[opensource-dev] DirectX SDK update: should we use it ?

[Henri Beauchamp]

On Fri, 1 Mar 2013 08:54:00 -0800, Darien Caldwell wrote:

> This is being offered to all Windows 7 Users, not just developers. Reading
> deeper here:
> 
> http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/windows/apps/jj863687.aspx
> 
> It's mostly backporting new features from Windows 8 to Windows 7. That's
> why they say you'll need the newer SDK, to take advantage of those new
> features.

So can we safely apply this update and keep using the June 2010 DirectX
SDK to build the viewer, and still get working builds on "all" (WinXP SP3
and newer) Windows versions ?... I doubt it, since they say:

"If you are a Windows 7 DirectX developer who uses the June 2010 DirectX
Software Development Kit (SDK), you will have to update your development
environments after you install this platform update. The following
development .dll files that are associated with the DirectX SDK are
incompatible with this platform update:

    D3D10SDKLayers.dll
    D3D11SDKLayers.dll
    D3D10ref.dll
    D2D1debug.dll

You can use one of the following applications or tools to update these
.dll files:

-  The Windows 8 SDK: This SDK updates the current development
   environment with new headers, libs, and tools. This includes the
   previously-listed development .dll files. This update does not
   update the C or C++ compilers or the IDE, but this update does
   enable developers to integrate the new features of the platform
   update into their applications.
"

So, this solution implies that we also update the "Windows SDK for
Windows 7 and .NET Framework 4" that is used to build the viewer with
VS2010, with the "Windows 8 SDK": won't it break the viewer builds ?...
Does it at all got a single chance to keep working with the VC++ 2010
compiler ?

Second propsed solution:

"
-  Microsoft Visual Studio 2012: This application includes the
   Windows 8 SDK, the Visual Studio 2012 IDE, and the new compilers.
   .../...
"

Here, I bet the viewer won't compile under VS2012, and I heard that
anything compiled with compilers newer than VS2010 is incompatible
with Windows XP...

Third propose solution:

"
- Remote Tools for Visual Studio 2012: These tools are the minimum
  requirement in order to continue using the Direct3D debug layer.
  These tools update only the previously-listed development .dll files.
  These tools do not enable developers to integrate the new features of
  the platform update into their applications. These tools are available
  in the "Remote Tools for Visual Studio 2012" section of the Visual
  Studio Download Center, or can be downloaded from the following
  links. These packages can be safely installed on development systems:
"

Is it the right thing to do ?... I don't know. Any clue ?

> Basically it's all centered around  D3D11, which I really doubt LL's
> viewer is using. .../... Of course I'm not exactly sure what parts
> of D3D the viewer is using, I was always under the impression it used
> OpenGL.

OpenGL is used for the rendering. D3D is only used for the graphics
card detection at startup... So if someone could find a way to use
another detection mechanism, we could get fully rid of the D3D calls
in the viewer code.

Henri.