C / C++ / MFC

5-Aug-01 5:32

to tell the truth, im quite embarrassed to ask this question.
is it possible for me to still use the resource editor even though i will not be using mfc? Confused | :confused:

you see, i'm new to visual c++, a newbie, and can't seem to understand the intricacies of the language, particularly mfc. i've decided that creating applications using the basic win32 windows api, without the use of mfc, would be a nice start for me. please tell me if this is true. or better yet, just answer the question. Smile | :)

Baafie5-Aug-01 5:56

Baafie

5-Aug-01 5:56

yes. I suggest that you read a book about visual c++.

roel5-Aug-01 6:17

5-Aug-01 6:17

i have. there's not much about books about visual c++ from where i am. the thing is, its a programming reference book. class listings, fields, methods ang all that stuff. not much about explaining the programming environment. if you please, kind sir, could you explain it do me, if it won't bother you. Smile | :)

Baafie5-Aug-01 6:25

Baafie

5-Aug-01 6:25

What exactly do you need explained?

You can order books via the internet, you know..

roel5-Aug-01 12:05

5-Aug-01 12:05

thank you for your interest to reply. i need the resource editor explained, if you please. Blush | :O

i am just a student. i have no income and books cost a lot. that is why i resort to programming reference books...best 'bang' for the buck. Smile | :)

Christian Graus5-Aug-01 13:44

Christian Graus

5-Aug-01 13:44

If you can't afford to buy books ( and I was a student once too, so I know how you feel ) then I'd suggest looking for free books on the net. It's a poor substitute but could be your best bet for now. However, if you're serious about it, you *will* have to spring for some books eventually. Look at the list on this site for books that are highly recommended so you don't blow your cash.

However, it sounds to me more like you need to learn C++ before diving into Windows or MFC. MFC makes Windows programming *easier*, not harder. I'd recommend going Win32 AFTER learning it in MFC, unless you own Pethold's book, but even then, I still think it is more complex.

The resource editor allows you to create things like menus and bitmaps which you can load from the resource, meaning they are stored in your .exe file. The dialog editor allows you to design a dialog box, then you can double click on it to create a class that uses that dialog template, and use the class wizard to add message handlers for events and controls on the dialog.

Christian

#include "std_disclaimer.h"

The careful application of terror is also a form of communication.

Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

roel5-Aug-01 14:14

5-Aug-01 14:14

i seem to have not placed my question correctly...
here is the problem. if i dont use the mfc, i seem to create the components in my program during run time. when that happens, it is my impression that i *cant* use the DIALOG editor. i shall ask this quesion:

is it possible to use the dialog editor, even though i will not use mfc?

it is also my impression that mfc will make my program easier to write but after several tries and several programs later, i still cant understand all that other stuff that gets included in my programs. that is why i think i will do better without mfc. thanks Smile | :)

Christian Graus5-Aug-01 14:18

Christian Graus

5-Aug-01 14:18

I don't know if it can be done.

I would suggest again that you don't need to understand every line of code you get for free from MFC, you just need to learn bit by bit as you use them. You should also use the msdn online as much as possible, and there is a ton of online help for MFC there.

Christian

#include "std_disclaimer.h"

The careful application of terror is also a form of communication.

Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Paolo Messina6-Aug-01 11:34

Paolo Messina

6-Aug-01 11:34

If the question is: can I use the Resource Editor in a Win32 application, not using MFC?
The answer is: Yes, sure!
If you create a new project with AppWizard, choosing Win32 Application -> Hello World , you can see the About dialog in the project's resources and all the other resources as well.

Is there something I missed?

Paolo

------
"airplane is cool, but space shuttle is even better" (J. Kaczorowski)

Todd Smith5-Aug-01 16:14

5-Aug-01 16:14

Yes, you can use the resource editor without using MFC. I write programs all the time that do not use MFC but have dialogs, menus, icon, string, etc. I use the resource editor to create my dialogs, menu, icons, and string tables.

All the resource editor does is give you a graphical tool for editing the .rc files. There's no MFC involved when it comes to editing resources.

Christian Graus5-Aug-01 16:34

Christian Graus

5-Aug-01 16:34

I thought that might be the case - how do you connect a class to the dialog template - is it just by putting in the enum

IDD = IDD_MYDIALOG

and passing IDD into the Create method ?

Christian

#include "std_disclaimer.h"

The careful application of terror is also a form of communication.

Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Todd Smith5-Aug-01 17:08

5-Aug-01 17:08

Using ATL (IDD = IDD_MYDIALOG), yes. Otherwise you have to call CreateDialog and pass in the resource ID.

HWND CreateDialog(
  HINSTANCE hInstance,  // handle to application instance
  LPCTSTR lpTemplate,   // identifies dialog box template name
  HWND hWndParent,      // handle to owner window
  DLGPROC lpDialogFunc  // pointer to dialog box procedure
);
 
lpTemplate 
Identifies the dialog box template. This parameter is either the pointer to a null-terminated character string that specifies the name of the dialog box template or an integer value that specifies the resource identifier of the dialog box template. If the parameter specifies a resource identifier, its high-order word must be zero and its low-order word must contain the identifier. You can use the MAKEINTRESOURCE macro to create this value.

