FAQ: 3.2 How do I show WinForms controls in an MFC application?

Question

3.2 How do I show WinForms controls in an MFC application?

 

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Answer 1

It depends on whether you are going to show a WinForms control embedded in an MFC dialog or view, or you would like to show a Windows Forms from an MFC application directly.

1. If you are going to embed a WinForms control in an MFC dialog or view, you can use MFC CWinFormsControl to achieve the objective. The MFC and WinForms Integration download provides Visual C++ 2005 sample demonstrating how to host a WinForms user control as a dialog or a view in an MFC application.

 

2. If you would like to show a Windows Form from an MFC application directly, the easiest way is to open the /clr build switch for that MFC application. You can do this via Project Properties->Configuration Properties->Project Defaults->Common Language Runtime support. Click that combo box and choose "/clr". Once the setting is configured, you can reference any .NET assembly and use gcnew to initialize a form and show it. You can also add a C++/CLI Windows Form in your project and show it.

 

Code sample:

#include "MyWindowForm.h"

......

void CMFCTestDlg::OnBnClickedButton1()

{

    (gcnew WindowsFormsTest::MyWindowForm())->Show();

}

 

Related Thread:

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vclanguage/thread/97fddc35-e94d-4587-8be0-0b573185eb63