Class Library Reference

The Class Library Reference covers the classes, global functions, global variables, and macros that make up the Microsoft® Foundation Class Library, version 6.0. The class hierarchy chart details the class relationships in the class library.

The Class Library Overview lists the classes in helpful categories. Use these lists to help locate a class that contains the functionality you are interested in. Visual C++ Programmer's Guide explains how to use the class library to program for Microsoft Windows NT®, Microsoft Windows® 95, and other Win32® platforms. Practical examples and techniques are supplied in the tutorials in Visual C++/MFC Tutorials.

The remainder of the Class Library Reference consists of an alphabetical listing of the classes and an MFC Macros and Globals section that explains the global functions, global variables, and macros used with the class library.

The individual hierarchy charts included with each class are useful for locating base classes. The Class Library Reference usually does not describe inherited member functions, inherited operators, and overridden virtual member functions. For information on these functions, refer to the base classes depicted in the hierarchy diagrams.

In the alphabetical listing section, each class description includes a member summary by category, followed by alphabetical listings of member functions, overloaded operators, and data members.

Public and protected class members are documented only when they are normally used in application programs or derived classes. Occasionally, private members are listed because they override a public or protected member in the base class. See the class header files for a complete listing of class members.

Some C-language structures defined by Windows are so widely applicable that their descriptions have been reproduced completely in a section following the alphabetical reference.

Please note that the “See Also” sections refer to Win32 API functions by prefacing them with the scope resolution operator (::), for example, ::EqualRect. More information on these functions can be found in the Win32 SDK documentation.