QBasic & Borland Pascal & C/Delphi5.iso/C/Doc/MFCFAQ.5_5/MFC_FAQ.TXT

Text File | 1997-10-30 | 229.8 KB | 6,507 lines

          Microsoft Visual C++/Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC)

                Frequently Asked Questions (aka the MFC FAQ)

               Scot Wingo/Justin Rudd([e-mail])

                                Version 5.0

                           Last updated: 5/15/97



                                  [Image]



                             Stingray Software
                   [Stingray home page - click me now!!!]

The MFC FAQ is graciously sponsored by Stingray Software. Stingray Software
was founded to create and market MFC extensions. It is our belief that
MFC/VC++ developers would rather use object-oriented class libraries,
instead of binary, black box, OLE controls (a.k.a. ActiveX controls). We
are now almost two years old and have several thousand customers who agree
that MFC extensions are a great solution to many Windows development
problems.

Here is a quick list of our products:

   * Objective Chart - 100% MFC charting package.
   * Objective Diagram - MFC GDI abstraction and Visio-like embeddable
     graphics.
   * Objective Grid - 100% MFC grid control - very powerful for database
     apps too.
   * Objective Plug-in - Web-enable your MFC apps with OPI!
   * Objective Toolkit - Over 60 MFC extensions including docking windows,
     tree control, customizable toolbar, etc..



Click here to go to the Stingray WEB! - Free demos, white papers, etc..

                                  [Image]



                              Shameless Plugà

Don't be one of the few MFC/VC developers on the planet without a copy of
MFC Internals! This is the ONLY book that covers the "other" side of MFC -
how it is implemented. Every hit an ASSERT in MFC? A bug? Ever have to work
around some limitation in MFC? MFC Internals is for you! The book covers
MFC 4.0, but NOTHING has changed since then in the areas covered, so it is
still a very valid reference for those of you that don't want to stop at
the written documentation. http://www.amazon.com has the best price and we
have some details on the book at http://www.stingsoft.com/mfc_internals or
at http://www.aw.com .

                     Buy a copy (or 2 or three) today!!

                                  [Image]



                         Version 5.0 Release Note

Well, it's been over a year since I have been able to update the MFC FAQ.
I've been putting 110% of my energies into Stingray where we are pushing
the MFC envelope and creating cool extensions that help MFC developers like
you work with MFC more effectively. In fact, for fun recently we counted
how many lines of code are in our various MFC extension products and were
startled to see that we have written almost five times as much code
EXTENDING MFC as is IN MFC!!

I finally have been able to piece together enough free time to put out this
release of the MFC FAQ, version 5.0. This release brings the FAQ up to
speed with version 5.0 of Visual C++ (4.21 of MFC if you're counting) and
sadly will be the last MFC FAQ release for me.

But don't despair - one of the new hotshot MFC programmers at Stingray,
Justin Rudd, has volunteered to carry the MFC FAQ torch and hopefully he
will be able to update the FAQ more frequently than I have. I hope that you
all give Justin as many helpful comments and feedback as I've received over
the years. (I think I'm going to cry!!!! Ok, I'm over it nowà) FYI, George
Shepherd and myself are regular columnists for the Dr. Dobbs Journal (The
Undocumented Corner Column)- http://www.ddj.com and the Microsoft Systems
Journal (The Visual Developer Column) - http://www.msj.com and also (phew!)
Visual C++ Developer's Journal - http://www.vcdj.com so check out the new
Shepherd/Wingo material monthly in these different mags. (The Stingray
scoop and monthly Scot's Soapbox at http://www.stingsoft.com are also
updated pretty frequently.)

Many of you may not realize it, but we receive almost a hundred emails a
day at MFC FAQ headquarters. Most of the emails are Instant-FAQ™
submissions, but many of them are questions about MFC. Unfortunately, we
are not able to answer your questions, this would take far too long and it
would only benefit one person - you. Instead, we urge you to post your
question to a public forum, namely the MFC news groups or the MFC mailing
list and we have even created a MFC FAQ newsgroup that we invite you to
post questions to. By sharing your question and answer with the MFC
community, many more people benefit from the experience. The MFC FAQ
newsgroup and a variety of others are discussed in topic 2.2 of the MFC
FAQ.

Since this is my last time on the MFC FAQ soap box, I thought this would be
a great time to address a VERY WRONG rumor/opinion that MFC is dead that
I've been seeing on the newsgroups for the last several months. There have
been so many rumors that I thought it would be fun to take a look at the
top ten rumors behind MFC's ill reported demise:

They are:

10. Microsoft will replace MFC with ATL.

9. I read that MFC is in "maintenance mode" in a magazine (it's true that
Windows Tech Journal did incorrectly report this. The irony is that Oakley
actually "died" and MFC is really alive.)

8. VC++ 5.0 didn't have a major release of MFC, so it is dead.

7. There are just no more features that could be added to MFC.

6. Java will kill C++, thus killing MFC.

5. There is nobody on the MFC team anymore - they have all moved to
different areas of Microsoft.

4. Microsoft stopped the Visual C++ subscription program, so MFC is dead.

3. I read a posting on a newsgroup from this guy in Portugal that heard
from a friend at Microsoft that MFC is dead.

2. Stingray has done such a great job filling the holes in MFC that
Microsoft decided they couldn't keep up.

And finally, the number one reason that people think MFC is deadà.

1. Aliens have abducted the MFC team and they are now hiding behind a Comet
touring the Universe, instead of working on MFC.



The truth of the matter is that MFC is NOT DEAD! Don't believe me? Well
maybe you will believe it from the horses mouth, here is an MFC FAQ
submission from Mike Blaszczak, who is the current MFC Team Lead, on the
subject of MFC's incorrectly rumored demise:

Q: Is MFC dead?

A: No. MFC continues to grow and change as the operating system grows and
changes, and as the needs of our users continue to grow and mature. During
the summer of 1997, some MFC team members will provide presentations under
strict non-disclosure agreements that explain some of the planning that's
happening for the next version of the product. But the caveat in the above
question still strongly applies: the development of the product might
change directions to fill an unforseen pressing need, but the product is by
no means dead.

Q: Does ATL replace MFC?

A: No. ATL and MFC are designed to solve two very different problems.

-Mike Blaszczak ([e-mail])

So there you have it folks, those of you that were genuinely concerned
(like me!) that MFC was in maintenance mode, or never going to see another
major revision, you can sleep again. For those of you that continue to
spread the incorrect rumor that MFC is dead - stop it! If you see anyone
posting to newsgroups that MFC is dead, please help set the record straight
and feel free to copy this portion of the MFC FAQ and paste it right into a
reply.

I think that this was a big conspiracy by the old Borland OWL team (or
maybe JavaSoft) to scare people away from MFC.

Together we can stop the madness! LONG LIVE MFC!!! (Wow - I'm glad I
finally was able to get that off my chest <g>)

Another piece of exciting news is that one of the old-time MFC team members
is back on the MFC Team! After a tour through one of Microsoft's Java
teams, Dean has rejoined the ranks of the MFC Team. FYI, Dean wrote large
chunks of the OLE support in MFC, etc.. Rumor also has it that Dean has a
girlfriend now, so he probably won't be pulling too many all-nighters, at
least on MFC <g>

                                  [Image]



Want to learn more about MFC/VC?



There are three resources I am compelled to plug before we get started with
the FAQ that every MFC/VC++ developer should be aware of. These are covered
in detail in section TODO, but I want to bring them to your attention here
too.

  1. The MFC mailing list - this was sponsored by the world famous David
     Elliott, but he burned out on maintaining and moderating the list and
     now it is sponsored by Microsoft and moderated by a team of
     moderators. This is an EXCELLENT way to learn about the MFC FAQ.
     Details on joining are in section 2.
  2. Visual C++ Developer's Conference - This is a conference 100% about
     Visual C++. If you are like me and are getting burned out on every
     conference suddenly covering the Internet, but you want to learn more
     about OLE/MFC/ATL/VC/COM/ActiveX as far as applications/Windows
     programming is concerned, then VCDC is for you. Section 2 has details
     or surf to http://www.vcdj.com .
  3. Visual C++ Developer's Journal - An online monthly magazine about
     VC++/MFC - http://www.vcdj.com - excellent stuff. I wish it was a
     printed magazine, but online works I guess - better than nothing!

   *
                                     o [Image]

          What's New in MFC FAQ 5.0??

          Ok - enough rambling it's time for the moment you have all been
          waiting for - new MFC FAQ material! This version of MFC FAQ is
          only being distributed as an HTML file right here at this
          location. If you are not reading this at
          http://www.stingsoft.com/mfc_faq, then it is probably an old
          version so you should click on that link and go the site to see
          if it has been updated. If you don't like the fact that the FAQ
          is 100% HTML - tough, it takes too much work converting it to
          word/html/rtf and back again - we're focusing on content here not
          format.

          One of the cool things about this release is that many of the
          FAQs have been answered by members of the MFC team or someone
          here at Stingray so you can be pretty sure they are going to be
          helpful.

          Disclaimer: One of the things we do at Stingray for product
          ideas, especially our Objective Toolkit product, is monitor the
          newsgroups and implement the most commonly asked for features
          that are not in MFC. For example, docking windows such as those
          found in Visual Studio. So the answer to this FAQ is that
          Stingray's Objective Toolkit does this, but it is not trivial to
          do with raw MFC. It is not the intention that the MFC FAQ be a
          total product plug, but to be honest if that's the answer, that's
          what is going to end up in here. If this bothers you, press
          "back" now.

          To find out what is new in this release of the MFC FAQ, bounce
          down to the table of contents and follow this legend:

          % - An entirely new, fresh FAQ!

          & - An updated FAQ

          If there is no mark, the FAQ hasn't really changed so it wasn't
          touched in this release. If you have ideas for new sections of
          the MFC FAQ (the ActiveX/OLE section is admittedly not that great
          right now), please email [e-mail].

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Instant-FAQ

To automatically be notified of new MFC FAQ releases, we invite you to join
the Instant-FAQ program. To join, complete the online form below or send
your email address to MFC FAQ headquarters via mailto:[e-mail]
and we'll add you for free. We at MFC FAQ headquarters aim to please!! (In
other words, it's like a free MFC FAQ subscription, this is NOT a mailing
list or listserver.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright

This document is compilation Copyright (c) 1997 by Scot Wingo. It may be
freely copied and/or distributed in its entirety as long as this copyright
notice is not removed. It may not be sold for profit or incorporated into
commercial products without the author's written permission. [Compilation
copyright means that you can freely use individual sections of this
document, but any significant collection of sections is subject to the
copyright. Hey, I may want to turn this into a book or a movie some day!]

This FAQ is in no way connected with Microsoft. It contains some answers to
frequently asked questions about their products. The author in no way
guarantees that any of these answers are correct. This is just a collection
of information posted to public on-line forums to help the average MFC
programmer. [In other words, please don't sue me. ]

------------------------------------------------------------------------

   *
                            o MFC FAQ TABLE OF CONTENTS

          &1.  MFC FAQ INFO AND CREDITS

                 &1.1.  HOW DO I GET THIS FAQ?

                  1.2.  WHAT'S THE GOAL OF THIS FAQ?

                  1.3.  WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?

                  1.4.  HOW CAN I CONTRIBUTE!?!

                 &1.5.  CREDITS

                 &1.6.  HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT FROM THE MSVC MFC FAQ?

                  1.7.  WHAT OTHER LANGUAGES IS THIS FAQ TRANSLATED TO?

                          1.7.1.  Japanese version of MFC FAQ

          2.  WHERE TO GO FOR JUICY MFC INFORMATION

                  2.1. MICROSOFT

                          &2.1.1.  Visual C++ and Visual C++ subscription.

                          &2.1.2.  Microsoft Developers Network (MSDN)

                          &2.1.3.  Knowledge Databases

                          &2.1.4.  Microsoft Software Library

                  2.2.  INTERNET

                          &2.2.1.  World Wide Web Pages

                          &2.2.2.  Mailing lists

                          &2.2.3.  Usenet Newsgroups

                          2.2.4.  Other FAQs of interest

                          2.2.5.  FTP sites

                         &2.2.6.  The MFC FAQ FTP Archive!

                  &2.3.  COMPUSERVE

                  &2.4.  PRINTED MATTER

                          &2.4.1. Magazines and journals

                          &2.4.2. Books on MFC

                          &2.4.3. Cool MFC Articles

                 &2.5.  TRADE SHOWS

                 &2.6.  USERS GROUPS

                  2.7.  TECHNICAL SUPPORT

          3.  A BRIEF HISTORY OF MFC

                  3.1.  HOW DO I KNOW WHAT VERSION OF MFC I'M USING?

                  3.2.  PRE-MFC 1.0

                  3.3.  MFC 1.0

                  3.4.  MFC 2.0

                  3.5.  MFC 2.1

                  3.6.  MFC 2.5

                          3.6.1.  MFC 2.51

                          3.6.2.  MFC 2.52

                          3.6.3.  MFC 2.52b

                          3.6.4.  MFC 2.52c

                  3.7.  MFC 3.0

                  3.8.  MFC 3.1

                  3.9.  MFC 3.2

                  3.10. MFC 4.0

                 %3.11. MFC 4.1

                 %3.12. MFC 4.2

                 %3.13. MFC 4.2b

                 %3.14. MFC 4.21

                 &3.15. TABLE OF MFC RELEASES

          4. GENERIC CLASS QUESTIONS

                  4.1.  CEXCEPTION - EXCEPTIONS AND EXCEPTION HANDLING.

                          4.1.1.  How do I throw a CUserException derived exception?

                          4.1.2.  Do my exceptions have to be derived from CUserException?

          5.  GDI CLASS QUESTIONS

                  5.1.  CDC

                          5.1.1.  How do I create a CDC from a HDC?

                  5.2.  CBITMAP

                          5.2.1.  How do I read a 256 color bitmap file from disk?

          6.  WINDOW, CONTROL, AND DIALOGS CLASS QUESTIONS

                  6.1.  WINDOWS

                          6.1.1.  How can I use a custom icon for a window?

                          6.1.2.  How do I change the styles for a window that's created by MFC?   5

                          6.1.3.  How do I get the minimal size of a window using MFC?

                          6.1.4.  How do I change a Window's title?

                          6.1.5.  How do I get rid of 'Untitled' in my main window caption?

                          6.1.6.  How do I maximize my MDI child?

                          6.1.7.  Why does focus go nutso with a CSplitterWnd?

                         %6.1.8. How do I make my first MDI child window start out maximized?

                  6.2. CONTROLS

                          6.2.1.  How do I get a CControl from a Dialog Template?

                          6.2.2.  How do I subclass a control using MFC?

                          6.2.3.  Why do I get an ASSERT when I subclass a control?

                          6.2.4.  How do I validate the contents of a control when it loses focus?

                          6.2.5.  How do I enable/disable a bank of checkboxes?

                          6.2.6.  How do I change the background color of a control?

                          6.2.7.  How do I trap the key for my control?

                          6.2.8.  How can I DDX with a multiple selection listbox?

                          6.2.9.  How do I change the background color of a BUTTON???

                          6.2.10.  Why isn't CEdit putting things on separate lines?

                          6.2.11.  How do I get to the CEdit in a combobox?

                          6.2.12.  How do I load more than 64K into an edit control?

                          6.2.13.  How do I subclass the listbox portion of a combobox?

                          6.2.14.  How do I inherit a from a MFC standard control class?

                  6.3.  DIALOGS

                          6.3.1.  How do I center my dialog?

                          6.3.2.  How do I get the 'old style' common dialogs on win95?

                          6.3.3.  How do I subclass a win95 common dialog?

                          6.3.4.  CDialog::Create() fails, what could be wrong?

                          6.3.5.  How do I create a toolbar/statusbar in a dialog?

                          6.3.6.  Why isn't my CDialog::PreCreateWindow() getting called?

                          6.3.7.  How do I embed a common dialog in a property page?

                          6.3.8.  Why can't I DDX/DDV to initialize my CDialog controls?

                          6.3.9.  How do I change the captions of a CPropertyPage?

                          6.3.10.  How do I trap F1 in my dialog?

                          6.3.11.  How do I change the icon for a dialog-only MFC application?

                  6.4. CONTROL BARS, STATUS BARS, TOOLBARS, DIALOG BARS.

                          6.4.1.  How do I add a combobox to my toolbar?

                          6.4.2.  How do I update the text of a pane in a status bar?

                         %6.4.3.  How do I make my CToolBar customizable at run-time?

                          6.4.4.  How do I turn off the toolbar or status bar?

                          6.4.5.  How do I create a toolbar/statusbar in a dialog?

                         %6.4.6. Why doesn't MFC support the new controls provided by IE?

                         %6.4.7. Why doesn't MFC have toolbars like the Office 97 application?

                         %6.4.8. Why doesn't MFC support command bar menus like the Visual C++ IDE?

                  6.5. MENUS

                          6.5.1.  How do I get a pointer to the menu bar in a MDI app?

                          6.5.2.  How do I implement a right-mouse popup-menu?

                          6.5.3.  How do I dynamically change the mainframe menu?

                          6.5.4.  How do I 'attach' a menu to a window's creation/destruction?

                  6.6.  WINDOWS COMMON CONTROLS (A.K.A. WINDOWS 95 CONTROLS)

                          6.6.1.  Can I use these controls under NT or Win32s?

                          6.6.2.  Where's a demo of these wickedly cool controls?

                          6.6.3.  How do you handle NM_DBLCLK for a CListCtl?

                          6.6.4.  Does CTreeCtrl support multiple selection?

                          6.6.5. When I expand a node in my CTreeCtrl, there's no visual feedback, what to do?

                         %6.6.6. How do I get multiple selection, tooltips, editable nodes, multiple columns in my trees?

                 %6.7. CSPLITTERWND

          7.  DOCUMENTS, VIEWS AND FRAME CLASS QUESTIONS

                  7.1.  VIEWS

                          7.1.1.  How do I size a view?

                          7.1.2.  How do I size a CFormView?

                          7.1.3.  How do I use new views with a doc template?

                          7.1.4.  How do I change the background color of a view?

                          7.1.5.  How do I get the current View?

                          7.1.6.  How do I create multiple views on one document?

                          7.1.7.  How do I get all the views in an MDI app?

                          7.1.8.  How do I make a CScrollView "mouse scrollable"?

                  7.2.  DOCUMENTS

                          7.2.1.  Do I have to use the Document/View architecture?

                          7.2.2.  How do I get the current Document?

                          7.2.3.  When are documents destroyed?

                          7.2.4.  How do I create multiple documents?

                          7.2.5.  How do I get a list of open documents?

                          7.2.6.  How do I keep my application from creating a new document at startup?

          8.  OLE CLASS QUESTIONS

                  8.1.  STRUCTURED STORAGE/COMPOUND FILES

                          8.1.1.  When I upgraded, I could not read my files generated by the old version of MFC?

                  8.2.  OLE CONTROLS (PREVIOUSLY CALLED OCX'S)

                          8.2.1.  What is an OLE control?

                          8.2.2.  How do I write OLE controls?

                          8.2.3.  What versions of MFC support OLE control containment?

                          8.2.4.  How do I get application specific control bars to disappear when in-placed editing.

          9. WOSA CLASS QUESTIONS

                  9.1. CRECORDSET

                          9.1.1.  When I add a CRecordSet class, I get tons of linker errors..

                          9.1.2.  I need a CRecordSet::Find(), what should I do?

                  9.2.  WINSOCK

                          9.2.1.  I'm having problems with CSocket blocking, what's up?

          10.  DLL AND BUILD QUESTIONS

                  10.1.  DO I NEED A CWINAPP OBJECT IN A DLL?

                  10.2.  HOW SHOULD I DEFINE THE WEP IN A MFC DLL?

                  10.3.  HOW DO I BUILD AN 'EXTENSION DLL'?

                  10.4.  HOW CAN I MANAGE RESOURCES IN A RESOURCE ONLY DLL AND STILL BENEFIT FROM CLASSWIZARD?

                 %10.5.  I am having [some problem] with exports/imports and extension DLLs.

          11. MFC TIPS TRICKS AND CAVEATS

                  11.1.  WHAT'S THE BEST WAY TO CONVERT MY C WINDOWS APP TO MFC?

                  11.2.  WHY IS MY MFC APPLICATION RUNNING SLOW?

                  11.3.  HOW CAN I CREATE AN APPLICATION THAT IS INITIALLY MAXIMIZED?

                  11.4.  HOW DO I ENABLE TRACE MACROS IN MY APP?

                  11.5.  HOW DO I PERFORM BACKGROUND PROCESSING IN MY APPLICATION?

                  11.6.  HOW DO I SEND A MESSAGE TO ANOTHER THREAD?

                  11.7.  DOES MICROSOFT USE MFC IN THEIR PRODUCTS? WHICH ONES?

                  11.8.  HOW DO I LIMIT MY MFC APPLICATION TO ONE INSTANCE?

                  11.9.  HOW DO I GET MY MFC APP TO USE THE REGISTRY ON WIN32 PLATFORMS?

                  11.10.  HOW DO I PROGRAMMATICALLY TERMINATE MY MFC APPLICATION?

                  11.11.  WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN IMPLEMENT_DYNAMIC, IMPLEMENT_DYNCREATE AND IMPLEMENT_SERIAL?

                          11.11.1. MFC 4.0 4.0 NOTE

                  11.12.  HOW CAN I DECLARE AN ABSTRACT BASE CLASS TO BE IMPLEMENT_SERIAL?

                  11.13.  WHAT IS AFX.INL AND AFXWIN1.INL, ETC..?

                  11.14.  IS MFC AVAILABLE ON THE MACINTOSH?

                  11.15.  IS MFC AVAILABLE ON OS/2?

                  11.16.  HOW SHOULD I LEARN/START LEARNING MFC?

                  11.17.  WHAT DLLS SHOULD I DISTRIBUTE WITH MY MFC APP?

                  11.18.  HOW DO I INTERCEPT WM_SETTEXT MESSAGES

                  11.19.  I CAN'T CREATE AN INSTANCE BECAUSE OF DECLARE_DYNCREATE!

                  11.20.  WHAT THE HECK IS THIS _T() THING I KEEP SEEING?

                  11.21.  HOW DO I USE CMEMORYSTATE?

                  11.22.  HOW DO I HANDLE MY OWN REGISTERED MESSAGES?

                  11.23.  HOW DO I CUSTOMIZE THE MFC IDLE TIME PROCESSING?

                  11.24.  HOW DO I CREATE NON-RESIZABLE (STATIC AND FIXED) SPLITTER BARS?

                  11.25.  HOW DO I ADD WHAT'S THIS MENUS TO MY APPLICATION - LIKE WIN95 HIP APPS HAVE?

                  11.26.  HOW DO I DISPLAY A CHOOSE DIRECTORY DIALOG, INSTEAD OF A CHOOSE FILE DIALOG?     109

                  11.27.  I'M HAVING PROBLEMS USING MFC 4.0 AND THE STL, WHAT COULD BE WRONG?

                  11.28.  HOW DO I MAKE A WINDOW STAY ON TOP OF THE OTHERS?

                  11.29.  HOW DO I MAKE A WINDOW MOVE IN FRONT OF ANOTHER?

                 %11.30. Is MFC DEAD?

                 %11.31. DOES ATL REPLACE MFC?

                 %11.32. HOW DO I IMPLEMENT DOCKING WINDOWS LIKE DEVSTUDIO HAS?

                 %11.33. WILL THE NEXT VERSION OF MFC SUPPORT [SOME PARTICULAR FEATURE]?

          12.  WIZARD QUESTIONS

                  12.1.  HOW CAN I CHANGE THE APPWIZARD OPTIONS I SELECTED FOR MY APPLICATION?

          13. VISUAL C++ QUESTIONS

                  13.1.  WINDOWS 95 QUESTIONS

                          13.1.1.  I'm running MSVC 2.0 and I can't get Windows 95 look and feel in my dialogs, what's wrong?

                          13.1.2.  When I compile under Windows 95, it flashes in and out of DOS mode.

                          13.1.3.  Can MSVC 1.5 or 2.0 be used for Windows 95?

                  13.2.  CONFIGURATION QUESTIONS

                          13.2.1.  What are the memory requirements of MSVC?

                          13.2.2.  How can I get MSVC 2.1, I can't find it in stores?

                          13.2.3.  Should I run under Win 95 or NT?

                          13.2.4.  How do I set the include/lib/exe directories?

                          13.2.5.  I can't compile any programs!  Help!

                          13.2.6.  Can I setup a project to search different paths for source?

                          13.2.7.  How do I build a browser file for all of MFC?

                         %13.2.8. What does the "unexpected end of file while looking for Precompiled header" message mean?

