MFX Draw: 16-Bit Device Drivers Incompatible with Windows NT

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Windows NT operating system version 3.1
• Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server version 3.1

SYMPTOMS

You may get unexpected results when you copy items from Micrografx Draw to the Clipboard and then paste them into another application.

You may lose Draw data on the Clipboard when you exit Draw.

Import and export functions may fail.

CAUSE

These problems are caused by Draw's use of 16-bit graphics drivers, which Windows NT does not support.

When you copy something to the Clipboard, Draw tries to use its own 16-bit driver to render the image in a private picture format. Draw calls the CreateDC API for this purpose:

   CreateDC(lpDriverName, lpDeviceName, lpOutput,lpInitData)

The 16-bit driver also causes loss of data from Clipboard when you exit Draw and failure of import and export functions, which rely on the 16-bit driver.

WORKAROUND

To avoid losing Clipboard data, make sure you use it before you exit Draw.

STATUS

No workarounds are available to avoid unexpected results and import/export failures.

NOTE: Images from other programs exported in Windows to .DRW format can be edited in Draw when running in Windows NT. However, the central problem will remain until there is a 32-bit version of Micrografx Draw or a 32-bit device driver it can use with Windows NT.