- Q1: What is the TDx_Library?
- Q2: What is Borland C++ Builder?
- Q3: What is DirectX?
- Q4: Why should I register your library?
- Q5: Is the credit card order process secure?
- Q6: Can I order without a credit card?
- Q7: Will the library components self install?
- Q8: Windows 2000 & Windows XP and Vista?
- Q9: Is the DirectX 7 SDK required to use the TDx_Library?
- Q10: What about DirectX 8 / 9 / 10?
- Q11: Can I sell the products I have developed using the TDx_Library?
- Q12: I'm still confused... What does it do?
- Q13: I run the auto-install, but there is no Install option?
- Q14: Set up, compiling and debugging suggestions.
- Q15: Why Bother???
- The TDx_Library is DirectX 7.0a >sdk< compatible, and it requires the DirectX 7.0a SDK for development.
SDK: the relevant header files (.h or include files) and library (.lib) files required for development.
(available on this site on the Downloads Page)
- Applications developed using the TDx_Library execute on pc's using the DirectX 7++ runtime.
RUNTIME: the system files required for executing DirectX applications.
- Applications developed using the TDx_Library work well on most older + modern hardware.
- from humble P-133's to the latest Dual-P4's and CORE.
- Applications developed using the TDx_Library can be compiled and linked correctly
on Win95, Win98, WinME, Win2000, WinNT, WinCE, WinXP... Windows Vista, 7, 8, 10 do not achieve correct runtimes.
- Applications developed using the TDx_Library execute on Win95, Win98, WinME, Win2000, WinNT, WinCE, WinXP, Vista, 7, 8, 10.
- it works
- it makes results
- it is excellent value for money
- it seamlessly integrates DirectX and BCB
- it increases overall DirectX development speed
- it significantly increases the capabilities of Borland C++ Builder
- it removes many months (years) of effort attempting to achieve the same result
- You code :- Dx_Draw1->Create(NULL); and no matter what, you get an error message.
- The application (compiled on 2K or XP) compiles normally.
- When you execute the application and it attempts to initialize DirectDraw,
DirectX returns an error code not documented in the DirectX SDK (unknown error),
and DirectX appears not to be able to find the relevant DirectX DLL's. - DirectX 8 is now outdated, and we are focusing instead on DirectX 7 and DirectX 9 (current) & 10 (not really yet).
- Even though DirectX 7 is a little older, there is an enormous amount of functionality
available in DirectX 7 that has never been available to Borland C++ Builder programmers before,
hence we continue to add value to Borland C++ Builder by supplying our DirectX 7.0a toolsets
for a very reasonable price, and they work perfectly well with DirectX 8+ anyway (far as i know).
- Not all current hardware devices are DirectX 8+ compliant while most are DirectX 7 compliant still.
- 3D graphics hardware launched in April 2003 does not supply any new DirectX 8 capabilities not in DirectX 7.
- note: i create most of this on a 2003 box, plus a Dual-Pentium-4-3Ghz box.
- DirectX 7 works very well and is relatively easy to understand because it is nicely segmented.
- for example Dx7 has seperate 2D and 3D graphics support and it's easier to learn individually.
- Dx8 has merged 2D and 3D and made a single huge SDK to learn.
- We encountered extreme compatibility problems between DirectX 8 and BCB when we initially attempted DirectX 8 testing,
which slowed us down considerably on our development plan, so we scrapped any DirectX 8 ideas. - We'd prefer to complete the DirectX 7 toolsets in preparation for a rapid DirectX 9 and eventually DirectX 10 upgrade.
- We've been working on our tools since DirectX 3.0, through DirectX 5.1, DirectX 6.1, DirectX 7.0a, DirectX 9.0c (a little)
and we are in this project for the long haul, and we'll continue to do what we can
to supply you with more excellent toolsets into the future.
- So far there are 5 complete toolsets available, other toolsets are being developed and
will be released to the public as soon as they are ready.
- If you have attempted to get the TDx_Library to work on a PC that has previously had DirectX 8
installed, then removed, you will probably notice that DirectX 8 doesn't actually uninstall
(does directx 7.0a uninstall? dunno.. not sure anymore... never really needed to).
In this situation, try this application, which should maybe uninstall DirectX 8 correctly,
and once you have done this you should have no problems installing the DirectX 7.0a SDK.
http://www.directxbuster.de/index_e.html
But, seriously, rebuild the computer from Windows Install cd. - Tools Page - contains information about tools you can register on this site
- Demos Page - contains some demos that will show you what can be done and how to do it
- TDx_Library Information Page - contains an overview of the TDx_Library
- TDx_Draw_Library Information Page - contains an overview of the TDx_Draw_Library
- TDx_Sound_Library Information Page - contains an overview of the TDx_Sound_Library
- TDx_Input_Library Information Page - contains an overview of the TDx_Input_Library
- TDx_Play_Library Information Page - contains an overview of the TDx_Play_Library
- TDx_3DI_Library Information Page - contains an overview of the TDx_3DI_Library
- How It Works Page - contains details of how the TDx_Library works.