                  13.3.  LANGUAGE FEATURE QUESTIONS

                          13.3.1.  Does MSVC support templates and exception handling?

                          13.3.2.  Does MSVC support the Standard Template Library?

                          13.3.3.  Does VC++ support RTTI?

                  13.4.  RELIGIOUS QUESTIONS

                          13.4.1.  Which is better OWL or MFC, BC++ or MS MSVC?

                          13.4.2.  Should I use Visual C++ or Visual Basic?

                          13.4.3.  MFC philosophy (from a microsoftie!)

                          13.4.4.  Should I use the MFC collections or the STL collections?

                  13.5.  ADVANCED VISUAL C++ TIPS AND TRICKS

                         &13.5.1.  How do I see the MSVC 'Easter Eggs'?!

                          13.5.2.  What are the command line options to MSVC?

                          13.5.3.  How to change the color of ClassWizard generated code!

                          13.5.4.  Ten cool things you can do in the VC++ editor!

                          13.5.5.  How do I speed up VC++ compiles?

                          13.5.6.  Make all MFC keywords a different color!

                          13.5.7.  Easy way to launch 4.x projects without mdp files.

                  13.6.  MISCELLANEOUS VISUAL C++ QUESTIONS

                          13.6.1.  What are all these files that MSVC is creating?!

                          13.6.2.  How do I change from using MFCXX.DLL to using a statically linked library?

                          13.6.3.  How do I report a bug to Microsoft?

                  %13.7.  VISUAL C++/MFC Version SPECIFIC HINTS, PROBLEMS, ETC..

                          13.7.1  Why aren't my windows being created in MFC 4.0?

                          13.7.2.  How do I convert a VC++ 2.x makefile over to 4.x?

                          13.7.3.  ClassWizard has problems wiring controls to members in international 4.0 versions, what the heck do I do?

                          13.7.4.  VC++ 4.0 crashes all the time on me!!!  HELP!?!?!?!?!

                          13.7.5.  How do I add components (not just classes) to the Component Gallery?

                         %13.7.6. What is up with the Visual C++ 5.0 help system!?

          14. THIRD PARTY MFC PRODUCTS

          15. MFC FAQ REVISION HISTORY

------------------------------------------------------------------------

                       MFC FAQ WWW-version Hot-jumps

Click below to hop right to a chapter of the FAQ.

1. MFC FAQ INFO AND CREDITS

2. WHERE TO GO FOR JUICY MFC INFORMATION

3. A BRIEF HISTORY OF MFC

4. GENERIC CLASS QUESTIONS

5. GDI CLASS QUESTIONS

6. WINDOW, CONTROL, AND DIALOGS CLASS QUESTIONS

7. DOCUMENTS, VIEWS AND FRAME CLASS QUESTIONS

8. OLE CLASS QUESTIONS

9. WOSA CLASS QUESTIONS

10. DLL AND BUILD QUESTIONS

11. MFC TIPS TRICKS AND CAVEATS

12. WIZARD QUESTIONS

13. VISUAL C++ QUESTIONS

14. THIRD PARTY MFC PRODUCTS

15. MFC FAQ REVISION HISTORY

------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. MFC FAQ Info and Credits

The MFC FAQ maintainers can be contacted via the following:

Internet: [e-mail]

Our URL is: http://www.stingsoft.com/scot - this hasn't been updated in
ages - sorry.

We welcome any comments, criticisms or suggested additions for the FAQ.

1.1. How do I get this FAQ?

Hey, this is one of those chicken and egg questions, if you're reading this
you already have the FAQ. But seriously, the MFC FAQ is put out just about
monthly, so chances are you are reading an old and stale version, instead
of the fresh and fancy latest version. If you want to make sure you have
the latest version:

* "Instant-FAQ" - If you'd like to have a copy of any new MFC FAQ releases
emailed right to your front door, just send me an email via
[e-mail] and I'll add you to the 'subscription'. No cost or
anything, just another FAQ service.

"Why wait for the announcements and then go get the FAQ yourself, use
"Instant-FAQ"

"Instant-FAQ changed my life!!! I no longer have to wait for months for the
latest FAQ. It's just waiting in my email box the second it's released, no
fuss no muss! Thanks Instant-FAQ"

-Anonymous Instant-FAQ participant.

[All restrictions apply in states that do not allow Instant-FAQ service,
please see your local MFC FAQ dealer for details.]

This FAQ is only available on the World Wide Web at
http://www.stingsoft.com/mfc_faq - if you are reading it somewhere else
(e.g. MSDN) it is probably stale.

Sadly, I can not email the FAQ to you because of my current workload.

If you send me an email asking for the FAQ, I'll just put you on
Instant-FAQand you'll get the next version announcement instead.

An announcement of a new FAQ release is posted to the usenet newsgroups:

comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.controls

comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.graphics

comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.tools.mfc

comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.misc

comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.ole

comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.tools

comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.win32

comp.lang.c++

The Microsoft MFC newsgroups which I can never remember.
(news://news.microsoft.com/microsoft.public/visualc.mfc or something like
that)

  1. There's also an announcement on the mfc mailing list. (See Section
     2.2.2.)

1.2. What's the goal of this FAQ?

The goal of this FAQ is to be a clearing house for answers to MFC questions
commonly asked on primarily the usenet newsgroups and the MFC List. We try
not to duplicate the great documentation out there, the tech notes, MSDN,
etc.. Hopefully you will look there first and then use this FAQ as your
last resort. The FAQ will be much more interesting if you check those
resources first, then we won't have to cover 'the basics'.

I'm trying to load the FAQ up with good phone numbers, CODE-CODE-CODE!,
URLs and email addresses of places to call. I'll puting 800 numbers first,
and then the US number second. International folks hate it when there are
only 800 numbers, so if you want a phone number in the FAQ, please send
both.

1.3. Why are you doing this?

I keep seeing the same posts and they're driving me insane!!! But
seriously, I started the MFC FAQ when I had gobs of free time and was
trying to get really totally submerged in MFC. I figured, what better way
to get submerged, than to manage the FAQ.

1.4. How can I contribute!?!

Good question! You can send me an email with your frequently asked question
and answer and I'll stick it right in the FAQ. It's that easy, We'll even
make sure you get credit for that entry. Please remember to tell me what
section of the FAQ you would like your FAQ added to.

Also, if you search for the string '%%TODO' that indicates there is some
information I need to fill in and would really like your help with..

1.5. Credits

I borrowed the format from Tom Haapanen's Windows Programmers FAQ, so I'm
eternally indebted to him for that. Tom also knew the exact dates of all
MFC releases practically down to the second.

I'd also like to use this space to thank some of the folks that always try
and help out people on the usenet groups:

Chris Marriott - He has the highest bandwidth of darn good answers I've
ever seen.

Mike Blaszczak - A Microsoftie that reads netnews and gives great answers!
(See section 2.4.2 for info about his book!) If anybody knows how to
pronounce his name, let me know.. Mike is now the lead of the MFC Team. If
you see a guy post and he signs:

.B ekiM - that is Mike. He's a little backwards, but gives good answers.
Ask him about his RX7.

And of course thanks to everyone in the Microsoft MFC/MSVC group that made
MFC the phenomenon it is today: Scott Randall, Jim McCarthy, Dean McCrory,
John Elsbree, etc.., etc..

These folks have given me lots of great feedback on the FAQ and get a big
round of applause!

   * Jim B - [e-mail]
   * Niels Ull Jacobsen - [e-mail]
   * Vinny Mayfield converted the FAQ over to Word for me.

Individual FAQ contributions are usually near the FAQ.

1.6. How is this different from the MSVC MFC FAQ?

There is a MFC FAQ that comes with MSVC, this FAQ is different because:

A) It's not from Microsoft (so it has more dirt and less evangelism!)

B) The information here is gleaned from Usenet and CompuServe, where their
information is from technical support. Hopefully the Usenet/CompuServe
folks ask better questions (they are definitely cheaper ;-> )

1.7. What other languages is this FAQ translated to?

1.7.1. Japanese version of MFC FAQ

I am coordinating efforts with Masahiko Funaki to have a Japanese version
of the FAQ. He gets all changes so that he can maintain the Japanese
version. He can be reached via email at: '[e-mail]'.

The MFC FAQ-J is now available: http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~funa/mfc_faq.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Where to go for Juicy MFC Information

Hopefully this FAQ is where you will look when all else fails. This section
documents what else is out there and how to get your paws on it.

2.1. Microsoft

MFC comes with Microsoft's Visual C++, Watcom's C++, and Symantec's C++
compilers.

2.1.1. Visual C++ and Visual C++ subscription.

Microsoft no longer sells subscriptions to Visual C++. However, you can get
updates to it through the MSDN Universal subscription. See Section 3 for
the details of what MFC release is the latest and greatest. Only major
versions are sold through outlets, so if you need a point release, you need
the Universal Subscription that is now done with MSDN.

Prices fluctuate, so contact one of the compiler vendors for information:

   * Microsoft(800) 719-5577(206) 936-8661http://www.microsoft.com
   * Watcom and Symantec carry MFC compatible VC++'s but I think you would
     be nearly insane to choose one of these over VC++. They tend to be
     behind VC++ in functionality and never seem to have the latest MFC.

There are also two programmer mail order houses that carry all of the MFC
supported compilers including the Visual C++ subscription:

   * Programmer's Paradise - My personal favorite.[phone]/(908)
     445-7899
   * The Programmer's Shop(800) 421-8006/[phone]

2.1.2. Microsoft Developers Network (MSDN)

Another great investment is the Microsoft Developers Network (MSDN), which
is a quarterly subscription set of CDROMs that contains all of the
information you can imagine about the Microsoft developer products,
including MFC. There are two levels, level one gets you the CDs that have
all the developer tool information. Hey - the MFC FAQ is even on there now.
The MSDN options change almost monthly so instead of detailing them here,
why don't you just surf on over to http://www.microsoft.com/msdn and check
out what they have to say. The Universal subscription gives you the biggest
bang for the buck because it sends out everything you could ever want in
one affordable package.

If you are Internet challenged, you can contact MSDN at:

[phone]

[phone]

[e-mail]

2.1.3. Knowledge Databases

Microsoft support creates these knowledge databases that answer frequently
asked questions and sometimes have samples and stuff. You can get the
knowledge databases from ftp.microsoft.com, CompuServe, and they come on
the MSDN (see section 2.1.2 above) CD-ROMs.

There's a tool that lets you quickly search these. Whenever I've tried to
find something here, I always end up with MFC 1.0 information that's not
very useful. Your mileage may vary.

http://www.microsoft.com/KB

Is the URL that I use, change the product to Visual C++ and party on!

2.1.4. Microsoft Software Library

Microsoft maintains a giant library of samples, tools, and demos called the
Microsoft Software Library. Here's how to find it on the various electronic
media :

   * CompuServe - GO MSL
   * Microsoft Download Service (MSDL) Dial [phone] to connect to
     MSDL
   * Internet (anonymous FTP) ftp://ftp.microsoft.comChange to the
     SOFTLIB\MSLFILES directory

John Elsbree, [e-mail], programmer.misc, 6/24/95

2.2. Internet

Throw on some sunglasses, put the top down and take a cruise on that big
ole' information highway. There's tons of great MFC information at your
finger tips (sorry billg), if you know where to lookà..

2.2.1. World Wide Web Pages

Instead of having to manage a bunch of fluctuating URLs in the FAQ this is
just a start-off point. Check out the Stingray "For Developer's Only" and
the Foundation Software pages for really good pages that are always
up-to-date.

Here are some URLs with MFC, or MFC related information:

                                  MFC/MSVC
Specific_____________________________________________________________________

   * http://www.microsoft.com - Microsoft's WWW.
   * http://www.microsoft.com/visualc - Visual C++ MotherShip for
     information - check this weekly if you want to be really hip (or a BIG
     VC++ NERD depending on your perspective <g>).
   * http://www.stingsoft.com/dev/dev.htm - For MFC Developer's ONLY!!
   * http://www.webcom.com/~sleslie/resources.html - Great page by Scott
     Leslie of VC++/MFC resources on the web.
   * http://www.stingsoft.com - MFC extensions company, Stingray Software
   * http://www.visionx.com/mfcpro - The MFC Professional - a site that has
     some useful MFC information, not updated very frequently though.
   * http://www.vcdj.com - Visual C++ Developer's Journal.

Lots of magazines are on the web, see section 2.4.1 for those URLs

2.2.2. Mailing lists

The MFC mailing list was originally started by David Elliott and now it has
been picked up by none other than Microsoft (Big Brother is listening!).
But seriously, it is really great that Microsoft decided to keep this
source of peer-level support alive. Oh MFC mailing list, why do I love you?
Let me count the ways:

  1. Very low noise.
  2. Sometimes Mike yells at people and it makes me laugh uncontrollably.
  3. It's moderated so someone else has to deal with all of the bounces,
     weirdos, flames, spams, etc..
  4. It's an advanced group - there are no: "What is CObject!?" kind of
     questions - or at least they are few and far between.
  5. Want to learn MFC? Spend two weeks reading this and see if you can
     answer every question. Don't stop until you can. You now know MFC
     better than the top 2% of programmers.

Interested? Instructions on joining are at:

http://www.microsoft.com/sitebuilder/resource/mailfaq.asp (you may have to
have IE to view this, don't know).

There is a nice archive at
http://microsoft.ease.lsoft.com/archives/index.html

If you want to have some fun, ask if you should call TerminateThread()!

2.2.3. Usenet Newsgroups

You can get to Usenet groups through the Internet, or through many of the
on-line services these days. Here's a quick rundown of newsgroups that have
MFC-specific content or similar things of interest:

   * comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.tools.mfc - A MFC-only newsgroup - and
     it's a good one. This is relatively new in the netnews Universe, so
     you may have to get an administrator to add it at your news site. It's
     available on MSN, AOL and CIS.
   * comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.tools - This is where most of the MFC
     stuff USED to happen, nothing but noise now. You want to check out the
     .mfc group first.
   * comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.misc - Give it a shot, lots of noise
     here, but usually good noise.
   * comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.win32 - I like this group, doesn't seem
     too crowded, people know what's going on, I guess because they're
     really into win32.
   * comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.ole - An occasional thread about some of
     the OLE classes pops up here.
   * comp.lang.c++ - This is suppose to be for C++ language issues, but
     people are always posting about MSVC and MFC here. This group is
     really frustrating to read, I recommend staying away. There's about a
     100000:1 noise ratio in here.

Microsoft has ditched their Compu$erve forums (Yeah!) and now they sponsor
"peer support" via a news server at news://msnews.microsoft.com . Point
your news reader there and then navigate to the microsoft.public.vc.mfc.
There is a whole hierarchy under VC you may want to explore, but this one
is the most active and interesting in my opinion. If you are having
problems getting onto this, try this URL:

news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.vc.mfc if that doesn't work,
try a different email reader, but please don't email us, we are not in the
business of helping people read newsgroups -sorry.

2.2.4. Other FAQs of interest

   * Windows FAQ - Maintained by Tom Haapanen.

ftp.metrics.com:~/faq

Explains lots of great stuff about Windows that you won't find here.

   * Windows Programming FAQ - Maintained by Tom Haapanen.

ftp.metrics.com:~/faq

Awesome Windows Programming FAQ. I think it's been resurrected by a new
fellow under Tom's watchful eye. Keep an ear to the newsgroups for the
details.

   * C++ FAQ - Maintained by Marshall Cline.

ftp to rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/comp.lang.c++, also on comp.lang.c++

This is an awesome FAQ, answers every C++ question you'd ever conceive of.
It's not specific to MSVC so be careful, some behavior could be
different.These guys have a book out on it.

   * WinHelp FAQ - Maintained by Pete Davis

Posted regularly to comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.winhelp If you have a
question about the Windows help system, this is for you.

   * Windows NT FAQ - Maintained by Adam Hamilton

Posted to comp.os.ms-windows.nt.misc? Pretty good, lots of networking stuff
in there.

2.2.5. FTP sites

There's not much MFC code out there. You can check out these sites:

   * ftp.microsoft.com - Has all the knowledge databases and a couple of
     MFC specific things. Check out the software library too (softlib).
   * ftp.cica.indiana.edu - pub/pc/win3/progrmr
   * wuarchive.wustl.edu - Good site, don't know about MFC
     stuff.pub/win3/progrmmr
   * ftp.uu.net - /vendors/microsoft has some developer support things that
     are on both ftp.microsoft.com and CompuServe. Microsoft seems to be
     moving away from here.
   * oak.oakland.edu - (SimTel Mirror) SimTel/win3/pgmtools

If you don't have Internet access, you can order CDROMs with these entire
archives from Walnut Creek. Call [phone] or [phone] for more
information.

2.2.6. The MFC FAQ FTP Archive!

We've started a MFC FAQ FTP archive. This archive contains MFC samples that
illustrate FAQs.

ftp://ftp.stingsoft.com/pub/stingray/mfc_faq

To submit a sample, upload it into the mfc_faq/incoming directory and send
and email to [e-mail] explaining the submission.

Currently the MFC FAQ FTP Archive contains:

   * multdocs.zip - Shows how to have multiple CDocuments.
   * multview.zip - Shows how to have multiple views.
   * onetime.zip - How to restrict your application to one instance.
   * dlgcbr.zip - How to put controlbars in your dialogs.

%%TODO - Update these samples for 5.0 -someone? anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
Bueller? These were lost when the landru.unx.com account disappeared,
anyone have them?

2.3. CompuServe

CompuServe, well how can I say this politely- sucks! Don't waste your time.

2.4. Printed Matter

2.4.1. Magazines and journals

Ok, ok, ok, I admit it! I'm a MAGAZINE JUNKIE! There's just no better place
to pick up a good little nugget of MFC info than a well written rag. I
think I get every magazine on this list and more. Here's a list of all mags
I know of with my review. Please feel free to submit any reviews you have
of magazines - it's always a subjective kind of thing.

I've tried to list these in order of MFC content. The ones first have the
most MFC content with the ones last having the least. Even though they
don't directly cover MFC, most of the Windows programming magazines are
still pretty valuable. Any of these that I've read, I put comments with. If
you'd like to comment, email me and I'll throw it in here. Please don't
tell me about more magazines - I'll go broke <g>.

   * Visual C++ Developer
   *
        o Pinnacle Publishing ($149/yr)
        o [phone] voice
        o [phone] voice
        o [phone] fax
        o [e-mail]
        o http://www.pinnacle.com
        o My favorite, very meaty, lots of MFC coverage. They have had a
          rocky year, but appear to be back on track now.
   * Visual C++ Professional
        o Oakley Publishing ($149/yr)
   * [phone]
   * [phone]
   * Similar to above, but just a smidge less MFC.

   * Microsoft Systems Journal (MSJ)
        o Miller Freeman Inc.
        o [phone]
        o [phone]
        o http://www.mfi.com/msj
        o Visual Programmer column is EXCELLENT!!!!

   * Dr. Dobbs
        o Miller Freeman Inc.
        o [phone]
        o [phone]
        o http://www.ddj.com
        o Check out the "Undocumented Corner" for the continuing adventures
          of George and Scot's wild MFC Internals explorations. Ok, it's
          not that exciting, but it is a living.
   * Windows/DOS Developers Journal
        o Miller Freeman
        o [phone]
        o Continuing to add strong MFC material - getting better!
   * C/C++ Users Journal
   * Miller Freeman
   *
        o [phone]
        o Not much MFC specific stuff at all, language-y articles.
   * C++ Report
   * SIGS Publications
   * [phone]
   * [phone]
   * Great if you want to learn about the dynamics of instantiated,
     real-time templates as applied to generic programming and patterns in
     modern-day CASE/UNIX based GNU compilers. <yawn> Don't these guys have
     day jobs?

2.4.2. Books on MFC

There's tons of books on Visual C++, but not many of them go into the
details about MFC. Here's a list of books that are over 50% oriented
towards MFC (e.g. don't have pages of screenshots of compiler options
dialogs and the MSVC IDE)

   * Microsoft Visual C++ Documentation Set
   *
        o Microsoft Press
        o MSPRESS
        o [phone]
        o
             + Volume 2: Programming with MFC and Win32 ($27)ISBN
               1-55615-802-5
             + Volume 3: MFC Library Reference ($45)ISBN 1-55615-801-7

These come in the on-line docs, but nice to have printed versions of them.
If you are going to do MFC programming, volume 2 is a 'must have'

   * Inside Visual C++, Fourth edition
   *
        o Microsoft Press ($45)
        o David J. Kruglinski (Ex-Microsoftie)
        o ISBN: 1-55615-661-8
        o http://www.mspress.com
        o ISBN is 1-55615-891-2

Sounds like it would be Visual C++ specific, but this is the 'Petzold of
MFC programming. In other words, it's a 'must have' (along with volume 2 of
the printed docs. If you can't afford both, stick with volume 2 on-line and
get this one)

**Note, the MFC/VC++ 5.0 version (fourth edition) just hit the streets - it
looks pretty good. -see last comment for the scoop on the latest version.
Do not buy the third or second edition, it is bird-cage liner at this
point. Rumor has it that David passed away recently in a freak hangliding
accident. Does anyone know if this is true or not?!

The best MFC book that I know of is "Inside Visual C++" by David
Kruglinski. Despite the name, this is primarily an MFC book.

Chris Marriott, [e-mail], programmer.graphics, 6/15/95

I owned the previous version of Inside VC++ and learned a lot about MFC [ed
note - he now has the third NEW version]. This was the book that got me
started in MFC programming and I have recommended it to everyone who asked.
I recently bought the latest edition and my impressions are as follows:

It still is THE book for SDK programmers who want to learn MFC.

Its strong suit is the coverage of the Document/View architechure, printing
and print preview and on-line help.

It is weak in it's coverage of Windows controls (CListCtrl, CTreeCtrl, etc,
etc)

I did not feel that the new material it contained justified the almost
$50.00 price tag, however. I recommend that anyone who owns an earlier
edition of the book spend a little time in the bookstore with this 3rd
edition before taking it home.

- Blaine Anderson [e-mail], mfc-l, 1/14/96

   * The Revolutionary Guide to MFC Programming.
   *
        o WROX Press ($45), June 1996
        o Mike Blaszczak
        o ISBN: 1-874416-47-8
        o http://www.wrox.com NOTE: A second edition of this book is out,
          it has MFC in the title, the old one has Win32 in the title.
        o This is my personal favorite MFC book (well next to MFC Internals
          of courseà).

   *
        o
             + - [e-mail]

If you understand C++ and _some_ windows programming this is a great book
to learn MFC.

Shelley Lambert, [e-mail], programmer.tools, 6/18/95

It is the best book on Win95 programming I have found.

Gary Coombs, [e-mail], programmer.win32, 6/19/95

   * MFC Internals - AW George Shephard and Scot Wingo
   *
        o Addison Wesley $39.95
        o George Shepherd and Scot Wingo
        o ISBN: 0201407213
        o http://www.aw.com

This book is best described as the 'other side' of the Mike B book. Where
Mike shows you how to use MFC at an advanced pace, we show you how MFC
works under the hood (also at an advanced pace). If you've ever gotten lost
in the MFC source, you'll know why this is *extremely* helpful information.
Plus, it's MFC 4.0 so it's pretty darn current information. Check out the
March "Undocumented MFC" column in Dr. Dobbs for a sneak peek at the book.

[e-mail] - co-author.

"Quite simply, this book is a must-have for any serious MFC developer."

""This book is definitely not a rehash of existing documents. It is not a
"how-to" book-it is a "how does it work" book."

-Dean McCrory - technical editor, lead of the MFC team.

   * Writing Windows Applications with MFC
   *
        o M+T Books ($40)
        o Bryan Waters
        o ISBN: 1-55851-379-5

At first I thought it was too beginner, but the last 5 chapters kick butt.
Lots of info on MFC internals, exception handling, and topics not covered
elsewhere. Good for someone new to Windows and MFC programming. - not
updated to cover 4.0.

   * Visual C++ How-To: The Definitive MFC Problem Solver
   *
        o Waite Group Press ($40) Apr-95, 570 pages
        o Info: http://www.dnai.com/waite/
        o [phone]
        o [phone]
        o Scott Stanfield, Ralph Arveson, Alan Light & Mickey Williams
        o Includes a CD-ROM
        o ISBN 1-878739-82-4

Note: Not updated for VC++ 4.0.

I can tell you that its a real good book for what its intended to be. Which
is, sort of like your FAQ. It comes with a CD and has little tidbits like:

1.) How to animate an icon. I adapted this a bit to figure out how to
change icons (in an MDI on the fly).

2.) How to detect multiple instances of a Windows app and pull theother one
to the top of the Z-order. This is a perennial Usenet question and I pulled
the code and had it working first time.

3.) How to put a bitmap on the main client window of a MDI app. Again, a
nasty little thing to figure out on your own, but given good directions,
quite easily done from the book.

The CD is also broken out between those that are using VC 1.5 versus 2.0.

Like other Waite Group "How-To" programming books, this one is in
"Cookbook" or FAQ format. You read the table of contents for the
functionality you are looking for, and the associated chapter contains the
code to implement it.

