VS 2008 & MicroStation API

Hi All,

 I'm trying to get started with the MicroStationAPI. I think I've read all that there is to read about the API now!

 I'm a little confused, when I create my MFC DLL project in VS2008, there is no DllMain which supposedly should have been created automatically. A few questions about the generated solution;

  • Should the rc files be removed from the project, or are they ok to stay there? Can MFC dialogs be used within the dll?
  • Can VS be used to create the *.mc files when building the application?
I've also been looking at Jon's la-solutions links which are very informative & helpful, I think I'm just getting a little confused over the differences between MDL & the MicroStation API.

One more thing, I'm looking at developing an app for MicroStation v8i.

If anybody could give me a few pointers it would be greatly appreciated.

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  • C or C++?

    Ian:

    I'm trying to get started with the MicroStationAPI. I think I've read all that there is to read about the API now! I think I'm just getting a little confused over the differences between MDL & the MicroStation API.

    • MDL is a C library
    • the MicroStationAPI is a C++ library

    You can use either or both MDL and the MicroStationAPI in your Viz Studio project.

    Ian:

    When I create my MFC DLL project in VS2008, there is no DllMain which supposedly should have been created automatically.

    • Should the rc files be removed from the project, or are they ok to stay there? Can MFC dialogs be used within the DLL?
    • Can VS be used to create the *.mc files when building the application?
    1. Put your question about DllMain to the Microsoft Forums. AFAIK it's in the CRT. Does it bother you that it's not in your .cpp file?
    2. One reason to use MFC is for the user interface tools. Since they require the resource files, it does not make sense to dump them. Probably it wouldn't work anyway — they provide other information, such as versioning, that is required
    3. Viz Studio is a clever text editor: you can tell it to recognise .mc files as code files. However, it can't build them without further help. You need to tell Viz Studio how to invoke a bmake file for the MDL stuff
    Ian:

    I've been looking at LA Solutions links which are very informative & helpful.

    Thanks for the compliment!

    Regards, Jon Summers
    LA Solutions

     
    Regards, Jon Summers
    LA Solutions

  • Hi Jon,

     Thanks for your quick reply!

     I'll be developing in C++, so it's the MicroStationAPI that I'm interested in. Having done no MDL programming previously it just seems a little daunting, which is why I keep getting the MDL & MicroStation info mixed up.

    If I don't need to be worried that no DllMain is present, then I wont! Just to check that the created class should be derived from CWinApp?

    I've tried using bmake to create your  SetTitleView app, but because I only have VS2008 installed, it doesn't build as it tries to find the VS2005 tool set. Is there a way around this?

    Once this is done, is it just a case of using the  Developer Shell to open VS2008 so that all of the Environment Vars are set?

    How about debugging? Do you have to run bmake on the source code each time and check it in MicroStation?

     Sorry about all of the questions! Hopefully will be able to give a little back to the community once it's all straight in my head!

     Thanks again, Ian

Reply
  • Hi Jon,

     Thanks for your quick reply!

     I'll be developing in C++, so it's the MicroStationAPI that I'm interested in. Having done no MDL programming previously it just seems a little daunting, which is why I keep getting the MDL & MicroStation info mixed up.

    If I don't need to be worried that no DllMain is present, then I wont! Just to check that the created class should be derived from CWinApp?

    I've tried using bmake to create your  SetTitleView app, but because I only have VS2008 installed, it doesn't build as it tries to find the VS2005 tool set. Is there a way around this?

    Once this is done, is it just a case of using the  Developer Shell to open VS2008 so that all of the Environment Vars are set?

    How about debugging? Do you have to run bmake on the source code each time and check it in MicroStation?

     Sorry about all of the questions! Hopefully will be able to give a little back to the community once it's all straight in my head!

     Thanks again, Ian

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