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Where to Get Help

If you don't find the answer to your question on this web site, there are other resources available to help you.  Some of the places you can find additional help are the SDK samples, the SDK docs, MSDN, newsgroups and forums.

Please read the all the information below before posting your question online.

 

Has your question already been answered

Before you post a question, search on the available archived information to see if it has already been answered.  The most likely places to find information are:

 

How to ask a question that will get the answer you need

Realize that nobody knows anything about the background to your problem or about your environment except what you write in your post.

Use a descriptive subject line in your post.  Example:  Preview pin will not connect to VMR7 in capture graph.  Words like "urgent" and "please help ASAP" in the subject line or body do not help anyone help you.

Provide information in your question about your environment.  Example:  I am using the DirectX 9.0 Summer 2004 SDK with VC7.1 and the February 2003 Platform SDK.

List any errors that you are receiving from the debug runtimes or failed HRESULTs.

If applicable, provide a short code snippet that illustrates your problem.  Remove error checking if it will make the code clearer and indicate where you are getting any failures.

List the things that you have attempted to fix your problem.  It is a waste of everyone's time to have someone take time to respond to a post only to get a follow up that the suggestions had already been attempted.

If you receive an answer that helps you, acknowledge the response you get.  It will help others who subsequently search the archive identify a solution to a similar problem.

If you need further clarification, trim and quote the part of the response you need explained and ask for additional information.

Never be rude or impatient.  Virtually all of the responses in the dshow groups are from volunteers.  If you are asked for clarification or requested to post somewhere else, there is probably a good reason.  If you don't understand, ask politely for clarification.  Review Microsoft's Rules of Conduct for its community newsgroups and forums.   Keep your writing professional, technical and courteous at all times.

It takes time for posts to show up on newsgroups even if you use a web interface for posting.  Don't repost if you don't see your original post show up immediately.  On some newsservers it can take an hour or more for a post to propagate.  A person who responds to your post may be on a different time zone and continent so it make take time before you get a response.

 

Newsgroup specific information

TMH first used newsgroups in the mid-1980s.  Here are a few guidelines based on his experience that will help you get your questioned answered promptly:

  • If you have an MSDN subscription Professional level or higher, you can get a Microsoft Support response within two business days by following the guidelines and using one of the managed newsgroups.  It is highly recommended that you use your MSDN email alias rather than a real email address unless you like spam.  The list of available newsgroups for this service is here.

  • If you plan on using newsgroups regularly, get a good newsreader.  Two that are recommended are 40tude Dialog and Forte Agent.  Both have free versions.  Outlook Express and Windows Mail has serious bugs and are not recommended.

  • Always trim the previous post to the relevant parts and respond inline.  This makes conversations easier to read and more logical.  A good newsreader will help you with this.  Some people use dialup connections.  Fully quoting a large post with a small response is particularly annoying for them.

  • Do not modify the subject line when you respond or follow up to a post.  Some newsreaders thread by subject line.

  • Multi-posting means posting the same question separately to two or more newsgroups or listservs.  Never multi-post a question.  It results in duplication of effort and will alienate those who regularly help.  If you find you have posted to the wrong group, write a response in the wrong group indicating that fact and indicate to which group you have move the post.

  • Cross-posting means including two or more newsgroups in the Newsgroups: line of your post.   Cross-posting to even two groups is very rarely required and should be used only when you absolutely understand what you are doing.  Always set the Followup-to: header to one of the newsgroups when cross-posting.

  • More information is available on TMH's friend Thore's site here:  How to use newsgroups effectively
     

Where to ask

There are a number of newsgroups in the DirectX area and it is difficult to know which is most appropriate for a dshow question without some guidance.  There is no particularly good information available on microsoft.com for this.  The information below will help you.

Do not post here:  The newsgroup microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.dshow.programming was made inactive when the current DirectX newsgroups were created.  Though its name is more descriptive than some of the new groups please do not post in it.  By mutual agreement, the most active dshow posters only post in the current groups.  There are a few spurious references to the inactive group on microsoft.com.

There are two classes of groups:

  • Programmer groups [microsoft.public.win32.programmer.directx.*]  as the name suggests these groups are for programming questions

  • End-user groups [microsoft.public.directx.*] relatively inactive, these are for end-user questions on DirectX issues like how to install the DX runtime, the dshow related group microsoft.public.directx.video has very little traffic.

Here are the programmer groups.  Please post only in the first group listed that covers your question.

The .misc, .input, .graphics and other DX groups are not dshow groups.

Another place you can ask dshow questions is the Windows Vista DirectShow developers forum.  It has less traffic than the public newsgroups but some people prefer forums.  Please do not post your question to both the forum and a public newsgroup (see multi-posting).

There are separate groups for Windows Media specific programming questions:

Another place you can ask Windows Media questions is the WMTALK listserv.  Please do not post your question to both the listserv and a public newsgroup (see multi-posting).

Finally, there is an email alias at Microsoft that is monitored dshow issues.  These are not for requesting support nor for asking questions but you can use it to submit bug reports and suggestions:  askdshow@microsoft.com.  While it is monitored a response is not guaranteed.  Use the guidelines above for writing an effective email.

 

Copyright © 2008 by The March Hare.  All Rights Reserved.  Last modified: August 27, 2008