MSDN Magazine February 2002

Article
10/23/2019

February 2002

Visual C++ .NET: Tips and Tricks to Bolster Your Managed C++ Code in Visual Studio .NET

Developers using the Managed Extensions for C++ have more options than those using other languages because C++ is a lower-level language. However, this means an increase in code complexity. This article discusses a few of the more complex issues facing developers, such as operator overloading, managed types and unmanaged code, and boxing. Also covered are the is operator, the using statement, and string conversions. The author points out the flexibility of Managed Extensions for C++ and outlines the additional effort that is required for you to take advantage of its increased power and flexibility. Tomas Restrepo

Visual Studio .NET: Custom Add-Ins Help You Maximize the Productivity of Visual Studio .NET

Regardless of how great an integrated development environment (IDE) is, there will always be features that developers wish had been included. For that reason, the Visual Studio .NET IDE provides an extensive add-in facility that allows you to add nearly unlimited numbers of features and functionalities written in Visual Basic, C, C++, C#, or any .NET-compliant language. This article explains how add-ins work in Visual Studio .NET. It then shows how to add custom text editing by creating an add-in with two editing functions, a simple text insert of the current date, and a more complex function to reformat paragraphs of text. Finally, you'll learn how to add a page to the Options dialog. Leo A. Notenboom

Inside Windows: An In-Depth Look into the Win32 Portable Executable File Format

A good understanding of the Portable Executable (PE) file format leads to a good understanding of the operating system. If you know what's in your DLLs and EXEs, you'll be a more knowledgeable programmer. This article, the first of a two-part series, looks at the changes to the PE format that have occurred over the last few years, along with an overview of the format itself. After this update, the author discusses how the PE format fits into applications written for .NET, PE file sections, RVAs, the DataDirectory, and the importing of functions. An appendix includes lists of the relevant image header structures and their descriptions. Matt Pietrek

Still in Love with C++: Modern Language Features Enhance the Visual C++ .NET Compiler

Programmers who have been using C++ for years are wondering where their language is headed with the advent of C# and Microsoft .NET. This article sketches a roadmap of C++ as it is used in the world of .NET. In .NET there are two approaches to C++ code: managed and unmanaged. Unmanaged code doesn't use the CLR, while managed code involves the use of Managed Extensions for C++. This discussion explains both approaches. Stanley B. Lippman

Talking To…: Grady Booch Discusses .NET and the Art of Software Development

Editor's Note: Welcome Visual Studio .NET

New Stuff: Resources for Your Developer Toolbox

Theresa W. Carey

Web Q&A: Threading in MSXML, Sorting XML, Order-by, Changing Mouse Pointer, and More

Edited by Nancy Michell

The XML Files: Publishing and Discovering Web Services with DISCO and UDDI

Aaron Skonnard

Data Points: Establishing Relationships Between Rowsets with ADO.NET

John Papa

Cutting Edge: Data Binding Between Controls in Windows Forms

Dino Esposito