I am trying figure out whats going on with my HLSL code but I have no way of debugging it cause C++ gives off no errors. The application just closes when I run it. I am trying to add lighting to a 3d plane I made. below is my HLSL. The problem consist when my Pixel shader method returns the struct "outColor" . If I change the return value back to the struct "psInput" , everything goes back to working again. My light vectors and colors are at the top of the fx file

// PS_INPUT - input variables to the pixel shader
// This struct is created and fill in by the 
// vertex shader
cbuffer Variables
{
    matrix Projection;
    matrix World;
    float TimeStep;
};

struct PS_INPUT
{
    float4 Pos : SV_POSITION;
        float4 Color : COLOR0;
    float3 Normal : TEXCOORD0;
    float3 ViewVector : TEXCOORD1;
};

float specpower = 80.0f;
float3 camPos = float3(0.0f, 9.0, -256.0f);
float3 DirectLightColor  = float3(1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f);
float3 DirectLightVector = float3(0.0f, 0.602f, 0.70f);
float3 AmbientLightColor = float3(1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f);

/***************************************
* Lighting functions
***************************************/

/*********************************
* CalculateAmbient - 
* inputs - 
*   vKa material's reflective color
*   lightColor - the ambient color of the lightsource
* output - ambient color
*********************************/
float3 CalculateAmbient(float3 vKa, float3 lightColor)
{
    float3 vAmbient = vKa * lightColor;

    return vAmbient;
}

/*********************************
* CalculateDiffuse - 
* inputs - 
*   material color
*   The color of the direct light
*   the local normal
*   the vector of the direct light
* output - difuse color
*********************************/
float3 CalculateDiffuse(float3 baseColor, float3 lightColor, float3 normal, float3 lightVector)
{
    float3 vDiffuse = baseColor * lightColor * saturate(dot(normal, lightVector));

    return vDiffuse;
}


/*********************************
* CalculateSpecular - 
* inputs - 
*   viewVector
*   the direct light vector
*   the normal
* output - specular highlight
*********************************/
float CalculateSpecular(float3 viewVector, float3 lightVector, float3 normal)
{
    float3 vReflect = reflect(lightVector, normal);

    float fSpecular = saturate(dot(vReflect, viewVector));
    fSpecular = pow(fSpecular, specpower);

    return fSpecular;
}

/*********************************
* LightingCombine - 
* inputs - 
*   ambient component
*   diffuse component
*   specualr component
* output - phong color color
*********************************/
float3 LightingCombine(float3 vAmbient, float3 vDiffuse, float fSpecular)
{
    float3 vCombined = vAmbient + vDiffuse + fSpecular.xxx;

    return vCombined;
}

////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Vertex Shader - Main Function
///////////////////////////////////////////////
PS_INPUT VS(float4 Pos : POSITION, float4 Color : COLOR, float3 Normal : NORMAL)
{
    PS_INPUT psInput;
    float4 newPosition;
    newPosition = Pos;

    newPosition.y = sin((newPosition.x * TimeStep) + (newPosition.z / 3.0f)) * 5.0f;

    // Pass through both the position and the color
        psInput.Pos = mul(newPosition , Projection );
    psInput.Color = Color;
    psInput.ViewVector = normalize(camPos - psInput.Pos);

    return psInput;
}


///////////////////////////////////////////////
// Pixel Shader
///////////////////////////////////////////////
//Anthony!!!!!!!!!!! Find out how color works when multiplying them

float4 PS(PS_INPUT psInput) : SV_Target
{
    float3 normal = -normalize(psInput.Normal);
    float3 vAmbient = CalculateAmbient(psInput.Color, AmbientLightColor);
    float3 vDiffuse = CalculateDiffuse(psInput.Color, DirectLightColor, normal, DirectLightVector);

    float fSpecular = CalculateSpecular(psInput.ViewVector, DirectLightVector, normal);

    float4 outColor;
    outColor.rgb = LightingCombine(vAmbient, vDiffuse, fSpecular);
    outColor.a = 1.0f;
    //Below is where the error begins
        return outColor;
}



// Define the technique
technique10 Render
{
    pass P0
    {
        SetVertexShader( CompileShader( vs_4_0, VS() ) );
        SetGeometryShader( NULL );
        SetPixelShader( CompileShader( ps_4_0, PS() ) );
    }
}

Below is some of my c++ code. Reason I am showing this is because it is pretty much what creates the surface normals for my shaders to evaluate. for the lighting

for(int z=0; z < NUM_ROWS; ++z)
    {
        for(int x = 0; x < NUM_COLS; ++x)
        {
            int curVertex = x + (z * NUM_VERTSX);
            indices[curIndex] = curVertex;
            indices[curIndex + 1] = curVertex + NUM_VERTSX;
            indices[curIndex + 2] = curVertex + 1;

            D3DXVECTOR3 v0 = vertices[indices[curIndex]].pos;
            D3DXVECTOR3 v1 = vertices[indices[curIndex + 1]].pos;
            D3DXVECTOR3 v2 = vertices[indices[curIndex + 2]].pos;

            D3DXVECTOR3 normal;
            D3DXVECTOR3 cross;
            D3DXVec3Cross(&cross, &D3DXVECTOR3(v2 - v0),&D3DXVECTOR3(v1 - v0));
            D3DXVec3Normalize(&normal, &cross);

            vertices[indices[curIndex]].normal = normal;
            vertices[indices[curIndex + 1]].normal = normal;
            vertices[indices[curIndex + 2]].normal = normal;

            indices[curIndex + 3] = curVertex + 1;
            indices[curIndex + 4] = curVertex + NUM_VERTSX;
            indices[curIndex + 5] = curVertex + NUM_VERTSX + 1;

            v0 = vertices[indices[curIndex + 3]].pos;
            v1 = vertices[indices[curIndex + 4]].pos;
            v2 = vertices[indices[curIndex + 5]].pos;

            D3DXVec3Cross(&cross, &D3DXVECTOR3(v2 - v0),&D3DXVECTOR3(v1 - v0));
            D3DXVec3Normalize(&normal, &cross);

            vertices[indices[curIndex + 3]].normal = normal;
            vertices[indices[curIndex + 4]].normal = normal;
            vertices[indices[curIndex + 5]].normal = normal;


            curIndex += 6;
        }
    }

and below is my c++ code, in it's entirety. showing the drawing and also calling on the passes

#include "MyGame.h"
//#include "CubeVector.h"
/* This code sets a projection and shows a turning cube. What has been added is the project, rotation and
a rasterizer to change the rasterization of the cube. The issue that was going on was something with the effect file
which was causing the vertices not to be rendered correctly.*/
typedef struct 
{
    ID3D10Effect* pEffect;
    ID3D10EffectTechnique* pTechnique;

    //vertex information
    ID3D10Buffer* pVertexBuffer;
    ID3D10Buffer* pIndicesBuffer;
    ID3D10InputLayout* pVertexLayout;

    UINT numVertices;
    UINT numIndices;
}ModelObject;

ModelObject modelObject;
// World Matrix
D3DXMATRIX                  WorldMatrix;
// View Matrix
D3DXMATRIX                  ViewMatrix;
// Projection Matrix
D3DXMATRIX                  ProjectionMatrix;
ID3D10EffectMatrixVariable* pProjectionMatrixVariable = NULL;

//grid information
#define NUM_COLS 16
#define NUM_ROWS 16

#define CELL_WIDTH 32
#define CELL_HEIGHT 32

#define NUM_VERTSX (NUM_COLS + 1)
#define NUM_VERTSY (NUM_ROWS + 1)

// timer variables
LARGE_INTEGER timeStart;
LARGE_INTEGER timeEnd;
LARGE_INTEGER timerFreq;
double currentTime;
float  anim_rate;


// Variable to hold how long since last frame change
float         lastElaspedFrame = 0;
// How long should the frames last
float         frameDuration = 0.5;


bool MyGame::InitDirect3D()
{
    if(!DX3dApp::InitDirect3D())
    {
        return false;
    }

    // Get the timer frequency
    QueryPerformanceFrequency(&timerFreq);
    float freqSeconds = 1.0f / timerFreq.QuadPart;
    lastElaspedFrame = 0;

    D3D10_RASTERIZER_DESC rastDesc;
    rastDesc.FillMode = D3D10_FILL_WIREFRAME;
    rastDesc.CullMode = D3D10_CULL_FRONT;
    rastDesc.FrontCounterClockwise = true;
    rastDesc.DepthBias = false;
    rastDesc.DepthBiasClamp = 0;
    rastDesc.SlopeScaledDepthBias = 0;
    rastDesc.DepthClipEnable = false;
    rastDesc.ScissorEnable = false;
    rastDesc.MultisampleEnable = false;
    rastDesc.AntialiasedLineEnable = false;

    ID3D10RasterizerState *g_pRasterizerState;
    mpD3DDevice->CreateRasterizerState(&rastDesc, &g_pRasterizerState);
    mpD3DDevice->RSSetState(g_pRasterizerState);

