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*
{
  font-size: 0.8em;
}

int main()
{
  return 0 ;
}

OpenGL vs Direct3D texturing

Man, what a …

I can’t believe it. I spent about an hour debugging this problem and it wasn’t even a problem..

OpenGL textures are addressed upside down from d3d ones.

Direct3d texture address mode, notice (0,0) in top left

OpenGL texture address mode. Notice (0,0) in bottom left

defs and definitions

The title is just so i can find it easily..

entry point

The address to which the OS passes CONTROL to once the program has been loaded into memory

obfuscate

any attempt to hide the true meaning of something (idapro)

static analysis

(With respect to code) means “reading the code to learn something” (idapro, 6)

dynamic analysis

means “watching the code execute in a controlled environment to learn something”

fuzzing

When you throw a very large number of inputs at a program, trying to find one that will make the program fail. Then use this input to exploit the program

subtend

The amount of field of view something takes.

See this java applet

RAWINPUT

Using RAWINPUT, based off the example, except this one is in a d3d window

#pragma region includes
#include <windows.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <math.h>

#include <d3d9.h>      // core direct3d
#include <d3dx9.h>     // aux libs

#include <dxerr.h>    // detailed error messages

#pragma comment(lib, "d3d9.lib")
#pragma comment(lib, "d3dx9.lib")  // aux libs
#ifdef _DEBUG
#pragma comment(lib,"d3dx9d.lib")
#else
#pragma comment(lib,"d3dx9.lib")
#endif

#pragma comment(lib, "dxerr.lib")

// Macros.
#define SAFE_RELEASE(ptr) if(ptr) { ptr->Release(); ptr = NULL; }
#define CAST_AS_DWORD(x) *((DWORD*)&x)
#define PI 3.14159
#pragma endregion

#pragma region define the Vertex structure
struct Vertex
{
  float x,y,z ;
  DWORD color ;
  
  // Ctor starts you at origin in black
  // with alpha (opacity) set to 100%
  Vertex()
  {
    x=y=z = 0.0f;
    color = D3DCOLOR_XRGB( 0,0,0 ) ;
  }

  Vertex( float ix, float iy, float iz )
  {
    x=ix;y=iy;z=iz;
    color = D3DCOLOR_XRGB( 255,255,255 ) ;
  }

  // Ctor.
  Vertex( float ix, float iy, float iz,
    unsigned char ir, unsigned char ig, unsigned char ib )
  {
    x=ix;y=iy;z=iz;
    color = D3DCOLOR_XRGB( ir, ig, ib ) ;
  }

  // Ctor that lets you pick alpha
  Vertex( float ix, float iy, float iz,
    unsigned char ir, unsigned char ig, unsigned char ib, unsigned char ALPHA )
  {
    x=ix;y=iy;z=iz;
    color = D3DCOLOR_ARGB( ALPHA, ir, ig, ib ) ;
  }
} ;
#pragma endregion

struct Globals
{
  struct _Win
  {
    HINSTANCE hInstance;    // window app instance
    HWND hwnd;              // handle for the window
    HWND hConsole ;         // handle for the console window

    int width, height;
  } win ;

  IDirect3D9 * d3d ;
  IDirect3DDevice9 * gpu ; 
};

///////////////////////////
// GLOBALS
Globals g;

///////////////////////////
// FUNCTION PROTOTYPES
void printWindowsLastError( char *msg ) ;
inline bool CHECK( HRESULT hr, char * msg, bool stop=true ) ;  // checks for errors on the HR passed.
bool initD3D() ;         // function to initialize the BEAST that is Direct3D9
void initRawinput( HWND hwnd ) ;
void update() ;          // changes geometry of the scene
void drawAxes() ;        // draws the ever-important axes (for finding your way around your own scene!)
void draw() ;            // drawing function containing Direct3D drawing calls

LRESULT CALLBACK WndProc( HWND hwnd, UINT message, WPARAM wparam, LPARAM lparam );
int WINAPI WinMain( HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE hPrevInstance, LPSTR szCmdLine, int iCmdShow );


void printWindowsLastError( char *msg )
{
  LPSTR errorString = NULL ;

  int result = FormatMessageA( FORMAT_MESSAGE_ALLOCATE_BUFFER |
                 FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM,
                 0,
                 GetLastError(),
                 0,
                 (LPSTR)&errorString,
                 0,
                 0 );

  printf( "%s %s\n", msg, errorString ) ;
  
