Editing D3DX (section)

==Interfaces==
The D3DX library follows the [[Component object model|COM]] [[object-oriented programming]] model. Functionality is accessed using [[C++]]-like interfaces.

===ID3DXEffect===
The {{Mono|ID3DXEffect}} interface is used for compiling and binding FX shaders ({{Mono|.fx}}). It supports automatic mapping of named shader parameters to hardware constant registers, parameter pools, mapping textures to available samplers, specifying 'techniques' and modifying render states.

===ID3DXFont===
The {{Mono|ID3DXFont}} interface can be used to draw 2D text. See also D3DXCreateText that creates 3D meshes of text.

===ID3DXLine===
The {{Mono|ID3DXLine}} interface can be used for drawing anti-aliased screen-space lines with pattern.

===ID3DXMesh===
The {{Mono|ID3DXMesh}} interface is used for storage of meshes and mesh optimization for vertex cache friendliness and strip reordering. Some functions in D3DX operate on this interface. An example is D3DXComputeTangentFrame for creating a tangent-space frame for effects like normal and parallax mapping. A descendant of this class is ID3DXPMesh that can do geometry simplification.

===ID3DXPRTEngine===
It is used for [[Precomputed Radiance Transfer]] - a technique similar to spherical harmonics lighting that is used for precomputed global illumination and soft ambient lighting.

===ID3DXSprite===
The {{Mono|ID3DXSprite}} interface is a [[C++ class]] used for drawing a 2D image to the screen known as a [[sprite (computer graphics)|sprite]] in [[computer graphics]]. In [[DirectX|DirectX 7]] this was typically done using the [[DirectDraw]] API, which is deprecated.

The programmer typically needs only to call the ID3DXSprite object's Begin() method to set up the render state and world transform for 2D drawing, call the Draw() method to add [[Texture (computer graphics)|textures]] to the list to be drawn and finally call the End() method to draw the images to the screen and restore the original graphics state.

A common criticism of the D3DXSprite was that it was slow but this issue has been addressed as of [[Direct3D#Version history|Direct3D 9]].