How to put different types of windows in splitter panes by using the GENSPLIT sample (151032)
The information in this article applies to:
- The Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC), when used with:
- Microsoft Visual C++ for Windows, 16-bit edition 1.0
- Microsoft Visual C++ for Windows, 16-bit edition 1.5
- Microsoft Visual C++ for Windows, 16-bit edition 1.51
- Microsoft Visual C++ for Windows, 16-bit edition 1.52
- Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions 1.0
- Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions 2.0
- Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions 2.1
- Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions 2.2
- Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions 4.0
- Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions 4.1
- Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions 5.0
- Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions 6.0
- Microsoft Visual C++ .NET (2002)
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition
This article was previously published under Q151032 SUMMARY A splitter window is a special window with the capability
of being split into multiple panes, each usually containing a view. Although
the Online documentation says that any CWnd object can replace a view in a
pane, it does not elaborate on how to do so. GENSPLIT shows how to
put different types of windows in splitter panes. The sample creates an SDI
application and creates a splitter window with four panes. The panes contain a
view, a generic CWnd derived window, a listbox, and a dialog.
The following
files are available for download from the Microsoft Download
Center: For
additional information about how to download Microsoft Support files, click the
following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 119591 How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from Online Services
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NOTE: Use the -d option when running GENSPLIT.EXE to
decompress the file and recreate the proper directory structure. MORE INFORMATION GENSPLIT is an MFC SDI application in which
CMainFrame::OnCreateClient has been overridden to create a static splitter with
two rows and two columns. For more information on splitter windows and how to
create them, please see Online Help or the REFERENCES section in this article.
To create windows in the splitter panes, MFC uses CRuntime class
information. This information is passed to the CSplitterWnd::CreateView call
using the RUNTIME_CLASS macro. This API creates the panes in the splitter. It
first calls CreateObject to create the MFC object and then calls the virtual
function CWnd::Create to create the window. Any MFC class willing to implement
creation using runtime class information must be tagged DECLARE_DYNCREATE. The
corresponding macro, IMPLEMENT_DYNCREATE, must be added to the implementation
file for the class. Also, CWnd::PostNcDestroy needs to be overridden for the
class and it should make a call to delete this pointer. This brings about
cleanup of the dynamically created MFC object.
In the GENSPLIT
sample, the first pane is a simple view. This view is the one associated with
the document template registered in the application's InitInstance.
The second pane is a window represented by an MFC class that is derived
directly from CWnd. The window shows a bouncing ball. To create this pane,
CreateView was passed the Runtime class information for the class.
The third pane is a listbox. Besides using the call to CreateView, there is an
extra step necessary here. As mentioned above, the pane window is created by
making the virtual call CWnd::Create. The CListBox class does not have a Create
function whose parameter list matches that of the virtual function
CWnd::Create. As a consequence, CreateView's call to Create gets resolved to
CWnd::Create rather than to CListBox::Create.
All CListBox::Create
does is set the WINDOW class to "LISTBOX" and then call CWnd::Create. Since
setting the WINDOW class is the only step missing in the pane creation,
CWnd::PreCreateWindow has been overridden for the Listbox class to set the
lpszClass member of CREATESTRUCT to "LISTBOX". In this function,
listbox-specific window styles have also been set.
The process to
place new Common controls in splitter panes is similar to the one discussed
above for Listbox controls. However, there is one important difference: Before
setting the WINDOW class, you may need to call InitCommonControls(). This SDK
API is necessary to load the Common control DLL into memory. It is this DLL
that is responsible for registering the WINDOW classes for the Common controls.
You need to call this API only if you haven't already loaded this DLL. This can
be done indirectly by creating a Common control elsewhere in your application.
The fourth pane is a dialog. Creating a dialog in a pane is slightly
tricky. All the windows created in the panes of a splitter are child windows of
the splitter. Dialog windows are usually pop-up windows. They can be created as
child windows but there is no way to specify the child ID for them. The
splitter window architecture dictates which panes get which IDs. Also, as in
the case of CListBox, CDialog::Create does not have the same argument list as
CWnd::Create.
Since dialog creation does not go through
CWnd::Create, PreCreateWindow never gets called for CDialog-derived classes. As
a consequence, CWnd::Create was overridden in the CDialog-derived class. Here
the base class call CDialog::Create was made that creates the modeless dialog.
Immediately after this ::SetWindowLong was called to set the child ID of the
dialog to whatever the splitter window architecture demands.
NOTE:
The easiest way to provide dialog-like functionality in a pane is to work with
the CFormView class. REFERENCES MFC Technical Note no. 29 entitled "Splitter Windows"
CSplitterWnd::CreateView - in file ..\msdev\mfc\src\winsplit.cpp.
MFC technical Note no. 17 entitled "Destroying MFC objects" for a discussion on
CWnd::PostNcDestroy.
| Modification Type: | Major | Last Reviewed: | 1/9/2006 |
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| Keywords: | kbhowto kbinfo kbcode kbfile kbProgramming kbSample KbUIDesign KB151032 kbAudDeveloper |
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