Registering the Window Class

Every window must have a window class. A window class defines the attributes of a window, such as its style, its icon, its cursor, the name of the menu, and the name of the window procedure.

The first step is to fill in a WNDCLASS structure with class information. Next, you pass the structures to the RegisterClass function. The GENERIC application registers the GenericAppClass window class as follows:

wc.lpszClassName = "GenericAppClass";
wc.lpfnWndProc = MainWndProc;
wc.style = CS_OWNDC | CS_VREDRAW | CS_HREDRAW;
wc.hInstance = hInstance;
wc.hIcon = LoadIcon( NULL, IDI_APPLICATION );
wc.hCursor = LoadCursor( NULL, IDC_ARROW );
wc.hbrBackground = (HBRUSH)( COLOR_WINDOW+1 );
wc.lpszMenuName = "GenericAppMenu";
wc.cbClsExtra = 0;
wc.cbWndExtra = 0;

RegisterClass( &wc );
 

For more information on the menu, see The Menu. For more information on the window procedure, see The Window Procedure.