CTreeCtrl vs. CTreeView

MFC provides two classes that encapsulate tree controls: CTreeCtrl and CTreeView. Each class is useful in different situations.

Use CTreeCtrl when you need a plain child window control; for instance, in a dialog box. You'd especially want to use CTreeCtrl if there will be other child controls in the window, as in a typical dialog box.

Use CTreeView when you want the tree control to act like a view window in document/view architecture as well as a tree control. A CTreeView will occupy the entire client area of a frame window or splitter window. It will be automatically resized when its parent window is resized, and it can process command messages from menus, accelerator keys, and toolbars. Since a tree control contains the data necessary to display the tree, the corresponding document object does not have to be complicated — you could even use CDocument as the document type in your document template.

See also

Using CTreeCtrl
Controls