Application Wizard for VS 2017-2026

In this article, we'll describe how to create a new BCGControlBar for MFC applications in Visual Studio 2017-2026 environments.

Run Visual Studio environment.
Choose the "File | New | Project..." menu item.
Choose BCGControlBar Application Wizard:
- BCGPAppWizard2017: for Visual Studio 2017.
- BCGPAppWizard2019: for Visual Studio 2019.
- BCGPAppWizard2022: for Visual Studio 2022.
- BCGPAppWizard2026: for Visual Studio 2026.
Click the "Next" button.
Specify the project/solution name and location. Click the "Create" button.
Now, you can specify your application's 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 either a dialog box or a property sheet-based application. The 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 to modify the application's visual theme at run-time. If your application is toolbar/menu based, the "Application Look" menu item will appear under the "View" menu. In the Ribbon bar, the "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 a 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 the static link is not available in the Evaluation product version!
- Application type options:
  - Project style. Specifies whether the 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 the dialog box or property sheet style. Upon changing the project style, the zizard automatically specifies the 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. This option specifies whether SDL should be enabled 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. The Options dialog, located near this checkbox allows you to specify MDI tabs style:
    - Standard tabs
    - Tabbed groups (default option)
    - Tabs on the frame caption caption
    and other MDI tab options:
    - Maximize child: specifies whether the MDI child window is always maximized. This option is available for the Standard tabs only.
    - Tabs on top: specifies whether MDI tabs are positioned at the top of the window. If this box is unchecked, the tabs are located on the bottom of the frame. This option is not available for tabs on the frame caption.
    - Tab icons: specifies whether the document's icon is displayed on the corresponding MDI tab.
    - Tear-off MDI tabs: specifies whether the 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, an 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 the "Next" button and open the Document Template Properties page:

On this page of the Application Wizard, provide document template strings (available only if the application has document/view architecture support). For more details, please refer to MFC documentation.
Click the "Next" button and open User Interface Features page:
On this page of the 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): this indicates whether your application includes a menu with a toolbar, ribbon or explorer bar. Not available for dialog-based applications. Command bar options can be specified on the next page (Command Bars).
Click the "Next" button and open the Command Bars page:

On this page of the Application Wizard, provide command bar options. Please note that the content of this page depends on the command bar type (specified on the User Interface Features page).
- Menu bar and toolbar options:
  - Toolbar/menu customization: check this box to enable toolbar and menu bar customization.
  - Alternative customization ("Alt+Drag"): allows you 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 the keyboard shortcut customization to your project.
  - Context menu 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 you to create a toolbar/menu bar-based application with a 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 the 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 the source code.
  - Ribbon customization: check this option if you want to enable the Ribbon Customization dialog.
  - Context menu 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 a "Forward" button.
  - History button: check this option if you want to add the "History" menu button.
  - Up button: check this option if you want to add an "Up" button.
  - Home button: check this option if you want to add a "Home" button.
  - Refresh button: check this option if you want to add a "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 the "Next" button and open the Advanced Features page:

This page of the Application Wizard provides 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 the 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 a built-in property manager.
- Outlook pane: check this option if you want to add a shortcuts bar.
  - Embedded control: a shortcuts bar will be created with an embedded control.
  - Enable collapse/expand: check this option if you want to add a "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 task pane.
- Toolbox pane: adds an example of the toolbox pane.
Information about other advanced options can be found in MFC Application Wizard documentation.
Click the "Next" button and open the Generated Classes page:

This page allows you to change the generated class or file name and the base class of your view.
Click the "Finish" button.

Back to the Developer Area

Application Wizard for VS 2017-2026

"Application Type" page: