VC++6 MFC migration managed C++(windows form )

[Bredal Jensen]

I want to port my MFC (VC++6) application to manageg VC ++. 7. I want to do
this because some things are much better done with C#. So i could write a C#
class and use in
my VC++ code as Languague interoperabilit y is one of the main features of
the .Net
framework. I know my application would have to obey to the CTS (common type
specification) but my main concerns are the MFC stuff!
I do not really know which options you have with windows forms. Can they do
what MFC
can do? How about functions pointers. How does managed C++ deal with this?
Maybe this is not the right place to post this, but any usefull comment will
be very
appreciated.

Thanks

[Niki Estner]

"Bredal Jensen" <Br***********@ mimosa.com> wrote in
news:e4******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP15.phx.gbl...

I want to port my MFC (VC++6) application to manageg VC ++. 7. I want to
do
this because some things are much better done with C#. So i could write a
C#
class and use in
my VC++ code as Languague interoperabilit y is one of the main features of
the .Net
framework.
First port it to unmanaged VC++ 7. MFC 6 and MFC 7 do have some differences.
After that, compiling the code as managed code is usually only a compiler
switch.
I know my application would have to obey to the CTS (common type
specification) but my main concerns are the MFC stuff!
You can still do anything in managed C++; You only have to obey CTS rules
for the types you want to expose to other languages (like C#)
I do not really know which options you have with windows forms. Can they
do
what MFC can do?
IMO it would be a good idea to convert your MFC app to WinForms, however
there's no real need to do that.
How about functions pointers. How does managed C++ deal with this?

It's managed, but it's still C++. You have const types, templates, function
pointers, void pointers...

If you can't compile your C++ code as managed code, you could still use COM
interop.

Hope this helps,

Niki

[Bredal Jensen]

Well thanks for your answer, i have already compiled with Vc++.7 .
So what is this compiler switch i have to add?



"Niki Estner" <ni*********@cu be.net> wrote in message
news:%2******** ********@TK2MSF TNGP09.phx.gbl. ..

"Bredal Jensen" <Br***********@ mimosa.com> wrote in
news:e4******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP15.phx.gbl...

I want to port my MFC (VC++6) application to manageg VC ++. 7. I want to
do
this because some things are much better done with C#. So i could write a C#
class and use in
my VC++ code as Languague interoperabilit y is one of the main features of the .Net
framework.
First port it to unmanaged VC++ 7. MFC 6 and MFC 7 do have some

differences. After that, compiling the code as managed code is usually only a compiler
switch.

I know my application would have to obey to the CTS (common type
specification) but my main concerns are the MFC stuff!
You can still do anything in managed C++; You only have to obey CTS rules
for the types you want to expose to other languages (like C#)

I do not really know which options you have with windows forms. Can they
do
what MFC can do?

IMO it would be a good idea to convert your MFC app to WinForms, however
there's no real need to do that.

How about functions pointers. How does managed C++ deal with this?

It's managed, but it's still C++. You have const types, templates,

function pointers, void pointers...

If you can't compile your C++ code as managed code, you could still use COM interop.

Hope this helps,

Niki

[Niki Estner]

"Bredal Jensen" <Br***********@ mimosa.com> wrote in
news:ew******** ******@tk2msftn gp13.phx.gbl...

Well thanks for your answer, i have already compiled with Vc++.7 .
So what is this compiler switch i have to add?

Go to the properties of your project - general tab - switch "use managed
extensions" to "yes".
You may have to resolve a few conflicts with other project settings, but
afterwards you should be able to include managed code into your application.

Niki

[Bredal Jensen]

Many thanks , this sounds so great to me , i never though it would be so
simple.

Well , i did that and now it says :
"Command line error D2016 : '/RTC1' and '/clr' command-line options are
incompatible"


"Niki Estner" <ni*********@cu be.net> wrote in message
news:et******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP12.phx.gbl...

"Bredal Jensen" <Br***********@ mimosa.com> wrote in
news:ew******** ******@tk2msftn gp13.phx.gbl...

Well thanks for your answer, i have already compiled with Vc++.7 .
So what is this compiler switch i have to add?
Go to the properties of your project - general tab - switch "use managed
extensions" to "yes".
You may have to resolve a few conflicts with other project settings, but
afterwards you should be able to include managed code into your

application.
Niki

[Niki Estner]

"Bredal Jensen" <Br***********@ mimosa.com> wrote in
news:e3******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP11.phx.gbl...

Many thanks , this sounds so great to me , i never though it would be so
simple.

