
Security News
ECMAScript 2025 Finalized with Iterator Helpers, Set Methods, RegExp.escape, and More
ECMAScript 2025 introduces Iterator Helpers, Set methods, JSON modules, and more in its latest spec update approved by Ecma in June 2025.
This version is for Universal Windows Platform apps on Windows 10 / Windows 11 using Visual Studio 2022. Features: Audio - low-level audio API using XAudio2 BufferHelpers - C++ helpers for creating D3D resources from CPU data CommonStates - common D3D state combinations DDSTextureLoader - light-weight DDS file texture loader DescriptorHeap - helper for managing DX12 descriptor heaps DirectXHelpers - misc C++ helpers for D3D programming Effects - set of built-in shaders for common rendering tasks EffectPipelineStateDescription - helper for creating PSOs GamePad - gamepad controller helper using Windows.Gaming.Input GeometricPrimitive - draws basic shapes such as cubes and spheres GraphicsMemory - helper for managing graphics memory allocation Keyboard - keyboard state tracking helper Model - draws meshes loaded from .CMO, .SDKMESH, or .VBO files Mouse - mouse helper PostProcess - set of built-in shaders for common post-processing operations PrimitiveBatch - simple and efficient way to draw user primitives RenderTargetState - helper for communicating render target requirements when creating PSOs ResourceUploadBatch - helper for managing texture resource upload to the GPU ScreenGrab - light-weight screen shot saver SimpleMath - simplified C++ wrapper for DirectXMath SpriteBatch - simple & efficient 2D sprite rendering SpriteFont - bitmap based text rendering VertexTypes - structures for commonly used vertex data formats WICTextureLoader - WIC-based image file texture loader
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=615561
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation.
March 20, 2025
This package contains the "DirectX Tool Kit", a collection of helper classes for writing Direct3D 12 C++ code for Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps for Windows 11 and Windows 10, game titles for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One, and Win32 desktop applications for Windows 11 and Windows 10.
This code is designed to build with Visual Studio 2019 (16.11), Visual Studio 2022, clang for Windows v12 or later, or MinGW 12.2. Use of the Windows 10 May 2020 Update SDK (19041) or later is required for Visual Studio.
These components are designed to work without requiring any content from the legacy DirectX SDK. For details, see Where is the DirectX SDK?.
Inc\
Public Header Files (in the DirectX C++ namespace):
Src\
Audio\
build\
MakeSpriteFont and XWBTool can be found in the DirectX Tool Kit for DirectX 11
Documentation is available on the GitHub wiki.
All content and source code for this package are subject to the terms of the MIT License.
For the latest version of DirectXTK12, bug reports, etc. please visit the project site on GitHub.
No support for Visual Studio Directed Graph Shader Language (DGSL) effect shaders (i.e. DGSLEffect). CMO files are loaded using BasicEffect or SkinnedEffect materials.
VertexTypes does not include VertexPositionNormalTangentColorTexture or VertexPositionNormalTangentColorTextureSkinning which were intended for use with the DGSL pipeline.
DirectX Tool Kit for DirectX 11 supports Feature Level 9.x, while DirectX 12 requires Direct3D Feature Level 11.0. There are no expected DirectX 12 drivers for any lower feature level devices.
The library assumes it is building for Windows 10 (aka _WIN32_WINNT=0x0A00
) so it makes use of XAudio 2.9 and WIC2 as well as DirectX 12.
DirectX Tool Kit for Audio, GamePad, Keyboard, Mouse, and SimpleMath are identical to the DirectX 11 version.
FOR SECURITY ADVISORIES, see GitHub.
For a full change history, see CHANGELOG.md.
In the June 2024 release, the defaulted parameter initialState
for the CreateUploadBuffer
function in BufferHelpers was removed. Per the DirectX 12 validation layer, the only valid initial state for an upload buffer is D3D12_RESOURCE_STATE_GENERIC_READ
.
Starting with the February 2023 release, the Mouse class implementation of relative mouse movement was updated to accumulate changes between calls to GetState
. By default, each time you call GetState
the deltas are reset which works for scenarios where you use relative movement but only call the method once per frame. If you call it more than once per frame, then add an explicit call to EndOfInputFrame
to use an explicit reset model instead.
As of the September 2022 release, the library makes use of C++11 inline namespaces for differing types that have the same names in the DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 version of the DirectX Tool Kit. This provides a link-unique name such as DirectX::DX12::SpriteBatch
that will appear in linker output messages. In most use cases, however, there is no need to add explicit DX12
namespace resolution in client code.
Starting with the June 2021 release, this library builds the HLSL shaders with Shader Model 6 via DXC. See this wiki page for more information. The Microsoft GDK projects have always used Shader Model 6.
Starting with the June 2020 release, this library makes use of typed enum bitmask flags per the recommendation of the C++ Standard section 17.5.2.1.3 Bitmask types. This may have breaking change impacts to client code:
You cannot pass the 0
literal as your flags value. Instead you must make use of the appropriate default enum value: AudioEngine_Default
, SoundEffectInstance_Default
, ModelLoader_Clockwise
, DDS_LOADER_DEFAULT
, or WIC_LOADER_DEFAULT
.
Use the enum type instead of DWORD
if building up flags values locally with bitmask operations. For example, WIC_LOADER_FLAGS flags = WIC_LOADER_DEFAULT; if (...) flags |= WIC_LOADER_FORCE_SRGB;
The UWP projects and the Win10 classic desktop project include configurations for the ARM64 platform. Building these requires installing the ARM64 toolset.
For ARM64/AArch64 development, the VS 2022 compiler is strongly recommended over the VS 2019 toolset. The Windows SDK (26100 or later) is not compatible with VS 2019 for Win32 on ARM64 development. Note that the ARM32/AArch32 platform is deprecated.
When using clang/LLVM for the ARM64/AArch64 platform, the Windows 11 SDK (22000) or later is required.
The CompileShaders.cmd
script must have Windows-style (CRLF) line-endings. If it is changed to Linux-style (LF) line-endings, it can fail to build all the required shaders.
Support for targeting Xbox One using the legacy Xbox One XDK was retired in March 2023. See the February 2023 or earlier releases of DirectX Tool Kit for the required MSBuild project files. It can also be built using the current CMake projects from an Xbox One XDK Developer Command Prompt with the addition of CMake 3.20 or later to the path via the x64-Debug-Durango
or x64-Release-Durango
CMake preset.
For questions, consider using Stack Overflow with the directxtk tag, or the DirectX Discord Server in the dx12-developers channel.
For bug reports and feature requests, please use GitHub issues for this project.
This project welcomes contributions and suggestions. Most contributions require you to agree to a Contributor License Agreement (CLA) declaring that you have the right to, and actually do, grant us the rights to use your contribution. For details, visit https://cla.opensource.microsoft.com.
When you submit a pull request, a CLA bot will automatically determine whether you need to provide a CLA and decorate the PR appropriately (e.g., status check, comment). Simply follow the instructions provided by the bot. You will only need to do this once across all repos using our CLA.
Tests for new features should also be submitted as a PR to the Test Suite repository.
This project has adopted the Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct. For more informatsion see the Code of Conduct FAQ or contact opencode@microsoft.com with any additional questions or comments.
This project may contain trademarks or logos for projects, products, or services. Authorized use of Microsoft trademarks or logos is subject to and must follow Microsoft's Trademark & Brand Guidelines. Use of Microsoft trademarks or logos in modified versions of this project must not cause confusion or imply Microsoft sponsorship. Any use of third-party trademarks or logos are subject to those third-party's policies.
The DirectX Tool Kit for DirectX 11 is the work of Shawn Hargreaves and Chuck Walbourn, with contributions from Aaron Rodriguez Hernandez and Dani Roman.
The DirectX Tool Kit for DirectX 12 is the work of Pete Lewis, Justin Saunders, and Chuck Walbourn based heavily on the DirectX Tool Kit for DirectX 11.
Thanks to Shanon Drone for the SDKMESH file format.
Thanks to Adrian Tsai for the geodesic sphere implementation.
Thanks to Garrett Serack for his help in creating the NuGet packages for DirectX Tool Kit.
Thanks to Pete Lewis and Justin Saunders for the normal-mapped and PBR shaders implementation.
Thanks for Travis Johnson for the mGPU support.
Thanks to Roberto Sonnino for his help with the CMO format and the VS Starter Kit animation.
Thanks to Richie Meyer for their contribution of Xbox PIX custom memory and type allocation tracking events support.
Thanks to Andrew Farrier and Scott Matloff for their on-going help with code reviews.
FAQs
This version is for Universal Windows Platform apps on Windows 10 / Windows 11 using Visual Studio 2022. Features: Audio - low-level audio API using XAudio2 BufferHelpers - C++ helpers for creating D3D resources from CPU data CommonStates - common D3D state combinations DDSTextureLoader - light-weight DDS file texture loader DescriptorHeap - helper for managing DX12 descriptor heaps DirectXHelpers - misc C++ helpers for D3D programming Effects - set of built-in shaders for common rendering tasks EffectPipelineStateDescription - helper for creating PSOs GamePad - gamepad controller helper using Windows.Gaming.Input GeometricPrimitive - draws basic shapes such as cubes and spheres GraphicsMemory - helper for managing graphics memory allocation Keyboard - keyboard state tracking helper Model - draws meshes loaded from .CMO, .SDKMESH, or .VBO files Mouse - mouse helper PostProcess - set of built-in shaders for common post-processing operations PrimitiveBatch - simple and efficient way to draw user primitives RenderTargetState - helper for communicating render target requirements when creating PSOs ResourceUploadBatch - helper for managing texture resource upload to the GPU ScreenGrab - light-weight screen shot saver SimpleMath - simplified C++ wrapper for DirectXMath SpriteBatch - simple & efficient 2D sprite rendering SpriteFont - bitmap based text rendering VertexTypes - structures for commonly used vertex data formats WICTextureLoader - WIC-based image file texture loader
We found that directxtk12_uwp demonstrated a healthy version release cadence and project activity because the last version was released less than a year ago. It has 2 open source maintainers collaborating on the project.
Did you know?
Socket for GitHub automatically highlights issues in each pull request and monitors the health of all your open source dependencies. Discover the contents of your packages and block harmful activity before you install or update your dependencies.
Security News
ECMAScript 2025 introduces Iterator Helpers, Set methods, JSON modules, and more in its latest spec update approved by Ecma in June 2025.
Security News
A new Node.js homepage button linking to paid support for EOL versions has sparked a heated discussion among contributors and the wider community.
Research
North Korean threat actors linked to the Contagious Interview campaign return with 35 new malicious npm packages using a stealthy multi-stage malware loader.