DirectX Documentation Conventions

The following conventions are used in the syntax of methods, functions, and other application programming interface (API) elements, as well as typographic conventions used in explanatory material and sample code.

Convention	Meaning
FULL BOLD CAPITALS	Used for most type and structure names.
FULL CAPITALS	Used for enumeration values, flags, and constants.
Bold text	Denotes a function, procedure, structure, macro, interface, method, data type, or other keyword in the programming interface or language.
Italic text	Denotes a placeholder or variable. You must provide the actual value. For example, the statement SetCursorPos(x,y) requires you to substitute values for the x and y parameters.
monospace	Used for code examples, syntax spacing, and user input.
[]	Encloses optional parameters.
...	Specifies that the preceding item may be repeated or represents an omitted portion of text or sample.
. . .	Represents an omitted portion of a sample application.

Obtaining Code Syntax and Help in Visual Studio .NET

You can search the help files within Microsoft Visual Studio .NET as follows:

Place the cursor over a Microsoft DirectX object in code, and prototype syntax will appear.
Place the cursor over a DirectX object in code, then press F1, and a help page will open on that topic.
In a line of code, type in a DirectX method or function name, then an open parenthesis, and required parameters and their types will appear to assist completion of the method or function call.

Printing Help Files

To print the software development kit (SDK) Help files, complete the following steps.

Open the Help file.
From the File menu, click Print. The Print Topics dialog box appears.
Click either Print the selected topic or Print the selected heading and all subtopics.
Click OK.

To print C++ graphics files, for example, the Help files can be opened from Start, All Programs, Microsoft DirectX 9.0 SDK Update (October 2004), DirectX Documentation for C++, or by double-clicking the SDK Help file at the following location:

(SDK root)\Documentation\DirectX9\

If the pages are being cut off on the right side when printing, decrease the font size so that the text does not exceed the right page margin. You can do this by clicking the Font button one or more times to choose a smaller font size before opening the Print Topics dialog box.

Location of the Font button

Using the Index

The following tips will help you quickly locate DirectX reference topics.

Help File Index

When using the Help file, click the Index tab at the left and then use this typical procedure:

In the index text entry box, type the name of the DirectX method you seek. The index list will display topics that match what you have typed, along with their associated interfaces in parentheses. For example, if you type "lock", then Lock Method (IDirect3DVertexBuffer9) will be one of several Lock methods listed.
Double-click the appropriate entry to open its documentation.

Visual Studio .NET Index

When using the documentation within Visual Studio .NET, select Index... from the Help menu and then use this typical procedure:

In the Look for box, type the name of the DirectX method you seek.
If the method name displays in the index list, double-click the method name. An Index Results pane will appear that lists all interfaces containing the method.
Double-click the appropriate entry to open its documentation.
To find only DirectX topics, click the Location column to sort by technology, then scroll the list until you find the topics marked DirectX 9.0 C++.

Visual Studio .NET with Index and Index Results panes

Searching the Help Files

To begin a search in the Help file, click the Search tab. Type in the word or phrase you are looking for. To do partial word searches, use the * wildcard. For example, a search for "D3DXLoad*" returns all references to functions that begin with D3DXLoad.