Topics include: Document and View, Status Bars and Toolbars, Controls,
Multimedia, Bitmaps and Icons, Dialogs OLE and DDE, System and a FAQ of
short tips. Many new classes are given here which all supplement the MFC in
a fairly logical manner. Some of the chapters which were of interest to me
were:

2.1 - Put the current time in the status bar

2.3 - Add a status bar to my Views

2.4 - Display Progress information in the status bar

4.1 - Preview an AVI file using the common file dialog

4.3 - Play AVI files in a CView

4.4 - Play large WAV files

4.6 - Create 3D animation using OpenGL and MFC

5.5 - Smoothly animate bitmaps

6.6 - Write customized DDX/DDV routines

8.3 - Localize MFC applications using resource DLLs

8.5 - Make multiple inheritance work in MFC

And many tidbits from the FAQ...

I like the cookbook format which allows me to glue in specific
functionality on demand. I found this book to be fairly helpful in that
regard. I look forward to Volume II

[e-mail] via email, 7/15/95

   * Visual C++ 2: Developing Professional Applications in Windows 95 and
   *
        o Windows NT using MFC
        o Marshall Brain and Lance Lovette
        o Prentice Hall
        o ISBN: 0-13-305145-5

Note: Not updated for VC++ 4.0.

This was the third MFC book I picked up, and by far the best one. Like
Brain's other books (Heart of NT...) this one sets out to answer some
frequently asked questions, as enumerated in the introduction. It's
definitely a comprehensive book, divided into five sections covering the
basics of Visual C++ and MFC, Controls, Using the App Wizard with MFC,
Professional Features, and Advanced MFC classes. It has an interesting
appendix that is designed to get C programmers up to speed with the C++
concepts that they will need to use MFC right away. It does cover things
like OLE, ODBC and Threads as well as some 'example chapters' covering
things like splash screens, and multiple document templates per
application. It's pretty cool because it goes through MFC without the
Class/App Wizards before introducint them to you. It's very clear, and most
everything is done by example, which I really like ;). What it doesn't do
is cover any of the new common controls despite its title implying Windows
95 development. This seems to be ok, because Nancy Cluts' book looks like
it should handle

that part well enough ;) I highly recommend this one, especially if you
have previous windows programming experience and are looking to migrate to
MFC 3.x for 95/NT.

Topics of interest:

Understanding Message Maps, Debugging and Robustness, Dynamic Data Exchange
and Validation, How MFC Works with Windows, Creating a Self Drawing
Control, Property Sheets, OLE, MFC Threads, Combining Two Documents and
Views in a Single Application, Subclassing and Windows Procedures, as well
as the standard treatment of every control from edit to combo boxes.

[e-mail]

   * Animation Techniques in Win32
   *
        o Nigel Thompson
        o Microsoft Press (Early 1995)
        o ISBN: 1-55615-669-3

At first glance, I ignored this book on the shelves, however, when I
finally picked it up, it used MFC completely throughout. A very good book
on doing graphics with MFC.

[e-mail], John Clark, via email 6/6/95

   * Teach Yourself Microsoft Foundation Class Library Programming in 21
     Days
   *
        o Robert Shaw
        o SAMS ($30)
        o ISBN: 0-672-30462-7
        o Note: Not updated for VC++ 4.0.

I find "Teach Yourself Visual C++ in 21 Days" a good reference, since it is
set up to cover a small group of features each "day", so you can quickly go
to a subject area, and get a from-scratch description of it and how to use
it. However, the author is not strong on using the VC IDE, claiming that
"you have to write this code yourself the first few times, so you better
appreciate what AppStudio and ClassWizard are doing behind the scenes." I'd
prefer the approach where we use the tools at hand, and then map out what
those magic MESSAGE_MAP macros are really doing.

[e-mail], email, 7/11/95

Robert Shaws` book is terrific for the beginner learning MSVC and MFC.
Before trying out the examples found within, download the updated files via
ftp from the address specified in the book. This will save you alot of
frustration. The examples are well thought out. This book is better that
Steve Holzner`s series of books on OLE or MFC (what isn't?). Once a
beginner has finished with this book he is ready for more serious books
such as "Inside Visual C++" by David Kruglinski.

[e-mail]

   * MS Foundation Class Primer: Prog Windows 3 & Windows NT w/MFC
   *
        o Jim Conger
        o The Waite Group Press ($32) Mar-93, 830 pages
        o ISBN: 1-878739-31X
        o Note: Not updated for VC++ 4.0.

The best MFC book that I've seen that DOESN'T use VC++ Wizards is Microsoft
Foundation Class Primer.

[e-mail], ED, programmer.misc, 6/24/95

This book is a good intro for people new to MFC, but it's getting pretty
dated. This book was written during the time of MS C++ 7.0, and some of the
newest functionality just isn't covered (for obvious reasons ;), which can
confuse a newbie. At any rate, it's still makes pretty good book for
someone looking for the basics.

[e-mail], email, 7/15/95

   * Master Visual C++ 2,2/E w/CD-ROM (covers MFC 3.0 library)
   *
        o Howard W. Sams & Company ($ 50) Jan-95, 1183 pages
        o Gurewich & Gurewich
        o ISBN: 0-672305-321

Note: Not updated for VC++ 4.0.I picked up a copy of "Master Visual C++"
specifically for its coverage of creating custom VBX's. This is not covered
in Kuglinski's "Inside Visual C++" nor in "Teach Yourself Visual-C++ in 21
Days". "Master Visual C++" is just my speed, since I am a dabbler who does
not read instructions or tutorials, just jumps in over my head, then starts
looking for the routine calls I overlooked. Similar to the Heavy Metal
book, this book could have been squeezed down to about 1/3 the size, but
here that is not the point. Each example starts with a demo of the finished
product, then goes through the steps descriptively, then goes through the
steps again with the code. My little VBX was done in a day an a half, and I
have a much better feel for the ins and outs of this process.

[e-mail], email, 7/11/95

   * Heavy Metal Visual C++ Programming
   *
        o Steve Holzner
        o Brady Publishing
        o ISBN 1-56884-196-5
        o Note: Not updated for VC++ 4.0.

Hate to disagree, but I find this book disappointing. The reason is, I felt
like being treated as a semi-idiot when reading the book. Don't get fooled
by its number of pages, it could have been easily reduced to half of its
size, if the author knew how to list the code efficiently. Furthermore,
there are too many misprints in the version I have.

Huayong ([e-mail]), programmer.tools, 6/18/95

The rule of thumb is never buy Holzner's book. His book only leads you the
the door. You can't find practically useful examples. Almost every updated
vesion is the same.

Runhong ([e-mail]), programmer.tools, 6/18/95

   * Programming the Windows 95 User Interface
   *
        o Microsoft Press ($34.95)
        o ISBN 1-55615-884-X
        o Nancy Cluts

NOTE: Microsoft Developer Network Developer Library contains the complete
text of this book. Might want to check it out there first before buying it?

%%TODO - get a review!

   * Visual C++ Power Toolkit
   *
        o Ventana Press ($50), 1995, 785 pages
        o Info: http://www.vmedia.com/vc++.html
        o [phone]
        o Richard Leinecker, Jamie Nye
        o Includes a CD-ROM
        o ISBN 1-56604-191-0
        o Note: Not updated for VC++ 4.0.

YACTB = Yet Another Cookbook Type Book. Although this book tries to be a
sourcebook for programmers by giving many new classes and clever code, it
just isn't laid out as logically as other books I've seen recently (see:
"Visual C++ How-To" listing). This book covers a lot of topics, such as:
Customizing the Interface, Animation, Screen Effects, Music & Sound,
Advanced Animation, Data Compression, OLE 2.0, Communications and Scanner
Input (Using TWAIN). I haven't found this book to be as useful as other
books for my purposes yet, but it does include a lot of new Classes which
may prove useful for other programmers.

[e-mail], email, 7/15/95

I just grabbed this one and at first glance it looked really useful, then I
started reading it and BLECH! The author's writing is, well, it's not so
great. Also, the classes are sloppy and show no OO design at all. The
author's comment is "I'm not hungarian, so why should I name variables like
one". Can't say I recommend this one.

[e-mail]

The following are rumored to be coming out RSN (Real soon now)

   * MFC 4.0 Bible - The Waite Group ($45)
   * Extending MFC - AW David Shmitt
   * Programming Windows 95 with MFC, Microsoft Press, Jeff Prosise

%%TODO - get review, I think this is out.

2.4.3. Cool MFC Articles

There's probably a million 'good' MFC articles out there, but this section
is for the ultra-hip, totally-swinging, must-have, gotta-read MFC articles.
If you submit an article for this section, please include all the 'volume'
information and a short paragraph about why it's so damn cool! [Note if you
have questions about the magazines or MSDN mentioned below, see sections:
2.4.1 and 2.1.2]

   * "Fun with MFC: 33 Tips to Help You Get the Most Out of ..." Paul
     DiLascia, MSJ, November 1993, Volume 8, Number 11

This is my A#1 MFC article of all time. Even though this article is 2 years
old, it has principals and ideas that are extremely valuable to today's MFC
programmer. Good news is that it's on MSDN in their MSJ archives! You can
also find this gem under books online: Extensions: articles/Technical
Articles/Fun with MFC: 33 Tips.

[e-mail]

   * "Meandering Through the Maze of MFC Message and Command Routing" Paul
     DiLascia, MSJ, July 1995, Volume 10, Number 7

Best explanation of messages ever, a MFC FAQ "must-read".

   * "Rewriting the MFC Scribble Program Using an OOD Approach" Allen
     Holub, MSJ, August 1995, Volume 10, Number 8.

Not my favorite article, but 'DID' stir up lots of talk on most MFC forums.
Any article that generates this much noise has to be good.

   * "Self Decorating Pages" David A. Schmitt, Windows Tech Journal, July
     1995
   * "Dad, Can I Drive the Printer Tonight?" -David A. Schmitt, Windows
     Tech Journal, August 1995

This series of articles is pretty good, especially if you are into
printing.

   * "Plunge into MFC's User Interface" Scot Wingo, Windows Tech Journal,
     August 1994

Stuff by MFC FAQ maintainer:

   * C++ Report, SIGS Publications, "A Brief History of MFC" - recaps
     section 3 of this FAQ and throws in some new information.
   * Dr. Dobbs, January 1996, "Extending MFC" - describes an MFC grid
     extension.

%%TODO - Come on MFC FAQ readers - let's get some new submissions in this
section, getting boring!

2.5. Trade shows

   * Visual C++ Developer's Conference
   *
        o There have been two US conferences put on by these guys and they
          keep getting better. These are kind of modeled after VBITs, where
          you have very focused talks on VC++/MFC/ATL. Check out
          http://www.vcdj.com. We really highly recommend this show since
          it is slowly becoming the only place for raw, uncensored MFC/VC
          informaiton!
   * Software Development (East and West)
   *
        o Miller Freeman
        o [phone]
        o http://www.mfi.com/sdconfs
        o [e-mail]

This show has gone down hill somewhat as far as MFC/VC is concerned.
Internet internet internet - sigh!

2.6. Users Groups

I don't know of any MFC specific user's groups, but there are some really
good C++ user's groups that have some MFC content in their programs. The NW
C++ User's group has a really nice email newsletter that anybody can
subscribe to by emailing [e-mail]. Here's the contact information for
the known C++ User's groups

%%TODO - add information on DC VC++ group.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Area                Contact Name            Contact Email

New York, NY        Saul Rosenberg          [e-mail]

Redmond, WA         Steve Shimeall          [e-mail]

San Jose, CA        Gene Paymar             [e-mail]

Santa Clara, CA     Marian Corcoran         [e-mail]

Tucson, AZ          Martin Lapidus          [e-mail]

North West          Robin Rowe              [e-mail]

Boston, MA          John Barrie             [e-mail]

------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.7. Technical Support

   * Microsoft MSVC Technical Support
   *
        o [phone]

------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. A Brief History of MFC

I constantly see postings from folks confused about what version to use
where, etc.. So this history kind of explains where MFC has been and where
it's going. [This is the history as I remember it. If you have any details
that you can fill in, release dates, inside info, etc.. Let me know!]

To understand the MFC releases, you need to realize that there are 16 and
32-bit releases of MFC. 16-bit releases call Win16 and run on Windows 3.1
and 3.11 (Windows for Workgroups)

The 32-bit releases call Win32 and run on Windows NT and Windows 95 (and
can run on Windows 3.1 with Win32s, but it still calls Win32)

Skip to section 3.10 for a quick table of releases if you want to skip the
long descriptions of each release.

In each section, the new classes added to MFC are highlighted. It's nearly
impossible to do cool class diagrams in ASCII, so their hierarchy is just
shown by indentation. I've also left CObject out of most of the hierarchies
for brevity. You can pretty much assume that CObject is a parent of most of
the classes except things like CString, etc.

3.1. How do I know what version of MFC I'm using?

Check the top of the MFC header file afxver_.h (lives in
mfc\include\afxver_.h). Older versions use afxver.h. In there you will see
a #define for _MFC_VER.

This is the hex version of the MFC release with this key:

0x0250

|_____________ Point release ( very minor)

|______________ Minor number

|______________ Major number

So in this example, the MFC release is 2.5.0.

3.2. Pre-MFC 1.0

In the beginning, Microsoft created a group called the AFX group (stands
for (A)pplication (F)ramework(X)). This group probably was created to come
out with an OWL competitor, since Borland C++ was doing pretty well. They
came up with a class library that presented a very high abstraction from
the Windows API, kind of like OWL does.

[Note: The group was actually formed before OWL 1.0 according to
[e-mail] ]

Legend has it that they then went and tried writing applications with it
for a couple of months and found that it was just too far removed from the
Windows API. They couldn't leverage any knowledge of Windows and most of
these guys were die hard Windows API hackers.

Legend also has it that at this point they scrapped the ENTIRE AFX class
library, and then worked on what would become MFC 1.0... You can still see
remnants of the AFX days, many of the source files have afx prefixes and
lots of macros in MFC today still have AFX in them.

The AFX group was actually responsible for two things: the MFC library and
the IDE's support for MFC (namely, the resource editor and the wizards).
The AFX name was dropped in April 1994, and the group's members simply
became part of smaller teams within the Visual C++ group. One of those
smaller teams is today's MFC team.

I've also heard rumors that MFC was once called the MS Fulcrum Classes.

3.3. MFC 1.0

This release was simultaneously released with Microsoft C/C++ 7.0 in early
1992. It provided a very thin abstraction over the Windows API. This
initial release did not have any of the document view architecture we know
and love today, however it did lay the foundation by introducing CObject,
MFC persistence via CArchive and many other features still heavily used in
MFC today. This was a 16-bit release released in 03/92.

A 32-bit version of MFC 1.0 was released in July 1993, together with
Windows NT 3.1 and the final Win32 SDK. The files there are dated 93-07-24.
The Win32 SDK did not include Visual C++ or the MFC 2.x.

                     MFC 1.0 Introduced These Classes:

   * General:
   *
        o Cobject
        o CWinApp
        o Cmenu
        o Carchive
        o CDumpContext
        o CRuntimeClass
        o CMemoryState
        o CFileStatus
        o Cstring
        o Ctime
        o CTimeSpan
        o Cpoint
        o Crect
        o CSize
   * Exceptions:
   * Cexception
   * CMemoryException
   * CNotSupportedException
   * CArchiveException
   * CFileException
   * CResourceException
   * File Services:
   * CFile
   * CStdioFile
   * CMemFile
   * Collections:
   * CByteArray
   * CWordArray
   * CDWordArray
   * CPtrArray
   * CObArray
   * CStringArray
   * CPtrList
   * CObList
   * CStringList
   * CMapWordToPtr
   * CMapWordToOb
   * CMapPtrToWord
   * CMapPtrToPtr
   * CMapStringToPtr
   * CMapStringToOb
   * CMapStringToString
   * Graphics:
   *
        o CDC
        o CClientDC
        o CWindowDC
        o CPaintDC
        o CMetaFileDC
        o CGdiObject
        o CPen
        o CBrush
        o CFont
        o CBitmap
        o CPalette
        o CRgn
   * Windows Support:
   * CWnd
   * CFrameWnd
   * CMDIChildWnd
   * CMDIFrameWnd
   * CDialog
   * CModalDialog
   * CStatic
   * CButton
   * CEdit
   * CListBox
   * CComboBox
   * CScrollBar

3.4. MFC 2.0

MFC 2.0 was a 16-bit release that shipped with Visual C++ 1.0. It added the
Document/View framework on top of MFC 1.0 and also added OLE 1.0 classes,
message maps and common dialog classes. This was a 16-bit release released
on 02/93.

                     MFC 2.0 Introduced These Classes:

   * General:
   *
        o CCreateContext
        o CPrintInfo
        o CDataExchange
        o CCmdUI
   * Exceptions:
   * CFileException
   * COleException
   * Dialogs:

[Note CModalDialog was nuked and functionality moved to CDialog, you can
still see a #define CModalDialog CDialog in the header files]

   * CDialog [not introduced here, but revamped to be a base for common
     dlgs]
   * CFileDialog
   * CColorDialog
   * CFontDialog
   * CPrintDialog
   * CFindReplaceDialog
   * Windows Support:

[Just new derivatives of CButton/CEdit and VBX class.]

   * CButton
   * CBitmapButton
   * CEdit
   * CHEdit
   * CBEdit
   * CVBControl
   * Document Architecture:
   * CCmdTarget
   * CWinApp [Moved in hierarchy, use to be derived from CObject]
   * CDocTemplate
   * CSingleDocTemplate
   * CMultiDocTemplate
   * CDocument
   * COleDocument
   * COleClientDoc
   * COleServerDoc
   * Views:
   *
        o CView
        o CScrollView
        o CFormView
        o CEditView
   * Control Bars:
   * CControlBar
   * CToolBar
   * CStatusBar
   * CDialogBar
   * CSplitterWnd
   * OLE 1.0 Classes:
   * COleServer
   * COleTemplateServer
   * CDocItem
   * COleClientItem
   * COleServerItem

3.5. MFC 2.1

MFC 2.1 shipped with Visual C++ 1.1 for NT, it was basically a Win32 port
of MFC 2.0. It was a 32-bit release that was released on 08/93.

                MFC 2.1 Did NOT Introduce Any New Classes.

3.6. MFC 2.5

MFC 2.5 shipped with Visual C++ 1.5. It introduced the OLE 2 and ODBC
classes. It was the last 'official' 16-bit release. Released in 12/93

                     MFC 2.5 introduced these classes:

   * General: [OLE and DB related]
   *
        o CFieldExchange
        o COleDataObject
        o COleDispatchDriver
        o CRectTracker
   * Exceptions: [OLE and DB exceptions]
   * COleException
   * COleDispatchException
   * CDBException
   * Files: [New OLE File support]
   * CFile
   * COleStreamfile
   * Dialogs: [New OLE Dialogs]
   *
        o CDialog
        o COleDialog
        o COleInsertdialog
        o COleChangeIconDialog
        o COlePasteSpecialDialog
        o COleConvertDialog
        o COleBusyDialog
        o COleLinksDialog
        o COleUpdateDialog
   * Windows Support: [Some OLE additions]
   * CFrameWnd
   * COleIPFrameWnd
   * CControlBar
   * COleResizeBar
   * Document Architecture: [Significant classes added for OLE here.]
   * CCmdTarget
   * COleObjectFactory
   * COleTemplateServer
   * COleDataSource
   * COleDropSource
   * COleDropTarget
   * COleMessageFilter
   * CDocument
   * COleDocument
   * COleLinkingDoc
   * COleServerDoc
   * CDocItem
   * COleClientItem
   * COleServerItem
   * Views: [New view for DB support]
   * CView
   * CScrollView
   * CFormView
   * CRecordView
   * ODBC/Database Classes:
   * CDatabase
   * CRecordSet
   * CLongBinary

3.6.1. MFC 2.51

A point release to 2.5 (16-bit) that was a bug fix release. Shipped with
MSVC 2.0 in 9/94 with MFC 3.0 (32-bit).

3.6.2. MFC 2.52

A point release to 2.5 (16-bit) that added some of the MFC 3.0 features
such as property sheets, Winsock and MAPI support. Shipped with MSVC 2.1 in
1/95 with MFC 3.1 (32-bit).

NOTE: This is only available via the MSVC Subscription.

                          Classes added in 2.52:

   * CSocket
   * CAsyncSocket
   * CSocketFile
   * CPropertyPage
   * CPropertySheet
   * MAPI:

[Note that MAPI support was added to CDocument, no new classes]

   * CDocument::OnFileSendMail
   * CDocument::OnUpdateFileSendMail
   * COleDocument::OnFileSendMail

3.6.3. MFC 2.52b

[Excerpt from the 2.52b rel notes]

Visual C++ 1.52b includes the industry-standard Microsoft Foundation Class
Library (MFC) version 2.52b. Besides classes for OLE and database, this
version includes classes for OLE control development.

                      Bugs Fixed in Visual C++ 1.52b

Visual C++ 1.52b fixes a number of bugs from Visual C++ 1.5. Of particular
interest to most developers are the following bug fixes:

                                 MFC 2.52b

Error L2025 occurred on CWnd::DoDataExchange. This bug has been corrected.
See Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q120152 for more information.

CArchive::ReadObject sometimes caused an assertion in a CPtrArray object
because CPtrArray can hold a maximum object size of 16K in a large memory
model application. CArchive did not take the memory model into account;
since CArchive enforced a 32K limit, objects of 32K could be written but an
assertion was generated if CArchive read in more than 16K. This bug has
been corrected.

There was a memory leak in 16-bit AUX_DATA.

The three pens used in the class CPropertySheet were leaking. See Microsoft
Knowledge Base article Q128604 for more information.

The CArchive buffer pointer could wrap around the end of a segment
unintentionally. This bug has been corrected.

If AfxSockInit failed, applications sometimes produced a General Protection
Fault. This bug has been corrected. See Microsoft Knowledge Base article
Q130653 for more information.

The MAPISendMail dialog did not stay modal. This bug has been corrected.

Source file DLGPROP.CPP had non-near data. This could prevent applications
from being able to run multi-instance. This bug has been corrected.

3.6.4. MFC 2.52c

This bug-fix release shipped with Visual C++ 4.0 on a separate CDROM.

%%TODO check relnotes for details - is anyone still using this stuff?

3.7. MFC 3.0

MFC 3.0 shipped with Visual C++ 2.0 in 9/94. It introduced docking
toolbars, property sheets and template based collection classes. This was
the first release in the MSVC subscription, it was a 32-bit release.

                         Classes added in MFC 3.0:

   * Tabbed Dialog Support:
   *
        o CWnd
        o CPropertySheet
        o CDialog
        o CPropertyPage

3.8. MFC 3.1

MFC 3.1 shipped with Visual C++ 2.1 in 1/95. It introduced MAPI, WinSock
and Windows Common Controls. The MFC toolbar, status bar, etc.. still live
in MFC. This is the latest release out. It is a 32-bit release.

NOTE: Only available via MSVC subscription.

                         Classes Added in MFC 3.1:

   * MAPI: [Note that MAPI support was added to CDocument, no new classes]
   *
        o CDocument::OnFileSendMail
        o CDocument::OnUpdateFileSendMail
        o COleDocument::OnFileSendMail
   * Windows Common Controls Classes: [All of these are CWnd derived]
   * CAnimateCtrl
   * CHeaderCtrl
   * CHotkeyCtrl
   * CImageList
   * CListCtrl
   * CProgressCtrl
   * CSliderCtrl
   * CSpinButtonCtrl
   * CStatusBarCtrl
   * CTabCtrl
   * CToolBarCtrl
   * CToolTipCtrl
   * CTreeCtrl
   * WinSock Support:
   * CAsyncSocket
   * CSocket

3.9. MFC 3.2

MFC 3.2 shipped with Visual C++ 2.2 via the subscription in mid/late July.
It is a 32-bit release. Includes a 2.52b 16-bit release update.

[here's an excerpt from the release notes]

Support for Windows Common Controls in USRDLLs. In order to use the MFC
Windows Common Control classes you must link in the appropriate static
libraries, as shown in the following table:

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Library              Target

DAFXCC.LIB           Release Version

DAFXCCD.LIB          Debug Version

DAFXCCU.LIB          Release Unicode Version

DAFXCCUD.LIB         Debug Unicode Version

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Updated MFC Common Control classes that work with those controls that have
been recently released in Windows NT 3.51 and those that will be available
in Windows 95 and a future version of Win32s.

Improved common control documentation that is more complete and reflects
changes since the first implementation.

                        New MFC sample applications

   * NOTEPAD + Notepad+ is an enhanced version of Notepad. Theenhancements
     are mainly from questions our customershave been asking.
   * SAVER Saver is a screen saver written using MFC. It "morphs" the text
     "MFC" to the text "C++".
   * OLEVIEW The OLEVIEW sample is very similar to the OLE2VIEW.EXE applet
     provided in \MSVC20\BIN. The sample illustrates how to implement OLE
     Object viewers through custom OLE interfaces. These custom interfaces
     are implemented in IVIEWERS.DLL
   * BATCH BATCH is an MDI application that lets you compress different AVI
     (Audio Video Interleaved) files in different ways.
   * WORDPAD WORDPAD illustrates use of the CRichEditCtrl and CRichEditView
     classes, which encapsulate the new Rich Edit common control.

