Weird Error C2146 and C4430 in d3d11shader.h in VS2012 - c++

Question

So I was following instructions on a book to create a d3d object. However, when I tried to compile the codes, it gives me some weird error in d3d11shader.h.
Inside the d3dshader.h,
#include "d3dcommon.h"
//other stuff
typedef struct _D3D11_SIGNATURE_PARAMETER_DESC
{
LPCSTR SemanticName;
UINT SemanticIndex;
UINT Register;
D3D_NAME SystemValueType;
D3D_REGISTER_COMPONENT_TYPE ComponentType;
BYTE Mask;
BYTE ReadWriteMask;
UINT Stream;
D3D_MIN_PRECISION MinPrecision; //Errors here
} D3D11_SIGNATURE_PARAMETER_DESC;
For details:
(1) Error 29 error C2146: syntax error : missing ';' before identifier 'MinPrecision' c:\program files (x86)\windows kits\8.0\include\um\d3d11shader.h 54
(2) Error 30 error C4430: missing type specifier - int assumed. Note: C++ does not support default-int c:\program files (x86)\windows kits\8.0\include\um\d3d11shader.h 54
It's weird cause both d3dcommon.h and d3d11shader.h files are defined in Windows SDK and DirectX SDK so I couldn't change anything in them. Can anyone tell me how to fix it? Any input is appreciated here.
Here is the codes in my Source.cpp which are directly copied from the book 3D Game Programming with DirectX11 by Frank Luna.
#include "d3dApp.h"//This header file is provided by the book
class InitDirect3DApp : public D3DApp
{
public:
InitDirect3DApp(HINSTANCE hInstance);
~InitDirect3DApp();
bool Init();
void OnResize();
void UpdateScene(float dt);
void DrawScene();
};
int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE prevInstance,
PSTR cmdLine, int showCmd)
{
// Enable run-time memory check for debug builds.
#if defined(DEBUG) | defined(_DEBUG)
_CrtSetDbgFlag( _CRTDBG_ALLOC_MEM_DF | _CRTDBG_LEAK_CHECK_DF );
#endif
InitDirect3DApp theApp(hInstance);
if( !theApp.Init() )
return 0;
return theApp.Run();
}
Init Direct3DApp::InitDirect3DApp(HINSTANCE hInstance)
: D3DApp(hInstance)
{
}
InitDirect3DApp::~InitDirect3DApp()
{
}
bool InitDirect3DApp::Init()
{
if(!D3DApp::Init())
return false;
return true;
}
void InitDirect3DApp::OnResize()
{
D3DApp::OnResize();
}
void InitDirect3DApp::UpdateScene(float dt)
{
}
void InitDirect3DApp::DrawScene()
{
assert(md3dImmediateContext);
assert(mSwapChain);
md3dImmediateContext->ClearRenderTargetView(mRenderTargetView, reinterpret_cast<const float*>(&Colors::Blue));
md3dImmediateContext->ClearDepthStencilView(mDepthStencilView, D3D11_CLEAR_DEPTH|D3D11_CLEAR_STENCIL, 1.0f, 0);
HR(mSwapChain->Present(0, 0));
}
And another weird thing I've noticed is that sometimes when I go to the definition of D3D_MIN_PRECISION and it directs me to d3dcommon.h, the codes in d3dcommon.h are not highlighted at all. Visual Studio does highlightings for all other files automatically but not for this one.. So I just assume it doesn't recognize the codes in this specific header file some time..
Also, as I tried to compile the codes just now, there's another error popping out in addition to the previous two:
31 IntelliSense: identifier "D3D_MIN_PRECISION" is undefined c:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\8.0\Include\um\d3d11shader.h 54
Just for your information, I'm using vs2012 on a windows 8.1 machine. Thanks a lot!

Answer 1

Your problem is most likely that you are mixing the Windows 8.x SDK and legacy DirectX SDK headers incorrectly.
Historically you would set the INCLUDE and LIB paths so that the DXSDK_DIR was first, but that only worked when the DirectX SDK headers were current. Now that they are out-dated, you need to use the WindowsSdkDir before the DXSDK_DIR (assuming you need to use stuff like D3DX that is deprecated that only available in the legacy DirectX SDK; otherwise you wouldn't need it at all).
With VS 2012's "v110" or VS 2013's "v120" Platform Toolset, if you also need to use the DirectX SDK, you use VC++ Directory settings for Include and Lib of:
$(IncludePath);$(DXSDK_DIR)Include
$(LibraryPath);$(DXSDK_DIR)Lib\<x86 or x64>
See MSDN, Living Without D3DX, XInput, and XAudio
BTW, If you were trying to use VS 2012's "v110_xp" or VS 2013's "v120_xp" Platform Toolset, it works more like it did in the old days and would use the traditional order. See this blog post.
$(DXSDK_DIR)Include;$(IncludePath);
$(DXSDK_DIR)Lib\<x86 or x64>;$(LibraryPath)