    // Set up the World Matrix
    D3DXMatrixIdentity(&WorldMatrix);
    D3DXMatrixLookAtLH(&ViewMatrix, new D3DXVECTOR3(200.0f, 60.0f, -20.0f), new D3DXVECTOR3(200.0f, 50.0f, 0.0f), new D3DXVECTOR3(0.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f));
    // Set up the projection matrix
    D3DXMatrixPerspectiveFovLH(&ProjectionMatrix, (float)D3DX_PI * 0.5f, (float)mWidth/(float)mHeight, 0.1f, 100.0f);
    pTimeVariable = NULL;
    if(!CreateObject())
    {
        return false;
    }

    return true;
}

//These are actions that take place after the clearing of the buffer and before the present
void MyGame::GameDraw()
{

    static float rotationAngle = 0.0f;

    // create the rotation matrix using the rotation angle
    D3DXMatrixRotationY(&WorldMatrix, rotationAngle);
    rotationAngle += (float)D3DX_PI * 0.0f;

    // Set the input layout
    mpD3DDevice->IASetInputLayout(modelObject.pVertexLayout);

    // Set vertex buffer
    UINT stride = sizeof(VertexPos);
    UINT offset = 0;
    mpD3DDevice->IASetVertexBuffers(0, 1, &modelObject.pVertexBuffer, &stride, &offset);
    mpD3DDevice->IASetIndexBuffer(modelObject.pIndicesBuffer, DXGI_FORMAT_R32_UINT, 0);
    pTimeVariable->SetFloat((float)currentTime);

    // Set primitive topology
    mpD3DDevice->IASetPrimitiveTopology(D3D10_PRIMITIVE_TOPOLOGY_TRIANGLELIST);

    // Combine and send the final matrix to the shader
    D3DXMATRIX finalMatrix = (WorldMatrix * ViewMatrix * ProjectionMatrix);
    pProjectionMatrixVariable->SetMatrix((float*)&finalMatrix);


    // make sure modelObject is valid


    // Render a model object
    D3D10_TECHNIQUE_DESC techniqueDescription;
    modelObject.pTechnique->GetDesc(&techniqueDescription);

    // Loop through the technique passes
    for(UINT p=0; p < techniqueDescription.Passes; ++p)
    {
        modelObject.pTechnique->GetPassByIndex(p)->Apply(0);

        // draw the cube using all 36 vertices and 12 triangles
        mpD3DDevice->DrawIndexed(modelObject.numIndices,0,0);
    }
}

//Render actually incapsulates Gamedraw, so you can call data before you actually clear the buffer or after you 
//present data
void MyGame::Render()
{
    // Get the start timer count
    QueryPerformanceCounter(&timeStart);
    currentTime += anim_rate;

    DX3dApp::Render();

    QueryPerformanceCounter(&timeEnd);
    anim_rate = ( (float)timeEnd.QuadPart - (float)timeStart.QuadPart ) / timerFreq.QuadPart;
}

bool MyGame::CreateObject()
{
    VertexPos vertices[NUM_VERTSX * NUM_VERTSY];
    for(int z=0; z < NUM_VERTSY; ++z)
    {
        for(int x = 0; x < NUM_VERTSX; ++x)
        {
            vertices[x + z * NUM_VERTSX].pos.x = (float)x * CELL_WIDTH;
            vertices[x + z * NUM_VERTSX].pos.z = (float)z * CELL_HEIGHT;

            vertices[x + z * NUM_VERTSX].pos.y = (float)(rand() % CELL_HEIGHT);

            vertices[x + z * NUM_VERTSX].color = D3DXVECTOR4(1.0, 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f);
        }
    }

    DWORD indices[NUM_VERTSX * NUM_VERTSY * 6];
    int curIndex = 0;

    for(int z=0; z < NUM_ROWS; ++z)
    {
        for(int x = 0; x < NUM_COLS; ++x)
        {
            int curVertex = x + (z * NUM_VERTSX);
            indices[curIndex] = curVertex;
            indices[curIndex + 1] = curVertex + NUM_VERTSX;
            indices[curIndex + 2] = curVertex + 1;

            D3DXVECTOR3 v0 = vertices[indices[curIndex]].pos;
            D3DXVECTOR3 v1 = vertices[indices[curIndex + 1]].pos;
            D3DXVECTOR3 v2 = vertices[indices[curIndex + 2]].pos;

