~ Introduction to Tutorial ~

The ObjectWindows 2.5 tutorial teaches the fundamentals of programming for Windows using the ObjectWindows application framework. The tutorial is comprised of an application that is developed in twelve progressively more complicated steps. Each step up in the application represents a step up in the tutorial's lessons. After completing the tutorial, you'll have a full-featured Windows application, with items like menus, dialog boxes, graphical control bar, status bar, MDI windows, and more.

This tutorial assumes that you're familiar with C++ and have some prior Windows programming experience. Before beginning, it might be helpful to read Chapter 1 of the ObjectWindows Programmer's Guide, which presents a brief, nontechnical overview of the ObjectWindows 2.5 class hierarchy. This should help you become familiar with the principles behind the structure of the ObjectWindows class library.

For more detailed technical information on any subject discussed in this book, refer to the ObjectWindows Programmer's Guide and the ObjectWindows Reference Guide.

Getting started

Before you begin the tutorial, you should make a copy of the ObjectWindows tutorial files separate from the files in your compiler installation. Use the copied files when working on the tutorial steps. While working on the tutorial, you should try to make the changes in each step on your own. You can then compare the changes you make to the tutorial program.

Tutorial application

The tutorial application that you'll build when following the steps in this book is a line drawing application called Drawing Pad. While this application isn't very fancy, it does demonstrate many important ObjectWindows programming techniques that you'll use all the time in the course of your ObjectWindows development. Each step introduces a small increment in the application's features. You start with the most basic ObjectWindows application and, by the time you're finished with the last step, you'll have created a full-featured Windows application with a tool bar with bitmapped buttons on it, multiple document support, a status bar that displays menu and button hints, and even full OLE 2.0 server support.

Tutorial steps

Here's a summary of each step in the tutorial:

• In Step 1, you'll learn how to create the basic ObjectWindows application. This application has no real function except to show that an application is running.
• In Step 2, you'll learn how to use the ObjectWindows event-handling mechanism called response tables.
• In Step 3, you'll learn how to write text into a window by creating a device context object in the window and calling some of the device context object's member functions.
• In Step 4, you'll learn how to draw a line in a window using more functions of the device context object.
• In Step 5, you'll learn how change the size of the pen that you use to draw lines in the window. You'll also learn how to use a dialog box to get simple string input from the user.
• In Step 6, you'll learn how to take over the window's paint function, along with adding a menu to the window.
• In Step 7, you'll learn how to use some of the Windows common dialog boxes, specifically the File Open dialog box and File Save dialog box. You'll also learn how to check whether your application is ready to close when requested to do so by the user or the system, giving the application a chance to save files or clean up.
• In Step 8, you'll learn how to display and paint more than one line in the window using an array container to hold the information about all the lines in the drawing.
• In Step 9, you'll learn how to change the pen in the device context to let the user change the line color.
• In Step 10, you'll learn how to add decorations to the application, including a tool bar with bitmapped buttons on it and a status bar that displays hint text for menu items and tool bar buttons.
• In Step 11, you'll learn how to create a Multiple Document Interface (MDI) application, which lets the user of the application have a number of drawings open at once.
• In Step 12, you'll create a Doc/View application. Doc/View provides a programming model that lets you separate the object that actually contains your data (the document) from the object or objects that display your data on-screen (the views). This application is actually a Single Document Interface (SDI) application like Step 10.
• In Step 13, you'll combine the lessons of Step 11 and Step 12 to create an MDI Doc/View application.
• In Step 14, you'll learn to create an OLE 2.0 container from an MDI Doc/View application.
• In Step 15, you'll learn to create an OLE 2.0 server.
• In Step 16, you'll learn to create an OLE 2.0 automation server.
• In Step 17, you'll learn how to enhance an OLE 2.0 automation server.
• Step 18 provides you with some references to help you learn more about ObjectWindows.

Files in the tutorial

The tutorial is composed of a number of different source files:

• The project file is STEPS.IDE located in bc5\Examples\owl\tutorial. Open this project in the IDE to easily access and build each STEPXX.CPP file.
• Each step of the tutorial is contained in a file named STEPXX.CPP.
• Later steps in the application use multiple C++ source files. The other files are named STEPXXDV.CPP.
• A number of steps have a header file containing class definitions and the like. These header files are named STEPXXDV.H.
• A number of steps also have a corresponding resource script file named STEPXX.RC. In each case, XX is a number from 01 to 18, indicating which step of the tutorial is in the source file. Note that only steps 1 through 12 are covered in this version of the tutorial. Code for the additional OWL steps is provided.

Typefaces and icons used in this book

The following table shows the special typographic conventions used in this book.

Note:This indicates material of which you should take special notice.

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