ABSTRACT
The programDDExclusive Mode, developed in Chapter 12, initializes DirectDraw, defines the cooperative level, sets a display mode, and draws text on the screen using a GDI function. The preliminary and setup operations performed by the DD Exclusive Mode program are necessary in many DirectDraw applications. However, not much is gained in performance and control by a DirectDraw application that is limited to the GDI functions. The purpose of DirectX in general, and DirectDraw specifically, is to provide a higher level of control and to improve graphics rendering speed. Neither of these are achieved using the GDI services. Before an application can enjoy the advantages that derived from theDirectDraw interface, it must gain access to videomemory. Once an application has gained access to video memory, the use of low-level code to further optimize processing becomes an option. The second level of DirectDraw advantages, those that result from using the hardware features in the video card, are discussed in the chapters that follow.
