Appendix C: Binary Format

This section details the binary version of the DirectX File Format as introduced with the release of DirectX 3. This appendix should be read in conjunction with the section File Format Architecture.

The binary format is a tokenized representation of the text format. Tokens may be stand-alone or accompanied by primitive data records. Stand-alone tokens give grammatical structure and record-bearing tokens supply the necessary data.

Note that all data is stored in little endian format.

A valid binary data stream consists of a header followed by templates and/or data objects.

This section discusses the following components of the binary file format:

·Header

·Templates

·Data

·Tokens

·Token Records

In addition, example templates are provided, in Example Templates. A binary data object is shown in Example Data.