I am wanting to add resources (such as an icon) into a WinAPI based program in VC++ 2008 EE and am struggling. As there is no resource editor bundled with the IDE, is it possible?
My Google searches all seem to related to C# or other managed environments.
Thanks all,
I'm afraid there is no resource editor with the Express Edition. (edit) I couldn't find a feature matrix on the official site, but Wikipedia says so, so it must be right;-)
You could look at 3rd party tools - a quick web search throws up ResEdit as a possible answer.
There used to be a matrix which would explicitely state that EE hasn't such a feature but I also can't find it anymore.
Unfortunately you can't edit *.rc files graphically with Visual Studio 2008 EE.
Only "Standard Edition" and higher have a native resource-editor bundled.
With the Express Edition you can only edit windows forms via WYSIWYG.
As Steve Haigh said, you can build such a file with ResEdit or any other text editor and just add this generated/written file to your project.
VC2008EE will be able to compile the *.rc-file, despite the lack of a graphical editor.
Related
There are a lot of project templates for Visual Studio. I am new enough to programming that the little blurb of a description given in the new project window just doesn't give me enough information. Is there a place (perhaps online) where you can see detailed descriptions of all the visual studio project templates, and when to use them?
The description of the project types is all over the place. You can find them all on MSDN when you search for them, but not in one place. Visual Studio is extensible and some projects are added by SQL Server, some are added by BizTalk, some are added by Xamarin and each of these is "optional" and may not be installed in your Visual Studio or not available in your edition. You'll find their descriptions in each of these documentation areas.
The best way to start is probably to figure out what you want to do, find that on the MSDN documentation and in the docs you'll find a number of tutorials on what kind of project type to create.
I have already created a simple source code analyses tool for C/C++, but I wanted it to be an extension or tool for Visual Studio 2010 and 2012 editions. It is written completely in C++. For this reason I created it using "Create an Add-in using Visual C++/ATL" option. And then under "Choose Add-in Options", I have some problems. I don't know which one or ones to select. I want it to have a name and icon under Tools section, but on the other hand, my code analyzer can be used from command line too. If someone can advice me which option(s) to select there I would be glad.
My second question is this, when I have opened a source file in Visual Studio, and if I go to Tools -> MyAddin, and press it, I want it to do its job and analyze the code, and show the results in the output section below.
And my last question is that, if I have a C/C++ project with few files let's say, and if I right-click one of the files, I want to see my add-in and be able to execute the add-in from there, not to go always to Tools -> MyAddin. And also the same thing to work if I right-click the project, then it should analyze the all files and show the problems in the output section.
Please note that I have already created the source code analyzer tool in C++, and I have it as a DLL. I can also use it in Linux from terminal, and if I want I can also create a GUI for it, which I plan to do later. But I'm not that much experienced with Visual Studio, especially about add-ins, that's why I need your help. As you can see my first question is a kind of advice, but I think my second and third questions require some source code. I know that it is very hard for you to give me some help without seeing my code, but if you would help me somehow I would be glad.
For Visual Studio 2010 and 2012 you should consider using Extensions, not Add-Ins. It is a new technology introduced in Visual Studio 2010. Extensions come in form of a VSIX packages and are automatically installed in all applicable versions of Visual Studio. If you are not targeting Visual Studio version prior to 2010, I strongly recommend using extensions.
From this point of view, I will not answer any of your technical questions about Add-Ins. Here are a couple of links to start using extensions instead:
Anatomy of a VSIX Package
Building and publishing an extension for Visual Studio 2010
VSX FAQ
Walkthrough: Creating an Options Page
I think you will find valuable information on this topic here: Developing extension packages for Visual Studio 2005/2008/2010/2012 using C# with real-life samples
we have once application build using MFC/C++. We want make the bit rich UI like VS 2010 or outlook etc... at last we want give new look to our app like Microsoft does on every release of their products.
Please suggest me to topic that i need to look into or suggest me the option for the same.
If you're using Visual Studio 2010 or higher, the MFC application wizard itself will generate UI like VS 2010 with tabs and docking windows. In fact you can create an application that looks like VS 2010 without writing a single line of code. There is also support for the ribbon control which has replaced the menus in the new office applications.
As I am assuming you are going to use C++/native code, MFC is still the way to go or you can choose the WTL also. If you are ready yo go to a totally different direction then QT is one of the most advanced and modern cross platform library. MFC feels old compared to QT. AFAIK you can not use ribbon control in QT without microsoft license.
Another option is to go to managed way, you can use WPF with C#.
As already mentioned, you can use the new classes in the MFC feature pack, which came with Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1.
MSDN provided a tutorial how to migrate an old MFC application to the new MFC feature pack classes here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb983935%28v=vs.90%29.aspx
I would like to build a small wizard in C++ with no dependencies on any framework.
Apparently, is really simple, but I don't know where to start. Can you point me to good information (tutorials, etc) on it. Should I use MFC Application or a Win32 project? Is there any step by step guide ?
I'm using VS 2010. The majority of info I'd found on MFC is really old. It seems like the vast majority of development is going .net.
Look up Property Sheets in MFC http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cfs4wk4e%28VS.80%29.aspx
I'm using Visual Studio C++ 2008 Express to learn a native API for a new project. What I'm wondering is: what productivity features present in the full version that you take for granted are missing from Visual Studio Express? I'm not referring to large "paid" features like MFC support - I'm thinking of small features (sometimes provided by Add Ins) like "Copy File to Output Dir"
Also, it doesn't have to be specific to C++ edition - that's just the exact release I happen to be using.
Note: I'm an experienced Java programmer and I most frequently use IntelliJ IDEA (disclaimer: that's just for reference - I'm not looking to compare VS vs. IDEA).
EDIT: Revised to include Add Ins that enhance the experience.
The ability to use addins are sorely missed, for example Visual Assist, which is the productivity booster.
I was all like "oh, let me google that for you", but Microsoft made life difficult indeed. Seems that Wikipedia is our best source at this moment:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Visual_Studio_Express#Visual_C.2B.2B_Express
If you plan to develop a C/C++ WIN32 GUI application then the major component that is missing is the resource editor (i.e. the GUI builder tool).
The express version will still compile resource files, but you will have to create the resource files by hand or use a third party resource editor.