            D3DXVECTOR3 normal;
            D3DXVECTOR3 cross;
            D3DXVec3Cross(&cross, &D3DXVECTOR3(v2 - v0),&D3DXVECTOR3(v1 - v0));
            D3DXVec3Normalize(&normal, &cross);

            vertices[indices[curIndex]].normal = normal;
            vertices[indices[curIndex + 1]].normal = normal;
            vertices[indices[curIndex + 2]].normal = normal;

            indices[curIndex + 3] = curVertex + 1;
            indices[curIndex + 4] = curVertex + NUM_VERTSX;
            indices[curIndex + 5] = curVertex + NUM_VERTSX + 1;

            v0 = vertices[indices[curIndex + 3]].pos;
            v1 = vertices[indices[curIndex + 4]].pos;
            v2 = vertices[indices[curIndex + 5]].pos;

            D3DXVec3Cross(&cross, &D3DXVECTOR3(v2 - v0),&D3DXVECTOR3(v1 - v0));
            D3DXVec3Normalize(&normal, &cross);

            vertices[indices[curIndex + 3]].normal = normal;
            vertices[indices[curIndex + 4]].normal = normal;
            vertices[indices[curIndex + 5]].normal = normal;


            curIndex += 6;
        }
    }



    //Create Layout
    D3D10_INPUT_ELEMENT_DESC layout[] = {
        {"POSITION",0,DXGI_FORMAT_R32G32B32_FLOAT, 0 , 0, D3D10_INPUT_PER_VERTEX_DATA, 0},
        {"COLOR",0,DXGI_FORMAT_R32G32B32A32_FLOAT, 0 , 12, D3D10_INPUT_PER_VERTEX_DATA, 0},
        {"NORMAL",0,DXGI_FORMAT_R32G32B32A32_FLOAT, 0 , 28, D3D10_INPUT_PER_VERTEX_DATA, 0}
    };

    UINT numElements = (sizeof(layout)/sizeof(layout[0]));
    modelObject.numVertices = sizeof(vertices)/sizeof(VertexPos);

    //Create buffer desc
    D3D10_BUFFER_DESC bufferDesc;
    bufferDesc.Usage = D3D10_USAGE_DEFAULT;
    bufferDesc.ByteWidth = sizeof(VertexPos) * modelObject.numVertices;
    bufferDesc.BindFlags = D3D10_BIND_VERTEX_BUFFER;
    bufferDesc.CPUAccessFlags = 0;
    bufferDesc.MiscFlags = 0;

    D3D10_SUBRESOURCE_DATA initData;
    initData.pSysMem = vertices;
    //Create the buffer

    HRESULT hr = mpD3DDevice->CreateBuffer(&bufferDesc, &initData, &modelObject.pVertexBuffer);
    if(FAILED(hr))
        return false;

    modelObject.numIndices = sizeof(indices)/sizeof(DWORD);

    bufferDesc.ByteWidth = sizeof(DWORD) * modelObject.numIndices;
    bufferDesc.BindFlags = D3D10_BIND_INDEX_BUFFER;

    initData.pSysMem = indices;

    hr = mpD3DDevice->CreateBuffer(&bufferDesc, &initData, &modelObject.pIndicesBuffer);
    if(FAILED(hr))
        return false;


    /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    //Set up fx files
    LPCWSTR effectFilename = L"effect.fx";
    modelObject.pEffect = NULL;

     hr = D3DX10CreateEffectFromFile(effectFilename,
        NULL,
        NULL,
        "fx_4_0",
        D3D10_SHADER_ENABLE_STRICTNESS,
        0,
        mpD3DDevice,
        NULL,
        NULL,
        &modelObject.pEffect,
        NULL,
        NULL);

    if(FAILED(hr))
        return false;

    pProjectionMatrixVariable = modelObject.pEffect->GetVariableByName("Projection")->AsMatrix();
    pTimeVariable = modelObject.pEffect->GetVariableByName("TimeStep")->AsScalar();
    //Dont sweat the technique. Get it!
    LPCSTR effectTechniqueName = "Render";

    modelObject.pTechnique = modelObject.pEffect->GetTechniqueByName(effectTechniqueName);
    if(modelObject.pTechnique == NULL)
        return false;


    //Create Vertex layout
    D3D10_PASS_DESC passDesc;
    modelObject.pTechnique->GetPassByIndex(0)->GetDesc(&passDesc);

    hr = mpD3DDevice->CreateInputLayout(layout, numElements,
        passDesc.pIAInputSignature,
        passDesc.IAInputSignatureSize,
        &modelObject.pVertexLayout);
    if(FAILED(hr))
        return false;

    return true;
}