Window style, including title, border type, minimize and maximize buttons, scroll bars, etc.QuickCase:W is a Windows application; in it, you draw a picture of what you want your program to look like—the menu system, linked resources, and general appearance—and QuickCase:W writes the source code for you. It allows you to bypass a major chore in Windows programming: creating the basic program structure and writing the interface code.
QuickCase:W's own interface looks like a window-within-a-window. The outer window belongs to QuickCase:W and its menu system, while the inner window belongs to your application and menu system (Figure 4.1).
QuickCase:W can control the following aspects of the interface:
Window style, including title, border type, minimize and maximize buttons, scroll bars, etc.
Menu system, including grayed or checked commands, accelerator keys, and cascaded menus
Icon (.ICO), cursor (.CUR), bitmap (.BMP), dialog box (.DLG), and include (.INC) files to link to the application
Initial application size and location on the screen
Default foreground and background colors
QuickCase:W saves this information in a Windows database (.WIN) file.
When QuickCase:W generates source files, it bases the contents of those source files on the data stored in the .WIN file. All the generated files use the same base name as the .WIN file, and are the files you import to the Graphical Development Environment to build your application.
The generated files are:
(.H) Header File
A header file containing global handles used by the application, definitions of constants, and prototypes for the generated functions called by the prototyped application.
(.C) Source File
A C source file containing the code necessary to produce the prototyped interface.
(.RC) Resource Script File
A file that defines the Windows resources used by the prototyped application. Used by the resource compiler.
(.DEF) Module-Definition File
A file that lists the program, the libraries and DLLs it calls, its imports and exports, and comment level. Used by the linker.
(.MAK) Project File
A project file that includes references to all the other generated files. It acts as a table of contents, telling the compiler, linker, and resource compiler how to build your application.
QuickCase:W uses standard Windows API calls in the .C and .H files, but also adds comments to the code to make it easier to follow.
Where appropriate, QuickCase:W leaves blank sections in the .C file for you to insert your own code. In most cases, you only need to modify the .C file to finish your program. Unless you have special requirements, you do not need to modify the .H, .RC, .DEF, or .MAK files.
NOTE:
QuickCase:W files are compatible with CASEWORK'S CASE:W 3.0 and CASE:W Corporate Edition prototypers.