I am using the directx sdk samples and am a little confused by the 7th paramter. D3DXCreateEffectFromFile( g_engine->GetDevice(), str, NULL, NULL, g_dwShaderFlags, g_pEffectPool, &m_pMaterials.m_pEffect, NULL ); I don't quite understand this part. &m_pMaterials.m_pEffect Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks for the info. My application stores the material array in this.

In my header file
Material **materials;

Would you know how I could replace the parameter so it would work here. I have tried unsuccessfully multiple times.

Doesn't work errors say

error C2065: 'materials' : undeclared identifier
error C2227: left of '->m_pEffect' must point to class/struct/union/generic type

This is what I am using to load materials into an array

// Check if the mesh has any materials.
if( m_staticMesh->NumMaterials > 0 )
{
// Create the array of materials.
m_staticMesh->materials = new Material*[m_staticMesh->NumMaterials];

// Get the list of materials from the material buffer.
D3DXMATERIAL *materials = (D3DXMATERIAL*)materialBuffer->GetBufferPointer();

// Load each material into the array via the material manager.
for( unsigned long m = 0; m < m_staticMesh->NumMaterials; m++ )

Ok this should be enough code hopefully. Its set up with an oop design, unlike the directx sample. This code is obviously unfinished as I am trying to merge the sdk sample with my application. Currently working on the materials. As you can see my application uses materials differently from the sdk. Blue coding equals code from the dx SDK. Black coding is from my application.

Header File (snippet)

//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Mesh Container Structure
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
struct MeshContainer : public D3DXMESHCONTAINER
{
char **materialNames; // Temporary array of material (texture) names.
Material **materials; // Array of materials used by the mesh container.
ID3DXMesh *originalMesh; // Original mesh.
ID3DXEffect *m_pEffect;
D3DXATTRIBUTERANGE *attributeTable; // Mesh's attribute table.
unsigned long totalAttributeGroups; // Total number of attribute groups.
D3DXMATRIX **boneMatrixPointers; // Array of pointers to the bone transformation matrices.
};

//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Mesh Class
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
class Mesh : public BoundingVolume, public Resource< Mesh >
{
public:
Mesh( char *name, char *path = "./" );
virtual ~Mesh();

void Update();
void Render();

void CloneAnimationController( ID3DXAnimationController **animationController );

MeshContainer *GetStaticMesh();
Vertex *GetVertices();
unsigned short *GetIndices();

LinkedList< Frame > *GetFrameList();
Frame *GetFrame( char *name );
Frame *GetReferencePoint( char *name );

private:
void PrepareFrame( Frame *frame );
void UpdateFrame( Frame *frame, D3DXMATRIX *parentTransformationMatrix = NULL );
void RenderFrame( Frame *frame );

private:
Frame *m_firstFrame; // First frame in the mesh's frame hierarchy.
ID3DXAnimationController *m_animationController; // Animation controller.

D3DXMATRIX *m_boneMatrices; // Array of bone transformation matrices.
unsigned long m_totalBoneMatrices; // Number of bones in the array.

MeshContainer *m_staticMesh; // A static (non-animated) version of the mesh.
Vertex *m_vertices; // Array of vertices from the static mesh.
unsigned short *m_indices; // Array of indices into the vertex array.

LinkedList< Frame > *m_frames; // Linked list of pointers to all the frames in the mesh.
LinkedList< Frame > *m_refPoints; // Linked list of pointers to all the reference points in the mesh.
};

CPP File(Snippet)

/ Check if the mesh has any materials.
if( m_staticMesh->NumMaterials > 0 )
{
// Create the array of materials.
m_staticMesh->materials = new Material*[m_staticMesh->NumMaterials];

// Get the list of materials from the material buffer.
D3DXMATERIAL *materials = (D3DXMATERIAL*)materialBuffer->GetBufferPointer();

// Load each material into the array via the material manager.
for( unsigned long m = 0; m < m_staticMesh->NumMaterials; m++ )
{
// Ensure the material has a texture.
if( materials[m].pTextureFilename )
{
// Get the name of the material's script and load it.
char *name = new char[strlen( materials[m].pTextureFilename ) + 5];
sprintf( name, "%s.txt", materials[m].pTextureFilename );
m_staticMesh->materials[m] = g_engine->GetMaterialManager()->Add( name, GetPath() );
SAFE_DELETE_ARRAY( name );
}
else
m_staticMesh->materials[m] = NULL;
}
}
//create effect
D3DXEFFECTINSTANCE *pEI = (D3DXEFFECTINSTANCE *)pEffectInstance->GetBufferPointer();
for( UINT i = 0; i < m_staticMesh->NumMaterials; ++i )
{
// Obtain the effect

hr = S_OK;
// Try the mesh's directory
StringCchCopyW( str, MAX_PATH, wszMeshPath );
MultiByteToWideChar( CP_ACP, 0, pEI.pEffectFilename, -1, str + lstrlenW( str ), MAX_PATH );

if( pEI.pEffectFilename == NULL )


hr = E_FAIL;

WCHAR wszFxName[MAX_PATH];
MultiByteToWideChar( CP_ACP, 0, pEI.pEffectFilename, -1, wszFxName, MAX_PATH );

if( SUCCEEDED( hr ) )
D3DXCreateEffectFromFile( g_engine->GetDevice(), str, NULL, NULL, g_dwShaderFlags, g_pEffectPool,
&materials->m_pEffect, NULL ); <-------------This is where I originally posted.
if( !m_pMaterials.m_pEffect )
{
// No valid effect for this material. Use the default.
m_pMaterials.m_pEffect = g_pEffect;
m_pMaterials.m_pEffect->AddRef();
}

// Set the technique this material should use
D3DXHANDLE hTech;
m_pMaterials.m_pEffect->FindNextValidTechnique( NULL, &hTech );
m_pMaterials.m_pEffect->SetTechnique( hTech );

// Create a parameter block to include all parameters for the effect.
m_pMaterials.m_pEffect->BeginParameterBlock();
for( UINT param = 0; param < pEI.NumDefaults; ++param )
{
D3DXHANDLE hHandle = m_pMaterials.m_pEffect->GetParameterByName( NULL, pEI.pDefaults[param].pParamName );
D3DXPARAMETER_DESC desc;
if( hHandle != NULL )
{
m_pMaterials.m_pEffect->GetParameterDesc( hHandle, &desc );
if( desc.Type == D3DXPT_BOOL ||
desc.Type == D3DXPT_INT ||
desc.Type == D3DXPT_FLOAT ||
desc.Type == D3DXPT_STRING )
{
m_pMaterials.m_pEffect->SetValue( pEI.pDefaults[param].pParamName,
pEI.pDefaults[param].pValue,
pEI.pDefaults[param].NumBytes );
}
}
}



[Edited by - Njguy on November 18, 2008 8:14:11 PM]

Basically if you look under the CPP section, in the black coding, I make an array of materials that I get out of the directx file(didn't show that part its above). I am trying to get the blue coding to use that array. Basically they are two different coding styles that im trying to merge and its throwing me off completely. The blue coding is trying to get the materials array, but my application's array is set up slightly differently. Thanks for the help you have given me so far by the way.