Microsoft Foundation Classes Cheatsheet

MFC Cheatsheet

Concept	Syntax/Example	Description
Application Class	`class CMyApp : public CWinApp { ... };`	Defining an application class
Message Map	`BEGIN_MESSAGE_MAP(CMyWnd, CWnd) ... END_MESSAGE_MAP()`	Defining message map
Document/View Architecture	`class CMyDoc : public CDocument { ... };`	Defining a document class
Dialog-Based Application	`class CMyDlg : public CDialog { ... };`	Defining a dialog class
Controls	`CButton myButton;`	Declaring a button control
GDI Objects	`CPen myPen;`	Declaring a GDI object
Event Handling	`afx_msg void OnMyEvent();`	Handling an event
Serialization	`void Serialize(CArchive& ar);`	Implementing serialization
Windows Management	`void ShowWindow(int nCmdShow);`	Managing windows
Resource Management	`AfxGetResourceHandle();`	Accessing resources

MFC Class Hierarchy Overview

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CObject
 ├── CCmdTarget
 │    ├── CWinThread
 │    │    ├── CWinApp
 │    │    └── CDocument
 │    └── CWnd
 │         ├── CFrameWnd
 │         │    └── CMDIFrameWnd
 │         ├── CMDIChildWnd
 │         ├── CDialog
 │         └── CView
 └── CArchive

CObject: The base class for all MFC classes.
CCmdTarget: Provides the ability to handle commands.
CWinThread: Represents a thread of execution in an MFC application.
- CWinApp: Represents an application instance.
- CDocument: Represents the data used by an application (part of the Document/View architecture).
CWnd: Represents a window.
- CFrameWnd: Represents a frame window.
  - CMDIFrameWnd: Represents the main frame window in an MDI application.
- CMDIChildWnd: Represents a child window in an MDI application.
- CDialog: Represents a dialog box.
- CView: Represents a view (part of the Document/View architecture).
CArchive: Provides support for serializing data to persistent storage.