These samples are located in the SAMPLES\MFC directory of your Visual C++
installation.

                       Updated Win32 SDK Components

With the release of Windows NT 3.51 and the upcoming release of Windows 95,
the Win32 SDK has been updated to support both of these operating systems.
Changes include new header files, new import libraries, and additional
documentation. Visual C++ 2.2 includes the latest header files, import
libraries and Win32 API documentation to support writing Windows NT- and
Windows 95-compatible applications.

3.10. MFC 4.0

MFC 4.0 was released with Visual C++ 4.0 in November of 1995. Microsoft
skipped from Visual C++ 2.2 to 4.0 to synchronize numbers, which they later
broke in VC++ 5.0, but that's life I guess.

                         Classes added in MFC 4.0:

   * CSynchronize
   * CMutex
   * CEvent
   * CMultiLock
   * CShellNew - Windows 95

Visual C++ 4.0 also includes the component gallery, STL support and tons of
new features. Check out the Microsoft WWW for the details.

See FAQ section 11.24 and 13.7 for MFC/VC++ 4.0-specific questions.

3.11. MFC 4.1

The most important thing about this release is that it is the last release
that supports Win32s. There are tons of MFC developers stuck on this
release, so if you see someone posting that they are using MFC 4.1, that is
probably why. This fixed many of the 4.0 bugs and added some new Internet
features.

%%TODO - get the date and a more comprehensive list of what was new. Can't
remember if ISAPI was in here yet, but I'm pretty sure it had the "sweeper"
stuff - HTTP, gopher and ftp classes.

3.12. MFC 4.2

ISAPI classes added and actually usable OCX container support (still up for
debate IMO).

%%TODO - get the date and more features.

3.13. MFC 4.2b

MFC 4.2 had numerous bugs in the areas of the Internet classes, OLE
controls, etc.

%%TODO - again, more specifics.

3.14. MFC 4.21

Released on March 19, 1997 as part of Visual C++ 5.0, this is the latest
and greatest MFC release. The only new feature added to this release is
IntelliMouse ™ support which evidently took the better part of an
afternoon for .B ekiM to bang out. This release also includes another round
of bug fixes and I would say is by far the most stable MFC since 3.2 (this
is due to all of the new features added, which is understandable).

Unfortunately, we now have a situation where the MFC release doesn't match
VC++ - everybody on the newgroups thinks they are using MFC 5.0, which
doesn't exist. Help me set them straight!!

3.11. Table of MFC releases

Hint, MFC releases are always MSVC release - 1. This is because MFC 1.0
came out with MS C 7. This was all changed with 4.0 of course, now the
formula is much easier: MSVC release = MFC release, well until VC++ 5.0
came out <sigh>.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

MFC Release      MSVC Release       16 or 32 Bit   Notes

1.0                                 16             Just thin Windows coverage

2.0              1.0                16             Document/Views added

2.1              1.1 for NT         32             First 32-bit release for NT

2.5              1.5                16             OLE/ODBC, last 16-bit release

2.51             2.0                16             Bug fixes

2.52             2.1                16             Adds prop sheets to 2.5

2.52b            2.2                16             Shipped in July '95, bug fixes

2.5c             4.0                16             Shipped in Nov '95, bug fixes

3.0              2.0                32             Property sheets, dock toolbars

3.1              2.1                32             Winsock/MAPI, Win comctrls

3.2              2.2                32             Shipped in July '95,more comctrls

4.0              4.0                32             Win 95, thread classes, OCX containers

4.1              4.1                32             Tons of bug fixes, sweeper (WinInet) classes

**Above was last release to support Win32s.

4.2              4.2                32             More bug fixes, ISAPI classes

4.2b             internet dl        32             Lots-o-bug-fixes!

4.21             5.0                32             IntelliMouse™ support.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Generic Class Questions

4.1. CException - Exceptions and exception handling.

4.1.1. How do I throw a CUserException derived exception?

When I try to catch a derived exception I get the following error: error
C2039: 'classCMyException' : is not a member of 'CMyException'
'classCMyException' : undeclared identifier 'IsKindOf' : cannot convert
parameter 1 from 'int*' to 'const struct CRuntimeClass*'

You need to make your CMyException class dynamically creatable using the
DECLARE_DYNAMIC() and IMPLEMENT_DYNAMIC() macros. The CATCH macro expects
to be able to access run-time information about the thrown class.

- [e-mail], Mike B, 6/5/95, comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.misc

4.1.2. Do my exceptions have to be derived from CUserException?

No: The "User" in CUserException simply means that the exception is caused
by

user actions. It is a common misperception that this is the only exception
you can derive from.

[e-mail] via email 11/23/95

------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. GDI Class Questions

5.1. CDC

5.1.1. How do I create a CDC from a HDC?

Sometimes the Windows API will just give you a handle to a DC and you might
want to create a CDC from that. On example is owner-drawn lists, combos and
buttons. You will receive a draw item message with a hDC. Here's some code
to turn that hdc into the more familiar CDC.

You can use this technique for any of the other MFC class/ Windows handle
pairs too.

void MyODList::DrawItem(LPDRAWITEMSTRUCT lpDrawItem){       CDC myDC;

       myDC.Attach(lpDrawItem->hDC);

       //Do more stuff here

       //If you don't detach, it will get deleted and windows will

       //not be happy if you delete it's dc..

       myDC.Detach();

}

Another approach is to call the CDC FromHandle method:

          CDC * pDC = CDC:FromHandle(lpDrawItem->hDC);

It's not clear which is 'better', FromHandle() is less error prone because
you do not have to remember to 'detach'.

[e-mail] (Jim McCabe) 6/5/95

5.2. CBitmap

5.2.1. How do I read a 256 color bitmap file from disk?

Currently, MFC does not contain direct support for reading and displaying
DIBs or BMPs. However, there are a number of sample applications that
illustrate just how to do this.

The first sample is the MFC sample application DIBLOOK. The MULTDOCS sample
uses the same source code provided by DIBLOOK to read and display DIBs and
BMPs.

Two other examples provided with Visual C++ are the SDK samples DIBVIEW and
SHOWDIB.

Question posted on comp.lang.c++, 6/5/95, found this in MS FAQ, 6/25/95

------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. Window, Control, and Dialogs Class Questions

6.1. Windows

6.1.1. How can I use a custom icon for a window?

The Microsoft Foundation Class Library stores icons for the main frame
window and the MDI frame window as resources. The icon with resource ID
AFX_IDI_STD_MDIFRAME is the icon for the MDI frame window, and the icon
with resource ID AFX_IDI_STD_FRAME is the icon for the main frame window.
To replace these icons in your application, add an icon to your resources
file with theappropriate ID.

The application specifies the icon for a view in an MDI child window when
it creates the template. The application uses the icon with the specified
resource ID when the user minimizes the MDI child window that contains the
corresponding view.

This technique allows you to specify one icon for the application to
associate with these windows. Windows also supports dynamically painting a
minimized window. To do this with MFC, use AfxRegisterWndClass() to
register a window class with a NULL icon handle. Override the
PreCreateWindow() function in the window class for the dynamically painted
icon and copy the name returned by AfxRegisterWndClass() into the
lpszClassName member of the CREATESTRUCT. This creates the window using the
class that has a NULL icon. When the user minimizes this window, the icon
receives WM_PAINT messages that it can process to display information
appropriately. To do so, override the OnPaint() message handler and call
the IsIconic() function to see if the window is minimized. If so, create a
CPaintDC object and use it to draw on the icon. If the window is not
minimized, call the base class version of OnPaint() to update the window
normally.

MSVC Knowledge Base 6/4/94

6.1.2. How do I change the styles for a window that's created by MFC?

To change the default window attributes used by a framework application
created in AppWizard, override the window's PreCreateWindow() virtual
member function. PreCreateWindow() allows an application to access the
creation process normally processed internally by the CDocTemplate class.
The framework calls PreCreateWindow() just prior to creating the window. By
modifying the CREATESTRUCT structure parameter to PreCreateWindow(), your
application can change the attributes used to create the window.

The CTRLBARS sample application, provided with the Microsoft Foundation
Class Library version 2.0, demonstrates this technique to change window
attributes. Note that depending on what your application changes in
PreCreateWindow(), it may be necessary to call the base class
implementation. For more information, see MSVC knowledge base article
Q99847.

MSVC Knowledge Base 6/7/95

6.1.3. How do I get the minimal size of a window using MFC?

Write a handler for WM_GETMINMAXINFO.

[e-mail], Mike Blaszczak, 6/12/95 via programmer.misc

6.1.4. How do I change a Window's title?

 AfxGetApp()->m_pMainWnd->SetWindowText("My Window Title");

                            -or-

AfxGetMainWnd()->SetWindowText ( "My Own Title" ) ;

[e-mail], mfc-l, 7/9/95

6.1.5. How do I get rid of 'Untitled' in my main window caption?

Override the PreCreateWindow() function in your MainFrame class and do the
following in it..

cs.style &= ~FWS_ADDTOTITLE ;

You can also set the initial window position (cs.x, cs.y, cs.cx, cs.cy)
this way and change your class (cs.lpszClass) this way! Remember to call
CFrameWnd::PreCreateWindow at the end...

[e-mail], programmer.misc, 7/29/95

6.1.6. How do I maximize my MDI child?

void CMainFrame::ActivateFrame(int nCmdShow){       if (!m_bActivated)

       {           m_bActivated = TRUE;            nCmdShow = SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED;       }

       CFrameWnd::ActivateFrame(nCmdShow);}

where m_bActivated is a member variable of your frame object.

[e-mail], programmer.win32, 8/3/95

6.1.7. Why does focus go nutso with a CSplitterWnd?

Whenever I move the splitter bar, the I-beam cursor in my edit control goes
away. I have to click again in the edit control to get back the cursor.

The following Knowledge Base Article (GO MSKB on CIS) explains the focus
problem associated with splitter windows and a couple of work-arounds to
the problem. This may be of help to you.

ID: Q108434

FIX: CSplitterWnd Class Does Not Handle All Focus Cases

Ramesh, NetQuest., MSMFC, 8/3/95



6.1.8. How do I make my first MDI child window start out maximized?

Here is a solution which works for me:

class CChildFrame : public CMDIChildWnd

{

        // .. stuff deleted ...

        // This makes the MDI child maximized.

          virtual void ActivateFrame(int nCmdShow) {

            // if another window is open, use default

            if(GetMDIFrame()->MDIGetActive())

                CMDIChildWnd::ActivateFrame(nCmdShow);

            else

                CMDIChildWnd::ActivateFrame(SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED); // else open maximized.

  }

// ... stuff deleted ...

};

- Stephen Bade, [e-mail]

6.2. Controls

6.2.1. How do I get a CControl from a Dialog Template?

You can get a pointer to a control from a already created dialog control by
doing a simple typecast of the results from GetDlgItem. Here's an example
that creates a CButton from a checkbox with ID : IDC_CHECK1.

void my_function(CDialog * pDialog){       CButton * pButton = (CButton *)pDialog->GetDlgItem(IDC_CHECK1);

       ASSERT(pButton != NULL);

       pButton->SetCheck(m_bShowState);

}

Note that it's always safer to check for the validity of the results from
GetDlgItem.

[e-mail], 6/1/95

6.2.2. How do I subclass a control using MFC?

Read the documentation on SubClassDlgItem. Here's an example of how to call
it:

BOOL CMyDialog::OnInitDialog(){        //Do your subclassing first.

        m_MyControl.SubClassDlgItem(ID_MYCONTROL, this);

        //Let the base class do its thing.        CDialog::OnInitDialog();

        // Perhaps do some more stuff        // Be sure to call Ctl3d last, or it will cause        // assertions from multiple subclassing.

        Ctl3dSubclassDlg(m_hWnd, CTL3D_ALL);}

Mike Williams, [e-mail], mfc-l 6/1/95

6.2.3. Why do I get an ASSERT when I subclass a control?

Make sure that you subclass the control BEFORE you call Ctl3dSubclassDlg,
if the 3-d control DLL is loaded first, it will already have subclassed
your controls and you will get an assert.

Mike Williams, [e-mail], mfc-l 6/1/95

6.2.4. How do I validate the contents of a control when it loses focus?

NOTE: This is in the Microsoft Software Library.

The FCSVAL sample application was created to show how an application can do
control-by-control validation in a dialog box.

The application itself is just a modal dialog box displayed by the
CWinApp::InitInstance(). After displaying the dialog box, InitInstance()
simply quits the application.

The important part of the sample takes place in the dialog-box class
implementation: There are two edit controls. The first takes input of an
integer between 1 and 20. The second takes a character string as input with
length less than or equal to 5. When you Tab or mouse-click from control to
control within the displayed dialog box, the contents of the control that
is losing focus are validated.

                            The CFocusDlg Class

The application's functionality centers around the CFocusDlg class and its
implementation of four message handlers (discussed below). Normal data
exchange (DDX) and validation (DDV) using the routines provided by MFC take
place in OnInitialUpdate(), when the dialog box is first displayed, and
when the user chooses the OK button to accept the input. This is default
behavior provided by ClassWizard when member variables are connected to
dialog-box controls and can be examined in the dialog class
DoDataExchange() function.

Validating control contents when switching focus from one control to the
next is done by handling the EN_KILLFOCUS notification sent by the edit
control that is losing focus. The idea here is to check the contents and,
if they are not valid, to display the message box, inform the user, and
then set the focus back to the control from which it came. Unfortunately,
some difficulties arise when trying to set the focus (or display the
message boxes) within a killfocus message handler. At this point, Windows
is in an indeterminate state as it is moving focus from one control to the
other. This is a bad place to do the validation and SetFocus() call.

The solution here is to post a user-defined message to the dialog box
(parent) and do the validation and SetFocus() there, thus waiting for a
safer time to do the work. (See "CFocusDlg::OnEditLostFocus()" in the file
FOCUSDLG.CPP and "WM_EDITLOSTFOCUS user-defined message" in the file
FOCUSDLG.H.)Another thing you will notice about this function is that it
uses TRY/CATCH to do the validation. The provided DDX/DDV routines throw
CUserExceptions when failing to validate or load a control's data. You
should catch these and do the SetFocus() in the CATCH block.

Note: This sample has other cool stuff, but this is the major one I've seen
asked about on the Net.

MS FAQ, 6/25/95

6.2.5. How do I enable/disable a bank of checkboxes?

I don't know about a magic way to do this using a single HWND, but there is
a simple and self-documenting technique that I've been using for a long
time. You can make a routine that accepts an array of UINTs (your control
IDs) and a visibility flag.This function can be a stand-alone function, or
you can put it inside a class. I have been collecting little utility
functions like this and keep them in a CDialogBase class -- when I create a
new dialog box in ClassWizard, I fix up the code to derive from CDialogBase
instead of CDialog.

For example, the function might look like this:

void CDialogBase::ShowControls(UINT* pControls, UINT cControls, BOOL fVisible)

{

        for (UINT uIndex = 0; uIndex < cControls; uIndex++)

        {              CWnd* pwnd = GetDlgItem(pControls[uIndex]);

                if (pwnd)

                {

                        pwnd->ShowWindow(fVisible ? SW_SHOW : SW_HIDE);

                        pwnd->EnableWindow(fVisible);

                }

        }

}

Then later, often in your OnInitDialog handler, you can call this function
with your control group:

#define SIZEOF_ARRAY(a) (sizeof(a) / sizeof(a[0]))

{

        static UINT aGroup1[] = { DLG_CHBOX1, DLG_CHBOX2,

                        DLG_STATIC1 };

        static UINT aGroup2[] = { DLG_LABEL2, DLG_LABEL7 };

        ShowControls(aGroup1, SIZEOF_ARRAY(aGroup1), TRUE);

        ShowControls(aGroup2, SIZEOF_ARRAY(aGroup2), FALSE);

}

You can find many uses for these control arrays later too... (Changing
fonts in a series of controls, etc...) Good luck,

[e-mail], mfc-l, 7/18/95

6.2.6. How do I change the background color of a control?

Your dialog can trap the WM_CTLCOLOR message, look up the MFC help file
notes for CWnd::OnCtlColor(). Before a control is about to paint itself,
the parent window receives a chance to set its own default text color and
background brush.

[e-mail], mfc-l, 7/18/95

Also check out the MS KB article ID: Q117778 TITLE: Changing the Background
Color of an MFC Edit Control.

Ramesh, MSMFC, 7/19/95

6.2.7. How do I trap the key for my control?

Handle WM_GETDLGCODE and return the appropriate value. Remember that the
listbox (or any other control) can only handle keyboard input when it has
the focus.

[e-mail], programmer.misc, 8/21/95, programmer.misc

6.2.8. How can I DDX with a multiple selection listbox?

Download MLBDDX.ZIP from the MSMFC library on CIS. You'll get all the
necessary code. When the dialog closes, a provided CStringList will be
filled with the selected items. Freeware.

-Patrick Philippot, CIS email, 8/3/95

6.2.9. How do I change the background color of a BUTTON???

NOTE: THE METHOD IN 6.2.6 WILL NOT WORK FOR BUTTONS!

If you want to change the color of a dialog button, you have to use
owner-draw button. (you can use bitmap buttons) Changing the color through
OnCtlColor() will not work for buttons. The following Knowledge Base
articles (GO MSKB on CIS) may be of help to you.

ID: Q32685 TITLE: Using the WM_CTLCOLOR Message

ID: Q64328 SAMPLE: Owner-Draw: 3-D Push Button Made from Bitmaps with Text

This article explains sample code for a owner-draw button.

Ramesh, NetQuest., MSMFC, 8/3/95

6.2.10. Why isn't CEdit putting things on separate lines?

Make sure that the lines are separated with \r\n, not just \n.

[e-mail], mfc-l, 8/7/95

6.2.11. How do I get to the CEdit in a combobox?

        CComboCox combo;

        CEdit edit;

        // combobox creation ...

        // ...

        POINT tmpPoint = {1,1};

        edit.SubclassWindow( combo.ChildWindowFromPoint(tmpPoint)

        ->GetSafeHwnd());

[e-mail], mfc-l, 8/25/95

Or:

Look into the mfc sample - npp - npview.cpp! Turns out all combo's create
their edits

with an ID of 1001 (decimal) so - if pComboBox is the pWnd object pointing
to the combo - all you need is:

         pComboBox->GetDlgItem(1001);

6.2.12. How do I load more than 64K into an edit control?

The Rich Edit Control available in VC++ 2.1+ supports much more than 64k.
The Wordpad sample is a great way to learn more about this subject. If
you're stuck with 16-bit programming, I think that magma systems has a
16-bit DLL that does this. Contact Marc Adler at: [e-mail]
for details.

[e-mail]

6.2.13. How do I subclass the listbox portion of a combobox?

The listbox portion of a combobox is of type COMBOLBOX ( notice the 'L').

Because the ComboLBox window is not a child of the ComboBox window, it is

not obvious how to subclass the COMBOLBOX control. Luckily, under the Win32

API, Windows sends a message to the COMBOBOX ( notice no 'L') called

WM_CTLCOLORLISTBOX before the listbox is drawn. The lParam passed with this

message contains the handle of the listbox. For example:

LRESULT CFileUpdateCombo::OnCtlColorListBox(WPARAM wParam,

LPARAM lParam)

{

        if ( ! m_bSubclassedListBox )

{

                        HWND hWnd = (HWND)lParam;

                        CWnd* pWnd = FromHandle(hWnd);

                        if ( pWnd && pWnd != this )

                        {

                                // m_ListBox is derived from CListBox

                                m_ListBox.SubclassWindow(hWnd );

                                m_ListBox.SetOwner(this);

                                m_bSubclassedListBox = TRUE;

                        }

        }

        return (LRESULT)GetStockObject(WHITE_BRUSH);

}

[e-mail], email, 9/7/95

6.2.14. How do I inherit a from a MFC standard control class and provide
initialization code that works on both subclassed and non-subclassed
controls?

[ed note: Ok, this probably isn't a FAQ, but I thought it sounded pretty
cool.]

I have a fix, but you may not like it; however, it takes care of both
subclassing methods.

If SubclassWindow() was virtual, all problems would be solved, as
SubclassDlgItem calls SubclassWindow(), and common initialization could be
called from this point, and from OnCreate(). Even better would be a virtual
SetupWindow() function called from all initialization points by Microsoft's
code.

C'est la vie. My fix might slow the message loop for the control in
question, but so far I haven't seen any performance hits. Over-ride the
virtual function WindowProc() for your control something like the following
(call SetupWindow() in OnCreate() also):

LRESULT CExtendControl::WindowProc( UINT message, WPARAM wParam,

 LPARAM lParam)

{

        if (!m_bSetup)

                SetupWindow();

        return CEdit::WindowProc(message, wParam, lParam );

}

//This is a virtual function. Use it for Hwnd setup in all inherited

//classes. It will work for a subclassed window.

void CExtendControl::SetupWindow()

{

        ASSERT( m_hWnd );

        m_bSetup = TRUE;

        *** Insert Initialization Code here!***

}

Jody Power ([e-mail])

6.3. Dialogs

6.3.1. How do I center my dialog?

Use the CWnd::CenterWindow method accomplish this. I usually put it in my
OnInitDialog overloaded function. Since CDialog is an ancestor of CWnd, you
can call the method directly:

 BOOL CMyDialog::OnInitDialog()

{      //Perform any other dialog initialization up here.

        CenterWindow();

        return TRUE;

}

[e-mail], 6/1/95.

6.3.2. How do I get the 'old style' common dialogs on win95?

MFC detects if it is running on Win95, and if so, replaces the standard
FileOpen Dialog with an explorer version of the FileOpen Dialog. You can
prevent MFC from using this "explorer" version by adding the following line
to your CFileDialog derived class constructor:

        m_ofn.Flags &= ~OFN_EXPLORER;

[e-mail] (Andy DeWolfe), via programmer.win32, 5/10/95

6.3.3. How do I subclass a win95 common dialog?

You can do it but Microsoft has made it much more difficult in Win95. You
need to create a "child dialog template" (with the WS_CHILD style) and set
it to m_ofn.lpTemplateName (making sure m_ofn.hInstance is set to your app
instance). This template must *only* contain the controls that you are
adding to the dialog (ie. NOT the whole dialog with the standard controls
duplicated as in Win3.x).

When the dialog is invoked, your template will appear (by default) below
the regular file dialog controls. If you put a static control with id stc32
(defined in include\dlgs.h), the common dialog code will rearrange things
so that the original controls will appear wherever your put the stc32
control (you don't have to size it to match the common dlg code will do
that for you).

You will need to supply m_ofn.lpfnHook and handle your additional controls
through the hook proc. Note that since the system puts your dialog template
ON TOP of the normal dialog, MFC message routing won't get to your controls
so you can't code them through a message map in your CFileDialog
derivative. If anybody has found a way around this, I'd love to hear it!!

This is very messy and Microsoft knows it. They promise a fix in MFC
4.0.[ed. note: This is much nicer in 4.0. There are virtuals to override
for getting callbacks, plus it even handles the old and new style templates
- pretty clever stuff!]

[e-mail], Joe Janakovic, via programmer.win32, 6/10/95

6.3.4. CDialog::Create() fails, what could be wrong?

   * Invalid HWND passed as a parent
   * Invalid dialog resource ID passed (be careful about numeric IDsvs.
     string IDs -- be careful with #define ID_MYDIALOG 0x1234 -- it isa
     "string" ID to the resource compiler).
   * One or more controls on your dialog could not be created, usually
   * Because of the use of a custom control that was not registered.
   * Calling EndDialog during the OnInitDialog message (or some
     otherhandler called early in the game)!
   * NULL HWND passed as parent when dialog has WS_CHILD style

That's about all I can think of right now,

Dean McCrory, MSMFC, 6/16/95

6.3.5. How do I create a toolbar/statusbar in a dialog?

There's a sample in the Microsoft Software Library, DLGCBR, that
demonstrates how to do this. Basically there's four steps, outlined and
then coded belowàà

To add a control bar to a dialog, you must create the control bar as usual,
and then make room for the control bar within the client area of the
dialog. For the control bar to function properly, the dialog must duplicate
some of the functionality of frame windows. If you want
ON_UPDATE_COMMAND_UI handlers to work for the control bars, you also need
to derive new control bar classes, and handle the WM_IDLEUPDATECMDUI
message. If your dialog is not the main window of your application, you
will also need to modify its parent frame window to pass the
WM_IDLEUPDATECMDUI message on to the dialog's control bars.

To make room for a control bar within the client area of the dialog, follow
these steps in your dialog's OnInitDialog() function:

1. Create the control bars.

                CRect rcClientStart;

                CRect rcClientNow;

                GetClientRect(rcClientStart);

                RepositionBars(AFX_IDW_CONTROLBAR_FIRST,

                                        AFX_IDW_CONTROLBAR_LAST,

                                        0,reposQuery,

                                        rcClientNow);

2. Figure out how much room the control bars will take by using the
reposQuery option of RepositionBars():

                CPoint ptOffset(rcClientStart.left - rcClientNow.left,

                                        rcClientStart.top - rcClientNow.top);

                ptOffset.y += ::GetSystemMetrics(SM_CYMENU);

                CRect rcChild;

                CWnd* pwndChild = GetWindow(GW_CHILD);

                while (pwndChild)

                {

                        pwndChild->GetWindowRect(rcChild);

                        rcChild.OffsetRect(ptOffset);

                        pwndChild->MoveWindow(rcChild, FALSE);

                        pwndChild = pwndChild->GetNextWindow();

                }

3. Move all the controls in your dialog to account for space used by
control bars at the top or left of the client area. If your dialog contains
a menu, you also need to account for the space used by the menu:4. Increase
the dialog window dimensions by the amount of space used by the control
bars:

                CRect rcWindow;

                GetWindowRect(rcWindow);

                rcWindow.right += rcClientStart.Width()

                         - rcClientNow.Width();

                rcWindow.bottom += rcClientStart.Height() -

                        rcClientNow.Height();

                MoveWindow(rcWindow, FALSE);

5. Position the control bars using RepositionBars().

To update the first pane of a status bar with menu item text, you must
handle WM_MENUSELECT, WM_ENTERIDLE, and WM_SETMESSAGESTRING in your dialog
class. You need to duplicate the functionality of the CFrameWnd handlers
for these messages. See the CModelessMain class in the sample program for
examples of these message handlers.

To allow ON_UPDATE_COMMAND_UI handlers to work for other status bar panes
and for toolbar buttons, you must derive new control bar classes and
implement a message handler for WM_IDLEUPDATECMDUI. This is necessary
because the default control bar implementations of OnUpdateCmdUI() assume
the parent window is a frame window. However, it doesn't do anything but
pass the parent window pointer on to a function which only requires a
CCmdTarget pointer. Therefore, you can temporarily tell OnUpdateCmdUI()
that the parent window pointer you are giving it is a CFrameWnd pointer to
meet the compiler requirements. Here's an example:

LRESULT CDlgToolBar::OnIdleUpdateCmdUI(WPARAM wParam,LPARAM lParam)

{

        if (IsWindowVisible())

        {

                CFrameWnd* pParent = (CFrameWnd*)GetParent();

                if (pParent)

                        OnUpdateCmdUI(pParent, (BOOL)wParam);

        }

        return 0L;

}

To pass WM_IDLEUPDATECMDUI messages on to dialogs other than the main
window, save dialog pointers in your frame window class and create a
WM_IDLEUPDATECMDUI handler in that class. The handler should send the
WM_IDLEUPDATECMDUI message on to the dialog child windows by using
CWnd::SendMessageToDescendants(). Then perform default processing for the
message within the frame window.

MS FAQ 6/25/95

6.3.6. Why isn't my CDialog::PreCreateWindow() getting called?

PreCreateWindow does not get called when you create a dialog box. If you
would like to init some data/controls for a dialog box you have to trap the
OnInitDialog message and do you stuff there. PreCreateWindow is use to
modify params for a window that you are creating.

[e-mail], mfc-l, 7/12/95

6.3.7. How do I embed a common dialog in a property page?

This question comes up frequently on the "MFC" forum of CompuServe and the
simple answer - unfortunately - is that there is no way to do it :-(

[e-mail], programmer.win32, 7/12/95

6.3.8. Why can't I DDX/DDV to initialize my CDialog controls?

You can't do anything with the dialog controls until your dialog is created
- which doesn't happen until DoModal(). The standard way of overcoming the
problems is to create member variables for the data, initialise them before
calling DoModal and then transfer the values in OnInitDialog. Or perhaps in
UpdateData(). Much like the ClassWizard member variables does it.

So have your dialog include a CStringList or CStringArray, put the values
for the listbox in that and transfer them to the listbox in OnInitDialog.
[etc...]

[e-mail], programmer.controls, 7/11/95

Init your dialog in OnInitDialog. If neccessary pass a pointer to your
document to the constructor of your dialog (and save it in a
private/protected m_pDoc member).

[e-mail], programmer.controls, 7/11/95

6.3.9. How do I change the captions of a CPropertyPage?

You can change the label before adding the page to the property sheet in
the following way. You have to derive a class from CPropertyPage and add a
public function SetCaption which sets the caption.

void CPage1::SetCaption(char *str)

{

        m_strCaption = str; // m_strCaption is protected member of

        //CPropertyPage

}

Now you can us the SetCaption() function in the following way.

CMySheet my("My PropSheet");

CPage1 p1;

p1.SetCaption(str); // Setting the caption

my.AddPage(&p1);

CAnotherSheet newps("New Sheet");

CPage1 p2;

p2.SetCaption(newstr);

newps.AddPage(&p2);

my.DoModal();

Ramesh, NetQuest., MSMFC 8/3/95

6.3.10. How do I trap F1 in my dialog?

The following Knowledge Base Article explains a way to trap the WM_KEYDOWN
messages in the dialog box.

ID: Q117563, TITLE: How to Trap WM_KEYDOWN Messages in a CDialog

The next article explains how to provide context sensitive help in a
dialog. It also points to sample code.

ID: Q110506, SAMPLE: Context Sensitive Help in a CDialog

Ramesh, NetQuest., MSMFC, 8/31/95

6.3.11. How do I change the icon for a dialog-only MFC application?

Add the following code to the InitInstance() for the CWinApp derived class:

BOOL CDialogTestApp::InitInstance()

{

        //à

#if(_MFC_VER >= 0x0300)

        SetClassLong(m_pMainWnd->m_hWnd,GCL_HICON,

                (LONG)LoadIcon(IDC_ICONDIALOGAPP));

#else

        SetClassWord(m_pMainWnd->m_hWnd,GCW_HICON,

                (WORD)LoadIcon(IDC_ICONDIALOGAPP));

#endif

        //à

        m_pMainWnd->ShowWindow(m_nCmdShow);

        return TRUE;

}

6.4. Control bars, status bars, toolbars, dialog bars.

6.4.1. How do I add a combobox to my toolbar?

You can do this using the CToolBar::SetButtonInfo() method. The MFC sample
ctrlbars shows how to do this in file mainfrm.cpp. Basically you call
SetButtonInfo to create a blank space (TBBS_SEPARATOR)for the combo box,
with the resource ID of the help and tool tip for the

combobox. You then use GetItemRect to get the bounding rectangle of the
combobox, and create a combobox window of your own in that space.

[e-mail], 6/1/95 [e-mail] - updated.

6.4.2. How do I update the text of a pane in a status bar?

By default, a CStatusBar pane is not enabled when the pane is created. To
activate a pane, you must call the ON_UPDATE_COMMAND_UI() macro for each
pane on the status bar and update the panes. Because panes do not send
WM_COMMAND messages, you cannot use ClassWizard to activate panes; you must
type the code manually. For example, suppose one pane has ID_INDICATOR_PAGE
as its identifier and that it contains the current page number in a
document. To make the ID_INDICATOR_PAGE pane display text, add the
following to a header file (probably the MAINFRM.H file):

 afx_msg void OnUpdatePage(CCmdUI *pCmdUI);

Add the following to the application message map:

 ON_UPDATE_COMMAND_UI(ID_INDICATOR_PAGE, OnUpdatePage)

Add the following to a source code file (probably MAINFRM.CPP):

 void CMainFrame::OnUpdatePage(CCmdUI *pCmdUI)

{

        pCmdUI->Enable();

}

To display text in the panes, either call SetPaneText() or call
CCmdUI::SetText() in the OnUpdate() function. For example, you might want
to set up an integer variable m_nPage that contains the current page
number. Then, the OnUpdatePage() function might read as follows:

void CMainFrame::OnUpdatePage(CCmdUI *pCmdUI)

{

        pCmdUI->Enable();

        char szPage[16];

        wsprintf((LPSTR)szPage, "Page %d", m_nPage);

        pCmdUI->SetText((LPSTR)szPage);

}

This technique causes the page number to appear in the pane during idle
processing in he same manner that the application updates other indicators.

MSVC Knowledge Base 6/4/94

6.4.3. How do I make my CToolBar customizable at run-time?

You might consider reading article "CToolBarCtrl :Handling Customization
Notifications" in the Product Documentation of VC++ 2.1.

Here is the relevant extract :

"A Windows toolbar common control has built-in customization features,
including a system-defined customization dialog box, which allow the user
to insert, delete, or rearrange toolbar buttons. The application determines
whether the customization features are available and controls the extent to
which the user can customize the tolbar. These customization features are
available in the CToolBarCtrl class but not in the current CToolBar class.

You can make these customization features available to the user by giving
the toolbar the CCS_ADJUSTABLE style. The customization features allow the
user to drag a button to a new position or to remove a button by dragging
it off the toolbar. In addition, the user can double-click the toolbar to
display the Customize Toolbar dialog box, which allows the user to add,
delete, and rearrange toolbar buttons. The application can display the
dialog box by using the Customize member function."

R.Rajendran (NetQuest), [e-mail],

MSMFC Forum, May-9-95

If you want to make a standard MFC CToolbar customizable, you can download
CUSBAR.ZIP from the MSMFC library on Compuserve. This package implements
CCustomTolbar, the run-time customizable toolbar and also provides the
necessary user tools (customization dialog box including the code for a
bitmapped listbox). Freeware.

Patrick Philippot, 8/3/95 via email on CSERVE

6.4.4. How do I turn off the toolbar or status bar?

You can turn the status bar off in any of your views (i.e. in the
OnViewStatusBar() method you describe above) with the following code:

if( ((CMainFrame*)GetParent())->m_wndToolBar.IsWindowVisible() )

{

        GetParent()->SendMessage(WM_COMMAND, ID_VIEW_TOOLBAR, 0L);

}

if( ((CMainFrame*)GetParent())->m_wndStatusBar.IsWindowVisible() )

{

        GetParent()->SendMessage(WM_COMMAND, ID_VIEW_STATUS_BAR, 0L);

}

Use 1L instead of 0L for the SendMessage's lParam to turn the bars on.

[e-mail] via mfc-l, 5/16/95

6.4.5. How do I create a toolbar/statusbar in a dialog?

See section 6.3.5. of this FAQ



6.4.6. Why doesn't MFC support the new controls provided by IE?

6.4.7. Why doesn't MFC have toolbars like the Office 97 applications?

6.4.8. Why doesn't MFC support command bar menus like the Visual C++ IDE?



A: The new user interface style provided by IE is implemented by a version
of COMCTL32.DLL that's still in beta. The beta import library, DLL, and
documentation is available in the ActiveX 3.01 SDK and is available for
download from Microsoft's web site. Since the controls are still in beta,
MFC doesn't support them. When they're available in their final version,
you can assume that a version of MFC that supports them will be
forthcoming.

The IDE and the Office applications do not use the COMCTL32.DLL
implementations of those controls, and therefore aren't concerned

with the release state of the system implementation library.

-.B ekiM - [e-mail].

Note: the IE control is called Rebar and there was a very good MSJ article
about it. It is useful ONLY if you want to implement IE3/4 style toolbars.
The toolbars in VC++ 5.x and Office 97 are different - they are called
Command bars. THEY ARE NOT REBARS - the differences?

   * Rebars "slide" around.
   * Rebars aren't customizable (to my knowledge)
   * Command bars have cool floating menus too (rebar may do this
     eventually)
   * Command bars are less clunky.
   * Command bars don't have a transparent background.
   * Command bars are implemented inside of Office97/DevStudio - they are
     not available for developers to use, Rebar will be as part of a common
     control DLL.
   * Both have a "cool" or "flat" look and feel where the button reacts to
     the mouse movement by displaying a border.
   * I don't think Rebars are vertically dockable.

If you want to play with rebar you need the files COMMCTRL.H and
COMCTL32.LIB that comes with the ActiveX SDK available at
http://www.microsoft.com/intedev/sdk/.

Also, for more information take a look at the REBAR-Sample available at

http://www.microsoft.com/win32dev/ui/rebar.htm

FYI, Stingray Software has implemented Office97/DevStudio style command
bars in Objective Toolkit - check out the demo at http://www.stingsoft.com
. Right now we only have the toolbar working, but a future release will
have complete menus too!



6.5. Menus

6.5.1. How do I get a pointer to the menu bar in a MDI app?

QUESTION:

I'm writing a MDI application and I have problems to get a pointer to the
actual menu bar. The normal construction doesn't seem to work in MDI:

                CMenu *menu;

                menu = GetMenu()->GetSubMenu(0);

How can I get a pointer to the menu bar to update the menu?ANSWER:

                AfxGetApp()->m_pMainWnd->GetMenu()->GetSubMenu(n);

[e-mail], Mitch Mlinar, 6/8/95

6.5.2. How do I implement a right-mouse popup-menu?

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

// WM_RBUTTONDOWN handler.

//

// Trap this message and display the button properties popup menu.

// The main frame receives the popup menu messages. This allows the

// status bar to be updated with the help text.

// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

void CAppButton::OnRButtonDown(UINT flags, CPoint point)

{

        CMenu menu;

        CMenu *submenu;

        // load the menu

        menu.LoadMenu(IDR_LAUNCH);

        // get the popup menu

        submenu = menu.GetSubMenu(0);

        // convert to screen coordinates

        ClientToScreen(&point);

        // post the menu

        submenu->TrackPopupMenu(TPM_LEFTALIGN|TPM_RIGHTBUTTON,

                                                point.x,        point.y,

                                                AfxGetApp()->m_pMainWnd,NULL);

}

[e-mail], programmer.win32, 7/12/95

It's better to use RBUTTONUP instead, however right-clicking on dialog
controls doesn't generate RBUTTONUP and RBUTTONDOWN messages.

If it's necessary to treat this situation too, a program have to catch
WM_PARENTNOTIFY message in Win3.x and WinNT and WM_CONTEXTMENU in Windows
95. Here's a code:

// May be dialog too:

BEGIN_MESSAGE_MAP(CMyPropertyPage, CPropertyPage)

        //{{AFX_MSG_MAP(CMyPropertyPage)

        ON_WM_RBUTTONUP()

        ON_WM_PARENTNOTIFY()

        ON_MESSAGE(WM_CONTEXTMENU, OnContextMenu)

        //}}AFX_MSG_MAP

END_MESSAGE_MAP()

void CMyPropertyPage::OnRButtonUp(UINT nFlags, CPoint point)=20

{

        PopupMenu (&point);

}

void CMyPropertyPage::OnParentNotify(UINT message, LPARAM lParam)

{

        if (message !=3D WM_RBUTTONDOWN)

                CPropertyPage::OnParentNotify(message, lParam);

        else

        {

                CPoint pt(LOWORD(lParam),HIWORD(lParam));

                PopupMenu (&pt);

        }

}

LONG CMyPropertyPage::OnContextMenu (UINT wParam, LONG lParam)

{

        CPoint pt(LOWORD(lParam),HIWORD(lParam));

        ScreenToClient (&pt);

        PopupMenu (&pt);

        return 0;

}

//*****************************************************************

void CMyPropertyPage::PopupMenu(CPoint* pt)

{

        ASSERT(m_idContextMenu !=3D 0);

        ASSERT(nSubMenu >=3D 0);

        ClientToScreen (pt);

        CMenu FloatingMenu;

        VERIFY(FloatingMenu.LoadMenu(ID_POPUP_MENU));

        CMenu* pPopupMenu =3D FloatingMenu.GetSubMenu (0);

        ASSERT(pPopupMenu !=3D NULL);

        pPopupMenu->TrackPopupMenu (TPM_LEFTALIGN | TPM_RIGHTBUTTON,=20

                pt->x, pt->y, this);

}

[e-mail] - via email, 10/15/95

6.5.3. How do I dynamically change the mainframe menu?

        CMenu newMenu;

        newMenu.LoadMenu (IDR_MENU1);

        AfxGetMainWnd()->SetMenu( &newMenu );

        AfxGetMainWnd()->DrawMenuBar();

        newMenu.Detach ();

Arun Rao, MSMFC, 6/27/95

6.5.4. How do I 'attach' a menu to a window's creation/destruction?

{Note the original question talked about dialogs, but you can interpolate
this code to any kind of window that you want to have change the menu.}

One of the ways to do this is as followsàà

  1.
       1.
            1.
                 1. Declare a variable CMenu pNewMenu in one of the dialog
                    class.
                 2. Handle the WM_INITDIALOG and WM_CLOSE messages in
                    thedialog class as follows.

BOOL CMydlg::OnInitDialog()

{

        CDialog::OnInitDialog();

        // Load the IDR_MYFRAME menu

        pNewMenu = new CMenu;

        pNewMenu->LoadMenu(IDR_MYFRAME);

        // Set the mainframe menu to mainframe.

        ((CMainFrame *)AfxGetMainWnd())->SetMenu(pNewMenu);

        return TRUE;

}

And

void CMydlg::OnClose()

{

        // Detach the previous HMenu handle from the object.

        pNewMenu->Detach();

        pNewMenu->LoadMenu(IDR_MAINFRAME);

        // Restore the mainframe menu.

        ((CMainFrame *)AfxGetMainWnd())->SetMenu(pNewMenu);

        CDialog::OnClose();

}

4. If there are other methods of closing the dialog (example- By clicking a
button in the Dialog), then The code given above in OnClose handler, must
be put in the button click handler.

Sanjeev Kumar, MSMFC, 6/23/95

6.6. Windows Common Controls (a.k.a. Windows 95 controls)

6.6.1. Can I use these controls under NT or Win32s?

Windows NT 3.50 does not support the common controls, and will not in the
future. You must use Windows NT version 3.51 to gain the common controls.

[e-mail], mfc-l, 7/6/95

Version 1.30 of Win32s supports the Common controls.

6.6.2. Where's a demo of these wickedly cool controls?

Check out the MFC sample, fire, it features most of the controls in action:
MSVC20\samples\mfc\fire. Under 4.0, there's another one called cmnctrls.

[e-mail], 7/27/95

6.6.3. How do you handle NM_DBLCLK for a CListCtl?

BEGIN_MESSAGE_MAP(CListView, CView)

        ON_NOTIFY( NM_DBLCLK,ID_LISTCTRL,OnDblClick )

END_MESSAGE_MAP()

void CListView::OnDblClick(NMHDR* /*k*/, LRESULT* /*j*/)

{

        int nItem, nFlags;

        char szTest[80];

        nFlags = LVNI_SELECTED;

        nItem = m_ListCtrl->GetNextItem(-1, nFlags );

        if ( nItem != -1 )

        {

                sprintf( szTest, "Selected Item %d", nItem);

                AfxMessageBox(szTest);

        }

}

[e-mail], mfc-l, 7/21/95

6.6.4. Does CTreeCtrl support multiple selection?

No. Sorry! (I see this one all the time!)

[e-mail]

If it's accessible to you, Microsoft Systems Journal, July 1994, has an
extensive look at TreeViews, including a sample program that includes drag
& drop. If you're developing for Windows 95, you don't need a shareware
implementation, MFC has a class for it.

[e-mail]

6.6.5. When I expand a node in my CTreeCtrl, there's no visual feedback,
what to do?

Create the control with TVS_SHOWSELALWAYS style.

[e-mail]

6.6.6. (The FAQ of the devil!) How do I implement multiple selection,
tooltips, editable nodes and multiple columns in my tree control?

Unfortunately, since the tree control lives in a binary DLL, it is not very
extensible and you are stuck without these features. There have been
articles on how to try and "hack" these features, but they do not work
reliably.

We have a drop-in tree control replacement that implements all of these
features and more in Objective Toolkit. Demos are at
http://www.stingsoft.com.

6.7. CSplitterWnd FAQs

%%TODO - add lots of these, email us your toughest ones.

FYI - MFC Internals has a whole chapter devoted to this - it's my personal
favorite MFC class because it has lots of interesting internals,
shortcomings, odd behaviors, etc..

We wrote a DDJ article where we show how to swap the splitter from
horizontal to vertical. I think the code is at http://www.ddj.com if you
are interested.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[e-mail] - Scot Wingo

7. Documents, Views and Frame Class Questions

7.1. Views

7.1.1. How do I size a view?

Normally, you can change the size of a window by calling MoveWindow(). In
an application developed with the Microsoft Foundation Class (MFC) Library,
the view window is a child window of the frame window that surrounds the
view. To change the size of the view window, retrieve a pointer to the
frame window of the view by calling GetParentFrame(), then call
MoveWindow() to change the size of the parent. When the parent frame window
changes size, it automatically changes the size of the view window to fit
in the parent frame.

MSVC Knowledge Base. 6/4/94

7.1.2. How do I size a CFormView?

See MS Knowledge Base article Q98598 for a very long answer. Basically, you
need to override OnInitialUpdate() in a CFormView derived class. There's
other details to deriving from CFormView that the article goes into.

MSVC Knowledge Base. 6/7/95

In the view ClikethisView declaration:

        virtual void OnInitialUpdate();

In the ClikethisView code:

void ClikethisView::OnInitialUpdate(){

        // make the window the size of the main dialog

        CFormView::OnInitialUpdate();

        GetParentFrame()->RecalcLayout();

        ResizeParentToFit( /*FALSE*/ );

}

[e-mail], programmer.misc, 8/11/95

7.1.3. How do I use new views with a doc template?

In an application created with AppWizard, you have two options: change the
derivation of the current view, or create a new view and use the new view
in your MDI application along with the original view.

To create a new view, use ClassWizard to create a new class derived from
CView. After the class has been created, the steps to use the new view or
to modify the view provided by App Wizard are the same.

1. Modify the header file for the view class to change all references to
CView to the name of the desired view class. In this example, the class is
derived from CScrollView.Usually, this step involves changing the class the
view class is derived from as follows:

 class CMyView : public CScrollView

2. Modify the implementation file for the view class to change all
references to CView to the name of the desired view class. This involves
changing the IMPLEMENT_DYNCREATE line as follows:

IMPLEMENT_DYNCREATE(CMyView, CScrollView)

changing the BEGIN_MESSAGE_MAP as follows:

BEGIN_MESSAGE_MAP(CMyView, CScrollView)

and changing any other references to CView to CScrollView.

3. No further modifications are required if you are modifying a view
created by App Wizard. If you create a new view, find the AddDocTemplate()
call in the CWinApp::InitInstance() function. The third parameter to
AddDocTemplate() is RUNTIME_CLASS(CSomeView). To replace the current view
with the new view class, change CSomeView to CMyView. In an MDI
application, you can use multiple view types by adding a second
AddDocTemplate() call that changes RUNTIME_CLASS(CSomeView) to
RUNTIME_CLASS(CMyView).

For more information, please see Knowledge Base article Q99562.

MSVC Knowledge Base 6/7/95

7.1.4. How do I change the background color of a view?

To change the background color for a CView, CFrameWnd, or CWnd object,
process the WM_ERASEBKGND message. The following code shows how:

BOOL CSampleView::OnEraseBkgnd(CDC* pDC)

{

        // Set brush to desired background color

        CBrush backBrush(RGB(255, 128, 128));

        // Save old brush

        CBrush* pOldBrush = pDC->SelectObject(&backBrush);

        CRect rect;

        pDC->GetClipBox(&rect);     // Erase the area needed

        pDC->PatBlt(rect.left, rect.top, rect.Width(),

        rect.Height(), PATCOPY);

        pDC->SelectObject(pOldBrush);

        return TRUE;

}

I solved the problem like this->

HBRUSH dlgtest::OnCtlColor(CDC* pDC, CWnd* pWnd, UINT nCtlColor)

{

        switch (nCtlColor)

        {

                case CTLCOLOR_BTN:

                case CTLCOLOR_STATIC:

                {

                        pDC->SetBkMode(TRANSPARENT);

                }

                case CTLCOLOR_DLG:

                {

                        CBrush*         back_brush;

                        COLORREF        color;

                        color = (COLORREF) GetSysColor(COLOR_BTNFACE);

                        back_brush = new CBrush(color);

                        return (HBRUSH) (back_brush->m_hObject);

                }

        }

        return(CFormView::OnCtlColor(pDC, pWnd, nCtlColor));

}

Tim, [e-mail], email, 9/10/95

7.1.5. How do I get the current View?

The best thing to do is to pass the view along as a parameter. If this is
impractical, you can get the view if you KNOW, that it is the currently
active document and the currently active view. For details, see :

Microsoft KB, article Q108587, "Get Current CDocument or CView from
Anywhere".

In brief, use

        ((CFrameWnd*) AfxGetApp()->m_pMainWnd))->GetActiveDocument()

and

        ((CFrameWnd*)(AfxGetApp()->m_pMainWnd))->GetActiveView()

to get the document and the view. It might be a good idea to wrap them in
static functions in your CMyDoc and CMyView and check that they are of the
correct RUNTIME_CLASS.

