cannot retrieve effect.fx file

Question

I am having issues loading my effect.fx from directx. When I step into my application, my ID3D10Effect *m_pDefaultEffect; pointer remains empty. the address remains at 0x000000

below is my code

#pragma once
#include "stdafx.h"
#include "resource.h"
#include "d3d10.h"
#include "d3dx10.h"
#include "dinput.h"


#define MAX_LOADSTRING 100

class RenderEngine {
protected:

    RECT m_screenRect;

    //direct3d Members
    ID3D10Device *m_pDevice; // The IDirect3DDevice10
    // interface
    ID3D10Texture2D *m_pBackBuffer; // Pointer to the back buffer
    ID3D10RenderTargetView *m_pRenderTargetView; // Pointer to render target view
    IDXGISwapChain *m_pSwapChain; // Pointer to the swap chain
    RECT m_rcScreenRect; // The dimensions of the screen

    ID3D10Texture2D *m_pDepthStencilBuffer;
    ID3D10DepthStencilState *m_pDepthStencilState;
    ID3D10DepthStencilView *m_pDepthStencilView;

    //transformation matrixs
    D3DXMATRIX g_mtxWorld;
    D3DXMATRIX g_mtxView;
    D3DXMATRIX g_mtxProj;

    //Effect members
    ID3D10Effect *m_pDefaultEffect;
    ID3D10EffectTechnique *m_pDefaultTechnique;

    ID3DX10Font *m_pFont; // The font used for rendering text
    // Sprites used to hold font characters
    ID3DX10Sprite *m_pFontSprite;

    ATOM RegisterEngineClass();
    void DoFrame(float);
    bool LoadEffects();

public:
    static HINSTANCE m_hInst;
    HWND m_hWnd;
    int m_nCmdShow;
    TCHAR m_szTitle[MAX_LOADSTRING];                    // The title bar text
    TCHAR m_szWindowClass[MAX_LOADSTRING];          // the main window class name

    void DrawTextString(int x, int y, D3DXCOLOR color, const TCHAR *strOutput);

    //static functions
    static LRESULT CALLBACK WndProc(HWND hWnd, UINT message, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam);
    static INT_PTR CALLBACK About(HWND hDlg, UINT message, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam);

    bool InitWindow();
    bool InitDirectX();
    bool InitInstance();
    int Run();
    void ShutDown();

    RenderEngine()
    {
        m_screenRect.right = 800;
        m_screenRect.bottom = 600;
    }

};

below is the implementation

bool RenderEngine::LoadEffects()
{
    HRESULT hr;

    ID3D10Blob *pErrors = 0;
    // Create the default rendering effect
    LPCWSTR effectFilename = L"effect.fx";

    hr = D3DX10CreateEffectFromFile(effectFilename, NULL, NULL,
    "fx_4_0", D3D10_SHADER_ENABLE_STRICTNESS, 0, m_pDevice, NULL, NULL, &m_pDefaultEffect,
    &pErrors, NULL);


    if(pErrors)// at this point, m_pDefaultEffect is still empty but pErrors returns data which means there is 
    {//errors
        return false; //ends here
    }

    //m_pDefaultTechnique = m_pDefaultEffect->GetTechniqueByName("DefaultTechnique");

    return true;
}

My directx Device does work. My effect.fx file is in the same folder as my solution files (.cpp and header files)

[edit]

I tried putting effect.fx in the same folder as the executable too

I've been messing around with some other code I have that works. I did not know this but it appears that the layout of .fx file can effect whether I upload the file successfully or not. So I provided my effect code as well

matrix g_mtxWorld;
matrix g_mtxView;
matrix g_mtxProj;

#define MAX_LIGHTS 10 // Ensure this is the same as the C++ value

int4 g_viLightStatus;
float4 g_vLightColors[MAX_LIGHTS];
float4 g_vLightDirections[MAX_LIGHTS];

struct VS_INPUT
{
    float3 vPosition : POSITION;
    float3 vNormal : NORMAL;
    float4 vColor : COLOR0;
    float2 vTexCoords : TEXCOORD;
};

struct VS_OUTPUT
{
    float4 vPosition : SV_POSITION;
    float3 vNormal : NORMAL;
    float4 vColor : COLOR0;
};

VS_OUTPUT DefaultVS(VS_INPUT dataIn)
{
    VS_OUTPUT result;

    float4 vPos = float4(dataIn.vPosition, 1.0f);
    float4 vFinalPos = mul(vPos, g_mtxWorld);
    vFinalPos = mul(vFinalPos, g_mtxView);
    vFinalPos = mul(vFinalPos, g_mtxProj);
    result.vPosition = vFinalPos;
    result.vNormal = float3(0,0,0);
    result.vColor = float4(1,0,0,0);
    return result;
}

float4 DefaultPS(VS_OUTPUT dataIn) : SV_Target
{
    return dataIn.vColor;
}

technique10 DefaultTechnique
{
    pass Pass0
    {
        SetGeometryShader(NULL);
        SetVertexShader(CompileShader(vs_4_0, VS()));
        SetPixelShader(CompileShader(ps_4_0, PS()));
    }
}

Answer 1

Figured it out

SetVertexShader(CompileShader(vs_4_0, VS()));
SetPixelShader(CompileShader(ps_4_0, PS()));

should be

SetVertexShader(CompileShader(vs_4_0, DefaultVS()));
SetPixelShader(CompileShader(ps_4_0, DefaultPS()));

in result. buggy HLSL code can cause D3DX10CreateEffectFromFile to fail.