Editing bitmap in memory using C++ - c++

Question

I have a two dimensional array of data that I want to display as an image.
The plan goes something like this -
Create a bitmap using CreateCompatibleBitmap (this results in a solid black bitmap and I can display this with no problems)
Edit the pixels of this bitmap to match my data
BitBlt the bitmap to the window
I think that I need a pointer to the place in memory where the pixel data begins. I've tried many different methods of doing this and googled it for 3 days and still haven't been able to even edit a single pixel.
Using a loop of SetPixel(HDC, x, y, Color) to set each pixel works but VERY slowly.
I have accomplished this in C# by locking the bitmap and editing the bits, but I am new to C++ and can't seem to figure out how to do something similar.
I have mostly been trying to use memset(p, value, length)
For "p" I have tried using the handle returned from CreateCompatibleBitmap, the DC for the bitmap, and the DC for the window. I have tried all sorts of values for the value and length.
I'm not sure if this is the right thing to use though.
I don't have to use a bitmap, that's just the only thing I know to do. Actually it would be awesome to find a way to directly change the main window's DC.
I do want to avoid libraries though. I am doing this purely for learning C++.

Answer 1

This took QUITE a bit of research so I'll post exactly how it is done for anyone else who may be looking.
This colors every pixel red.
hDC = BeginPaint(hWnd, &Ps);
const int
width = 400,
height = 400,
size = width * height * 3;
byte * data;
data = new byte[size];
for (int i = 0; i < size; i += 3)
{
data[i] = 0;
data[i + 1] = 0;
data[i + 2] = 255;
}
BITMAPINFOHEADER bmih;
bmih.biBitCount = 24;
bmih.biClrImportant = 0;
bmih.biClrUsed = 0;
bmih.biCompression = BI_RGB;
bmih.biWidth = width;
bmih.biHeight = height;
bmih.biPlanes = 1;
bmih.biSize = 40;
bmih.biSizeImage = size;
BITMAPINFO bmpi;
bmpi.bmiHeader = bmih;
SetDIBitsToDevice(hDC, 0, 0, width, height, 0, 0, 0, height, data, &bmpi, DIB_RGB_COLORS);
delete[] data;

Answer 2

memset can be used on the actually RGB information array (but you need to also know the format of the bitmap, if a pixel has 32 or 24 bits ).
From a bit of research on msdn, it seems that what you want to get is the BITMAP structure :
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/k1sf4cx2.aspx
There you have the bmBits on which you can memset.
How to get there from your function ?
Well, CreateCompatibleBitmap returns a HBITMAP structure and it seems you can get BITMAP from HBITMAP with the following code :
BITMAP bmp;
GetObject(hBmp, sizeof(BITMAP), &bmp);
This however seems to get a you copy of the existing bitmap info, which only solves your memset problem (you can now set the bitmap information with memset, eventhou I don't see any other use for memeset besides making the bmp all white or black).
There should be a function that allows you to set the DC bites to a bitmap thou, so you should be able to use the new bitmap as a parameter.