Hi,

I was wondering, is there a way to check if a ID3DXEFFECT has begun / if ->Begin() was executed without a call to ->End().

In the member functions of ID3DXEFFECT / ID3DXBASEEFFECT I didn't find any member function who returns this.

Ofcourse I want to prevent creating a bool for tracking this myself.

Thanks. It's not very complicated, the reason is that I can clean my code up quitely if I know if an efffect has begun or not.

I'll add a bool in my shader class to check if it's active (begin called without end).

The initial bindings were to prevent that I end an effect (1st iteration of the loop) which isn't active yet.

Here's the code:

bool CD3d::RenderScene(const char *pTechnique, const CD3dcam &pCam, std::vector<Q_RENDERABLE>& pRenderBucket)
{
	// retrieve the 1st element from bucket and do all bindings
	Q_RENDERABLE *last = &pRenderBucket[0];

	ShaderSetTechnique(last->Effect, pTechnique);
	mD3dscene->mShaders[last->Effect].Begin();
	mD3dscene->ShaderSelectMaterial(last->Material, last->Effect);
	mD3dscene->mMeshes[last->Mesh].SetBuffers();
	mD3dscene->ShaderSetWorld(last.Instance, lastId);
	
	bool bucketDone = false;
	int renderable = 0;

	while(!bucketDone)
	{
		auto next = &pRenderBucket[renderable];
		if(next->Effect != last->Effect) 
		{
			mD3dscene->mShaders[last->Effect].End();

			mD3dscene->mShaders[next->Effect].SetTechnique(pTechnique);
			mD3dscene->mShaders[next->Effect].Begin();
		}

		for(unsigned int p=0;p<mD3dscene->mShaders[next->Effect].GetNumPasses();++p)
		{
			mD3dscene->mShaders[next->Effect].BeginPass(p);

			if(next->Material	!= last->Material)	mD3dscene->ShaderSelectMaterial(next->Material, last->Effect);
			if(next->Mesh		!= last->Mesh)		mD3dscene->mMeshes[next->Mesh].SetBuffers();

			mD3dscene->ShaderSetWorld(next.Instance, next.Id);
			mD3dscene->mShaders[next->Effect].Commit();

			mD3dscene->mMeshes[next->Mesh].RenderSubMesh(next->Id, LIST);	// does the draw call
			mD3dscene->mShaders[next->Effect].EndPass();
		}
		last = &pRenderBucket[renderable];	
		++renderable;

		if(renderable == (int)pRenderBucket.size()) bucketDone = true;
	}
	return true;
}

Gonna be working on it now to 'clean it up'.

I'll probably set the initial value of last to a null pointer and then add || NULL to the comparions of last and next.

If you have any ideas how to do this otherwise/ properly, all input welcome

struct EFFECT_RAII {
    EFFECT_RAII( ID3DXEffect * _peEffect ) {
        peEffect = _peEffect;
        if ( peEffect ) { peEffect->Begin(); }
    }
    ~EFFECT_RAII() {
        if ( peEffect ) { peEffect->End(); }
    }


    EFFECT_RAII & operator = ( const ID3DXEffect * _peEffect ) {
        if ( peEffect != _peEffect ) {
            if ( peEffect ) { peEffect->End(); }
            peEffect = _peEffect;
            if ( peEffect ) { peEffect->Begin(); }
        }
        return (*this);
    }
protected :
    ID3DXEffect * peEffect;
};






bool CD3d::RenderScene(const char *pTechnique, const CD3dcam &pCam, std::vector<Q_RENDERABLE>& pRenderBucket)
{
	// retrieve the 1st element from bucket and do all bindings
	Q_RENDERABLE *last = &pRenderBucket[0];

	ShaderSetTechnique(last->Effect, pTechnique);
        EFFECT_RAII erEffect( &mD3dscene->mShaders[last->Effect] );
	//mD3dscene->mShaders[last->Effect].Begin();
	mD3dscene->ShaderSelectMaterial(last->Material, last->Effect);
	mD3dscene->mMeshes[last->Mesh].SetBuffers();
	mD3dscene->ShaderSetWorld(last.Instance, lastId);
	
	bool bucketDone = false;
	int renderable = 0;

	while(!bucketDone)
	{
		auto next = &pRenderBucket[renderable];
		if(next->Effect != last->Effect) 
		{
			//mD3dscene->mShaders[last->Effect].End();

			mD3dscene->mShaders[next->Effect].SetTechnique(pTechnique);
                        erEffect = &mD3dscene->mShaders[next->Effect];
			//mD3dscene->mShaders[next->Effect].Begin();
		}

		for(unsigned int p=0;p<mD3dscene->mShaders[next->Effect].GetNumPasses();++p)
		{
			mD3dscene->mShaders[next->Effect].BeginPass(p);

			if(next->Material	!= last->Material)	mD3dscene->ShaderSelectMaterial(next->Material, last->Effect);
			if(next->Mesh		!= last->Mesh)		mD3dscene->mMeshes[next->Mesh].SetBuffers();

			mD3dscene->ShaderSetWorld(next.Instance, next.Id);
			mD3dscene->mShaders[next->Effect].Commit();

			mD3dscene->mMeshes[next->Mesh].RenderSubMesh(next->Id, LIST);	// does the draw call
			mD3dscene->mShaders[next->Effect].EndPass();
		}
		last = &pRenderBucket[renderable];	
		++renderable;

		if(renderable == (int)pRenderBucket.size()) bucketDone = true;
	}
	return true;
        //~erEffect == LASTSETEFFECT.End() and Begin() and End() are now properly paired.
}

Thanks, I think I get it.

The ->End() is Always called when begin was called, because the destructor will be called at the end of function.

- can I do exactly the same with the passes that begin/end?

Meanwhile I've been playing around a bit, and the function is now as below (without the EFFECT_RAII).

(by the way, what does RAII stand for?)

/***************** TO DO : ERROR HANDLING WHEN DOING BINDINGS !!!!! ******************/

bool CD3d::RenderScene(const char *pTechnique, const CD3dcam &pCam, std::vector<Q_RENDERABLE>& pRenderBucket)
{
	// retrieve the 1st element from bucket and do all bindings
	Q_RENDERABLE *last = NULL; //&pRenderBucket[0];
	
	size_t bucketSize = pRenderBucket.size();

	for(size_t renderable = 0;renderable<bucketSize;++renderable)
	{
		auto next = &pRenderBucket[renderable];
		if(next->Effect != last->Effect) 
		{
			if(!last) mD3dscene->mShaders[last->Effect].End();

			mD3dscene->mShaders[next->Effect].SetTechnique(pTechnique);
			mD3dscene->mShaders[next->Effect].Begin();
		}

		for(unsigned int p=0;p<mD3dscene->mShaders[next->Effect].GetNumPasses();++p)
		{
			mD3dscene->mShaders[next->Effect].BeginPass(p);

			if(next->Material	!= last->Material)	mD3dscene->ShaderSelectMaterial(next->Material, last->Effect);
			if(next->Mesh		!= last->Mesh)		mD3dscene->mMeshes[next->Mesh].SetBuffers();

			mD3dscene->ShaderSetWorld(next.Instance, next.Id);
			mD3dscene->mShaders[next->Effect].Commit();

			mD3dscene->mMeshes[next->Mesh].RenderSubMesh(next->Id, LIST);	// does the draw call
			mD3dscene->mShaders[next->Effect].EndPass();
		}
		last = &pRenderBucket[renderable];	
	}
	mD3dscene->mShaders[bucketSize-1].End();
	return true;
}

I tried to modify this version using RAII, but I got stuck because I have no initial bindings anymore.

Meaning that when I create the erEffect in the scope of the whole function, I have to create it for last->effect, which is a null pointer at that moment.

Also then I try this:

EFFECT_RAII erEffect(&mD3dscene->mShaders[last->Effect].mEffect);

I get an error "no instance of constructor ... matches the argument" list.

mEffect is a CComPtr<ID3DXEffect>. When I remove the reference (&), the error is gone, probably because it already is a pointer.

Note; I will also add the number of passes to the constructor/ & operator, because this is needed for the 'begin' call.

can I do exactly the same with the passes that begin/end?

by the way, what does RAII stand for?

I have to create it for last->effect, which is a null pointer at that moment.

When I remove the reference (&), the error is gone, probably because it already is a pointer.

if(!last) mD3dscene->mShaders[last->Effect].End();

Thanks, this helps :)

I'm currently trying it out, only last thing I'm struggling with is that I also need to pass numPasses which is needed for the Begin call of the effect

For the constructor this works already, but for the & operator I can't add another parameter.
I think this means I have to call the constructor when I switch to another effect and then pass numPasses

struct EFFECT_RAII 
{
    EFFECT_RAII(ID3DXEffect * _peEffect, unsigned int *pNumPasses) 
	{
        peEffect = _peEffect;
		if(peEffect) peEffect->Begin(pNumPasses, D3DXFX_DONOTSAVESTATE); 
    }
    
	~EFFECT_RAII() 
	{
        if(peEffect) peEffect->End();
    }


    EFFECT_RAII & operator = (const ID3DXEffect * _peEffect) 
	{
        if(peEffect != _peEffect ) 
		{
            if(peEffect) peEffect->End();
            peEffect = const_cast<ID3DXEffect*>(peEffect);
            if(peEffect) peEffect->Begin(0, D3DXFX_DONOTSAVESTATE);	// 0 should be numpasses??
        }
        return (*this);
    }

protected :
    ID3DXEffect *peEffect;
};


// the draw function

	EFFECT_RAII erEffect(mD3dscene->mShaders[last->Effect].mEffect, &mD3dscene->mShaders[last->Effect].mNumPasses);

	for(size_t renderable=0;renderable<bucketSize;++renderable)
	{
		auto next = &pRenderBucket[renderable];
		if(next->Effect != last->Effect) 
		{
			erEffect = mD3dscene->mShaders[last->Effect].mEffect;

struct EFFECT_RAII {
    EFFECT_RAII( ID3DXEffect * _peEffect, UINT * _puiPasses ) {
        peEffect = _peEffect;
        if ( peEffect ) { peEffect->Begin( _puiPasses, D3DXFX_DONOTSAVESTATE ); }
    }
    ~EFFECT_RAII() {
        if ( peEffect ) { peEffect->End(); }
    }


    EFFECT_RAII & SetEffect( const ID3DXEffect * _peEffect, UINT * _puiPasses ) {
        if ( peEffect != _peEffect ) {
            if ( peEffect ) { peEffect->End(); }
            peEffect = _peEffect;
            if ( peEffect ) { peEffect->Begin( _puiPasses, D3DXFX_DONOTSAVESTATE ); }
        }
        return (*this);
    }
protected :
    ID3DXEffect * peEffect;
};

Call SetEffect() instead of using the assignment operator.


L. Spiro