  LocalFree( errorString ) ;
}

inline bool CHECK( HRESULT hr, char * msg, bool stop )
{
  if( FAILED( hr ) )
  {
    printf( "%s. %s:  %s\n",
            msg, DXGetErrorStringA( hr ), DXGetErrorDescriptionA( hr ) ) ;

    // Pause so we can see the error and deal with it.
    if( stop )  system("pause") ;

    return false ;
  }

  else
    return true ;
}

/// Initializes Direct3D9.  Returns true on success.
bool initD3D()
{
  // start by nulling out both pointers:
  g.d3d = 0 ;
  g.gpu = 0 ;

  g.d3d = Direct3DCreate9( D3D_SDK_VERSION ) ;

  if( g.d3d == NULL )
  {
    // DEVICE CREATION FAILED!!!! OH NO!!!
    puts( "Oh.. PHOOEY!!!!!  Device creation FAILED!!! WHAT NOW???\n" ) ;
    return false ;
  }

  puts( "Direct3D9 creation success!" ) ;

  D3DPRESENT_PARAMETERS pps = { 0 } ;

  pps.Windowed = true ;
  pps.BackBufferCount = 1 ;
  pps.SwapEffect = D3DSWAPEFFECT_DISCARD ;
  pps.BackBufferFormat = D3DFMT_UNKNOWN ;
  pps.EnableAutoDepthStencil = true ;
  pps.AutoDepthStencilFormat = D3DFMT_D16 ;

  HRESULT hr = g.d3d->CreateDevice(

    D3DADAPTER_DEFAULT, // primary display adapter
    D3DDEVTYPE_HAL,     // use HARDWARE rendering (fast!)
    g.win.hwnd,
    D3DCREATE_HARDWARE_VERTEXPROCESSING,
    &pps,
    &g.gpu

  ) ;

  if( !CHECK( hr, "OH NOS!! I could not initialize Direct3D!  Bailing...\n" ) )
  {
    return false ;
  }

  puts( "Direct3D9 GPU device creation successful" ) ;


  #pragma region setup interleaved arrays
  D3DVERTEXELEMENT9 pos ;

  pos.Usage = D3DDECLUSAGE_POSITION ;
  pos.UsageIndex = 0 ;
  pos.Stream = 0 ;
  pos.Type = D3DDECLTYPE_FLOAT3 ;
  pos.Offset = 0 ;

  pos.Method = D3DDECLMETHOD_DEFAULT ; 

  D3DVERTEXELEMENT9 col;

  col.Usage = D3DDECLUSAGE_COLOR ;
  col.UsageIndex = 0 ;
  col.Stream = 0 ;
  col.Type = D3DDECLTYPE_D3DCOLOR ;
  col.Offset = 3*sizeof( float ) ;
  col.Method = D3DDECLMETHOD_DEFAULT ;

  D3DVERTEXELEMENT9 vertexElements[] =
  {
    pos,
    col,
    D3DDECL_END()
  } ;

  IDirect3DVertexDeclaration9 * Vdecl ;

  hr = g.gpu->CreateVertexDeclaration( vertexElements, &Vdecl ) ;
  CHECK( hr, "CreateVertexDeclaration FAILED!" ) ;

  hr = g.gpu->SetVertexDeclaration( Vdecl ) ;
  CHECK( hr, "SetVertexDeclaration FAILED!" ) ;
  #pragma endregion

  
  hr = g.gpu->SetRenderState( D3DRS_COLORVERTEX, TRUE ) ;
  CHECK( hr, "SetRenderState( COLORVERTEX ) FAILED!" ) ;

  hr = g.gpu->SetRenderState( D3DRS_LIGHTING, FALSE ) ;
  CHECK( hr, "Lighting off" ) ;

  hr = g.gpu->SetRenderState( D3DRS_CULLMODE, D3DCULL_NONE ) ;
  CHECK( hr, "cull mode off" ) ;

  initRawinput( g.win.hwnd ) ;

  return true ;
}

void initRawinput( HWND hwnd )
{
  puts( "Starting up rawinput devices..." ) ;

