class CObject

CObject is the principal base class for the Microsoft Foundation Class Library. It serves as the root not only for library classes such as CFile and CObList, but also for the classes that you write. CObject provides basic services, including:

Serialization support

Run-time class information

Object diagnostic output

Compatibility with collection classes

Refer to Part 1 for a detailed description of these features.

Note:

CObject does not support multiple inheritance. Your derived classes can have only one CObject base class, and that CObject must be leftmost in the hierarchy. It is permissible, though, to have structures and non-CObject-derived classes in right-hand multiple-inheritance branches.

#include <afx.h>

Derivation

You will realize major benefits from CObject derivation if you use some of the optional macros in your class implementation and declarations.

The first-level macros, DECLARE_DYNAMIC and IMPLEMENT_DYNAMIC, permit run-time access to the class name and its position in the hierarchy. This, in turn, allows meaningful diagnostic dumping.

The second-level macros, DECLARE_SERIAL and IMPLEMENT_SERIAL, include all the functionality of the first-level macros, and they enable an object to be serialized to and from an archive.

For important information about deriving Microsoft Foundation classes and C++ classes in general, see “How to Derive a Class from CObject” in Chapter 8 of the Class Libraries User's Guide.