And the tricky part is to call IsDialogMessage in the message loop if you're main window is a dialog.

roel5-Aug-01 21:25

5-Aug-01 21:25

i've seen msdn and it does provide a LOT of help but not enough for me apparently...

i now see that it is possible to use the resource editor without mfc.
does it mean i can create a win32 .exe 'empty' application and i can still use the resource editor?

if the answer is yes, then i still have a few questions...

do i need to edit my own .rc file?
how do i link my class to the resource editor?
it really seems that the resource editor has no idea as to what i'm doing in my code thereby it cant see what components i'm using that is why i cant use the editor... i'm really confused. Confused | :confused:

Todd Smith5-Aug-01 16:14

5-Aug-01 16:14

Todd Smith5-Aug-01 16:14

5-Aug-01 16:14

Kuniva5-Aug-01 22:41

Kuniva

5-Aug-01 22:41

yea u can use the resource editor without mfc, i'm a beginner too but i found out it was really easy to use mfc, u really should try it, especially when u already know a bit of visual basic its really easy. I started out with c++ with Dev-C++ (www.bloodshed.net). it doesn't have a resource editor u just have to do it manually with that one but i converted a win32 api example that show a simple window on the screen to a dialog application. i'm not going to enter the code here but you can find some help at: http://www.winprog.org/tutorial/
i will post the code here as soon as i can, i think this is a very interesting question because it was one of the first questions i asked myself too, because when u use resources for dialogs u can just draw them in the MSVC resource editor and u dont have to program everything in code + the final executable remains very small (in dev-c++ only 5kb or so, in MSVC about 24kb). I will send u both the code for dev-c++ and MSVC++ as soon as i can. i recommend u take a look at MFC and try to use the classwizard. A very helpfull tool Smile | :)

, when u have a dialog in mfc and draw controls on it u just go to View>classwizzard> member variables and u double click the controls u want to acces, u then enter a name for the handle and press ok. fromt hat point on its as easy as VB really. for example u've drawn a textbox on a dialog and u declare a variable for it called m_hText. when u want to put something in the textbox it would look like this:
m_hText = "coffee smells bad";
UpdateData(false);

its that easy!! u just put the code where u want it to happen as in OnCreate(). UpdateData(); is used for the interaction between de member variables and the dialog. When u use UpdateData(false); the values of the member variables are displayed in the dialog, if u use UpdateData(true); the entered values in the dialog are stored in the member variables. Ugh i'm gonna stop now :p i'll just mail it Cool | :cool:

Kuniva
spidyvshades@hotmail.com

Strings

Peter Liddle5-Aug-01 4:45

Peter Liddle

5-Aug-01 4:45

Hey Guys

I really need help i want to be able o convert an unsigned char array (unsigned char string) to a standard char array (char string). I need this becaue i want to put the available key stores returned from CryptGetProvParam which will only take a pointer to a unsigned char into a list box which only takes a pointer to a standard char string.

Re: Strings

Paolo Messina5-Aug-01 5:58

Paolo Messina

5-Aug-01 5:58

Doesn't cast work?

unsigned char * pBuf;
char * pString = (char *) pBuf;

Paolo

------
"airplane is cool, but space shuttle is even better" (J. Kaczorowski)

MFC doc/view

Wim Jans5-Aug-01 4:08

Wim Jans

5-Aug-01 4:08

Hello,

I want to be able to display a dialog (connect to database) before my view is displayed.
The dialog contains my connect information and I've included a variable based on the dialog class in my Document class.

In my main application I put following statement:
cmdInfo.m_nShellCommand=CCommandLineInfo::FileNothing;

This works fine.

I have a problem to figure out in which function I need to call the GetDocument()->m_dlg.DoModal()
I tried in OnCreate of my view, but I don't know what function to call if I press the cancel button in my dialog so I don't see any document/view. If I call return -1 in CMMyView::OnCreate, I get an error message saying that the creation of my view was not succesful.

If I put the DoModal in OnInitialUpdate I already see the docuemnt window and this is not what I want.

Please help me out on this one

Thanks

Wim Jans

Frank Deo5-Aug-01 4:24

Frank Deo

5-Aug-01 4:24

Not sure if this will help or not, but...;)

Try overriding OnFileNew in either your Doc or your View class. More than likely in your Doc class. Just make sure you return the function to the base class so that It can finish processing it correctly.

If this tip helped it was written by me, if not I don't know who wrote it.

Frank

"Gumbercules? I love that Guy"
- Dr. Zoidberg

Michael Dunn5-Aug-01 8:16

Michael Dunn

5-Aug-01 8:16

but I don't know what function to call if I press the cancel button in my dialog so I don't see any document/view.

AfxGetMainWnd()->PostMessage ( WM_CLOSE );

--Mike--
http://home.inreach.com/mdunn/
"Make sure that if you are using a blow torch that you don't set anything on fire."
-- Chris Maunder

Wim Jans5-Aug-01 11:05

Wim Jans

5-Aug-01 11:05

Thanks, but this doesn't work like I want it to work.

What I want is: when I choose File/new... (ctrl-n) a dialog is displayed before my mdi child window is displayed. If I close the dialog by pressing cancel, I don't want to see the child window at all. The other document child windows should sill be open however.

I tried to show the dialog in CMyView::OnCreate, but if I try to do AfxGetMainWnd()->PostMessage , I get an debug error.
Is AfxGetMainWnd()->PostMessage ( WM_CLOSE ); not closing the complete application by the way?

After that, I tried to put the code in CMyView::OnInitialUpdate, but then he already displayed my child window before showing my dialog -even if I put CView::OnInitialUpdate at the end.

I think overriding CMyView::OnCreate is perfect (with my basic knowledge so far) for what I want to do, but how can I say: ok, forget about creating this new document, I just don't have enough information. If I return -1 in OnCreate, he will complain about Failed to create empty document'.

As suggested by Frank, I tried to override the OnFileNew in my view class, but this doesn't work if I currently have no open documents. I did this by putting cmdInfo.m_nShellCommand=CCommandLineInfo::FileNothing;.

Sorry if my explanation is a bit vague, but I'm not a native English speaker.

Thanks for your time.

Wim Jans