- Try understanding what individual components do
- See how these components are used in the demos
- Navigate the BCB [ F1 ] plug-in help reference or the online help reference
- Experiment with the demos
- Read the tutorials
- install onto a pc running 95, 98, ME and BCB 1,3,4,5,6.
- install the DirectX 7.0a SDK (available here) - Debug Version if you want extra debug info - Retail Version otherwise.
- install BCB 1, 3, 4, 5 and/or 6
- download the v2.00 libraries you wish to install.
- download TDx_Library_Install_v200.zip, read the accompanying Readme.txt, extract all files to a temporary folder, execute TD_Library_Install_v200.exe
- follow the instructions, generally "install", "yes", "next", "start", the install should begin. If BCB1, follow the extra manual steps.
- run BCBx, the TDx_Library components should exist on the BCBx Component Palette. Drop a component onto a form, press F1 for instant relevant help, navigate to code areas & type code & press F1 for instant relevant help, view source code, project files, etc.
- setup a pc with Win 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, or VirtualBox on Windows 10 or Linux
- install either the DirectX 7.0a SDK. You can also install the DirectX 7.0a SDK onto a pc with the DirectX 7+ runtime if you want to test both development and runtime together.
- copy relevant files, execute, usually works perfectly.
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Below are our answers to questions frequently asked by visitors to our site. If you want to know about tdxlibrary.org or BCB-Tools.com, try reading the Introduction to www.tdxlibrary.org WHAT IS THE TDX_LIBRARY? Top Next The TDx_Library is an advanced software development tool for Borland C++ Builder (BCB) consisting of easy to use component libraries that seamlessly integrate DirectX 7.0a functionality into BCB1, BCB3, BCB4, BCB5 and BCB6. For more information, try reading the brief overview or the TDx_Library detailed information. For more information about compatibility with Win2000 and WinXP and Vista, try reading the FAQ - Q8 For more information about DirectX 8++, try reading the FAQ - Q10 For more information about Setup, compiling and debugging suggestions, try reading FAQ - Q14 WHAT IS BORLAND C++ BUILDER? Top Next Prev Borland C++ Builder (BCB) is a rapid application development environment for the C++ programming language. This development environment consists of many visual tools which enable the application developer to visually create programs by dragging & dropping pre-existing visual components onto a fully configurable visual form, then edit various settings via the BCB Object Inspector, double-click to create a relevant code placeholder, then type simple to use BCB Visual Component Library code. BCB ships with standard Visual Component Libraries providing extensive and easy to use components suitable for most commercial programming tasks. However, they are not really suitable for developing advanced game or multimedia applications. Hence our attempts to create components that make such tasks both possible and easy within BCB. BCB Versions 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 2006, 2007, have been released so far by Borland Corporation. For more extensive information on BCB we suggest you visit Borlands's BCB site. WHAT IS DIRECTX? Top Next Prev DirectX is a software development kit (SDK) which enables the development of high performance multimedia applications within the Microsoft Windows 95, 98, NT, CE, ME, 2000, XP and Vista environments. The Windows graphical device interface (GDI) is generally inadequate for the high performance requirements of game and multimedia development. Microsoft's DirectX essentially provides a way to bypass the GDI while still providing standardized access to a large variety of hardware. Versions 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of DirectX have been released so far by Microsoft. For more extensive information on DirectX we suggest you visit the Microsoft DirectX site. WHY SHOULD I REGISTER YOUR LIBRARY? Top Next Prev Because :- IS THE CREDIT CARD ORDER PROCESS SECURE? Top Next Prev Yes. The order process takes place via PayPal and we never actually see your credit card details. Once you specify what you want to register, you are sent to PayPal to provide address and credit card details. When PayPal has authorized the transaction you will be shown and emailed a receipt and can return to our site. We then email you a username, password and url for downloading your registered tool, and/or we will email you your tools. CAN I ORDER WITHOUT A CREDIT CARD? Top Next Prev Yes. Although there will be a greater delay between your decision and receiving the product. We have listed the other ordering options on our registration page. As soon as we confirm the payment, we'll email you a username, password and url so you can retrieve your tools. WILL THE COMPONENTS SELF INSTALL? Top Next Prev Yes they will. Everything released prior to v1.70 requires an auto-installer, supplied free. Everything released more recently than v1.70 comes with an auto-installer for free. We've created an installer that automatically sets up the selected libraries within BCB and