If the view isn't the currently active view or if you can run OLE in-place,
this won't work however.

[e-mail], Niels Ull Jacobsen, programmer.misc, 6/8/95

7.1.6. How do I create multiple views on one document?

The CDocTemplate::CreateNewFrame() function creates additional views of a
document in an MDI application written with MFC. To call this function,
specify a pointer to a CDocument object (the document for which the
function will create a view) and a pointer to a frame window that has the
properties to duplicate. Typically, the second parameter of this function
is NULL.

When an application calls CreateNewFrame(), the function creates a new
frame window and a view in the frame window. The frame window type and view
type depend on the document template (CDocTemplate) associated with the
document specified in the CreateNewFrame() call.

The CHKBOOK MFC sample application that ships with Visual C++ also
demonstrates creating additional frames and views for documents. Check out
CHKBOOK.CPP, the CChkBookApp::OpenDocumentfile() function.

Another example of using CreateNewFrame() is the MULTVIEW sample
application. Also, Dale Rogerson's article, "Multiple Views for a Single
Document" located on the Microsoft Developer Network Development Library
CD-ROM, which explains in detail how to addadditional views to an existing
document, is an excellent source of information.

CreateNewFrame() creates both a frame and a view; not only a view. If, for
some reason, CreateNewFrame() does not quite address your situation, the
source code for CreateNewFrame() is quite useful to demonstrate the steps
required to create frames and views.

MS FAQ with mods, 6/25/95

7.1.7. How do I get all the views in an MDI app?

You need to use some functions which are undocumented:

   * CDocument::GetFirstViewPosition(); // DOCCORE.CPP
   * CDocument::GetNextView(); // DOCCORE.CPP
   * CMultiDocTemplate::GetFirstDocPosition(); // DOCMULTI.CPP
   * CMultiDocTemplate::GetNextDoc(); // DOCMULTI.CPP

You'll also need to mess with the m_templateList member of CWinApp.

[e-mail], mfc-l, 7/11/95

Note: This has changed with MFC 4.0. There's now a class called CDocManager
which can get to all of the views/docs for you. Check out MFC Internals for
details.

[e-mail]

7.1.8. How do I make a CScrollView "mouse scrollable"?

Download AUTOSV.LZH from the MSMFC library on CIS. This code shows you how
to implement a secondary message loop taking care of the mouse activity.
Hooks are provided to customize the code. Freeware.

Patrick Philippot, CIS email, 8/3/95

7.2. Documents

7.2.1. Do I have to use the Document/View architecture?

MFC does not force you to use document/views. Check out hello, mdi, and
helloapp samples, they don't use it at all. Most MFC features can be used
in non-document/view applications. You do lose features like print preview
and of many OLE features when you don't go document/view.

[e-mail] 6/7/95

7.2.2. How do I get the current Document?

See section 7.1.5. for the details.

7.2.3. When are documents destroyed?

In SDI applications, the document is deleted when the application exits. In
MDI applications, the document is deleted when the last view on the
document is closed. To help keep your document SDI/MDI compatible, you
should delete the document's data in the virtualDeleteContents() function,
not in the destructor.

Richard Hazenberg, [e-mail], programmer.misc, 6/24/95

7.2.4. How do I create multiple documents?

To add support for additional document types, you can create and register
additional CMultiDocTemplate objects with your CWinApp derived object. This
technique is illustrated in the MULTDOCS sample application. The general
steps needed to add an additional documenttype to an MFC application are
listed below:

1. Use AppWizard to create a new document class and a new view class.

2. Use the Resource Editor to add a new resource string to support the new
document class. For more information on the format of the document template
string resource, see the topic How to Interpret a Document Template String.

3. Use the Resource Editor to add an additional icon and menu resource to
the application. Note, the ID for each of these resources needs to be the
same ID as the resource ID used for the document template string created in
step 2. This ID is used by the CMultiDocTemplate class to identify the
resources associated with the additional document type.

4. In the applications InitInstance() function, create another
CMultiDocTemplate object and register it with the CWinApp::AddDocTemplate()
function. For example:

        CMultiDocTemplate* pDocTemplate2 = new CMultiDocTemplate(

        IDR_DOC2TYPE, RUNTIME_CLASS(CDoc2),

        RUNTIME_CLASS(CMDIChildWnd), RUNTIME_CLASS(CView2));

        AddDocTemplate(pDocTemplate2);

  1.
       1.
            1.
                 1. And finally, add the custom serialization and painting
                    code to your new document and view classes.
                 2. MS FAQ, 6/25/95

                    7.2.5. How do I get a list of open documents?

                    The code below demonstrates how to retrieve a list of
                    pointers to all CDocuments that were created using a
                    CDocTemplate object.

                    In the code below, CMyApp is derived from CWinApp. The
                    variable m_templateList is a CPtrList object that is a
                    member of CWinApp, and it contains a list of pointers
                    to all of the document templates (CDocTemplates). The
                    CDocTemplate functions GetFirstDocPosition() and
                    GetNextDoc() are used to iterate through the list of
                    documents for each document template.

                    void CMyApp::GetDocumentList(CObList * pDocList)

                    {

                            ASSERT(pDocList->IsEmpty());

                            POSITION pos = m_templateList.GetHeadPosition();

                            while (pos)

                            {

                                    CDocTemplate* pTemplate =

                                            (CDocTemplate*)m_templateList.GetNext(pos);

                                    POSITION pos2 = pTemplate->GetFirstDocPosition();

                                    while (pos2)

                                    {

                                            CDocument * pDocument;

                                            if ((pDocument=pTemplate->GetNextDoc(pos2)) != NULL)

                                                    pDocList->AddHead(pDocument);

                                    }

                            }

                    }

                    There are two public member functions of the
                    CDocTemplate class that are not documented in the
                    reference manual or the online help. However, these are
                    public member functions defined in the CDocTemplate
                    class and provide simple functionality for traversing
                    the list of open documents. These functions operate as
                    follows:

                    Function: virtual POSITION GetFirstDocPosition() const;

                    Remarks: Call this function to get the position of the
                    first document in the list of open documents associated
                    with the template.

                    Return Value: A POSITION value that can be used for
                    iteration with the GetNextDoc member function.

                    Function: virtual CDocument* GetNextDoc(POSITION&
                    rPosition) const;

                    rPosition: A reference to a POSITION value returned by
                    a previous call to the GetNextDoc or
                    GetFirstDocPosition member function. This value must
                    not be NULL.

                    Remarks: Call this function to iterate through all of
                    the document template's open documents. The function
                    returns the document identified by rPosition and then
                    sets rPosition to the POSITION value of the next
                    document in the list. If the retrieved document is the
                    last in the list, then rPosition is set to NULL.

                    Return Value: A pointer to the view identified by
                    rPosition.

                    MS FAQ, 6/25/95

                    NOTE: This is only valid for MFC 3.2 and lower, MFC 4.0
                    version follows->

                    void CMyApp::DoSomethingToAllDocs()

                    {

                             CObList  pDocList;

                             POSITION pos = GetFirstDocTemplatePosition();

                            while(pos)

                            {

                                    CDocTemplate* pTemplate = GetNextDocTemplate(pos);

                                    POSITION pos2 = pTemplate->GetFirstDocPosition();

                                    while(pos2)

                                    {

                                            CDocument* pDocument;

                                            if(pDocument = pTemplate->GetNextDoc(pos2))

                                                    pDocList.AddHead(pDocument);

                                    }

                            }

                            if(!pDocList.IsEmpty()){

                                    pos = pDocList.GetHeadPosition();

                            while(pos)

                            {

                                    // Call some CDocument function for each document

                                    ( (CDocument*)pDocList.GetNext(pos) )

                                            ->UpdateAllViews(NULL);

                            }

                    }

                    [e-mail], email, 9/22/95

                    7.2.6. How do I keep my application from creating a new
                    document at startup?

                    Add this call:

                            cmdInfo.m_nShellCommand = CCommandLineInfo::FileNothing

                    just before the call to ProcessShellCommand in the
                    app's InitInstance.

                    [e-mail], email, 1/6/96

                    -------------------------------------------------------

                    8. OLE Class Questions

                    8.1. Structured Storage/Compound Files

                    8.1.1. When I upgraded, I could not read my files
                    generated by the old version of MFC. What do I do?

                    There may be an easier way, but here is how I did it:

                    Use VERSIONABLE_SCHEMA and GetObjectSchema to identify
                    the version. If old version, then it is stored in OLE
                    1.0 format. To read this format, first read a WORD and
                    a CString (type and name info). Next is the OLE data
                    itself (the hard part). Use the following steps:

                    1) use StgCreateDocfile to create a temporary Compound
                    File.

                    2) use OleConvertOLESTREAMToIStorage to copy the data
                    to the Compoundfile, converting to OLE 2 format.

                    3) call OleLoad using the IStorage to get an IUnknown
                    pointer, then call QueryInterface to set the
                    COleClientItem::m_lpObject member, and set
                    m_nDrawAspect to DVASPECT_CONTENT.

                    4) release the IUnknown pointer and the IStorage
                    pointer

                    5) The OleConvertOLESTREAMToIStorage code requires an
                    OLESTREAM implementation. Copy the code from MSVC 1.0
                    MFC code.

                    This actually works. Theres some issues with messing
                    with the schema parameter, and I have not implemented
                    writing OLE 1/MFC files. Code available on request.

                    [e-mail], Ron Jones, via programmer.tools,
                    5/9/95

                    8.2. OLE Controls (previously called OCX's)

                    8.2.1. What is an OLE control?

                    OLE controls are the 32-bit successor to 16-bit VBX
                    controls. Instead of being stored in a plain DLL and
                    having functional interfaces, OLE controls rely on OLE
                    automation. Hopefully this will make the interface more
                    flexible and easier to use than VBXs.

                    Although OLE controls use OLE, they are not object
                    oriented. There is a flat set of properties you have
                    access to and you can not apply OO techniques such as
                    inheritance, polymorphism, etc.. to them. In my
                    opinion, this can be pretty frustrating to the MFC
                    programmer who is

                    used to the OO techniques.

                    [e-mail], 6/25/95

                    8.2.2. How do I write OLE controls?

                    In VC++ 2.x, Microsoft released the CDK (OLE control
                    developer kit), you use that kit and it's tools to
                    write OLE controls. In VC++ 4.0, this is no longer
                    separate and you now just run the Control Wizard. Check
                    your VC++ documentation for more info.

                    [e-mail], 6/25/95

                    8.2.3. What versions of MFC support OLE control
                    containment?

                    MFC 4.0 supports OLE control containment. Earlier
                    versions of MFC don't unless you roll your own. (yuck!)

                    8.2.4. How do I get application specific control bars
                    to disappear when in-placed editing.

                    Add CBRS_HIDE_INPLACE to Create() of the toolbar.

                    Example:

                    m_wndFormBar.Create(this,

                                    WS_CHILD|WS_VISIBLE|CBRS_TOP|CBRS_HIDE_INPLACE,IDW_FORMBAR)

                    Paul Rony, [e-mail]

                    -------------------------------------------------------

                    9. WOSA Class Questions

                    9.1. CRecordSet

                    9.1.1. When I add a CRecordSet class, I get tons of
                    linker errors..

                    If you haven't told the AppWizard to use Database
                    Support when you created your project, the AppWizard
                    doesn't include the database headers. If you add
                    "#include " in your stdafx.h, CRecordSet will be
                    "legalized". Then open the Linker Options window and
                    add the library: "odbc". This avoids tons of linker
                    errors.

                    [e-mail] (Wolfgang Bessler) 06/05/95,
                    comp.lang.c++

                    9.1.2. I need a CRecordSet::Find(), what should I do?

                    Use the WHERE clause in SQL.

                    [e-mail] - mfc-l, 10/10/95

                    9.2. WinSock

                    9.2.1. I'm having problems with CSocket blocking,
                    what's up?

                    I've worked around this by creating a dialog box that I
                    pop up after calling Connect()... i.e.:

                    CMySocket MySocket;

                    MySocket.Create();

                    MySocket.Connect("mysmtphost",25);

                    DummyDlg DummyDialog;

                    MySocket.m_pDialog=&DummyDialog;

                    DummyDialog.DoModal();

                    This suspends the thread until MySocket sends a
                    WM_CLOSE message to DummyDialog. I'd rather it look
                    like:

                    MySocket.m_hEvent=CreateEvent(...);

                    WaitForSingleObject(MySocket.m_hEvent,INFINITE);

                    But that stops all processing of MySocket.

                    Cynthia Jennings ([e-mail]), programmer.win32,
                    6/19/95

                    -------------------------------------------------------

                    10. DLL and Build Questions

                    If you have questions about extension and user DLLs, be
                    sure to read technical notes 11 and 33. Volume 2 of the
                    documentation has more info too. Finally, try searching
                    on the sample names dllhusk (extension DLL) and
                    dlltrace (user DLL) in books on-line.

                    10.1. Do I need a CWinApp object in a DLL?

                    The Microsoft Foundation Class Library supports two
                    types of DLLs: _USRDLL and _AFXDLL. The _USRDLL model
                    requires one CWinApp object to perform the
                    initialization and cleanup of the Microsoft Foundation
                    Class Library Windows classes that the DLL uses. This
                    requirement is described in MFC Tech Note 11; the
                    DLLTRACE sample demonstrates a _USRDLL that contains a
                    CWinApp object.

                    An _AFXDLL does not require a CWinApp object. Because
                    it shares the Microsoft Foundation Class Library
                    classes with the application, it does not require a
                    CWinApp to provide initialization and cleanup. Instead,
                    an _AFXDLL requires a special version of LibMain() and
                    a DLL initialization function.

                    MSVC Knowledge Base 6/4/95

                    10.2. How should I define the WEP in a MFC DLL?

                    In a dynamic-link library (DLL) built with Microsoft
                    Foundation Class Library version 2.0, the _USRDLL model
                    uses the WEP() (Windows exit procedure) function
                    provided in the C run-time library. Because the code
                    uses the C library WEP() function, the destructors for
                    static and global objects in the DLL are called and the
                    CWinApp::ExitInstance() function for the DLLapplication
                    object is called.

                    See MSVC Knowledge Base article Q98374 and Tech notes
                    11 and 33.

                    MSVC Knowledge Base 6/7/95

                    10.3. How do I build an 'extension DLL'?

                    1. When you're building a 32-bit extension DLL, define
                    _AFXEXT on the compiler command line. If you look in
                    AFXVER_.H, you'll see that this forces _AFXDLL to also
                    be defined. So an "AFXEXT" DLL is an AFXDLL.

                    2. When _AFXDLL is defined, AfxGetResourceHandle
                    returns a value stored in MFC's global data, which is
                    shared by the EXE, the extension DLL and the MFC DLL.
                    The handle returned identifies the module which will be
                    searched first when looking for a resource.

                    (See the source code for AfxFindResourceHandle() if
                    you're curious about the order of the search.)

                    3. Strictly speaking, what we need to load a resource
                    is a module handle rather than an instance handle.
                    (Instances share modules --- e.g., code and resources
                    --- but have different data.) A DLL has a module handle
                    which is distinct from the handle of the EXE.

                    4. You can use ::GetModuleHandle to get the handle for
                    your DLL, then pass it to AfxSetResourceHandle so that
                    your DLL is the first place searched for resources. But
                    note that this removes the EXE module from of modules
                    searched. You'll probably want to save a copy of the
                    handle returned by AfxGetResourceHandle before calling
                    AfxSetResourceHandle, then restore it once you're done
                    loading the DLL resource.

                    Charlie Kester, Microsoft Developer Support, MSMFC,
                    7/19/95

                    10.4. How can I manage resources in a resource only DLL
                    and still benefit from ClassWizard?

                    The following text is available as RESDLL.ZIP in the
                    MSMFC library on Compuserve (applies to MSVC20):

                    How To Manage An MFC Project Storing Its Resources Into
                                      A Resource-Only DLL

                    Software localization is much easier when your project
                    stores its resources in a resource-only DLL. There area
                    also many situations where storing the project's
                    resources in a DLL can be a good idea.

                    However, if this project is an MFC project, doing so
                    will generate a major drawback: you will not benefit
                    from the Class Wizard capabilities any longer because
                    the resources will be managed in a separate project.

                    However, there's a trick that you can use to develop
                    your project as if it were a standard project while
                    being able to quickly switch to the resource-only DLL
                    model. Here's how to proceed:

                    METHOD 1 :

                    1. Create your project as usual using AppWizard (we'll
                    name it TEST).

                    2. Close the project and create a new DLL project in
                    the same directory (call it RESDLL). When you click on
                    the Create button, VC++ opens the Add file dialog. Take
                    this opportunity to add the resource file of the
                    previous project (TEST.RC) to this new project.

                    3. Before being able to compile the resources of the
                    TEST project as a resource-only DLL, you must add the
                    /NOENTRY option to the linker. Unfortunately, the
                    settings dialog box of VC++ doesn't allow to do that in
                    a simple way:

                 3. Select Project|Settings from the man menu.
                 4. Click on the Link tab.
                 5. Select General from the category combobox.
                 6. In the Object/Library Modules field, remove all
                    references to any .LIB file (they are useless) and add
                    /NOENTRY. This option should then appear in the Common
                    Options display area.
                 7. Click OK and compile. You now have a DLL containing
                    only the resources for your project.
                 8. 4. Do not open the TEST.MAK project. Instead, copy
                    TEST.MAK to TEST_RES.MAK in your project directory.

                    5. Open TEST_RES.MAK and remove TEST.RC from the
                    project files.

                    6. Select Project|Settings, click on the General tab
                    and add "USE_RESDLL" to the list of Preprocessor
                    Definitions.

                 9. Open TEST.H and modify the class declaration of
                    CTestApp this way:
                10.
                    public:

                            CTestApp();

                    #ifdef USE_RESDLL

                    public:

                            virtual int ExitInstance();

                    private:

                            HINSTANCE m_hInstDLL;

                    #endif //USE_RESDLL

                    8. Open TEST.CPP and modify CTestApp::InitInstance as
                    follows. Also, add the newly declared ExitInstance
                    member function:

                    BOOL CTestApp::InitInstance()

                    {

                    // Standard initialization

                    // If you are not using these features and wish to reduce the size

                    //  of your final executable, you should remove from the following

                    //  the specific initialization routines you do not need.

                    #ifdef USE_RESDLL

                            if ((m_hInstDLL = LoadLibrary("resdll.dll")) == NULL)

                            {

                                    return FALSE; // failed to load the localized resources

                            }

                            else

                            {

                                    AfxSetResourceHandle(m_hInstDLL);

                                    // get resources from the DLL

                            }

                    #endif

                    //à#ifdef USE_RESDLL

                            int CTestApp::ExitInstance()

                            {

                                    FreeLibrary(m_hInstDLL);

                                    return CWinApp::ExitInstance();

                            }

                    #endif

                    9. Compile. TEST_RES.EXE should work very nicely,
                    loading its resources from the DLL.

                    10. Close the project and open TEST.MAK. Compile.
                    TEST.EXE should also work very well but this time, the
                    resources are loaded from the .EXE file because you had
                    not defined USE_RESDLL in this version of the project.

                    BEWARE:

                    When switching from one model to another, you must
                    either Rebuild All or touch TEST.CPP. Otherwise, you'll
                    have problems.

                    Now, you are able to modify your resources and to use
                    Class Wizard when you work with TEST.MAK. To build the
                    resource-only DLL version of the project, just switch
                    to TEST_RES.MAK after recompiling RESDLL (RESDLL.MAK)
                    if changes have been made to the resources.

                    It's that easy!

                    METHOD 2 :

                    1. Proceeed like above for steps 1, 2 and 3

                    2. Instead of creating a new project, copy TEST.RC to
                    RESDLL.RC. Remove TEST.RC from your project and add
                    RESDLL.RC. A different name is somewhat safer.

                    3. Double-click RESDLL.RC to trigger a rebuild of the
                    .CLW file.

                    4. Apply the "Exclude File from Build" command to
                    RESDLL.RC. (Project|Settings, General Page, "Exclude
                    File From Build")

                    5. Delete TEST.CLW and TEST.RC.

                    Now TEST and RESDLL will work together through the
                    ClassWizard. The resources defined in RESDLL.RC will
                    not be added to TEST.EXE. This method is simpler but
                    doesn't allow you to test your program in both cases
                    (resources in the DLL or resources linked to the .EXE
                    file). I prefer the latter when developing because I do
                    not have to bother about orphaned DLLs when a GPF
                    occurs (although this is less a problem under NT).

                    Don't forget to recompile the DLL before testing your
                    program each time you modify the resources. A batch
                    file calling NMAKE installed in the Tools menu will
                    certainly be faster than switching from project to
                    project. Using the "New Target" facility won't help in
                    that case.

                    It would be nice if VC++ had the same capability as
                    Borland C++: a project can contain multiple independant
                    targets. So, the developer is able to manage DLL and
                    EXE creation from within the same project.

                    Patick Philippot, CIS Email, 8/3/95

                    10.5. I am having [some problem] with exports/imports
                    and extension DLLs.

                    This is a very complex subject. I actually wrote an
                    article on this and chapter 9 of MFC internals which
                    covers MFC and DLLS (extension and regular) in great
                    detail. The article is on-line at http://www.vcdj.com.

                    [e-mail] - Scot Wingo

                    -------------------------------------------------------

                    11. MFC Tips Tricks and Caveats

                    11.1. What's the best way to convert my C Windows App
                    to MFC?

                    Microsoft and Symantec have jointly developed a tool
                    that helps you make the move from a C Windows
                    application to MFC. It's called the MFC migration kit.
                    You can find it on the MSVC 2.x CDROM in the MFCKIT
                    directory. The kit is also available from the Microsoft
                    Software Library (See section 2.1.4) and from Symantec.

                    11.2. Why is my MFC application running slow?

                    MFC Apps should be nice and snappy. Make sure you are
                    not building the debug version and that you have the
                    trace options off (MFCTRACE.EXE). If your application
                    continues to be slow, try doing some quick profiling to
                    see if you are making any redundant calls.

                    [e-mail], 5/31/95

                    11.3. How can I create an application that is initially
                    maximized?

                    For new applications, this can be done with AppWizard
                    during Step 4. During Step 4, choose Advanced..., and
                    then select the Main Frame tab. Check the Maximized
                    option.

                    For an MDI application, in the CWinApp::InitInstance()
                    function, set CWinApp::m_nCmdShow to SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED
                    before calling pMainFrame->ShowWindow(m_nCmdShow). In
                    an application generated by AppWizard, the code is as
                    follows:

                            // create main MDI Frame window

                            CMainFrame* pMainFrame = new CMainFrame;

                            if (!pMainFrame->LoadFrame(IDR_MAINFRAME))

                                    return FALSE;

                            m_nCmdShow = SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED;  // ADD THIS LINE!

                            pMainFrame->ShowWindow(m_nCmdShow);

                            pMainFrame->UpdateWindow();

                            m_pMainWnd = pMainFrame;

                    In an SDI application, in the CWinApp::InitInstance()
                    function, set CWinApp::m_nCmdShow to SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED
                    before calling OnFileNew().For example, in an
                    application generated by AppWizard, the code is as
                    follows:

                            m_nCmdShow = SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED;

                            //

                            // create a new (empty) document

                            OnFileNew();

                    MSVC Knowledge Base, 6/4/95

                    11.4. How do I enable TRACE macros in my app?

                    If you use Visual C++ 1.0, run the TRACER application
                    from your Microsoft Visual C++ program group (its icon
                    has the title "MFC Trace Options"). Select "Enable
                    Tracing," then choose OK.

                    If you use Microsoft C/C++ 7.0, you must copy the
                    AFX.INI file from the Microsoft Foundation Class
                    Library source directory (by default, C:\C700\MFC\SRC)
                    to your Windows directory (by default, C:\WINDOWS).
                    This file should contain a section such as the
                    following:

                    [Diagnostics]

                       TraceEnabled = 1

                       TraceFlags = 0

                    As long as TraceEnabled is set to 1, tracing is
                    enabled.

                    This AFX.INI file is the same for both C/C++ 7.0 and
                    Visual C++ 1.0. In MSVC 2.x, the TRACE output
                    automatically goes to the 'Debug' window when you run
                    in the debugger.

                    VC+ Knowledge Base, 6/7/95

                    11.5. How do I perform background processing in my
                    application?

                    Many applications perform lengthy processing "in the
                    background" during intervals that the user is not
                    otherwise interacting with the application. In an
                    application developed for the Microsoft Windows
                    operating system, an application can perform background
                    processing by splitting a lengthy process into many
                    small fragments. After processing each fragment, the
                    application yields execution control to Windows using a
                    PeekMessage() loop.

                    An application developed with the Microsoft Foundation
                    Class Library can perform background processing either
                    by using the PeekMessage() loop in the library code's
                    main message loop or by embedding another PeekMessage()
                    loop in the application.

                    See MSVC Knowledge Base Q99999 for more info.

                    MSVC Knowledge Base 6/7/95.

