Chapter 3: Using Developer Studio

Chapter 3: Using Developer Studio

Microsoft Developer Studio is the development environment for Microsoft Visual C++. Developer Studio integrates several other development tools, which can be purchased separately, including the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) library, Microsoft Visual J++, and Microsoft Visual Basic. In addition to providing an integrated, flexible environment, Developer Studio offers class navigation tools that simplify object-oriented programming for Windows-based applications.

This chapter describes the Developer Studio tools you can use to develop and maintain your applications. It introduces the Project Workspace, AppWizard, ClassWizard, the Developer Studio Gallery, the resource editors, and Visual C++ Help and online documentation.



After completing this chapter, you will be able to:



® Use AppWizard to create a single document interface (SDI) application.



® Explain the purpose of the Project Workspace window.



® Describe the benefits of using ClassWizard to create and modify classes.



® Use the Developer Studio Gallery to add a component to an application.



® Use several of the resource editors.



® Gain access to Visual C++ and MFC Help and online documentation.



® Build and run a simple SDI application.

Introduction to Developer Studio

The Microsoft Developer Studio environment provides a broad set of development tools in a single location. In this integrated development environment, you can create applications with Visual C++, Visual Basic, Visual J++, or Fortran PowerStation, using whichever product best suits your task and skill set for a given application or component.

In this section, you will learn about the Developer Studio architecture, tools, and features. This section includes the following topics:

1. Developer Studio Architecture

Microsoft Developer Studio is the development environment in which the components of Visual C++ run. Developer Studio provides an integrated set of tools that you can use to create, test, and refine your application all in one place. Developer Studio includes the following features:

® A project workspace to help manage your projects



® Tools for building projects



® User interface and resource editors



® Shared development components, including an optimizing compiler, an incremental linker, and an integrated debugger



® InfoViewer, a feature that displays online and HTML documentation





The following illustration shows how the components of Developer Studio work together to support the development of C++ applications.

1. Common Tools and Features

This topic provides an overview of some of the most commonly used tools and features in Microsoft Developer Studio. Later in this chapter, you will learn how to use these tools to create, customize, and maintain your MFC projects.

Context-Sensitive Help



When you have a question about a keyword, function, or macro name that appears in your code, you can quickly find more information about the item by pressing F1 for context-sensitive Help.



Debugging Tools



Developer Studio comes with an integrated debugger, a source code browser, a program to trace MFC output, and a Win32-based debugging utility that gives you a graphical view of the system's processes, threads, windows, and messages.



Developer Studio Gallery



The Developer Studio Gallery contains reusable code such as ActiveX controls, your own reusable C++ classes with any associated resources, and components created by third-party vendors. You can easily add components, controls, and custom classes to your application from the Gallery.



Information Resources



Developer Studio comes with extensive online documentation and Help for MFC, Visual C++, and the development environment.



Project Workspace



Developer Studio provides a project workspace to help you manage your projects efficiently. The project workspace organizes your project and its elements, and maintains your preferences for how information will be displayed. You can choose to view your project in terms of its files, resources, or classes. You can also view the online documentation in the Project Workspace window.



Resource Editors



Microsoft Developer Studio provides resource editors that you can use to create, copy, modify, and delete application resources such as dialog boxes, menus, toolbars, status bars, and icons.



Wizards



Developer Studio includes many wizards that do much of the work to create an MFC application. Wizards automate repetitive and common programming tasks and create a set of starter files for your application.

1. Other Tools and Features

Developer Studio provides other features and tools to make developing MFC applications easier.

Customizable Toolbars and Menus



You can customize toolbars, menus, and command buttons in the Developer Studio environment to fit how you work. For more information, see the Visual C++ online documentation.



Internet Connectivity



You can view pages on the World Wide Web in Developer Studio. You can use InfoViewer or your own registered Web browser to gain access to the Web. When a Web address, known as a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), appears in a window, you can click the address to view the Web page.



Register Control



Visual C++ includes a program, RegSvr32.exe, which can be used to register controls. RegSvr32.exe can be redistributed.



Shortcut Menus



You can right-click an item in any project view to display a shortcut menu (also referred to as a context menu). Shortcut menus make it easy to add, view, or modify items.



To see an illustration shows the shortcut menu that appears when you right-click a class name in the ClassView pane, click this icon.

Spy++



Spy++ (Spyxx.exe) is a Win32-based utility that gives you a graphical view of the system's processes, threads, windows, and messages. For more information, see Using Spy++ in Chapter 5: Debugging.