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D3D11CreateDevice function (d3d11.h)

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Creates a device that represents the display adapter.

Syntax

HRESULT D3D11CreateDevice(
  [in, optional]  IDXGIAdapter            *pAdapter,
                  D3D_DRIVER_TYPE         DriverType,
                  HMODULE                 Software,
                  UINT                    Flags,
  [in, optional]  const D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL *pFeatureLevels,
                  UINT                    FeatureLevels,
                  UINT                    SDKVersion,
  [out, optional] ID3D11Device            **ppDevice,
  [out, optional] D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL       *pFeatureLevel,
  [out, optional] ID3D11DeviceContext     **ppImmediateContext
);

Parameters

[in, optional] pAdapter

Type: IDXGIAdapter*

A pointer to the video adapter to use when creating a device. Pass NULL to use the default adapter, which is the first adapter that is enumerated by IDXGIFactory1::EnumAdapters.

Note  Do not mix the use of DXGI 1.0 (IDXGIFactory) and DXGI 1.1 (IDXGIFactory1) in an application. Use IDXGIFactory or IDXGIFactory1, but not both in an application.
 

DriverType

Type: D3D_DRIVER_TYPE

The D3D_DRIVER_TYPE, which represents the driver type to create.

Software

Type: HMODULE

A handle to a DLL that implements a software rasterizer. If DriverType is D3D_DRIVER_TYPE_SOFTWARE, Software must not be NULL. Get the handle by calling LoadLibrary, LoadLibraryEx , or GetModuleHandle.

Flags

Type: UINT

The runtime layers to enable (see D3D11_CREATE_DEVICE_FLAG); values can be bitwise OR'd together.

[in, optional] pFeatureLevels

Type: const D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL*

A pointer to an array of D3D_FEATURE_LEVELs, which determine the order of feature levels to attempt to create. If pFeatureLevels is set to NULL, this function uses the following array of feature levels:

{
    D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL_11_0,
    D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL_10_1,
    D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL_10_0,
    D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL_9_3,
    D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL_9_2,
    D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL_9_1,
};
Note  If the Direct3D 11.1 runtime is present on the computer and pFeatureLevels is set to NULL, this function won't create a D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL_11_1 device. To create a D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL_11_1 device, you must explicitly provide a D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL array that includes D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL_11_1. If you provide a D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL array that contains D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL_11_1 on a computer that doesn't have the Direct3D 11.1 runtime installed, this function immediately fails with E_INVALIDARG.
 

FeatureLevels

Type: UINT

The number of elements in pFeatureLevels.

SDKVersion

Type: UINT

The SDK version; use D3D11_SDK_VERSION.

[out, optional] ppDevice

Type: ID3D11Device**

Returns the address of a pointer to an ID3D11Device object that represents the device created. If this parameter is NULL, no ID3D11Device will be returned.

[out, optional] pFeatureLevel

Type: D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL*

If successful, returns the first D3D_FEATURE_LEVEL from the pFeatureLevels array which succeeded. Supply NULL as an input if you don't need to determine which feature level is supported.

[out, optional] ppImmediateContext

Type: ID3D11DeviceContext**

Returns the address of a pointer to an ID3D11DeviceContext object that represents the device context. If this parameter is NULL, no ID3D11DeviceContext will be returned.

Return value

Type: HRESULT

This method can return one of the Direct3D 11 Return Codes.

This method returns E_INVALIDARG if you set the pAdapter parameter to a non-NULL value and the DriverType parameter to the D3D_DRIVER_TYPE_HARDWARE value.

This method returns DXGI_ERROR_SDK_COMPONENT_MISSING if you specify D3D11_CREATE_DEVICE_DEBUG in Flags and the incorrect version of the debug layer is installed on your computer. Install the latest Windows SDK to get the correct version.

Remarks

This entry-point is supported by the Direct3D 11 runtime, which is available on Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and as an update to Windows Vista (KB971644).

To create a Direct3D 11.1 device (ID3D11Device1), which is available on Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, and Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 with the Platform Update for Windows 7 installed, you first create a ID3D11Device with this function, and then call the QueryInterface method on the ID3D11Device object to obtain the ID3D11Device1 interface.

To create a Direct3D 11.2 device (ID3D11Device2), which is available on Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2, you first create a ID3D11Device with this function, and then call the QueryInterface method on the ID3D11Device object to obtain the ID3D11Device2 interface.

Set ppDevice and ppImmediateContext to NULL to determine which feature level is supported by looking at pFeatureLevel without creating a device.

For an example, see How To: Create a Device and Immediate Context; to create a device and a swap chain at the same time, use D3D11CreateDeviceAndSwapChain.

If you set the pAdapter parameter to a non-NULL value, you must also set the DriverType parameter to the D3D_DRIVER_TYPE_UNKNOWN value. If you set the pAdapter parameter to a non-NULL value and the DriverType parameter to the D3D_DRIVER_TYPE_HARDWARE value, D3D11CreateDevice returns an HRESULT of E_INVALIDARG.

Differences between Direct3D 10 and Direct3D 11:

In Direct3D 10, the presence of pAdapter dictated which adapter to use and the DriverType could mismatch what the adapter was.

In Direct3D 11, if you are trying to create a hardware or a software device, set pAdapter != NULL which constrains the other inputs to be:

  • DriverType must be D3D_DRIVER_TYPE_UNKNOWN
  • Software must be NULL.
On the other hand, if pAdapter == NULL, the DriverType cannot be set to D3D_DRIVER_TYPE_UNKNOWN; it can be set to either:
  • If DriverType == D3D_DRIVER_TYPE_SOFTWARE, Software cannot be NULL.
  • If DriverType == D3D_DRIVER_TYPE_HARDWARE, the adapter used will be the default adapter, which is the first adapter that is enumerated by IDXGIFactory1::EnumAdapters
 

The function signature PFN_D3D11_CREATE_DEVICE is provided as a typedef, so that you can use dynamic linking techniques (GetProcAddress) instead of statically linking.

Windows Phone 8: This API is supported.

Windows Phone 8.1: This API is supported.

Requirements

Requirement Value
Target Platform Windows
Header d3d11.h
Library D3D11.lib
DLL D3D11.dll

See also

Core Functions