How do I get MFC into Visual Studios?

Question

I just downloaded C++ visual studios and want to use the windows file open dialog box. I understand it can be access by way of the MS Foundation Claas library, but I cannot figure out a way to get it onto my pc. So, how do I get MFC into Visual Studios?

Answer 1

To get the Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC) into Visual Studio, you need to ensure that MFC is included in your installation. Here are the steps based on the version of Visual Studio you are using:

1. Visual Studio 2015: MFC is an optional component. When installing Visual Studio, choose Custom in the setup and ensure that Visual C++ and Microsoft Foundation Classes for C++ are selected. If you have already installed Visual Studio, you will be prompted to install MFC when you attempt to create an MFC project.
2. Visual Studio 2017 and later: MFC is included as an optional component under the Desktop development with C++ workload. To install it, open the Visual Studio Installer from the Windows Start menu, find your version of Visual Studio, and choose the Modify button. Make sure to check the MFC and ATL support option under Optional Components.

Once MFC is installed, you can create projects that utilize the Windows file open dialog box and other MFC features.

Answer 2

@Phil Lyle, MFC is a pretty substantial framework for creating windows desktop applications. If all you really want to do is use an open file dialog then you don't need MFC.

As @Viorel pointed out the GetOpenFileName function is available. Also, the IFileDialog interface is available to create an open file dialog without MFC.

Following is a minimal Win32 sample that demonstrates both methods.

#include <Windows.h>
#include <ShObjIdl.h>

#include <stdio.h>
#include <tchar.h>

#define IDM_OLD_OFD 100
#define IDM_NEW_OFD 200
#define IDM_EXIT 500

LRESULT CALLBACK WndProc(HWND, UINT, WPARAM, LPARAM);
VOID	OnOldOfd(HWND);
VOID	OnNewOfd(HWND);


int APIENTRY _tWinMain(_In_ HINSTANCE hInstance, _In_opt_ HINSTANCE hPrev, _In_ LPTSTR szCmdLine, _In_ int nShow)
{
    WNDCLASS wc{CS_HREDRAW | CS_VREDRAW, WndProc, 0, 0, hInstance,
        LoadIcon(NULL, IDI_APPLICATION),
        LoadCursor(NULL, IDC_ARROW),
        (HBRUSH) (COLOR_WINDOW + 1),
        NULL,
        _T("OFDCLASS")};

    CoInitialize(NULL);

    ATOM atom = RegisterClass(&wc);
    if (!atom)
    {
        MessageBox(NULL, _T("RegisterClass failed"), _T("OFDSample"), MB_ICONERROR);
        return 1;
    }

    HMENU hBar = CreateMenu();
    HMENU hFile = CreatePopupMenu();
    AppendMenu(hFile, MF_STRING, IDM_OLD_OFD, _T("GetOpenFileName..."));
    AppendMenu(hFile, MF_STRING, IDM_NEW_OFD, _T("IFileDialog..."));
    AppendMenu(hFile, MF_SEPARATOR, 0, 0);
    AppendMenu(hFile, MF_STRING, IDM_EXIT, _T("Exit"));
    AppendMenu(hBar, MF_POPUP, (UINT_PTR)hFile, _T("File"));

    HWND hwnd = CreateWindow(_T("OFDCLASS"), _T("Demo Window"), WS_OVERLAPPEDWINDOW,
        CW_USEDEFAULT, CW_USEDEFAULT, CW_USEDEFAULT, CW_USEDEFAULT, NULL, hBar, hInstance, NULL);

    if (!hwnd)
    {
        MessageBox(NULL, _T("Window Creation failed"), _T("OFDSample"), MB_ICONERROR);
        return 1;
    }

    ShowWindow(hwnd, nShow);
    UpdateWindow(hwnd);

    MSG msg{};
    while (GetMessage(&msg, NULL, 0, 0))
    {
        TranslateMessage(&msg);
        DispatchMessage(&msg);
    }

    CoUninitialize();

    return (int) msg.wParam;
}

LRESULT CALLBACK WndProc(HWND hwnd, UINT msg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
{
    switch (msg) {
    case WM_COMMAND:
    {
        switch (LOWORD(wParam)) {
        case IDM_OLD_OFD:
            OnOldOfd(hwnd);
            break;
        case IDM_NEW_OFD:
            OnNewOfd(hwnd);
            break;
        case IDM_EXIT:
            DestroyWindow(hwnd);
            break;
        default:
            return DefWindowProc(hwnd, msg, wParam, lParam);
        }
    }
    break;

    case WM_DESTROY:
        PostQuitMessage(0);
        break;

    default:
        return DefWindowProc(hwnd, msg, wParam, lParam);
    }

    return 0;
}

VOID OnOldOfd(HWND hwnd)
{
    TCHAR szBuffer[MAX_PATH]{};
    OPENFILENAME ofn{ sizeof ofn};

    ofn.hwndOwner = hwnd;
    ofn.lpstrFilter = _T("Text Files (*.txt, *.log)\0*.txt;*.log\0All Files (*.*)\0*.*\0");
    ofn.lpstrFile = szBuffer;
    ofn.nMaxFile = ARRAYSIZE(szBuffer);
    ofn.Flags = OFN_DONTADDTORECENT | OFN_NOCHANGEDIR;
    ofn.lpstrDefExt = _T("txt");
    if (GetOpenFileName(&ofn))
    {
        MessageBox(hwnd, ofn.lpstrFile, _T("Selected Item"), MB_ICONINFORMATION);
    }
    else
    {
        DWORD err = CommDlgExtendedError();
        if (err != 0)
        {
            TCHAR szMsg[128]{};
            _stprintf_s(szMsg, _T("GetOpenFileName error code was 0x%X"), err);
            MessageBox(hwnd, szMsg, _T("Error"), MB_ICONERROR);
        }
    }
}

VOID OnNewOfd(HWND hwnd)
{
    IFileDialog* pfd{};
    HRESULT hr = CoCreateInstance(CLSID_FileOpenDialog, NULL, CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER, IID_PPV_ARGS(&pfd));
    if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
    {
        const COMDLG_FILTERSPEC rgTypes[] = {
           {L"Text files", L"*.txt;*.log"},
           {L"All files", L"*.*"}
        };

        FILEOPENDIALOGOPTIONS fos{};
        hr = pfd->GetOptions(&fos);
        fos |= FOS_DONTADDTORECENT | FOS_NOCHANGEDIR;
        hr = pfd->SetOptions(fos);
        hr = pfd->SetFileTypes(ARRAYSIZE(rgTypes), rgTypes);
        hr = pfd->Show(hwnd);
        if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
        {
            IShellItem* psi{};
            hr = pfd->GetResult(&psi);
            if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
            {
                LPWSTR pwszpath{};
                hr = psi->GetDisplayName(SIGDN_FILESYSPATH, &pwszpath);
                MessageBoxW(hwnd, pwszpath, L"Selected Item", MB_ICONINFORMATION);
                CoTaskMemFree(pwszpath);
                psi->Release();
            }
        }
        else
        {
            if (hr != HRESULT_FROM_WIN32(ERROR_CANCELLED))
            {
                WCHAR szMsg[128]{};
                swprintf_s(szMsg, L"IFileDialog::Show error code was 0x%X", hr);
                MessageBoxW(hwnd, szMsg, L"Error", MB_ICONERROR);
            }
        }

        pfd->Release();
    }
}