BCGControlBar Pro for MFC
Application Wizard

BCGControlBar Pro for MFC includes Application Wizards for the following Visual C++ environments:

  • Visual C++ 6.0
  • Visual C++ .NET/2003
  • Visual C++ 2005-2017

You can use BCGAppWizard to generate a new, fully functional application based on BCGControlBar Library for MFC framework.

In this article we'll describe how to create a new application in Visual C++ 6.0 and Visual C++ 2005-2017 environments (the most common development environments for today).

BCGControlBar Pro Application Wizard for Visual C++ 6.0:

  1. Run Visual C++ 6.0.
  2. Choose "File | New..." menu item.
  3. Switch to the "Projects" tab and choose "BCGCBPro AppWizard" item. This will start the regular MFC AppWizard (with some extra steps) that creates the executable. On the 7-th step you will be asked for the BCGControlBar-specific settings:
    AppWizard
    • Application Type. Specifies your application UI type: it can be either "classic" (with toolbars and menu bar) or Office 2007/2010-style with the ribbon bar.
    • Hi-color toolbar images. If you check this item, all toolbars will be created with high-color (24bpp) bitmaps.
    • 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.
    • MDI Tabs. Your MDI application will be created with MDI Tabs. If your application is SDI, this option will be disabled.
    • MDI Tab Groups. Your MDI application will be created with MDI Tab Groups. If your application is SDI, this option will be disabled.
    • Visual Theme. Choose the Visual Theme (such as Office 2010 or Visual Studio 2010) that will be initially applied to your application.
    • Application Look can be changed by user. 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.
    • Statically Linked Library. Your project will be linked with BCGControlBar Library statically. This option cannot be used in Evaluation version!
  4. Click "Next" button and go to the Step 8:
    AppWizard
    • Shortcuts ("Outlook"-style) bar. Check this option if you want to add a Shortcuts Bar.
    • Embedded Control. Shortcuts bar will be create with an embedded control.
    • Caption Bar. Check this option if you want to add a Caption Bar.
    • Docking "Workspace" bar (left side). Adds an example of a workspace bar with detachable tabs.
    • Docking "Output" bar (bottom side). Adds an example of an output bar.
    • Task Pane (right side). Adds an example of the tasks pane.
    • Property Grid (right side). Adds a Visual Studio-style property grid.
    • AutoHide Bars. Enables "Auto Hide Window" feature for all docking panes.
    • Docking Style. Choose control bars docking style. You can select:
      • Visual Studio.NET style
      • Visual Studio 2005-2017 style
  5. Click "Next" button and go to the Step 9. If you application is toolbar/menu-based, this page includes toolbar customization options:

    AppWizard
    • Alternative customization ("Alt+Drag"). Allows to drag and drop toolbar/menu items without invocation of the customization dialog.
    • User-defined toolbars. Adds an ability to create custom toolbars at run-time.
    • User-defined images. Allows to associate toolbar buttons with user-defined bitmaps.
    • Keyboard customization. Adds to your project keyboard shortcuts customization.
    • Mouse customization. Adds to your project customization of the mouse events.
    • Context menus customization. Adds to your project a context menu customization.
    • Recently used menus (Office 2000 style). Shows recently used menu items first. If you do not choose this option, all menu items will be shown.
    • User Tools. Adds an ability to customize user-defined (usually external) tools at run-time.

    If your application is Ribbon-based, the "Customization" page will include the Ribbon customization options:

    AppWizard
    • Add "Customize" page to "Options" dialog. Check this option is you want to enable Ribbon QAT customization dialog.
    • Add Ribbon Customization. Check this option is you want to enable Ribbon Customization.

BCGControlBar Pro Application Wizard for Visual C++ 2005-2017:

  1. Run Visual C++ (Visual Studio) developer environment.
  2. Choose "File | New | Project..." menu item.
  3. Select "Visual C++ Projects" Project type, 'BCGPAppWizard' folder and then choose the "MFC Application" icon. This will start the regular MFC AppWizard (with 2 additional pages) that creates the executable.
  4. Specify your general MFC application settings and switch to "BCGControlBar General" page. Please note, that this page is not available for a dialog-based MFC application.
AppWizard
  1. Toolbars/menu interface. Choose this option if you wish to create an application with "classic" (toolbar/menu-based user interface).
  2. Hi-color toolbar images. If you check this item, all toolbars will be created with high-color (24bpp) bitmaps.
  3. Ribbon-based interface. Choose this option if you wish to create Office 2007/2010-style application with the ribbon bar.
  4. Backstage View. Check this item if you wish to create your Ribbon bar with Backstage view.
  5. 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.
  6. MDI Tabs. Your MDI application will be created with MDI Tabs. If your application is SDI, this option will be disabled.
  7. MDI Tab Groups. Your MDI application will be created with MDI Tab Groups. If your application is SDI, this option will be disabled.
  8. Visual Style. Choose the Visual Theme (such as Office 2010 or Visual Studio 2010) that will be initially applied to your application.
  9. Add "Application Look" menu. 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
  10. Alternative customization ("Alt+Drag"). Allows to drag and drop toolbar/menu items without invocation of the customization dialog.
  11. User-defined toolbars. Adds an ability to create custom toolbars at run-time.
  12. User-defined images. Allows to associate toolbar buttons with user-defined bitmaps.
  13. Keyboard customization. Adds to your project keyboard shortcuts customization.
  14. Mouse customization. Adds to your project customization of the mouse events.
  15. Context menus customization. Adds to your project a context menu customization.
  16. Personalized Menus. Shows recently used menu items first. If you do not choose this option, all menu items will be shown.
  17. User-defined Tools. Adds an ability to customize user-defined (usually external) tools at run-time.
  18. "Windows..." dialog. Check this option is you wish to replace the standard "Windows..." dialog by enhanced (MDI applications only).
  19. Statically Linked Library. Your project will be linked with BCGControlBar Library statically. This option cannot be used in Evaluation version!

Click "Next" button and switch to "BCGControlBar Advanced Settings" page:

AppWizard
  1. Shortcuts ("Outlook"-style) bar. Check this option if you want to add a Shortcuts Bar.
  2. Embedded Control. Shortcuts bar will be create with an embedded control.
  3. Caption Bar. Check this option if you want to add a Caption Bar.
  4. Docking Workspace bar. Adds an example of a workspace bar with detachable tabs.
  5. Docking Output bar. Adds an example of an output bar.
  6. Docking Property Grid. Adds a Visual Studio-style property grid.
  7. Enable AutoHide. Enables "Auto Hide Window" feature for all docking panes.
  8. Docking Type. Choose control bars docking style. You can select:
    • Visual Studio.NET style
    • Visual Studio 2005-2017 style