Could someone explain to me the differences in code between SDI and MDI? I was really wondering this: In SDI, you have your hMainWnd, and one WNDCLASS(EX), and one MainWndProc. If wanted to do MDI, what would be the difference? im talking stuff like class names, and (ok, never mind all this. if you really want to help, could you show me some code that gets a window on screen, with a child window or two? the program doesn''t need to *do* anything, i just wanna see how its done. p.s. if you decide to help me, plz don''t do this: variable = value (#defined in another header file)... thats what the msdn library does and it''s so dang confusing.... anyway, i probably confused you as to what im asking for, but i would appreciate any help you could give me... thanks! Jake

MDI and SDI are different types of applications. MDI is Multiple Document Interface, and SDI is Single Document Interface. You can have more than one window present inside the "master" window (and in most cases be able to minimize, maximize, and resize the windows inside the "master") in an MDI, in an SDI you get only one window. An example of an SDI is wordpad, whereas Microsoft Word would be an MDI.

In an MDI, each view will have its own document... unless you route around it like I did in my last project for a number of reasons. In an SDI there is only a single document, as the name indicates. Basically on an MDI the CWinApp creates a CMultiDocTemplate, which creates a CDocument and CMDIChildWnd for each CView, if you use the wizard.

I would suggest you try playing with the appwizard while creating a new project... you will be able to make your own SDI''s and MDI''s very quickly. It''s usually a good idea to let the appwizard do that stuff for you, in fact, even when i was doing my multi-view-but-single-doc application I used the appwizard and then stripped out what I didn''t need.

Oh, and in case you didn''t catch this part... MDI and SDI are part of MFC. If you want a straight Win32 application, don''t use these.

-fel

felisandria: I thought straight Win32 programs could do MDI, too? Anyway, Microsoft Word 2000 is now an SDI app that just creates multiple program windows for each document. If you know about multi-threading and similar topics, that''s the way to go. I like it because I don''t have to go to that Window menu everytime I want to switch docs. This way, they can use the taskbar the way it works best. The point is that the user doesn''t care which programs they have open -- the user now just sees the documents in the taskbar. From the things I saw in the docs, I think MDI is going the way of the dinosaurs...



- null_pointer
Sabre Multimedia

Unsure. I''ve only ever seen it done as an MFC based application. I think that MDI in Win32 API, if it exists, would have to be REALLY painful.

There are uses for MDI apps, but I prefer SDI if possible.

-fel

hey guys, i really appreciate the help. but could you explain a couple more things for me? is there a difference between your main WNDCLASS in an SDI and your frame WNDCLASS in an MDI? are they the same thing, or do you need a main WNDCLASS as well as a frame, and then all your children? also, are there any members you need to set to something specific to create a frame or a child? it''s not that MDI is *so* important for me to learn, but it is something i would Really like to learn, just because i like it. anyway, thanks.
Jake