  // After the window has been created, 
  // register raw input devices
  RAWINPUTDEVICE Rid[2] ;
        
  Rid[0].usUsagePage = 0x01 ;  // magic numbers
  Rid[0].usUsage = 0x02 ;      // magically means mouse
  Rid[0].dwFlags = 0 ; // (use this if you DO NOT WANT to capture mouse)
  //Rid[0].dwFlags = RIDEV_CAPTUREMOUSE | RIDEV_NOLEGACY ;  // (use this to CAPTURE MOUSE)
  Rid[0].hwndTarget = hwnd ;

  Rid[1].usUsagePage = 0x01 ;  // magic numbers
  Rid[1].usUsage = 0x06 ;      // magically means keyboard
  Rid[1].dwFlags = 0 ;         // use RIDEV_NOHOTKEYS for no winkey
  Rid[1].hwndTarget = hwnd ;

  if( !RegisterRawInputDevices( Rid, 2, sizeof(Rid[0]) ) )
  {
    //registration failed. Check your Rid structs above.
    printWindowsLastError( "RegisterRawInputDevices" ) ;
    puts( "Could not register raw input devices. Check your Rid structs, please." ) ;
    exit(1);
  }
}

void update()
{
}

////////////////////////
// DRAWING FUNCTIONS
void drawAxes()
{

  static float axisLen = 2.0f ;
  static Vertex axis[] = {

    // x-axis is red
    Vertex( -axisLen, 0, 0, 255, 0, 0 ),
    Vertex( +axisLen, 0, 0, 255, 0, 0 ),

    // y-axis green
    Vertex( 0, -axisLen, 0, 0, 255, 0 ),
    Vertex( 0, +axisLen, 0, 0, 255, 0 ),

    // z-axis blue
    Vertex( 0, 0, -axisLen, 0, 0, 255 ),
    Vertex( 0, 0, +axisLen, 0, 0, 255 )

  } ;

  HRESULT hr = g.gpu->DrawPrimitiveUP( D3DPT_LINELIST, 3, axis, sizeof( Vertex ) ) ;
  CHECK( hr, "DrawPrimitiveUP FAILED!" ) ;

  static float pointSize = 8.0f ;

  g.gpu->SetRenderState( D3DRS_POINTSIZE, CAST_AS_DWORD( pointSize ) ) ;

  // Draw points at end of axis.
  static Vertex points[] = {
    Vertex( axisLen, 0, 0, 255, 0, 0 ),
    Vertex( 0, axisLen, 0, 0, 255, 0 ),
    Vertex( 0, 0, axisLen, 0, 0, 255 ),
  } ;

  hr = g.gpu->DrawPrimitiveUP( D3DPT_POINTLIST, 3, points, sizeof( Vertex ) ) ;
  CHECK( hr, "DrawPrimitiveUP FAILED!" ) ;

}

void draw()
{
  HRESULT hr ;

  hr = g.gpu->Clear( 0, 0, D3DCLEAR_TARGET | D3DCLEAR_ZBUFFER,
    D3DCOLOR_ARGB( 255, 25, 25, 25 ), 1.0f, 0 ) ;
  CHECK( hr, "Clear FAILED!" ) ;

  #pragma region set up the camera
  D3DXMATRIX projx ;

  D3DXMatrixOrthoRH( &projx, 5, 5, 1, 100 ) ;
  //D3DXMatrixPerspectiveFovRH( &projx, PI/4, (float)g.win.width/g.win.height, 1.0f, 1000.0f ) ;

  g.gpu->SetTransform( D3DTS_PROJECTION, &projx ) ;

  D3DXMATRIX viewx ;

  int x = 2 ;
  int y = 2 ;
  D3DXVECTOR3 eye( x, y, 4 ) ;
  D3DXVECTOR3 look( x, y, 0 ) ;
  D3DXVECTOR3 up( 0, 1, 0 ) ;
  D3DXMatrixLookAtRH( &viewx, &eye, &look, &up ) ;
  g.gpu->SetTransform( D3DTS_VIEW, &viewx ) ;
  #pragma endregion

  hr = g.gpu->BeginScene() ;
  CHECK( hr, "BeginScene FAILED!" ) ;


  drawAxes();


  hr = g.gpu->EndScene() ;
  CHECK( hr, "EndScene FAILED!" ) ;

