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Chuck Walbourn edited this page Dec 17, 2024 · 19 revisions

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DxCapsViewer.exe GitHub Release Date GitHub (Pre-)Release Date

GitHub last commit Azure DevOps build VS 2019 Azure DevOps build VS 2022

DirectX Logo The DirectX Caps Viewer shows information about Direct3D 9, 10.0, 10.1, 11.x, and 12.

Developers should use this tool to verify the capabilities of their development and test computers, making sure that DirectX applications correctly test for current computer capabilities. It is suggested that applications be designed with fallback strategies if the required features are not available.

DxCapsViewer

See this blog post

User's Guide

Select items in the tree view on the left. Information about the selected item appears in the pane on the right.

Remarks

The DXGI section shows Direct3D 10, Direct3D 10.1, Direct3D 11, and DirectX 12 devices. As the majority of format support is required in the definition of these APIs, the tool only shows "optional" features that may or may not be present. The Direct3D 10 "Features" node, the D3D10_FEATURE_LEVEL_* nodes, and the D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL_ nodes show a summary of the features available derived for the given hardware feature level. The remainder of the nodes show the results of CheckFormatSupport and CheckFeatureSupport calls for optional format usage and features.

The tool no longer supports Direct3D 8 or prior, DirectInput, DirectSound, DirectPlay, or DirectMusic

Building from source

This project is set up to use CMake version 3.21 or later, and requires you have the latest Windows 10 SDK installed (19041) or later.

Using VS 2022 with C++ CMake tools for Windows component installed, you can open the CMakeLists.txt and build directly from the IDE. See Microsoft Docs.

If you wish to use clang/LLVM instead of Visual C++ with VS 2022, you must also have the Clang Compiler for Windows component installed.

Using the command-line, you can generate a VS 2022 sln/vcxproj using:

cmake -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A x64 -B out -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION=10.0.19041.0

There are a number of CMake Presets available as well which you can use:

cmake --preset=x64-Debug
cmake --build out\build\x64-Debug

You can also make use of VCPKG for the latest DirectX 12 headers, the DirectX 12 Agility SDK, and/or the latest WARP.

With VS 2022 17.6 or later, you can get VCPKG as a VS component via the Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.Vcpkg component.

Background

The DxCapsViewer.exe tool dates back to early versions of the DirectX SDK, and shipped up through the legacy DirectX SDK (June 2010) release. A version of this tool was then added to the Windows SDK for Windows 8, and it continues to ship in the Windows 10 SDK.

See Microsoft Docs

Credits

This tool dates back to the DirectX 5 era or even earlier, so a complete list of who contributed to this tool is lost to the mists of time. Thanks to Michael Anderson, Paul Bleisch, Andy Glaister, Amar Patel, Chuck Walbourn, Mikey Wetzel, and the numerous other Microsoft engineers who contributed to the DirectX SDK over the years.

For Use

  • Windows 11
  • Windows 10
  • Windows 8.1
  • Windows 7 Service Pack 1

Related Projects

DirectX Tool Kit for DirectX 11

DirectX Tool Kit for DirectX 12

DirectXTex

DirectXMesh

See also

DirectX Landing Page

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