of DirectX you’re using. For example, the DirectX 6.1 core update would

be called dx61core.EXE and so on.

After installation some drivers show up

as not certified. What’s wrong?

Driver updates from

hardware vendors have to be submitted to Microsoft, where they undergo a series of tests

before being certified. But sometimes, the vendor may simultaneously release the updates

to the general public, without waiting for certification. Such drivers may offer DirectX

functionality but won’t be certified. So, before installing new drivers, check for

DirectX compatibility in the vendor’s release notes.

What if I wish to uninstall?

Go to Settings>Control

Panel> Add/Remove Programs and find DirectX in the list that shows up. Highlight it and

click on the "Add/Remove" button. This will remove all driver updates, but not

the runtime files. However, these don’t affect your system, but take up some space.

What are its various components?

DirectX has five essential

components–DirectDraw, DirectInput, DirectPlay, DirectSound, and Direct3D.

DirectDraw

DirectDraw allows page

flipping and direct access of video display memory, while maintaining compatibility with

Windows device drivers and programs. Using DirectDraw, a program can utilize all the

features of a display card, without being specifically programmed for it.

DirectInput

DirectInput provides fast

and consistent access to analog and digital joysticks.

DirectPlay

DirectPlay is used for

multi-player gaming. It’s a software interface that allows games to communicate with

each other, independent of the underlying protocol or online service.

DirectSound

DirectSound manages the

sound devices and the audio part of games. It provides hardware acceleration and direct

access to the sound device, while maintaining compatibility with existing programs and

device drivers.

Direct3D

Direct 3D is a set of 3D

graphics services that delivers real-time software rendering in games. It also takes care

of the hardware acceleration to give fast and smooth 3D graphics. It’s fully

scalable, allowing all or part of the 3D rendering to be accelerated by hardware.