  // And finally, PRESENT what we drew to the backbuffer
  g.gpu->Present( 0, 0, 0, 0 ) ;

}

int WINAPI WinMain( HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE hPrevInstance, LPSTR szCmdLine, int iCmdShow )
{
  //////////////////
  // First we'll start by saving a copy of
  // the hInstance parameter inside our
  // "glob" of globals "g":
  g.win.hInstance = hInstance;
  // In case we need it later, we'll have it
  // with firsthand easy access.

  #pragma region part 0 - attach a console
  // Attach a console
  AllocConsole();
  AttachConsole( GetCurrentProcessId() ) ;
  freopen( "CON", "w", stdout ) ; // redirect stdout to console

  // Move the console over to the top left
  g.win.hConsole = GetConsoleWindow();
  MoveWindow( g.win.hConsole, 0, 0, 400, 400, true ) ;

  printf( "* * Computer Program Begin * *\n" ) ;
  #pragma endregion

  #pragma region part 1 - create a window
  // The next few lines you should already
  // be used to:  create a WNDCLASSEX
  // that describes the properties of
  // the window we're going to soon create.
  // A.  Create the WNDCLASSEX
  WNDCLASSEX wcx = { 0 } ;
  wcx.cbSize = sizeof( WNDCLASSEX );
  wcx.hbrBackground = (HBRUSH)GetStockObject( BLACK_BRUSH );
  wcx.hCursor = LoadCursor( NULL, IDC_ARROW );
  wcx.hIcon = LoadIcon( NULL, IDI_APPLICATION );
  wcx.hInstance = hInstance;
  wcx.lpfnWndProc = WndProc;
  wcx.lpszClassName = TEXT("Philip");
  wcx.lpszMenuName = 0;
  wcx.style = CS_HREDRAW | CS_VREDRAW | CS_OWNDC;

  // Register that class with the Windows O/S..
  RegisterClassEx( &wcx );

  int width = 800, height = 600;
  int leftEdge = 400, topEdge = 25 ;
  RECT rect;
  SetRect( &rect,
    leftEdge,  // left
    topEdge,   // top
    leftEdge + width, // right
    topEdge  + height ); // bottom

  // Save width and height off.
  g.win.width = rect.right - rect.left;
  g.win.height = rect.bottom - rect.top;

  // Adjust it.
  DWORD windowStyle = WS_OVERLAPPEDWINDOW ; // typical features of a normal window
  DWORD windowExStyle = 0 ; // I want the window to be topmost

  AdjustWindowRectEx( &rect, windowStyle, false, windowExStyle );

  g.win.hwnd = CreateWindowEx(
    windowExStyle,
    TEXT("Philip"),
    TEXT("DIRECT3D WINDOW"),
    windowStyle,
    rect.left, rect.top,  // adjusted x, y positions
    rect.right - rect.left, rect.bottom - rect.top,  // adjusted width and height
    NULL, NULL,
    hInstance, NULL);

  // check to see that the window
  // was created successfully!
  if( g.win.hwnd == NULL )
  {
    FatalAppExit( NULL, TEXT("CreateWindow() failed!") );
  }

  // and show.
  ShowWindow( g.win.hwnd, iCmdShow );

  // JUMP to the initD3D() method.
  if( !initD3D() )
  {
    FatalAppExit( 0, TEXT("SORRY!!!  DEVICE CREATION FAILED!!! YOU LOSE, WITHOUT EVEN PLAYING THE GAME!!!" ) ) ;
  }

  #pragma endregion

  #pragma region message loop
  MSG msg;

  while( 1 )
  {
    if( PeekMessage( &msg, NULL, 0, 0, PM_REMOVE ) )
    {
      if( msg.message == WM_QUIT )
      {
        break;
      }

      TranslateMessage( &msg );
      DispatchMessage( &msg );
    }
    else
    {
      update();
      draw();
    }
  }
  #pragma endregion

