This document specifies the file format introduced with DirectX 2. A binary version of this format was subsequently released with DirectX 3 and this is also detailed in this reference.
The DirectX File Format provides a rich template-driven file format that enables the storage of meshes, textures, animations and user-definable objects. Support for animation sets allows predefined paths to be stored for playback in real time. Also supported are instancing which allows multiple references to an object, such as a mesh, while storing its data only once per file, and hierarchies to express relationships between data records. The DirectX file format is used natively by the Direct3D Retained Mode API, providing support for reading predefined objects into an application or writing mesh information constructed by the application in real time.
The File Format provides low-level data primitives, upon which applications define higher level primitives via templates. This is the method by which Direct3D defines higher level primitives such as Vectors, Meshes, Matrices and Colors.
This document details the API independent features of the file format and also the method by which Direct3D Retained Mode uses the file format.