Introduction
Many applications allow the user to input and edit data using forms. If this is done in an MDI environment,
managing the sizes of the MDI frame windows in which the forms are displayed can look like a daunting task. This
article shows you how to call MFC functions to size the MDI child frame window to fit the form contained in the
form view within it.
Resize Your Form With MFC!
Look in your derived form view class for a CFormView::OnInitialUpdate()
function override. This
is usually inserted for you if you created the form view class with AppWizard or ClassWizard. Go to the location
of the implementation of the override in your code. Next, look for a call to ResizeParentToFit()
that
is on a line by itself. If you find such a call, replace the line with the code shown in bold below. If
there is no such call, then add the code shown in bold to the implementation of OnInitialUpdate()
:
void CMyFormView::OnInitialUpdate()
{
CFormView::OnInitialUpdate();
GetParentFrame()->RecalcLayout();
ResizeParentToFit(FALSE);
...
}
The size of the client area of the view's MDI child frame window should now match the size of the dialog template
used to place the controls on the form.
Don't Resize or Maximize!
The sample code provided with this article shows how to resize your form view frame windows to fit their forms,
as outlined above. However, you probably don't want the user to be able to resize or maximize the window thereby
defeating the purpose of calling CScrollView::ResizeParentToFit()
. This is because MFC places the
form in the top right corner of the client area of the MDI Child frame window. If you want to prevent the user
from resizing or maximizing the frame window, disable the WS_THICKFRAME
and WS_MAXIMIZEBOX
styles, and add the WS_BORDER
style to the window. This can be easily done using the CMDIChildWnd::PreCreateWindow()
override placed in your code for you by AppWizard. This is, of course, usually in a CChildFrame
class.
Here's how the sample does it:
BOOL CChildFrame::PreCreateWindow(CREATESTRUCT& cs)
{
if( !CMDIChildWnd::PreCreateWindow(cs) )
return FALSE;
cs.style &= ~(WS_THICKFRAME);
cs.style &= ~(WS_MAXIMIZEBOX);
cs.style |= WS_BORDER;
return TRUE;
}
Conclusion
If you have any questions about what I've done with these techniques, please feel free to contact me anytime,
or post a message in the message board below!
Brian C. Hart, Ph.D., is a strategic engagement leader on a mission to leverage space technology to protect U.S. interests and assets against adversaries. Throughout Dr. Hart's career, he has enjoyed: Working closely with business executives to provide strategic direction and leadership, translating customer and competitive intelligence into compelling capture strategies and solutions, and mentoring teams to enhance individual and company capabilities while fostering an engaging and accountable environment, being involved in STEAM initiatives and education to develop greater awareness in the community, and serving the armed forces with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army National Guard. He is excited to begin developing his career in Jacobs's Critical Mission Systems business unit, supporting NORAD and the U.S. Space Force.