  //////////////
  // clean up
  SAFE_RELEASE( g.gpu ) ;
  SAFE_RELEASE( g.d3d ) ;

  // and a cheesy fade exit
  AnimateWindow( g.win.hwnd, 200, AW_HIDE | AW_BLEND );

  printf( "* * This Computer Program Has Ended * *\n" ) ;

  return msg.wParam;
}

////////////////////////
// WNDPROC
// Notice that WndProc is very very neglected.
// We hardly do anything with it!  That's because
// we do all of our processing in the draw()
// function.
LRESULT CALLBACK WndProc(   HWND hwnd, UINT message, WPARAM wparam, LPARAM lparam )
{
  switch( message )
  {
  case WM_CREATE:
    Beep( 50, 10 );
    return 0;
    break;

  case WM_PAINT:
    {
      HDC hdc;
      PAINTSTRUCT ps;
      hdc = BeginPaint( hwnd, &ps );
      // don't draw here.  would be waaay too slow.
      // draw in the draw() function instead.
      EndPaint( hwnd, &ps );
    }
    return 0;
    break;

  case WM_KEYDOWN:
    switch( wparam )
    {
    case VK_ESCAPE:
      PostQuitMessage( 0 );
      break;
    default:
      break;
    }
    return 0;



  case WM_INPUT: 
    {
      UINT dwSize;

      GetRawInputData((HRAWINPUT)lparam, RID_INPUT, NULL, &dwSize, 
        sizeof(RAWINPUTHEADER));
      LPBYTE lpb = new BYTE[dwSize];
      if (lpb == NULL) 
      {
        return 0;
      } 

      int readSize = GetRawInputData( (HRAWINPUT)lparam, RID_INPUT, lpb, &dwSize, sizeof(RAWINPUTHEADER) ) ;

      if( readSize != dwSize )
        puts( "ERROR:  GetRawInputData didn't return correct size!" ) ; 

      RAWINPUT* raw = (RAWINPUT*)lpb;

      if (raw->header.dwType == RIM_TYPEKEYBOARD) 
      {
        if( raw->data.keyboard.VKey == VK_SPACE )
        {
          puts( "You are pressing space" ) ;
        }
      }
      else if (raw->header.dwType == RIM_TYPEMOUSE) 
      {
        int dx = raw->data.mouse.lLastX ;
        int dy = raw->data.mouse.lLastY ;

        printf( "%d %d\n", dx, dy ) ;
      } 

      delete[] lpb; 
      return 0;
    } 

  case WM_SIZE:
    {
      int width = LOWORD( lparam ) ;
      int height = HIWORD( lparam ) ;
      printf( "RESIZED TO width=%d height=%d\n", width, height ) ;
    }
    break;

  case WM_DESTROY:
    PostQuitMessage( 0 ) ;
    return 0;
    break;
  }

  return DefWindowProc( hwnd, message, wparam, lparam );
}

Algebra tricks archive

Well, this post was looking for the same thing I was, and nobody seemed to know of any.

The problem with algebra tricks is they’re so context dependent. There’s really only a few things that math books and tests use to make “wicked” problems (list being expanded).

• 1. Multiplying by the conjugate
• 2. Factoring using the +C -C trick (complete the square method)

Really the “hard” problems require an algebraic twist, a keen eye, insight – stuff you only get after having practiced with hundreds of problems (and checking the solutions!).

So first,
sosmath: Derivative of sin, cos, tan, csc, sec, cot

Mathworld: Inverse trig functions

trig identities

Now, the rest of this post is just examples of the trick (by name) and a couple of examples that illustrate the trick in action (list being expanded!) (Bear with the non-mathmlness for now!)

1. Multiplying by the conjugate

INTEGRAL( dx / (1 + cos x) )

To solve, you have to multiply the numerator and denominator by ( 1 – cos x ) to get sin²x in the denominator..

2. Factoring using the +C -C trick

INTEGRAL( dx / (x² + 10x + 30) )

You have to factor (wactor! as my friend used to say) the denominator into ((x+5)² + 5) by:

x2 + 10x + 25 - 25 + 30
= (x + 5)2 + 5

You know to do +25, -25 BECAUSE half of 10 is 5, and 5² is 25. That method in general is called completing the square and you have to do it all the time.