                    11.6. How do I send a message to another thread?

                    Try using SendNotifyMessage() to send messages to
                    another thread.

                    [e-mail], Neils Ull Jacobsen via programmer.misc,
                    6/18/95

                    11.7. Does Microsoft use MFC in their products? Which
                    ones?

                    There are many Microsoft apps written in MFC. Sometimes
                    its just not obvious... (to name a few: Bookshelf,
                    Bob!, WordArt OLE server, Visual C++ (of course), Win95
                    paint, Win95 WordPad, some portions of Win95 FAX
                    software, some Win95 games I know of...).

                    In the future, there are more apps coming out using
                    MFC. I don't have a way to track all of these uses, so
                    there is certainly more that I'm not aware of or can't
                    remember. I don't expect Word or Excel to ever use MFC
                    -- they have way too much legacy code and they don't
                    see any customer benefit to rewriting to MFC. But my
                    point is -- definitely for new code, Microsoft is using
                    MFC. Even some "old" code is taking advantage of MFC in
                    future versions.

                    Dean McCrory, MSMFC, 6/8/95

                    11.8. How do I limit my MFC application to one
                    instance?

                    Look at the Microsoft sample ONETIME.EXE, (MSDN CD or
                    ftp.microsoft.com).

                    In Brief:

                    const char* MyMainWndClassName = "MyMainWndXQW"

                    BOOL CMyApp::InitApplication()

                    {

                            //Call base class.  Default version does nothing.

                            CWinApp::InitApplication();

                            WNDCLASS wndcls;

                            // start with NULL defaults

                            memset(&wndcls, 0, sizeof(WNDCLASS));

                            // Get class information for default window class.

                            ::GetClassInfo(AfxGetInstanceHandle(),"AfxFrameOrView",&wndcls);

                            // Substitute unique class name for new class

                            wndcls.lpszClassName = MyMainWndClassName;

                            //Register new class and return the result code

                            return ::RegisterClass(&wndcls);

                    }

                    And:

                    BOOL CMyApp::FirstInstance()

                    {

                            CWnd *PrevCWnd, *ChildCWnd;

                            // Determine if another window with our class name exists...

                            PrevCWnd = CWnd::FindWindow(MyMainWndClassName, NULL);

                            if (PrevCWnd != NULL)

                            {              // if so, does it have any popups?

                                    ChildCWnd=PrevCWnd->GetLastActivePopup();

                                    // Bring the main window to the top

                                    PrevCWnd->BringWindowToTop();

                                    // If iconic, restore the main window

                                    if (PrevCWnd->IsIconic())

                                            PrevCWnd->ShowWindow(SW_RESTORE);

                                    // If there are popups, bring them along too!

                                    if (PrevCWnd != ChildCWnd)

                                            ChildCWnd->BringWindowToTop();

                                    // Return FALSE.  This isn't the first instance

                                    // and we are done activating the previous one.

                                    return FALSE;

                            }

                            else

                                    // First instance. Proceed as normal.

                                    return TRUE;

                    }

                    CMyApp::InitInstance()

                    {      if (!FirstInstance())

                                    return FALSE;

                            //...

                    }

                    Niels Ull Jacobsen ([e-mail]), programmer.tools,
                    6/19/95

                    See also MS Knowledge base article Q124134 ( "Allowing
                    Only One Application Instance on Win32s") and Advanced
                    Windows NT , chapter 7, "Prohibiting Multiple Instances
                    of an Application from Running: The MultInst Sample
                    Application" (available on the MSDN).

                    Niels Ull Jacobsen ([e-mail]), email, 8/8/95

                11. update - these were posted to mfc-l:

I have each InitApplication() create a semaphore. If GetLastError() returns
ERROR_ALREADY_EXISTS then I know that some other application is already
running and has gotten that far so I bail.

Yourapp::InitInstance()

{

        hMutexOneInstance =

        CreateMutex(NULL,TRUE,_T("PreventSecondInstance"));

        if(GetLastError() == ERROR_ALREADY_EXISTS)

                bFound = TRUE;

        if(hMutexOneInstance)

                ReleaseMutex(hMutexOneInstance);

        return (bFound == TRUE) ? FALSE : TRUE;

}

[e-mail]

There is a nice section in Jeffrey Richter's book Advanced Windows NT about

this. Essentially, it uses shared data segments between processes.

Step1:

=====

In your main file, add:

#pragma data_seg(".SharedData")

LONG nUsageCount = -1;

#pragma data_seg()

Step 2 :

=======

In your Application's InitInstance(), call:

InterlockedIncrement ( &nUsageCount );

This function returns the incremented value of the variable. If it is

non-zero, you know that you are not the first App.

In your Application's ExitInstance() call:

InterlockedDecrement( &nUsageCount );

Step3:

====

In your DEF file, have the following lines: Note that the segment name you

give here should match the one in the application's main file.

SEGMENTS

.SharedData shared

[e-mail]

You'd better use one of the built-in synchronisation methods.

See Q124134 : Allowing Only One Application Instance on Win32s for a sample

of using a memory mapped file for synchronisation.

It doesn't include starting the previous instance, but if you detect

that you're not the only one running, it should be pretty simple:

if CreateFileMapping fails, try to find the previous instance from the

window class name. If it's not found, sleep for a while and start over

(with CreateFileMapping).

In this way, either you will find the other instance when it gets

around to creating it's window or CreateFileMapping will eventually
succeed.

The advantage of using CreateFileMapping instead of CreateObject is

that it also works on Win32s.

- [e-mail]

Note: There's a sample of this that was contributed by [e-mail] (John
Xu) called onetime4.zip that is in the MFC FAQ archive (see section 2.2.6
for MFC FAQ archive details).

11.9. How do I get my MFC app to use the Registry on Win32 platforms?

Just make a call to SetRegistryKey("MyCompany") in your CWinApp class and
pass it a string (typically your company name). This string will define
where in the registry the data goes:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MyCompany\\\

After making this call just use the normal WriteProfilexxx() routines and
the data will go to the registry instead of to an INI file. It works well
and is simple!

Brett Robichaud, [e-mail], 6/23/95, programmer.win32

11.10. How do I programmatically terminate my MFC application?

MFC does not provide a public function to gracefully exit an application. A
method for dealing with this is to create a function in your application
like the following:

void ExitApp()

{

        // same as double-clicking on main window close box

        ASSERT(AfxGetApp()->m_pMainWnd != NULL);

        AfxGetApp()->m_pMainWnd->SendMessage(WM_CLOSE);

}

As you can see, this is implemented as a global function, which can be
called from anywhere in your application. It simply sends a WM_CLOSE
message to your application's mainframe window. This initiates an orderly
shutdown of the application.

If you are using MFC, version 2.5 or later, you can take advantage of a new
global MFC function, "AfxGetMainWnd", to simplify the code:

void ExitMFCApp()

{

        // same as double-clicking on main window close box

        ASSERT(AfxGetMainWnd() != NULL);

        AfxGetMainWnd()->SendMessage(WM_CLOSE);

}

NOTE: Always call CDocument::SetModifiedFlag() after changing your document
data. This will ensure that the framework prompts the user to save before
shutdown. If you need more extensive control over the shutdown procedure,
you can override CDocument::SaveModified().

MS FAQ, 6/25/95

11.11. What's the difference between IMPLEMENT_DYNAMIC, IMPLEMENT_DYNCREATE
and IMPLEMENT_SERIAL?

IMPLEMENT_DYNAMIC provides run time type information to support macros such
as IsKindOf and GetRuntimeClass.

IMPLEMENT_DYNCREATE adds the ability to allow MFC to create the type on the
fly. This is required for any concrete data type that will be serialized to
a file.

IMPLEMENT_SERIAL also provides a version number for the class and adds the
ability to use the >> operator to read the type from a file.

As an example, if a derived class Dog uses IMPLEMENT_DYNCREATE and a base
class Animal uses IMPLEMENT_SERIAL, then a Dog can be written with a
pointer to either but can only be read by a pointer to Animal.

MFC 3.x provides a constant called VERSIONABLE_SCHEMA to be used with
IMPLEMENT_SERIAL to support multiple versions at the same time. The
implementation in MFC is broken and fails at runtime.

[e-mail], email, 7/11/95

11.11.1. MFC 4.0 4.0 NOTE

It is not true that the versionable schema is broken anymore, and has been
fixed in MFC 4.0.

11.12. How can I declare an abstract base class to be IMPLEMENT_SERIAL?

You need a special form of IMPLEMENT_SERIAL that looks like this: Use the
regular DECLARE_SERIAL but use IMPLEMENT_SERIAL_ABC shown below instead of
IMPLEMENT_SERIAL.

#define IMPLEMENT_SERIAL_ABC(class_name, base_class_name, wSchema)

_IMPLEMENT_RUNTIMECLASS(class_name, base_class_name, wSchema, NULL)

CArchive& AFXAPI operator>>(CArchive& ar, class_name* &pOb)

{

        pOb = (class_name*) ar.ReadObject(RUNTIME_CLASS(class_name));

                return ar;

}

anonymous

11.13. What is afx.inl and afxwin1.inl, etc..?

These files live in the msvcXX\mfc\include directory and include inline
functions. These functions are only 'inline' during non-debug (_DEBUG is
not defined) builts of MFC. They are prefaced with a special _AFX_INLINE
derective which gets turned into 'inline' for non-debug builds and '' for
debug builds.

MFC does this so you can debug into the functions in debug mode, but get
the benefits of inlining during release builds. That's one of the reasons
the library shrinks so much in release build mode.

[e-mail], 7/20/95

11.14. Is MFC available on the Macintosh?

Yes! Microsoft has something called the Visual C++ cross-platform edition.
This product lets you cross-compile for the 68000 based Macs and I think
they have a PowerPC version coming out soon. Contact Microsoft directly for
more info.

[e-mail], 7/27/95

11.15. Is MFC available on OS/2?

No!

11.16. How should I learn/start learning MFC?

I see this posted lots. To start with, check out section 2.4.2 of this FAQ,
books always help. Another good point is that you can't really get down and
dirty in MFC without knowing and understanding the underlying Windows API,
so you might want to start with an overviewof that. (The 'Petzold' book is
the classic here) At the very least get a feel of what windows does and
what it's capable of.

Another hint I have is don't rely too much on the Wizards, these are great,
but they sometimes shield the newbie too much. Take a look at what
AppWizard/ClassWizard has done from you, run the debugger through a
mainfrm.cpp, etc.. You won't understand what the heck is going on until you
understand what your magically generated code is doing.

I thought the 'writing windows apps with MFC' book was a good merge between
Petzold and intro MFC stuff. 'Inside Visual C++' may move too fast for
someone that doesn't know Windows already..

[e-mail], 7/27/95

   * There's no substitute for paying your dues.
   * Unfortunately MFC is set up so that you're never done paying your
     dues. (HAHAHAHA!!!)

[e-mail], mfc-l, 7/23/95

Start with the VC++ User's Guide and work your way through the Scribble
Tutorial. You get an intro to VC++ and MFC and see how they work together.
Then there are numerous articles on the MSDN CD to help with basic
concepts. Try searching on MFC and Architecture. Don't shy away from
reading the MFC Encyclopedia articles (they take more of a 'how-to'
approach) and by all means become familiar with the MFC Technical Notes.
Also (hint), stay focused on the 32-bit stuff if you're just starting out.
There are also a number of excellent journals out there to help.

[e-mail], mfc-l, 7/23/95

The important points (of the top of my head) are:

If you're a windows programmer don't worry about graphics the CDC member
functions are an almost direct encapsulation of the Windows functions. Also
CWnd encapsulates much of the window manipulation functions.

Learn the Document-View architecture: document templates, the interaction
between the application, the documents and views (AfxGetApp, GetDocument,
UpdateAllViews etc).

Learn serialisation (scribble makes a good intro to it). DDX and DDV for
dialog boxes: there is a good tech note on this. WM_COMMAND handlers,
COMMAND_UI handlers (which allow you to enable/disable menu items as well
as applying check mark and radio button marks on menu items, it also gives
you one way to use status bars).

During all this you'll also learn how to use ClassWizard and see how it is
integrated with the editor and resource editor. Perhaps as part of the MFC
FAQ we could create a list of topics (ordered in terms of importance) to
learn? {Sure, this is a good start, no? -Scot}

[e-mail], mfc-l, 7/24/95

11.17. What DLLs should I distribute with my MFC app?

You should review the file REDISTRB.WRI on your Visual C++ CD. This file
explains what files are necessary for different kinds of applications; it
explains what to do about both Windows files and MFC files.

[e-mail], programmer.tools, 7/9/95

dumpbin /imports myapp.exe dll_one.dll dll_two.dll | grep -i dll And
recurse through the dll's you find. Won't find dll's loaded by
LoadLibrary() however.

[e-mail], programmer.tools, 7/10/95

11.18. How do I intercept WM_SETTEXT messages

Because MFC didn't provide generic support for overriding WM_SETTEXT, you
can use OnMessage(WM_SETTEXT, OnSetText) in the message map and then define
your own method:

        LRESULT CMyClass::OnSetText(wParam, lParam);

        //

[e-mail], programmer.tools, 8/17/95

11.19. I can't create an instance because of DECLARE_DYNCREATE!

Question : ClassWizard generated a class for me but used
DECLARE_DYNCREATE(...) and declared my constructor as protected. Now, when
a try to create an instance of the class I get the compiler error:

error C2248: 'CChkTbl::~CChkTbl' : cannot access protected member declared
in class 'CChkTbl'

Answer : ClassWizard does this because the framework normally handles
instantiation for you. i.e. if this is a CView derived class, normally the
CDocumentTemplate instantiates the view during the default OnFileNew(), or
when you call CxxxDocTemplate->OpenDocumentFile() or something similar. The
framework does this so that it will give you an error message if you
accidentally try to instantiate it yourself. If you really need to do
instantiation outside of the CDocTempate framework, simply change the
contructor to be public.

[e-mail], programmer.tools, 8/12/95

Answer : The answer is that the DECLARE_DYNCREATE macro lays down a
"protected:" directive and leaves it in place. One needs to make sure that
anything following DECLARE_DYNCREATE should be "protected" too; if not, one
needs to declare "public:" or "private:, as needed.

[e-mail], email, 8/15/95

11.20. What the heck is this _T() thing I keep seeing?

_T is a macro to expand the string literal to support unicode.

Mike Oliver, MSMFC, 8/1/95

11.21. How do I use CMemoryState?

In MFC 2.0 and above built in diagnostic facilities are provided. Hence it
is not neceesary to include CMemoryState explicitly in your app. The MFC
version 2.0 debugging libraries automatically perform memory leak
detection. The detection code is in AFXMEM.CPP. This code detects the case
in which an application dynamically allocates an object and fails to delete
the object before the program terminates.

In fact,CMemoryState may not function properly. You can refer to the
following article in KB(Go MDKB in CIS) for more details:

ID:Q99022 "Foundation Class Debug Library Detects Memory Leaks"

#define new DEBUG_NEW should be defined in every .CPP source file. Also,
insert the following code in InitInstance of the application:

#ifdef _DEBUG

                afxMemDF |= checkAlwaysMemDF;

#endif

You can refer to the following article in KB for more details:

ID: Q117326, Foundation Classes Common Asserts, Causes and Solutions.

Muniraju, netquest, MSMFC, 8/1/95

11.22. How do I handle my own registered messages?

[Editor Note: In this FAQ, Dean is telling a guy how to handle
WM_CHKTBLTOGGLE, which is some message that dude is trying to handle. The
guy was doing it a wrong way before, I've left that in for educational
reasons.]

Use ON_MESSAGE:

        ON_MESSAGE(WM_CHKTBLTOGGLE, OnChkTblToggle)

In your class definition:

        afx_msg LRESULT OnChkTblToggle(WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam);

In your message map:

 #define ON_WM_CHKTBLTOGGLE()

{

WM_CHKTBLTOGGLE, 0, AfxSig_vwp, (AFX_PMSG)(AFX_PMSGW)(BOOL

(AFX_MSG_CALL CWnd::*)(BYTE, BYTE))OnChkTblToggle

},

In your code:

LRESULT CMyView::OnChkTblToggle(WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)

{

        // TODO: write your code here

}

You told MFC that your fuction is:

         void CMYView::OnChkTblToggle(UINT, CPoint)

That's what the signature AfxSig_vwp means... and definitely not what you
want.

ON_MESSAGE and ON_REGISTERED_MESSAGE are intended to allow you to extend
the message handlers to your own custom message handlers. Please don't rely
on specific AfxSig_* values or on the message map structure -- it may
change without notice.

Dean McCrory, mfc-l, 8/19/95

11.23. How do I customize the MFC idle time processing?

In my opinion, MFC's idle processing happens too often. Unfortunately, we
can't change it because it might break apps when not necessary. But.. we
have built in to the code a way for applications to customize the times in
which they "enter idle". The secret? CWinThread::IsIdleMessage!!

Here's an example which disables idle entry for mouse & timer messages:

BOOL CMyApp::IsIdleMessage(MSG* pMsg)

{

        if (!CWinApp::IsIdleMessage(pMsg))

        return FALSE;

        if ((pMsg->message >= WM_MOUSEFIRST &&

                pMsg->message <= WM_MOUSELAST) ||

                (pMsg->message >= WM_NCMOUSEMOVE &&

                pMsg->message <= WM_NCMBUTTONDBLCLK))

                        return FALSE;

        if (pMsg->message == WM_TIMER)

                return FALSE;

        // otherwise msg must kick in idle processing...

        return TRUE;

}

Now, what would happen if you had a clock on your status bar, and were
relying on a WM_TIMER to kick in a call to your update handler for that
pane? Well... as you might have guessed, the above code would break you.
There is an easy way to fix that, as there is a backdoor method of forcing
an idle to kick in: WM_KICKIDLE defined in afxpriv.h can be

used to make this happen.

So, in your timer handler (most likely a handler in your derived

CStatusBar class), you would add some code which does:

if (TimeIsDifferentEnough())

        PostMessage(WM_KICKIDLE);

If you take a look at CWinThread::IsIdleMessage, you'll see that we go

through a fair amount of pane to avoid unecessary OnIdle calls. Like

checking for mouse moves to the same location as last time (I don't

know why NT does that, but it does... everytime the caret flashes). We

are doing just about everything we can without breaking backward
compatibility.

[e-mail], via email.

11.24. How do I create non-resizable (static AND fixed) splitter bars?

See KB article Q105150 "Preventing Static Splitters from Tracking". It
describes how to do this. Basically, derive a class from the CSplitterWnd
and override the left button and mouse move messages: call the CWnd
versions rather than CSplitterWnd versions. Finally, remove menu items that
may generate ID_WINDOW_SPLIT commands.

[e-mail], via mfc-l 9/28/95

11.25. How do I add 'What's this' menus to my application - like Win95 hip
apps have?

Here's some steps to get you started->

1. Put the following menu into a resource script:

IDR_WHAT_IS_THIS_MENU   MENU    DISCARDABLE

BEGIN

        BEGIN

                POPUP "a"

                BEGIN

                        MENUITEM "What's this?", ID_WHAT_IS_THIS

                END

        END

END

2. Add to your dialog a right-click handler (OnRButtonDown) with menu
IDR_WHAT_IS_THIS_MENU. You need to store the point of the last click in
some variable - for example

        CPoint          m_cLastRClickPoint;

and store here the client coordinates of the last right click.

4. Put the following code into your dialog class (or probably the parent
class of all your dialogs):

BEGIN_MESSAGE_MAP(CMyDialog, CDialog)

        //{{AFX_MSG_MAP(CMyDialog)

        // whatever

        //}}

        ON_COMMAND(ID_WHAT_IS_THIS, OnWhatIsThis)

END_MESSAGE_MAP()

void CMyDialog::OnWhatIsThis()

{

        CWnd* pControl = ChildWindowFromPoint (m_cLastRClickPoint);

// if the click wasn't on one of the controls - open help for dialog

        if (pControl == NULL || pControl->m_hWnd == m_hWnd)

                WinHelp (HID_BASE_RESOURCE + m_nIDHelp,

                HELP_CONTEXTPOPUP);

        else

                WinHelp (HID_BASE_CONTROL + pControl->GetDlgCtrlID(),

                        HELP_CONTEXTPOPUP);

}

- and finally add the following lines to the makehelp.bat file:

echo. >>hlp\wr.hm

echo // Controls (IDC_*) >>hlp\wr.hm

makehm IDC_,HIDC_,0x50000 resource.h >>hlp\wr.hm

This wires everything to your help system.

Poul A. Costinsky([e-mail]).

11.26. How do I display a choose directory dialog, instead of a choose file
dialog?

/* Work's only if we're 95 capable */

if (afxData.bWin4)

{

        LPMALLOC pMalloc;

        /* Get's the Shell's default allocator */

        if (::SHGetMalloc(&pMalloc) == NOERROR)

        {

                BROWSEINFO bi;

                char pszBuffer[MAX_PATH];

                LPITEMIDLIST pidl;

// Get help on BROWSEINFO struct - it's got all the bit settings

                bi.hwndOwner = GetSafeHwnd();

                bi.pidlRoot = NULL;

                bi.pszDisplayName = pszBuffer;

                bi.lpszTitle = _T("Select a Starting Directory");

                bi.ulFlags = BIF_RETURNFSANCESTORS | BIF_RETURNONLYFSDIRS;

                bi.lpfn = NULL;

                bi.lParam = 0;

                // This next call issues the dialog box

                if ((pidl = ::SHBrowseForFolder(&bi)) != NULL)

                {

                        if (::SHGetPathFromIDList(pidl, pszBuffer))

                        {

                        //At this point pszBuffer contains the selected path */

                                DoingSomethingUseful(pszBuffer);

                        }

                        // Free the PIDL allocated by SHBrowseForFolder

                        pMalloc->Free(pidl);

                }

                // Release the shell's allocator

                pMalloc->Release();

        }

}

NOTE: This code will work on Win95 only - it's part of the shell.

[e-mail] mfc-l, 9/9/95

11.27. I'm having problems using MFC 4.0 and the STL, what could be wrong?

The trick is to include "new.h" (and also "iostream.h" for similar reasons)
before you include any stl headers. For example:

        #include <new.h>

        #include <iostream.h>

        namespace std {

        #include <map.h>

        }

<[e-mail]>, mfc-l

11.28. How do I make a window stay on top of the others?

SetWindowPos(&wndTopMost,NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL,SWP_NOMOVE|SWP_NOSIZE)

(like DBWIN does)

[e-mail], via mfc-l, 1/19/95

11.29. How do I make a window move in front of another?

Call either:

        SetWindowPos(&wndTop,NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL,SWP_NOMOVE|SWP_NOSIZE)

Or

        BringWindowToFront();

[e-mail], via mfc-l, 1/19/95

11.30. Is MFC Dead?

No. MFC continues to grow and change as the operating system grows and
changes, and as th eneeds of our users continue to grow and mature. During
the summer of 1997, some MFC team members will provide presentations under
strict non-disclosure agreements that explain some of the planning that's
happening for the next version of the product. But the caveat in the above
question still strongly applies: the development of the product might
change directions to fill an unforseen pressing need, but the product is by
no means dead.

[e-mail]

11.31. Does ATL Replace MFC?

No. ATL and MFC are designed to solve two very different problems.

[e-mail]

11.32. How do I implement docking windows like DevStudio has?

MFC does not easily let you do this. The problem is that the
dockbar/control bar architecture is built for basic toolbars, not windows.
We have solved the problem in our Objective Toolkit product -
http://www.stingsoft.com has demos and white papers - check it out!



11.33. Will the next version of MFC support [some particular feature]?

The MFC Team grows MFC's feature set as time and resource allow.

MFC features are added when the MFC team feels that MFC can provide a clear
win for C++ programmers over using some API or some system feature
directly. MFC tracks features in the operating system as well as new
strategic technologies that Microsoft introduces.

Unfortunately, some people in the industry have irresponsibly begun
predicting what MFC will or won't support. If someone not on the MFC Team
claims to know wether MFC will or wont support a particular feature,
they're wrong: they don't know. If someone who _is_ on the MFC Team says
that the team is planning support for a feature, they're probably right--at
that particular moment in time. Because software development schedules
change and are influenced by all sorts of surprises, the feature may or may
not make the final version of the product despite the best efforts of the
team members.

[e-mail]





------------------------------------------------------------------------

12. Wizard Questions

12.1. How can I change the AppWizard options I selected for my application?

Unfortunately, AppWizard will not modify already created and modified
applications. You need to generate a new skeleton application using
AppWizard and either merge your code into that or compare that skeleton
with your original to see what's different. The good news is that it's
mostly just a minor tweak to add/remove OLE support or MDI or something
like that. It usually is just changing your CWinApp derivate, your frame
window, or something like that.

[e-mail], 5/31/95

------------------------------------------------------------------------

13. Visual C++ Questions

I'm trying to keep these as generic as possible, but these types of
questions tend to be very release-specific, so where possible, I've
included the version that's being questioned.

