SDI & MDI Applications

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1 SDI & MDI Applications Pemrograman Visual (TH22012 ) by Kartika Firdausy kartikaf@indosat.net.id kartika@ee.uad.ac.id blog.uad.ac.id/kartikaf kartikaf.wordpress.com SDI and MDI Fundamentals A single-document interface, SDI, is an application primarily made of a form equipped with a menu. An example is Notepad:

2 In some cases, an SDI can also have a toolbar and/or a status bar. Here is an example from Microsoft Works Spreadsheet: All these features are left to the programmer to add and configure. Although Notepad is text-based, an SDI can be any type of application: text, graphics, spreadsheet, anything. Therefore, to create an SDI, start from a normal form, add a menu to it, and configure it to do what you want. To create a document using an SDI, the user launches the application.

3 The SDI then presents a rectangular window with one frame and the inside is the document the user will use. In most cases, the application itself creates the document. The user can work on it and do whatever the application allows. To create another document of the same type, the user must open another instance of the application. MDI Fundamentals A multiple-document interface (MDI) is an application that primarily has a form and a menu. Some, if not most, MDIs also have one or more toolbars and/or a status bar. Here is an example:

4 MDI Fundamentals Like a normal application, to use an MDI, the user must launch it. In some cases, when the application starts, it is empty; that is, no document is created and the title bar displays a caption, usually the name of the application. Usually, there are steps the user must follow to create a document. MDI Fundamentals A document resides inside the parent frame of the application. That is, a child document can use only the area reserved for it. The child document has its own system icon, its own title bar, and its system buttons (Minimize, Maximize/Restore, and Close).

5 MDI Fundamentals To use the whole area, the user can maximize the child document. When this is done, the child merges its title bar with the parent's. The new caption of the title bar becomes made of the text of the parent, followed by -,, and followed by the caption the child window was using. The system buttons of the child document display under those of the parent frame MDI Fundamentals

6 MDI Fundamentals Once a document has been created, the user can use it. Normalement, the application must give the user the ability to create other documents while still using the application. If many documents have been created, all of them are confined in the frame of the Topic Applied: MDI Fundamentals The user can maximize the child forms. If so, the document that was in front occupies the whole area devoted to child documents. The other child forms stay in the back but become invisible. One of the differences between an SDI and an MDI is that, because the document and the application don't share a frame, the user can close the document and keep the application open.

7 Creating an MDI Application As mentioned already, there is nothing magical with creating an SDI. You start with a form, add a menu to it, and specify what the application should allow a user to do with a document. As we will see, an MDI requires more steps. You start an MDI application with a normal form. You can create a Windows Forms Application using Microsoft Visual Studio or derive a class from Form. Here is an example: Creating an MDI Application The primary characteristic of an MDI is that it contains other forms. These forms must be created and made available to the parent. Each form can be created using a predefined form or you can programmatically create one by declaring an object of type Form.

8 Creating an MDI Application To allow you to specify that a form has a parent and will act as a child, the Form class is equipped with a property named IsMdiContainer MdiContainer. set its IsMdiContainer property to True Creating an MDI Application To add another form that will be used as a child, on the main menu, click Project -> > Add New Item...

9 Creating an MDI Application In the Add New Item dialog box, in the Templates list, click Windows Form (.NET) Replace the contents of the Name edit box with Baby and press Enter Creating an MDI Application To display the first form, in the code editor, click the Form1.h [Design] tab Double-click in the middle of the first form to access its Load() event and implement it as follows: #pragma once #include "Baby.h After doing this, you can display the form when you are ready, by calling its Show() member function. MDITest1::Baby ^MyBaby = gcnew MDITest1::Baby; MyBaby->MdiParent = this; MyBaby->Show();

10 Creating an MDI Application Execute the application MDI Characteristics Introduction to the Children of an MDI When you create an MDI application, you must make sure you provide your users with the ability to create documents. In fact, probably one of your first assignments is to make sure the user can create as many documents as necessary. As the documents are created, you need a way to programmatically keep track of the child forms.

11 MDI Characteristics For example, you can store the documents in a collection. To assist you with this, the Form class is equipped with a property named MdiChildren,, which is a read-only array. Each element of the MdiChildren[] array is of type Form. Therefore, to access a child form of an MDI application, you can pass an index to this property. The Layout of Child Forms Based on the standards defined in the operating system, as child forms are created in an MDI application, they are positioned each on top of the previous one but below the next one. The arrangement uses a 3-D 3 coordiniate system whose origin is on the lower-left left corner of the parent's frame just under the title bar (or the menu, if any; or the toolbar, if any), with the Z axis moving from the monitor towards you:

12 The Layout of Child Forms The operating system allows the user to choose among different arrangements. For example, you can position the documents as vertical columns, as horizontal rows, or as tiles. To support this, the Form class is equipped with a method named LayoutMdi. The Layout of Child Forms The LayoutMdi() method takes an argument that is a member of the MdiLayout enumeration. The members of this enumeration are: 1. ArrangeIcons: The child forms display to fit within the parent form. Here is an example: System::Void mnuarrangeicons_click(system::object^ sender, System::EventArgs^ e) { LayoutMdi(MdiLayout::ArrangeIcons); }

13 The Layout of Child Forms The Layout of Child Forms The LayoutMdi() method takes an argument that is a member of the MdiLayout enumeration. The members of this enumeration are: 1. ArrangeIcons: The child forms display to fit within the parent form. Here is an example: System::Void mnuarrangeicons_click(system::object^ sender, System::EventArgs^ e) { LayoutMdi(MdiLayout::ArrangeIcons); }

14 The Layout of Child Forms Cascade: : The child form are cascaded to display the title bar and a left portion of each, provided the client area of the parent form is wide and tall enough. System::Void mnucascade_click(system::object^ sender, System::EventArgs^ e) { LayoutMdi(MdiLayout::Cascade); } The Layout of Child Forms TileHorizontal: : The child forms are shrunk so that they can be positioned one above the other and each would use the whole width of the parent client area. System::Void mnutilehorizontal_click(system::object^ sender, System::EventArgs^ e) { LayoutMdi(MdiLayout::TileHorizontal);}

15 Activating a Child When a child window is activated, it fires an event named MdiChildActivate: public:event EventHandler^ MdiChildActivate { void add (EventHandler^ value); void remove (EventHandler^ value);} Arranging the Minimized Children In an MDI application, if the user doesn't want to display a document but doesn't want to close it, he can minimize the window. In the same way, the user can minimize as many child forms as necessary. When a child form has been minimized, it shows a button in the lower part of the parent. The buttons of the other minimized child forms are usually positioned next to each other:

16 Arranging the Minimized Children