APPNOTE: PW0776: MDI Self-Study Module

• Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows version 3.1

SUMMARY

This application note is a self-study module created by Microsoft Technical Support Worldwide Training to help software engineers develop expertise in Windows multiple document interface (MDI).

To obtain this application note (PW0776), "Multiple Document Interface (MDI) Self-Study Guide," call Microsoft Technical Support.

This application note is also available in the Microsoft Software Library:

Download PW0776.EXE, a file archived using the PKware file-compression utility, from the Microsoft Software Library (MSL) on the following services:

• Microsoft Download Service (MSDL)

        Dial (206) 936-6735 to connect to MSDL
        Download PW0776.EXE (size: 468133 bytes) 
  

• Internet (anonymous FTP)

        ftp ftp.microsoft.com
        Change to the \SOFTLIB\MSLFILES directory
        Get PW0776.EXE (size: 468133 bytes) 
  

MORE INFORMATION

      Microsoft(R) Tedchnical Support Application Note (Text File)
      PW0776: MULTIPLE DOCUMENT INTERFACE (MDI) SELF-STUDY MODULE

                                                   Revision Date: 4/94
                                                       1 Disk Included

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ABOUT THIS COURSE

This self-study course is one of a series of courses developed by Microsoft Technical Support Worldwide Training to help software engineers develop expertise in areas of Windows that they have not previously explored. The course focuses on common programming errors, common troubleshooting scenarios, documentation errors, and Windows issues, in addition to common application programming techniques. This course was designed and the technical content supplied by engineers who provide developers with Windows programming support. The information included here has been determined by these specialists to be what you need to know about this topic in order to successfully implement it into your application.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

After completing this course, you will:

• Describe what the Multiple Document Interface (MDI) is and what types of applications are good candidates for implementation using MDI.
• Describe the basic MDI user interface conventions.
• Describe the basic architecture of a Windows 3.x MDI application.
• Describe the function of the data structures and messages related to MDI support.
• Describe the commonly encountered MDI bugs and the corresponding workarounds (where they exist).
• Describe features that MDI application developers commonly implement to extend the user interface of MDI applications.
• Use direct calls to the Windows API to:
• Create an MDI frame window.
• Create an MDI client window.
• Create MDI child windows.
• Manipulate child windows (for example tile, cascade, maximize, arrange icons).
• Coordinate a frame window's menu to reflect the active child window.

INSTALLING THE SELF-STUDY MODULE

First, copy PW0776.EXE to the directory that the course is to be installed. Change to that directory and enter the following command:

   PW0776

   class -d

Directory Structure

The directory structure that is created has a LABS subdirectory and a TRAINING subdirectory. The TRAINING subdirectory contains a help file for the self-study course, a compiled version of the sample code, and a .DLL (dynamic-link library) for the Print All feature. The LABS subdirectory contains a subdirectory for each of the labs used in this course. In each of the individual lab subdirectories there is a DONECODE and a BASECODE subdirectory. The BASECODE subdirectory contains the code for the lab; the student modifies this code to get the desired results. The DONECODE directory contains the code for the solutions to the lab.

Getting Started

Once you have successfully installed the self-study module, run Windows and bring up the File Manager. Go to the TRAINING subdirectory in the directory that you installed the self-study module in and double-click the MDI.HLP file. This will run the Windows Help engine and load the self-study module. You are now ready to begin the course.

Print All Feature

This self-study course has the option to "Print All" (a choice from the File menu). This menu selection prints the entire contents of the .HLP file containing the course.

   NOTE: Due to design limitations of the Help engine, there is no way
   to abort this feature and all hardware input will be disabled while
   printing all. In addition, you cannot "print to file" using this
   feature; the print job MUST go directly to the printer.