removes them as well. Just extract the zipped files, run the setup program and select the appropriate options. WINDOWS 2000 AND WINDOWS XP AND WINDOWS VISTA? Top Next Prev Some people encounter a problem when developing using the TDx_Draw_Library on Win2K, and applications refuse to execute correctly when the code - Dx_Draw1->Create( NULL ); - executes. Then when you compile identical code on Win95, 98, ME it's okay, the application runs perfectly on all systems including Win2K and WinXP and Vista? Not Sure About Vista. How to tell if you are encountering the same problem? This is what will normally happen :- take a look at the TDx_Draw constructor for v1.80++ Um... if any of the v1.62++ demos don't work perfectly, try recompiling them on your pc. If you still have problems, let me know... the demos are not working on my pc IS THE DIRECTX 7.0a SDK REQUIRED TO USE THE LIBRARY? Top Next Prev Yes. To use the TDx_Library, you need to have the DirectX 7.0a SDK installed. You can download it from here. WHAT ABOUT DIRECTX 8 & 9 & 10? Top Next Prev We have looked at implementing a DirectX 8/9/10 upgrade of our toolsets and have elected to continue developing a DirectX 7.0a SDK compatible toolset because of a number of reasons including :- CAN I SELL THE PRODUCTS I HAVE DEVELOPED USING THE TDX_LIBRARY? Top Next Prev Yes. You are free to develop and sell products using the TDx_Library to your hearts content. We do not demand royalities or advertising space, but if you could give us "credit where credit is due" it would be good. Note: You MUST Register a full copy of the TDx_Library v1.80 US$200 for 5 libraries, to release your software either as FREEWARE, SHAREWARE, or any type of commercial software, or software developed using the TDx_Library v1.80 in any form. I'M STILL CONFUSED... WHAT DOES IT DO? Top Next Prev This entire website is setup to answer that question. Generally, it helps if you realize that this is a BIG toolset with massive amounts of functionality. The entire website is somewhere about 8,000 pages, because of the Online Reference. Knowing that, take a look at the following sections of the website :- Overall, it's quite easy to use and there's a lot to it. Once you have determined what each library does in a general sense: The biggest hurdle is understanding the structure of DirectX itself. Once you understand DirectX, the TDx_Library is as easy as BCB. To understand DirectX, take a look at the rest of this site... Then, [ Start->Programs->Microsoft DirectX 7 SDK->DirectX SDK Help ]. Read the overviews of the different sections, read the tutorials, read about how the SDK fits together. Once you understand the organisation of the DirectX SDK, you can look at the relevant TDx_Library and see that it's the same (1:1 wrapper), it just looks and works like normal BCB VCL components. In our opinion, the SDK interface is a bit ugly, but it contains massive amounts of functionality, and it works very well indeed. I RUN THE AUTO-INSTALL, BUT THERE IS NO INSTALL OPTION Top Next Prev The auto-installer requires that at least one version of Borland C++ Builder is installed, and that the DirectX 7 SDK is installed. When you cannot see the install option, it means :- (a) you do not have at least one Borland C++ Builder environment installed on your pc. (b) you do not have the DirectX 7.0a SDK installed on your pc. Upon execution, the auto-installer immediately detects your current system configuration, including what Borland C++ Builder versions are installed, whether the DirectX 7 SDK is installed, and which library versions are installed in each BCB environment. If you have at least one version of Borland C++ Builder installed, and the DirectX 7 SDK is installed, you should be able to install using the install option. SET UP, COMPILING AND DEBUGGING SUGGESTIONS. Top Next Prev Setting up the TDx_Library is normally pretty easy, you just run the auto-installer... Once setup correctly, the components normally work perfectly. The most commonly reported problems are caused by:- (a) the DirectX 7.0a SDK not being installed correctly (b) the pc is running Windows 2000 or Windows XP or Windows Vista (described here) Rarely an existing DX8 install will interfere with a new DX7a SDK install. It seems to install cleanly, but elements of DX8 persist and cause problems with some of the libraries. If you suspect this may have happened, try to ensure your system is totally purged of DX8 and reinstall the DX7a SDK. XP or Better, shouldn't have a problem, cause they are DirectX 9 compatible from word go. To resolve issues relating to compiling TDx_Library applications, it's best to do the following :- To debug and test applications created using the TDx_Library, it's best to do the following :- The existing downloadable examples should be a pretty good test of hardware and OS compatibility and for testing various DirectX capabilities. Contact Us if you continue to have difficulties. WHY BOTHER??? Top Prev Why would you even bother with this kindof tool. Um... why would you not bother to (at least) try it out, since it's vastly free anyways? You never know, maybe you can write the next few dozen killer apps? |
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