13.1. Windows 95 questions

13.1.1. I'm running MSVC 2.0 and I can't get Windows 95 look and feel in my
dialogs, what's wrong?

In MSVC 2.0, go to the Project/Options dialog, select "Linker" and change
the linker command line to include: /subsystem:windows,4.0 This is the
default in MSVC 2.1.

Chris Marriott, [e-mail], 5/25/95, via programmer.misc

13.1.2. When I compile under Windows 95, it flashes in and out of DOS mode.

Remove or rename any dosprmpt.pif files in your win95 and windows
directories. If this doesn't work, do the same with all pif files.

[e-mail], 5/25/95

In the Win95\system directory there is a pif for Conagent. It is this pif
file that a person has to change to Window screen mode instead of Full
Screen mode. Worked like a charm on mine after running about a month with
the screen blanking...

[e-mail], email, 7/16/95

13.1.3. Can MSVC 1.5 or 2.0 be used for Windows 95?

You can run both versions under Windows 95. Visual C++ 1.5x can ONLY
generate 16-bit applications. You 'can' run these on Windows 95, but it's
more desirable to have true 32-bit applications, which MSVC 2.0 generates.
These same rules apply to NT.

[e-mail] 6/5/95

13.2. Configuration Questions

13.2.1. What are the memory requirements of MSVC?

MSVC 1.5.x will work on a 486 class machine with a minimum of 4MB of RAM.
8MB will make your life much better. MSVC 2.x needs at least 16MB.
Microsoft recommends 20MB on the box.

Note: VC 1.5 takes a big (3x) performance hit under all operating systems
if you have less than 16 Meg. I published an article about this (and other
performance enhancements) in Windows/DOS Developers Journal in May, 95.

[e-mail], email, 7/11/95

13.2.2. How can I get MSVC 2.1, I can't find it in stores?

The point releases are part of the MSVC subscription (See section 2.1.1.).
Only major releases are sold through retail, so you'll need to buy a
subscription to get the point releases. Subscriptions are available from
Microsoft, Programmer's Paradise and Programmer's shop. (See section 2.1
for info)

13.2.3. Should I run under Win 95 or NT?

Life is a bunch of trade offs. The trade offs here are if you run under 95,
you won't need as much memory, but the OS is not as robust as NT, so you
will probably crash more. On the flip side, if you run under NT (a full
32-bit OS), you won't crash as much, but alas, you will need more memory.
Personally, I prefer the NT route. NT catches all memory problems and
handles them nicely for you without destabilizing the system.

[e-mail], 6/18/95

13.2.4. How do I set the include/lib/exe directories?

MSVC versions < 2.0 used environment variables INCLUDE/LIBDIR/EXEDIR. MSVC
versions > 2.0 uses settings in the Visual C++ Tools menu. Select "Tools"
and then "Options" menu item. A dialog opens, and select "Directories" tab
button. There you can set Include directories, Library directories,
Executable directories...

[e-mail] (Lee, Jin Woo), via programmer.win32, 6/10/95

13.2.5. I can't compile any programs! Help!

Question: I just installed VC1.51 on my system. Installation proceeded
smoothly without any errors. However, I can't compile any programs! Even
when I try to compile thesimplest and shortest programs, I get this error
message:

Can't open the compilation response file

Answer : A common cause of this type of error is having a TMP or TEMP
environmentvariable which isn't pointing at a valid directory. Eg your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file says:

set TMP=C:\TMP

and you don't have a "C:\TMP" directory.

Chris Marriott, [e-mail], programmer.misc, 6/18/95

13.2.6. Can I setup a project to search different paths for source?

I would like to have my projects first search for the source in a local
directory, and if it can't find it there, search a network drive.

TODO: Find answer to this one, seems good. Asked on tools 6/21 by

Joe Kinsella, [e-mail]

13.2.7. How do I build a browser file for all of MFC?

It's nice to be able to browse the MFC classes and source code, the best
way to do this is via some Microsoft supplied .BAT files for the Microsoft
Software Library:

BLDBSC15.BAT - for VC++ 1.5

BLDBSC20.BAT - for VC++ 2.0

BLDBSC21.BAT - for VC++ 2.1

Basically, you want invoke the compiler on every file with /Zs as the
option, which means generate the .sbr file and no .obj. Next, you want to
run bscmake.exe on the generated .sbr files to create your .bsc file. The
MFC makefile will complain about the obj's being missing, but you can
ignore that warning. It will take significantly longer and more time to
create both .sbrs and .objs.

[e-mail], 6/25/95

It is worth noting that VC 2.1 has a pre-built browser file that is on the
CD-ROM but is not installed. It can be loaded at any time into the IDE with
the File/Open command.

[e-mail], email, 7/11/95

If you are using the 32-bit versions, you can get more information in the
README.TXT file in the \msvc20\mfc\src directory. What is tells you is to
move to that directory and from the dos prompt run:

nmake DEBUG=1 BROWSEONLY=1

[e-mail], mfc-l, 7/17/95



13.2.8. When I compile I get: "fatal error C1010: unexpected end of file
while looking for precompiled header directive" - why?

You need to #include "stdio.h" at the top of your file.

- [e-mail]

13.3. Language feature questions

13.3.1. Does MSVC support templates and exception handling?

The 32-bit Visual C++ 2.0 release introduced templates and exception
handling. There is no support for these C++ features in 16-bit versions of
the product.

It is worth noting that the 16 bit implementation of THROW and CATCH are
brain-damaged. They do not clean up the stack as it unwinds.

[e-mail], email, 7/11/95

13.3.2. Does MSVC support the Standard Template Library?

Yes! See FAQ 11.27 for some hints. This support was added with 4.0

13.3.3. Does VC++ support RTTI?

Yes, version 4.0 does.

[e-mail], 6/7/95

13.4. Religious questions

13.4.1. Which is better OWL or MFC, BC++ or MS MSVC?

This is constantly getting asked on Usenet. The answer really depends on
what you are doing. If you demand the latest C++ features such as
templates, RTTI, etc.. BC++ usually has these first. But be careful, when
Borland went from OWL 2 to 3 (or was it 1 to 2?) they made everybody
completely rewrite their applications. Applications that were written with
MFC 1.0 still work with the newer versions of MFC today! The best advice is
to get the features from each vendor and see what's best for your
situation.

[e-mail] 6/8/95, comp.lang.c++

13.4.2. Should I use Visual C++ or Visual Basic?

(Here's a funny analogy I saw posted->) Well, the principle is the same
(create interface, add code to respond to events, add code to do something
useful). But programming in VB is like riding a kiddy bike, while
programming in C++ is like driving a Formula 1 racing car - be prepared for
accidents.

But seriously, VB is interpreted, MSVC is compiled, therefore MSVC programs
should be much faster (if written well). It's generally believed that VB is
the best way to 'prototype' a user-interface, but when it comes to code
reuse and solving larger problems, VB breaks down. Visual C++ on the other
hand is not as easy to use as VB, but once you learn it, you can write much
more complex programs than with VB. The readers digest version of all this
is: It depends on the application you are writing.

[e-mail], 6/18/95

13.4.3. MFC philosophy (from a microsoftie!)

Just a note about the classes provided in MFC... keep in mind that these
classes are designed as "general-purpose" classes, not "all-purpose"
classes. No one implementation can have performance characteristics that
are ideal for *all* possible applications. It is up to you, the programmer,
to evaluate a provided implementation and decide whether it is appropriate
for the task at hand. If it is not, you have several alternatives: modify
or subclass the provided implementation; find a more appropriate class from
another source; or write one from scratch.

[e-mail], mfc-l, 7/15/95

13.4.4. Should I use the MFC collections or the STL collections?

%%TODO: Get a good insightful answer to this one: please contribute!

13.5. Advanced Visual C++ tips and tricks

13.5.1. How do I see the MSVC 'Easter Eggs'?!

FYI: Easter eggs are hidden screens that usually have secret initials,
development team names, etc..

  1.
       1.
            1.
                 1. To see the spinning PLUS with the MSVC team members:

In MSVC 2.0 or 2.1->

A. Bring up the about box: help/about

B. Press control-tab and double click in the middle of the box at the same
time.

NOTE: You must have the MSVC CD loaded for this to work, I think.

2. If above does not work, try this-> copy the MSVCCRD.DLL from the CD to
msvc\binCTRL+Double-click the picture in the dialog

note: release the CTRL key at the same time as the second click.

[e-mail], Jeff O'Halloran

To see the Visual C++ 4.0 about box, double click in the about box while
the CDROM is in the drive and you are holding the control key down. The OK
button should go away. Wait about 3-5 minutes and you should see a pretty
neat flight simulator! You can browse the picture by opening msdevcrd.dll
which lives in msdev\bin.

[e-mail]

13.5.2. What are the command line options to MSVC?

   * MSVC /V - Runs the compiler in a dos box (version 1.5 only?)

[e-mail]

   * MSVC /NOLOGO - Runs MSVC without the about box, saves second or 2.
   * MSVC /bppassc:yes - Enables a cool breakpoint counter in the
     'breakpoints' dialog (under the Debug menu).

[e-mail], email 7/11/95

   * MSVC -p - attaches VC++ to a process.

13.5.3. How to change the color of ClassWizard generated code!

The default color for text modified by the ClassWizard is black print on a
white background. Visual C++ is aware of the code that the ClassWizard
modifies and can highlight these changes for you using a different color.

Highlighting the text ClassWizard modifies makes the new modifications very
obvious and easy to find. To do this, from the Tools menu, choose Options.
Then select the Format tab in the Options dialog box. From the Colors
Listbox, select Wizard Code. Then define the colors for text and the
background.

NOTE: Only applies to VC++ 2.x (and 4.x), but it's waaaay cool!

MS FAQ, 6/25/95

13.5.4. Ten cool things you can do in the VC++ editor!

  1.
       1.
            1.
                 1. CTRL+ALT+T shows your tab characters
                 2. SHIFT+ESC closes the active dockable window
                 3. CTRL+F3 finds the next occurrence of the current word
                 4. CTRL+M finds the matching bracket
                 5. CTRL+> and CTRL+< find the next/prev matching
                    #ifdef/#else/#endif
                 6. CTRL+SHIFT+R starts/stops macro recording
                 7. CTRL+SHIFT+P plays recorded macro
                 8. Right-click #includes to open the header file
                 9. TAB/SHIFT+TAB indent or unindent selected lines
                10. Hold ALT key down to select columns
                11. Jeff Henshaw, borrowed of MFC PDC slide, 6/25/95

                    NOTE: Not all of these work in VC++ 1.5x, most do in
                    2.x and 4.x

                    13.5.5. How do I speed up VC++ compiles?

                    Use precompiled headers, turn off the browser
                    (Options:Project:Compiler:Listing Files:Browser
                    Information), increase and/or decrease the size of your
                    disk cache, tinker with the INCLUDE and LIB environment
                    variable directory orders. That's about it.

                    [e-mail], programmer.tools, 8/19/95

                    13.5.6. Make all MFC keywords a different color!

                    Download the file USERTYPE.DAT from the FAQ Archive
                    (See 2.2.6) and follow the directions in there. Try it,
                    you'll like it!

                    NOTE: This has been updated for 4.0

                    [e-mail], 8/31/95

                    13.5.7. Easy way to launch 4.x projects without mdp
                    files.

                    For very large projects you might not bank or put mdp
                    files into the version control system. You just want to
                    grab the makefile and go. The problem is that Visual
                    C++ does not easily recognize .mak files. Here's an
                    easy way to launch right from a makefile to VC4.0 and
                    have a .mdp file created.

                    1. Bring up the registry edit (registry.exe for Windows
                    95 and regedt32.exe for Window NT 3.51)

                    2. Activate the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT window

                    3. Add a new key

                    .mak

                    4. Add a new string value

                    mdpfile

                    5. Close the registry

                    That's it. Now you can just select any Visual C++ 4.0
                    makefile from the file manager or the explorer and the
                    Visual C++ IDE will come up and a project workspace
                    (.mdp) will be create for that makefile. You no longer
                    have to go into the visual environment do a "file
                    open", enter a filename, and select "open
                    as...makefile". This is definitely a time saver.

                    [e-mail]

                    13.6. Miscellaneous Visual C++ questions

                    13.6.1. What are all these files that MSVC is
                    creating?!

                    Here's a table that explains the common extensions and
                    what MSVC uses them for:

                    -------------------------------------------------------

                    Extension          Use                       Notes

                    APS                App Studio File

                    BSC                Browser File              SBR's combined into 1 BSC

                    CLW                Class Wizard File

                    ILK                Incremental Linker File

                    NCB                Contains the ClassView    Added in 4.0, delete if you

                                       information               have problems.

                    PCH                Pre-Compiled Header File

                    PDB                Debugging Info            /Z7 Affects This

                    RES                RC 'object' File          Linked Into EXE

                    SBR                Browser Info for 1 File   Combined Into BSC

                    VCP                Visual C++ State File

                    -------------------------------------------------------

                    %%TODO: Fill this table in more completely.

                    13.6.2. How do I change from using MFCXX.DLL to using a
                    statically linked library?

                    You need to flick a few settings in the build settings
                    windows:

                    In the C/C++ tab, select the "General" Category. Remove
                    "_AFXDLL" from the list of preprocessor definitions. In
                    the"Code Generation" tab, select "Multithreadded' or
                    "Debug

                    Multithreadded", which ever is appropriate for your
                    build.

                    In the "Resources" tab, make sure that "_AFXDLL"
                    doesn't appear in the list that's in the "Preprocessor
                    Definitions" edit.

                    -Mike B - [e-mail]

                    13.6.3. How do I report a bug to Microsoft?

                    [ed. note: Here's a fun answer from Mike B on this one,
                    seems Mike gets lots of "how do I", or "is this a bug"
                    emails. This FAQ actually has good info, I kept some of
                    the personal stuff because it livens it up somewhat.]

                    I think need to explain something about bug reporting.

                    While everyone on this list knows that I work at
                    Microsoft, and most people know that I work on MFC, it
                    seems that very few people understand how bugs should
                    be reported to Microsoft about Microsoft products.

                    If you're a Microsoft Select customer, or you're
                    involved with Microsoft Consulting Services, you should
                    talk to your Corporate Account Manager or Engagement
                    Manager about how you should get information about bugs
                    to and from Microsoft.

                    If you're a user who has bought Visual C++, you need to
                    use the "Technical Support" command in the "Help" menu
                    of Visual C++. This help topic explains a lot about
                    contacting PSS, Microsoft's Product Support Services.

                    If you have a support agreement with PSS, or if you
                    _don't_ have an agreement with PSS, you can call to
                    report a bug without charge. You _will_ have to pay for
                    your own long-distance phone call, but you'll not be
                    debited for the time you spend making the report by
                    Microsoft.

                    Everyone should have understood this, but I guess many
                    don't. Further:

                    Microsoft certainly encourages third-party and peer
                    support for Microsoft products. You should be able to
                    find certified Microsoft consultants near where you
                    work, and you should be able to find peer-support
                    places to talk about Microsoft products. MFC-L is an
                    example of one, and the MSMFC forum on CompuServe is
                    another.

                    The problem is, though, that a few people have written
                    to me (and, I suppose, other MS-people on the list)
                    personally requesting that I handle a bug report or
                    requesting that I provide one-on-one help.

                    Frankly, I just don't have the time to do that. I try
                    to answer lots of questions in public places (like on
                    MFC-L, or on MSMFC, or in the occasional book) to help
                    out and encourage the peer-support communities. But I
                    don't have time to hand-hold people through problems,
                    and I don't have the time to accept bug reports.

                    "Accepting a bug report", if you don't realize it,
                    means that I would get from you a complete reproduction
                    case, figure out what is wrong, reproduce it myself,
                    and report it to the appropriate folks. I can't skip
                    those steps because it makes noise for the appropriate
                    folks if they've already heard about the problem
                    before.

                    I really don't mean to be a prick: I just can't make
                    (or even imply) promises that I know I'm not capable of
                    keeping.

                    Now, on the other hand, if you report a problem to a
                    public place (like MFC-L or to CompuServe) and I see
                    it, I might try to reproduce it. I'll steal it from the
                    list and take it to work, where I can see if it was
                    reported before. And when I have time, I can fool with
                    it. But I can _NOT_ imply any obligation--I can't
                    promise that I'l do even this much... but since

                    I'm interested in MFC, I usually try. It's
                    unofficial--all it is some guy who wants to go out of
                    his way to help out.

                    So, if you find what you think is a bug, here's what
                    you should do:

                    1) Panic.

                    2) Threaten to nuke my neighborhood.

                    3) Try to consolidate the problem.

                    4) Take that consolidation to another project on
                    another machine and try it

                    5) If it still is a problem, step through the code.
                    THINK..

                    6) THINK some more..

                    If you're still sure its a bug, do one or more of these
                    things:

                    a) Call PSS.

                    b) Talk to a support professional, like a certified
                    consultant.

                    c) Write to MFC-L or the MSFMC group, or the MFC
                    bulletin board on MSN.

                    but realize that only (A) is the official, guaranteed
                    way to get help.

                    My job is to write software, and I try to be pretty
                    good at that. (I'm pretty good at going to hockey
                    games, too.) But I really can't also do the job of
                    product support on a full-time, full-responsibility
                    basis. Sending bug reports directly to me will do
                    nothing more than make me feel awkward and say "Sorry,
                    can't help" to you.

                    Thanks for understanding,

                    - [e-mail]

                    13.7. Visual C++/MFC 4.0 specific hints, problems,
                    etc..

                    13.7.1 Why aren't my windows being created in MFC 4.0?

                    The problem is probably that you are relying on one of
                    the MFC 3.x and earlier registered window classes for
                    the class name passed to your ::Create(). For example,
                    a very popular way to create a window with a white
                    background is to use "AfxViewOrFrame". In MFC 4.0, not
                    only have all of the window class names been changed,
                    but they also happen dynamically when needed!

                    The solution is to use AfxRegisterWndClass() and pass
                    the results to Create(). Be sure to specify the right
                    flags to get the desired results. Also check out tech
                    note number 1, which has been revised for 4.0.

                    - [e-mail], 1/20/96

                    13.7.2. How do I convert a VC++ 2.x makefile over to
                    4.x?

                    1. Select File/Open...

                    2. Select your *.mak file

                    3. Select Open as: Makefile

                    4. Select Open, then VC will offer you to convert it to
                    a VC workspace - this is what you want.

                    13.7.3. ClassWizard has problems wiring controls to
                    members in international 4.0 versions, what the heck do
                    I do?

                    To test and see if you have the problem:

                    1. In VC version 4.0 use the app wizard to create a
                    dialog based application.

                    2. then use the dialog resource editor to add controls
                    etc onto the dialog box generated above.

                    3. Then fire up the class wizard to associate member
                    variables to the added controls. The control ID's are
                    NOT listed in the command ID windows (the IDCANCEL and
                    IDOK are there and thats it!) of the member variables
                    property page.

                    The control ID's ARE in the messagemap property page
                    but not on the member variables property page! Huh?

                    The fix:

                    The fix is to change the language property of the
                    dialog template (highlight the name of the dialog box
                    in the resource window and click right mouse button).
                    For me I had to change the language property from
                    English (US) to English (Australian), only after doing
                    this do the member variables of control's appear. I
                    assume this property must match your Win95 chosen

                    language, in anycase the change fixed it for me and a
                    German user who had the same problem.

                    [e-mail], email, 12/13/95

                    13.7.4. VC++ 4.0 crashes all the time on me!!!
                    HELP!?!?!?!?!

                    I haven't personally experienced these problems, but
                    here's some solutions (some are probably wives tales)
                    for solving the problems:

                12. Make sure you have downloaded the service update from:
                    http://www.microsoft.com/visualc.
                13. If you're using subprojects, this is probably the
                    culprit, they're very unstable.
                14. If you're using 200+ files, try and carve your project
                    into DLLs.
                15. Try removing the .ncb file, this is where the ClassView
                    info is stored.
                16. If you converted your project over from 2.x and are
                    having problems - start fresh with a 4.0 project and
                    insert your files into it.
                17. 13.7.5. How do I add components (not just classes) to
                    the Component Gallery?

                    The APIs used for the Component Gallery have not been
                    made public yet by Microsoft.

                    13.7.6. What is up with the Visual C++ 5.0 help
                    system!?

                    -------------------------------------------------------

                    It is widely known (at least everyone I talk to) that
                    the VC++ 5.0 help system is very very bad! Microsoft
                    replaced the wonderful, speedy RTF based WinHelp viewer
                    system with an HTML based IE viewer system. Why is it
                    slow? Well now you have to basically have a Alta Vista
                    on your desktop to search since it is basically HTML.
                    There is an indexing system, it is suppose to get
                    better, but it is really bad right now.

                    Here's what I doà

                      1. Remove all of the help files.
                      2. Install Visual C++ 4.2, choose only the IDE and
                         help file options. Install into some unique
                         directory like c:\vc42_help.
                      3. Now use VC++ 4.2 for help and VC++ 5.0 for
                         compiles.

Sounds cheesy and it is, but the 5.0 help is really that bad if you are a
heavy user like I am (not sure if that is a good or bad thing).

14. Third Party MFC Products

This section lists products that make the MFC developer's life easy. No
OCX/VBX type products are listed here, go check some catalog. Where
possible, I've put a review by someone!

   * Stingray Software, Inc.
   *
        o [phone]
        o [phone]
        o [e-mail]
        o http://www.stingsoft.com
        o Company that develops and markets MFC extension class libraries.
          Co-founded by me - the MFC FAQ dude. We have a full family of MFC
          extensions that should save you tons of time in your MFC
          projects. Many of our products were inspired by FAQs!
        o %%TODO: get a review
   * Premia CodeWright Fusion
   *
        o [phone]
        o [phone]
        o Great add-in editor for MSVC, they have both 16 and 32-bit
          versions.

%%TODO: Get a review, anyone?

   * Nu-Mega Bounds-Checker
   *
        o [phone]
        o [phone]
        o Lets you know if you've clobbered memory, has a special MFC
          feature so you can see class names and paths through message
          maps.
        o %%TODO: Review? We use it at Stingray all the time. Still not as
          good as Purify on Unix, but all we've got right now.
   * Rogue Wave Tools.h++ - There's been a looong thread on the mfc-l about
     how hard this is to use with MFC, people are trying everything and it
     doesn't seem to help. Evidently they use a totally different memory
     model, internationalization and persistence. -various, mfc-l 7/18/95 -
     7/27/95

Update - they were going to come out with Tools.h for MFC, but decided not
to. Can anyone say "LAME"?!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

15. MFC FAQ Revision History

   * 1.0 Beta 5/25/95
   *
        o Did heavy work on TOC, more info, history. Not many FAQs yet.
   * 1.0 Final Beta 6/2/95
   *
        o Put in some FAQs I keep seeing. Integrated feedback from mfc-l
          posting.
        o Posted one last time to mfc-l for final feedback before FCS...
   * 1.0 FCS! 6/8/95
   *
        o Put in some FAQs from MSVC KB
        o Got lots of good feedback from mfc-l
        o Got some new FAQs from Usenet
        o Integrated news from MFC Conference, MSVC 4/2.2, etc..
        o Posted to Usenet and CompuServe for first time.
   * 1.1 6/25/95
   *
        o Lot's of new stuff from MFC PDC
        o Lot's of cserve and usenet FAQs too
        o redid VC++ section
        o Lots of good book reviews coming out.
        o Grabbed some stuff from new MS FAQ too.
   * 1.2 7/30/95
   *
        o Updated from 1.1
        o Lots of book reviews got emailed and added.
        o Windows common controls section added.
        o 11.x - probably needs new hierarchy soon.
        o Introducing "Instant-FAQ (TM)"
        o Added article section to complement book section.
        o Updated VC++ 2.2 information.
   * 1.3 8/30/95
   *
        o Updated from 1.2
        o Distribution for 1.2:
        o Instant-FAQ: 241
        o Web hits for Aug: 2966
        o ftp: ???
        o CIS: 684
        o Total circ: 3500-4000
   * 4.0 1/15/96
   *
        o Updated from 1.3
        o Converted over to Word format - using Word Internet Assist for
          html output.
        o Instant-FAQ: 700
        o Web hits: 5000/month+
        o Total circ: 10,000+
        o Coming soon: MSDN and 'Mastering VC++ CDROM" appearances of the
          MFC FAQ.
   * 5.0 - 5/15/97

     It's been over a year, I freshened up major sections most heavily in
     2/3.

        o Added some cool stuff from .B ekiM.
        o Added many cool FAQs that were emailed or posted over the last
          couple of months.
        o Turning this beast over to Justin Rudd - the new MFC stud-puppy.
        o Instant-FAQ - 4000 (yikes!)
        o Ciao!



     ----------------------------------------------------------------------

                             Looking for a job?

Stingray now has a ton of job openings and if you are at the top of the
MFC/ActiveX food chain - we need you!



                                  THE END