But I don't want to use COM and 3DxInput

Post by **jwick** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:15 pm

Edit (moderator): the sample code is no longer available from the FTP service. Please contact 3Dconnexion API Support if you need further assistance.

3DxInput (TDxInput) is a COM server. Sometimes developers are working with older code bases that don't support COM. Some languages or development environments don't support it well. Some developers are not familiar with it.

Rather than add COM to an old application, another option is to use the older 3DxWare Windows SDK. This is a straightforward Win32 and/or MFC SDK. It comes with good online documentation and examples. It has all the same capabilities as the 3DxInput COM server (more in fact), supports the same devices and is kept updated. It does use a slightly different axes arrangement.

Contact apisupport-win at 3dconnexion.com to get the 3DxWare Windows SDK.

Other options? What if I don't want anything proprietary from 3Dconnexion?

You can use several Microsoft APIs. Raw Input, DirectInput and HID all work. HID doesn't require a Window; sometimes that's important.

There are examples of each of these on our ftp site:
ftp://ftp-us.3dconnexion.com
login: examples
password: examples

These APIs all have their good points and bad. The 3Dx APIs are targeted just to our devices and are likely to be tied in better with our other 3Dx software. You often have to do a fair bit of work with the MS APIs. OTOH, if you already have support for their APIs in your code (e.g., DirectInput in a game), it's easier to add minimal support for 3Dx devices via that API. It may be difficult to add advanced support.

We are only interested in making your integration go as easy as possible. We provide the best tools and advice we can to help.

The 3Dx Software Development Team

armand · Post by **armand** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 8:15 am

The ftp seems to not working

UtaSH · Post by **UtaSH** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 9:14 am

It's back.

Should work.

Sneftel · Post by **Sneftel** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 4:03 pm

www.3Dconnexion.com->Support->Driver Downloads->SpaceTraveler->Archive->3DxWare SDK (32-/64-bit).

That no longer seems to work. Where can I get the deprecated 3DxWare SDK at this point?

poutinen · Post by **poutinen** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 2:31 am

Yes, the older SDK's don't seem to be available.
Where can the deprecated 3DxWare SDK be found at this point? The one with lib's etc to be linked against other code.

We need to port our old tested and working code from 32-bit to 64-bit and at this point porting it totally to use totally different API sounds unnecessary work!

Post by **jwick** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 6:00 am

To get the old SDK libraries, send an email to apisupport-win at 3dconnexion dot com. I wish I could find that on our web page.

PeterLagace · Post by **PeterLagace** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 12:16 pm

The FTP site seems to be down again. I've been trying on and off for a few days without success.

UtaSH · Post by **UtaSH** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 5:19 am

Sorry for the problems. We had a change yesterday morning.

The ftp-us server is back again.

PeterLagace · Post by **PeterLagace** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 7:03 am

That did the trick, thanks.