Jeff Prosise - Programming Windows with MFC

This electronic book was originally createdand still may be purchasedas a print book. For simplicity, the electronic version of this book has been modified as little as possible from its original form. For instance, there may be occasional references to sample files that come with the book. These files are available with the print version, but are not provided in this electronic edition.

Many of the graphics shown in this book are quite large. To improve the readability of the book, reduced versions of these graphics are shown in the text. To see a full-size version, click on the reduced graphic.

This electronic book was originally createdand still may be purchasedas a print book. For simplicity, the electronic version of this book has been modified as little as possible from its original form. For instance, there may be occasional references to sample files that come with the book. These files are available with the print version, but are not provided in this electronic edition.

Many of the graphics shown in this book are quite large. To improve the readability of the book, reduced versions of these graphics are shown in the text. To see a full-size version, click on the reduced graphic.

PUBLISHED BY
Microsoft Press
A Division of Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, Washington 98052-6399

Copyright 1999 by Jeff Prosise

All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Prosise, Jeff.
Programming Windows with MFC / Jeff Prosise. -- 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Rev. ed. of: Programming Windows 95 with MFC.
ISBN 1-57231-695-0
1. Microsoft Windows (Computer file) 2. Operating Systems
(Computers) 3. Microsoft foundation class library. I. Prosise,
Jeff. Programming Windows 95 with MFC. II. Title.
QA76.73.B3P77 1999
005.265--dc21 99-13028
CIP

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 WCWC 4 3 2 1 0 9

Distributed in Canada by ITP Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Microsoft Press books are available through booksellers and distributors worldwide. For further information about international editions, contact your local Microsoft Corporation office or contact Microsoft Press International directly at fax (425) 936-7329. Visit our Web site at mspress.microsoft.com.

Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. ActiveX, Microsoft, Microsoft Press, MS-DOS, PowerPoint, Visual Basic, Visual C++, Windows, and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

The example companies, organizations, products, people, and events depicted herein are fictitious. No association with any real company, organization, product, person, or event is intended or should be inferred.

Acquisitions Editor: Eric Stroo
Project Editor: Sally Stickney
Technical Editor: Marc Young

PUBLISHED BY
Microsoft Press
A Division of Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, Washington 98052-6399

Copyright 1999 by Jeff Prosise

All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Prosise, Jeff.
Programming Windows with MFC / Jeff Prosise. -- 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Rev. ed. of: Programming Windows 95 with MFC.
ISBN 1-57231-695-0
1. Microsoft Windows (Computer file) 2. Operating Systems
(Computers) 3. Microsoft foundation class library. I. Prosise,
Jeff. Programming Windows 95 with MFC. II. Title.
QA76.73.B3P77 1999
005.265--dc21 99-13028
CIP

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 WCWC 4 3 2 1 0 9

Distributed in Canada by ITP Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Microsoft Press books are available through booksellers and distributors worldwide. For further information about international editions, contact your local Microsoft Corporation office or contact Microsoft Press International directly at fax (425) 936-7329. Visit our Web site at mspress.microsoft.com.

Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. ActiveX, Microsoft, Microsoft Press, MS-DOS, PowerPoint, Visual Basic, Visual C++, Windows, and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

The example companies, organizations, products, people, and events depicted herein are fictitious. No association with any real company, organization, product, person, or event is intended or should be inferred.

Acquisitions Editor: Eric Stroo
Project Editor: Sally Stickney
Technical Editor: Marc Young

Like many of my colleagues in this industry, I learned Windows programming from Charles Petzold's Programming Windowsa classic programming text that is the bible to an entire generation of Windows programmers. When I set out to become an MFC programmer in 1994, I went shopping for an MFC equivalent to Programming Windows. After searching in vain for such a book and spending a year learning MFC the old-fashioned way, I decided to write one myself. It's the book you hold in your hands. And it's the book I would like to have had when I was learning to program Windows the MFC way.

MFC, as you probably already know, is Microsoft's C++ class library for Windows programming. Programming Windows with MFC isn't a book about C++; rather, it's a book about writing 32-bit Windows applications in C++ using MFC rather than the Windows API as the chief means of accessing the operating system's essential features and services. It was written with two kinds of people in mind:

• Windows API programmers who want to learn MFC
• Programmers who have never before programmed Windows

Whichever camp you fall into, I assume that you know the C++ programming language already and are comfortable with basic C++ idioms such as derived classes and virtual functions. If these assumptions are true, you're ready to begin climbing the hill that is MFC programming.

Even veteran Windows programmers frequently find MFC code confusing the first time they see it, in part because of the presence of code created by the MFC code-generating wizards in Visual C++ and in part because of the countless lines of code hidden away in MFC classes such as CFrameWnd, CDocument, and CView. That's why this book takes a rather unusual approach to teaching MFC. It begins by having you write MFC code by hand (without the wizards) and by utilizing MFC 1.0-style application architecturesthat is, applications that use neither documents nor views. Only after you've mastered the fundamentals and become acquainted with basic MFC classes such as CWnd and CWinApp do I introduce the wizards and teach you how to take advantage of MFC's document/view architecture. Along the way, you build a understanding from the ground up of the message-oriented nature of Windows and of key components of Windows itself, such as the Graphics Device Interface (GDI). I believe that this approach makes learning MFC not only less intimidating, but also more enjoyable. I think that you'll agree once you've worked your way through the book and can look back on the learning experience from the standpoint of a knowledgeable Windows programmer.