Visual C .NET Developers Guide

What’s in This Book Visual C++ .NET Developer’s Guide contains a mix of theory and programming examples, with a heavy emphasis on the programming examples. You’ll find a mix of Win32, MFC, ATL, and .NET code within the book. In some cases, I’ll show you how to mix an existing technology with a new one—Visual C++ .NET is definitely a transitional language, one that will help you move from Win32 application development to .NET. Here’s a brief overview of the six parts of this book. Part I—Visual C++ in General This part of the book introduces you to some of the new features in Visual C++ .NET. We’ll also discuss some basic programming principles. You’ll learn how to create various types of applications. Most of the code in this part is unmanaged. However, this part includes some managed code examples that show how you’d create the same result as an unmanaged counterpart using the .NET Framework. You’ll also learn some advanced coding processes in this part of the book. We’ll discuss threads in Chapter 3, and I’ll show you how to create two types of threads. The graphics programming examples in Chapter 4 include both static graphics and animated graphics using GIFs. Chapter 5 will help you understand the intricacies of Active Directory, while Chapter 6 shows how to create components using both ATL and MFC. Part II—Visual C++ .NET and Database Management Database management is an essential part of every business today. Chapter 7 of this part tells you about the various technologies and indicates when you can best use them to your advantage. We also look at how to create and use DSNs. Chapter 8 is the unmanaged coding example for this part. You’ll learn how to use OLE-DB to create a basic database application that includes a form view, printing, and search routines. This section of the book also tells you how to get around certain problems with the Visual C++ .NET environment. For example, Visual C++ .NET doesn’t ship with all of the controls found in Visual Studio 6. Some of your applications might require these controls, so I show how to install them. Unfortunately, some controls won’t work even if you do install them, and I show you how to get around some of these problem areas. Chapter 9 is the managed coding example for this part. We discuss ODBC .NET in this chapter. Unfortunately, ODBC .NET wasn’t ready in time for the book, so you won’t see a coding example. We’ll create a managed example using ADO .NET that includes use of the new DataGrid control (among others). This section also shows how to create a print routine and other database application basics. Part III—Visual C++ and Online Computing Distributed applications are becoming more prominent as businesses move to the Internet in an effort to remain connected with partners, employees, and customers. This part of the book shows you how to work with SOAP and discusses Web Services in general. You’ll also learn how to work with alternative devices such as PDAs. Chapter 10 contains a simple ASP.NET example that helps you understand the benefits of this technology. Chapter 11 shows you how to create both ISAPI Filters and ISAPI Extensions as well as a SOAP application that relies on the Microsoft SOAP Toolkit. Most of the examples in this part of the book rely on unmanaged programming techniques. Part IV—Visual C++ .NET and Microsoft.NET Most of the examples in this part of the book rely on managed programming techniques. You’ll learn how to create various types of managed applications that rely exclusively on the .NET Framework. Chapter 12 is unique because it compares Visual C++ .NET to C# and even provides an example in both languages for comparison purposes. This is also the chapter to read if you want to learn how to move your applications to .NET. Chapter 13 is your key for learning about the new attributed programming techniques provided with Visual C++ .NET. Attributes greatly reduce the coding burden for the developer. Examples in this chapter use both managed and unmanaged coding techniques. Chapter 14 shows you how to work with managed components. You’ll also create a custom attribute and use reflection to read its contents from the compiled application. Part V—The Developer View of Visual C++ .NET This part of the book contains a mix of topics that didn’t fit well anywhere else, but are extremely important for the developer. Chapter 15 discusses the inner workings of Security within Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Security is an important topic in a world where crackers make it their business to test your applications for holes in every way possible. Chapter 16 shows how to create administration tools for your applications. Most complex applications require some type of configuration and “tweaking” as part of the installation and maintenance cycle. Using the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) to maintain your application makes sense because it reduces the user interface design burden for the developer and reduces the amount of code required to create the management program. Chapter 17 shows you how to create various types of help files. Microsoft is always moving on to some new form of help, but sometimes you need to use the older forms of the help file as well. This chapter shows how to create both. Finally, Chapter 18 shows how to package your application once you finish building it. Part VI—Appendixes and Glossary This last part of the book contains two appendixes and a glossary. Appendix A tells you how to get the best deal for your next component purchase. It also helps you find some “must have” components for your next application. Appendix B is an online resource guide that helps you locate additional information about Visual C++ .NET. Sometimes it’s good to know where to find additional help. Finally, the Glossary contains a complete list of every esoteric term and acronym used in the book. What You’ll Need There are some assumptions that I’ve made while writing the application programming examples in this book. You need at least two machines: a workstation and a server. This two-machine setup is the only way that you’ll see Visual C++ .NET in action and truly know it works as anticipated. In addition, your development workstation and server must meet the minimum .NET requirements (and hopefully provide more than the minimum). You might experience problems with the database and other large examples when running a minimal machine configuration. During the writing of this book, I used a Windows 2000 and Windows XP workstation. There’s no guarantee that any of the code in the book will work with