| Microsoft DirectX 8.1 (C++) |
Microsoft® DirectPlay® provides your application with a virtual network connection that enables you to communicate with other computers in the same way, regardless of type of network involved. To provide this level of abstraction, network connections are made through a service provider. Once you have selected a service provider, your application uses the appropriate DirectPlay methods to communicate with other computers in a session. The service provider handles the details of communicating over the selected network hardware.
DirectPlay includes service providers for four types of network connections: TCP/IP, IPX, modem, and serial. See DirectPlay Addressing for a discussion of how to select a service provider.
Note DirectPlay uses the telephony API (TAPI) to handle modem communication. The use of this API means that the code that is used to answer the phone must be in the message loop's thread. To use modems on Microsoft Windows® 95 systems, you must install version 2.0 of the Telephony API (TAPI). You can download TAPI 2.0 from http://www.microsoft.com.