Application Wizard for VS 2017-2022

In this article we'll describe how to create a new BCGControlBar for MFC application in Visual Studio 2017-2022 environments.

Run Visual Studio environment.
Choose "File | New | Project..." menu item.
Choose BCGControlBar Application Wizard:
- BCGPAppWizard2017: for Visual Studio 2017.
- BCGPAppWizard2019: for Visual Studio 2019.
- BCGPAppWizard2022: for Visual Studio 2022.
Click "Next" button.
Specify Project/Solution name and location. Click "Create" button.
Now, you can specify your application appearance, content and basic functionality.
"Application Type" page:
- Application type. Specifies your application's UI type:
  - Single-document interface (SDI): the application frame contains one document only.
  - Multiple-document interface (MDI): The application frame contains multiple document windows. MDI tabs are available for this type of application.
  - Dialog-based application: creates a dialog-based or property sheet-based application. HTML Dialog option is available for the dialog box applications.
  - Multiple top-level documents: each new document will be created in the separate top-level frame.
  - Multi-views single document: the application frame contains one document with multiple views.
  If you need more details about application types, please refer to MFC/Windows documentation.
- Visual style and colors. Choose the Visual Theme (such as Office 2016 or Visual Studio 2019) that will be initially applied to your application.
- Enable visual style switching. Check this option if you wish to allow the user modifying the application look at run-time. If your application is toolbar/menu based, "Application Look" menu item will appear under the "View" menu. In the Ribbon bar, "Style" menu will be placed on the right side. When this option is checked, you may specify a list of available themes by clicking Options button below this check box.
- Enable themed file dialog. Replaces all standard (Windows) file dialogs with themed (visual manager-based) dialogs.
- Resource language. Only English (United States) is available for this Application Wizard.
- Character Set. Unicode or Multi-byte character set. Please note that using Multi-byte character set is not recommended for the new applications.
- Use of libraries. Specifies how to link to the BCGControlBar and MFC libraries. By default, both libraries are linked as shared DLLs. Please note, that static link is not available in Evaluation product version!
- Application type options:
  - Project style. Specifies whether application is created with Visual Studio, Office or File Explorer style (for SDI, MDI and MTI application types). For the dialog-based applications you may choose Dialog box or Property Sheet style. Upon changing the project style, the Wizard automatically specifies application's command bar and docking panes:
    - Visual Studio: menu bar, toolbar, explorer docking pane, output pane and properties docking pane.
    - Office: ribbon bar, Outlook pane and caption bar.
    - Windows Explorer: explorer bar, task pane.
  - Document-view architecture support. Specifies whether to include document/view architecture in your application. Not available in the dialog-based applications. For more details about Document-view architecture, please refer to MFC documentation.
  - Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) checks. Specifies whether to enable SDL in your application. For more information about SDL see Microsoft documentation.
  - MDI tabs. Specifies whether each document will be placed on a separate tab (MDI application only). If your application is SDI, MTI or dialog-based, this option will be disabled. Options dialog located near this checkbox allows to specify MDI tabs style:
    - Standard tabs
    - Tabbed groups (default option)
    - Tabs on caption
    and other MDI tabs options:
    - Maximize child: specifies whether MDI child window is always maximized. This option is available for the Standard tabs only.
    - Tabs on top: specifies whether MDI tabs are located on top. If this box is unchecked, the tabs are located on the bottom of frame. This option is not available for Tabs on caption.
    - Tab icons: specifies whether document's icon is displayed on corresponding MDI tab.
    - Tear-off MDI tabs: specifies whether application will be created with Tear-off MDI child windows. This option is not available for the Standard tabs.
  - Use HTML dialog. This option is available for the dialog box applications only. If you check this box, HTML-based dialog box will be used.
  - Use dialog layout. This option is available for the dialog box or property sheet applications only. Specifies whether Layout Manager is enabled in dialogs or property pages.
Click "Next" button and open Document Template Properties page:

On this page of Application Wizard, provide document templates strings (available only if application has document/view architecture support). For more details, please refer to MFC documentation.
Click "Next" button and open User Interface Features page:
On this page of Application Wizard, provide main application frame styles and command bar(s) that will be created in the main frame. This page contains the following sections:
- Main frame styles: sets the features of your application's main window frame. For more details, please refer to Windows/MFC documentation.
- Command bar (menu/toolbar/ribbon): indicates whether your application includes menu with toolbar, ribbon or explorer bar. Not available for dialog-based applications. Command bar options can be specified on the next page (Command Bars).
Click "Next" button and open Command Bars page:

On this page of Application Wizard, provide command bars options. Please note that content of this page depends on command bar type (specified on User Interface Features page).
- Menu bar and toolbar options:
  - Toolbar/menu customization: check this box to enable toolbars and menu bar customization.
  - Alternative customization ("Alt+Drag"): allows to drag and drop toolbar/menu items without invocation of the customization dialog.
  - User-defined toolbars and images: adds an ability to create custom toolbars and modify toolbar/menu icons at run-time. User-defined images are either PNG or SVG.
  - User-defined Tools: adds an ability to customize user-defined (usually external) tools at run-time.
  - Keyboard customization: adds to your project keyboard shortcuts customization.
  - Context menus customization: adds to your project a context menu customization.
  - Use SVG images: use SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) toolbar/menu icons. If this checkbox is unchecked, raster icons (PNG format) will be used.
  - Fixed menu bar: allows to create toolbar/menu bar-based application with fixed (that cannot be moved) menu bar located on top.
- Ribbon bar options:
  - Backstage view: check this item if you wish to create your Ribbon bar with Backstage view.
  - Use Ribbon designer: if this item is checked, the project will be created with Ribbon Designer resources. Otherwise, the Ribbon bar will be initialized in source code.
  - Ribbon customization: check this option if you want to enable Ribbon Customization dialog.
  - Context menus customization: check this option if you want to enable a context menu customization.
  - User-defined tools: adds an ability to customize user-defined (usually external) tools at run-time.
  - SVG icons: use SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) Ribbon bar icons. If this checkbox is unchecked, raster icons (PNG format) will be used.
  - Use font icons: when this option is checked, the application will be created with Windows 10/11 Font Icons.
  - Auto light icons in the dark themes: when this option is checked, the Ribbon icons will be automatically adapted for the dark themes.
- Explorer bar options:
  - Navigation buttons: check this item if you wish to add standard navigation buttons (such as "Back" or "Forward") to the explorer bar.
  - Buttons simplified look: if this option is checked, navigation buttons will be displayed with simplified icons instead of full-color icons.
  - Forward button: check this option if you want to add "Forward" button.
  - History button: check this option if you want to add "History" menu button.
  - Up button: check this option if you want to add "Up" button.
  - Home button: check this option if you want to add "Home" button.
  - Refresh button: check this option if you want to add "Refresh" button.
  - Breadcrumb window: check this option if you want to add a breadcrumb window.
  - Use SVG images: use SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) explorer bar icons. If this checkbox is unchecked, raster icons (PNG format) will be used.
Click "Next" button and open Advanced Features page:

On this page of Application Wizard, provide advanced features for your application such as frame panes, printing support and so on.
- Use graphics manager in view: check this option if you want to use a graphics manager (Direct2D or GDI+) to draw content of your CView-derived class. By default, this option is unchecked.
- Enable docking panes auto-hide: enables "Auto Hide Window" feature for all docking panes. By default, this option is checked.
- Automatically hide scroll bars: enables auto-hidden scrollbars. By default, this option is unchecked.
- Explorer docking pane: adds an example of a workspace bar with detachable tabs.
- Output docking pane: adds an example of an output bar.
- Properties docking pane: adds a Visual Studio-style property grid.
  - Create Property Manager: if this option is checked, the application will be created with built-in property manager.
- Outlook pane: check this option if you want to add a shortcuts bar.
  - Embedded control: shortcuts bar will be created with an embedded control.
  - Enable collapse/expand: check this option if you want to add "Minimize" button to the shortcuts bar.
- Caption bar: check this option if you want to add a caption bar.
- Task pane: adds an example of the tasks pane.
- ToolBox pane: adds an example of the toolbox pane.
Information about other advanced options can be found in MFC Application Wizard documentation.
Click "Next" button and open Generated Classes page:

This page allows to change a generated class / file names and change a base class of your view.
Click "Finish" button.

Back to the Developer Area

Application Wizard for VS 2017-2022

"Application Type" page: