DirectX

[Dorothy]

CreateASurface(DirectdrawObject As DirectDraw7, DDSurface As DirectDrawSurface7, Width As Long, Height As Long, SourceFile As String)

What am I supposed to pass as the first and second parameter
for this function?

[Fox]

1) Your direct draw object, declared somewhere like this:

Dim DDraw as DirectDraw7

Note that you need to initialize it first:

Set DDraw = DirectX.DirectDrawCreate("")

2) Your surface like declared like this:

Dim Surface As DirectDrawSurface7

To see how to load the surface you can review this function:

Public Function LoadTexture(iFileName As String, iMasked As Boolean) As DirectDrawSurface7
    Dim A As Long
    Dim Temp As Boolean
    
    Dim Surface As DirectDrawSurface7
    Dim SurfaceDesc As DDSURFACEDESC2
    
    Dim Texture As Direct3DEnumPixelFormats
    
    Dim ColorKey As DDCOLORKEY
    Dim PixelFormat As DDPIXELFORMAT
    
    If Dir(iFileName) = "" Then
        'Error: File not found
        Set Surface = DDraw.CreateSurface(SurfaceDesc)
        
        Exit Function
    End If
    
    'Set flags
    SurfaceDesc.lFlags = DDSD_CAPS Or DDSD_TEXTURESTAGE Or DDSD_PIXELFORMAT
    
    'Check for 16-bit support
    Set Texture = Device.GetTextureFormatsEnum
    
    For A = 1 To Texture.GetCount()
        Temp = True
        Call Texture.GetItem(A, SurfaceDesc.ddpfPixelFormat)
        
        'Check color depth
        With SurfaceDesc.ddpfPixelFormat
            If .lRGBBitCount <> 16 Then: Temp = False
        End With
        
        'Found
        If Temp Then: Exit For
    Next

    If Not Temp Then
        'No support for 16-bit textures
        Set LoadTexture = Nothing
        
        Exit Function
    End If
    
    'Set texture flags
    If Device.GetDeviceGuid() = "IID_IDirect3DHALDevice" Then
        SurfaceDesc.ddsCaps.lCaps = DDSCAPS_TEXTURE
        SurfaceDesc.ddsCaps.lCaps2 = DDSCAPS2_TEXTUREMANAGE
        SurfaceDesc.lTextureStage = 0
    Else
        SurfaceDesc.ddsCaps.lCaps = DDSCAPS_TEXTURE
        SurfaceDesc.ddsCaps.lCaps2 = 0
        SurfaceDesc.lTextureStage = 0
    End If
    
    'Load bitmap
    Set Surface = DDraw.CreateSurfaceFromFile(iFileName, SurfaceDesc)
    
    'Apply color key (white)
    If iMasked Then
        Surface.GetPixelFormat PixelFormat
        ColorKey.low = PixelFormat.lRBitMask + PixelFormat.lGBitMask + PixelFormat.lBBitMask
        ColorKey.high = ColorKey.low
        Surface.SetColorKey DDCKEY_SRCBLT, ColorKey
    End If
    
    'Return surface
    Set LoadTexture = Surface
End Function

[PsychoMark]

If you're trying to use DirectX 7, but don't even know what the DirectDraw7 object is, I suggest reading some material first:

http://www.vbexplorer.com/directx4vb/

[Dorothy]

Let me state it clearly. I want to place a large graphic file on a form. I tried:
Form1.picture="filename"
It worked, but had a flicker.

My friend suggested to use DirectX to solve this problem.

Am totally new to this technology.

Help me in painting a picture on a form without a flicker.

Thanks Fox for your explanation
Thanks PsychoMark for your advice

[PsychoMark]

Form1.AutoRedraw=True
Form1.Picture=LoadPicture("C:\Bla.bmp")


Should work fine...

I don't think DirectX will make a difference if you're just painting a picture, it'll even be worse, since DirectX requires a lot more than just a bitmap...

So my second advise: don't use DirectX, it may even cause more flicker and a much slower program...