Well , i did that and now it says :
"Command line error D2016 : '/RTC1' and '/clr' command-line options are
incompatible"

Yes, I had the same experience with converted VC6 projects. You can either
create a new dummy MFC project in VC7 and "copy" all compiler settings (new
projects are configured so they can be compiled with managed extensions), or
you can adjust the compiler switches one by one with each error;

Have a look at the MSDN article on the "/clr" compiler switch, it should
contain all the information you need.

Niki

[Bredal Jensen]

I'm having trouble finding where these "compiler settings" can be found.
I'm using visual studio ..Net


"Niki Estner" <ni*********@cu be.net> wrote in message
news:Or******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP11.phx.gbl...

"Bredal Jensen" <Br***********@ mimosa.com> wrote in
news:e3******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP11.phx.gbl...

Many thanks , this sounds so great to me , i never though it would be so
simple.

Well , i did that and now it says :
"Command line error D2016 : '/RTC1' and '/clr' command-line options are
incompatible"
Yes, I had the same experience with converted VC6 projects. You can either
create a new dummy MFC project in VC7 and "copy" all compiler settings

(new projects are configured so they can be compiled with managed extensions), or you can adjust the compiler switches one by one with each error;

Have a look at the MSDN article on the "/clr" compiler switch, it should
contain all the information you need.

Niki

[Niki Estner]

"Bredal Jensen" <Br***********@ mimosa.com> wrote in
news:u1******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP14.phx.gbl...

I'm having trouble finding where these "compiler settings" can be found.
I'm using visual studio ..Net

Really? It's quite easy to find information on them...

Example: /RTC1;
Open up MSDN; Go to the "Index" Tab; Enter "/RTC1"; Read the article,
especially this paragraph:
"To set this compiler option in the Visual Studio development environment:
1. Open the project's Property Pages dialog box. For details, see Setting
Visual C++ Project Properties.
2. Click the C/C++ folder.
3. Click the Code Generation property page.
4. Modify one or both of the following properties: Basic Runtime Checks or
Smaller Type Check."

Niki

[Bredal Jensen]

Now my program compiles as manages C++ and actually runs.
Is that all i had to do to run as managed C++?

Well i must say your informations are very accurate and i'm
really thankfull for all these help.

I still have questions though. I now decided to write one of my user
interface part as a C# "windows control" .

I need to do the equivalent of (Postmessage or SendMessage) plus send data
like with (wParam and lParam) . Is there a way of doing this?

Again thank you so much....
"Niki Estner" <ni*********@cu be.net> skrev i en meddelelse
news:uZ******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP14.phx.gbl...

"Bredal Jensen" <Br***********@ mimosa.com> wrote in
news:u1******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP14.phx.gbl...

I'm having trouble finding where these "compiler settings" can be found.
I'm using visual studio ..Net

Really? It's quite easy to find information on them...

Example: /RTC1;
Open up MSDN; Go to the "Index" Tab; Enter "/RTC1"; Read the article,
especially this paragraph:
"To set this compiler option in the Visual Studio development environment:
1. Open the project's Property Pages dialog box. For details, see Setting
Visual C++ Project Properties.
2. Click the C/C++ folder.
3. Click the Code Generation property page.
4. Modify one or both of the following properties: Basic Runtime Checks or
Smaller Type Check."

Niki

[Niki Estner]

"Bredal Jensen" <br****@jensen. dk> wrote in
news:O9******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP11.phx.gbl...

Now my program compiles as manages C++ and actually runs.
Is that all i had to do to run as managed C++?
It's not 100% managed code yet, but you can reference managed assemblies and
create managed types. The possibility to have managed and unmanaged code in
one assembly is one of the major advantages of managed C++. The price is
that you often have to use keywords like __gc or __value to tell the
compiler which way to go.
Well i must say your informations are very accurate and i'm
really thankfull for all these help.

I still have questions though. I now decided to write one of my user
interface part as a C# "windows control" .

I need to do the equivalent of (Postmessage or SendMessage) plus send data
like with (wParam and lParam) . Is there a way of doing this?

You can still P/Invoke SendMessage and PostMessage with the DllImport
attribute, and every control has a protected virtual method "WndProc".
However, it's usually a bad idea to use them if you can avoid it: First of
all, those "wParam/lParam" parameters tend to disturb the GC if they carry
pointers; They are ugly to debug, and error-prone.
Depending on what you want to do, I'd suggest having a deeper look at
events, delegates, interfaces (for loose-coupling), or the Control.Invoke
method (for inter-thread communication).

Niki