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TdxRenderMode Enum

Enumerates render modes available for DevExpress controls.

Declaration

TdxRenderMode = (
    rmDefault,
    rmGDI,
    rmDirectX,
    rmGDIPlus
);

Members

Name Description
rmDefault

The default render mode is enabled for a DevExpress control.

Global Level
The rmDefault value indicates that the cxDefaultLookAndFeelRenderMode global constant defines the active render mode.
Control Level

The rmDefault value indicates that an individual DevExpress control uses the global render mode setting.

Note

If an individual control supports only the GDI render mode, this setting has no effect on the control.

rmGDI

The default and fallback option available for all DevExpress controls.

The rmGDI value explicitly enables the GDI render mode.

In GDI render mode, a DevExpress control uses a rendering technique compatible with the standard draw routines found in the VCL library. To draw content and UI elements, a control uses a combination of GDI and GDI+ API-based canvases.

rmDirectX

The rmDirectX value explicitly enables the DirectX render mode for a supported DevExpress control.

A supported control uses a Direct2D-based canvas instead of a GDI-based canvas. An opaque Direct3D device context overlaps an existing GDI canvas, and the control’s Transparent property has no effect.

Usage Scenarios
The DirectX render mode can help you achieve better drawing performance compared to the basic GDI render mode (rmGDI) for supported DevExpress controls on High DPI (4K+) displays if these controls display multiple complex shapes and use advanced appearance options and animation effects.
Fallback Mode
If a control does not support the DirectX render mode or is unable to create a Direct3D device context for any reason, it uses GDI (rmGDI) as a fallback render mode. For example, this error can occur when a DirectX11 API call is unavailable due to an unsupported operating system version, a graphics card driver issue, etc.
Mode Availability
  • The DirectX render mode is available only under Microsoft Windows® 7 Platform Update (with DirectX11) and newer operating systems.
  • This mode is not supported at design time and has no effect on controls that cannot use a Direct2D-based canvas.
  • This mode is not supported if an application is in GDI Scaled mode because it draws DirectX-rendered controls unscaled at their original (unscaled) positions.
rmGDIPlus

The rmGDIPlus value explicitly enables the GDI+ render mode for a supported DevExpress control.

In this mode, a supported control uses only GDI+ API-based canvases instead of a combination of GDI and GDI+ API-based canvases to draw semitransparent shapes. Unlike the basic GDI render mode, controls can also apply the antialiasing effect to geometric primitives.

Usage Scenarios
You can enable this mode instead of DirectX if you cannot use hardware acceleration due to its limitations.
Mode Availability
The GDI+ render mode is available under all supported operating systems.

Remarks

You can use TdxRenderMode values to switch between render modes available for the following controls:

VCL Chart Control
Allows you to visualize data as bar, area, line, pie, and doughnut series with multiple chart appearance customization options.
VCL Tile Controls
TdxTileControl and TdxTileBar controls allow you to create touch-friendly user interfaces inspired by Microsoft Windows® 8.
VCL Gallery Control

A gallery control is designed to display a set of items categorized into groups and arranged into rows and columns. Gallery controls include:

TdxGalleryControl
A gallery control.
TdxColorGallery
An unbound color gallery control.
TdxDBColorGallery
A data-aware color gallery control.
VCL List View Control
A list view control allows users to arrange items in groups and columns horizontally or vertically. Each item can show its caption, subitems, images, check box, and hint.
VCL Gantt Control
A project management tool that allows users to schedule activities related to project goals.

All other DevExpress controls support only the GDI render mode (rmGDI) and ignore render mode settings.

Direct TdxRenderMode Type References

The following public API members reference the TdxRenderMode type:

TcxLookAndFeel.RenderMode
Specifies the render mode for a control.
TcxLookAndFeelController.RenderMode
Specifies the render mode for all DevExpress controls in an application.
See Also