WinBegin WinBegin 3.0 is a development tool for creating very simple "C" programs which run under Windows 3.0. WinBegin is meant to be used by the "C" programmer who wants to create his or her first Windows program. The more experienced Window developer may find it useful for making skeleton programs for new applications. I still use it to start new programs WinBegin actually generates "C" and Windows code for a small application. When the user chooses the "Make Program" menu option, WinBegin prompts for a program name, a directory name, a program description, and the author's name. When all these items have been entered, WinBegin creates the source code for a Windows application. The files created include: name.c name.h name.def name.rc name.ico name where "name" is the program name selected by the author. The "name.c" file contains the application's "C" source code. "name.h" contains constant definitions. "name.def" contains information needed by Windows at link time. "name" contains a makefile for compiling the application. "name.ico" contains a dummy (blank) icon for the application. You can, and should, make a meaningful icon for your application using the icon editor in "sdkpaint.exe". After running WinBegin, you should change to the directory that you chose to contain the generated code. Then type "make name" to create a Windows executable file. If you have enough memory, you can do this withing Windows. Otherwise, you need to exit to DOS first. What does this executable file do? It contains two menu items: File, and GetText. File has two choices: Exit, and About this application. The About choice displays an About dialog box with the name of the program and the author's name. GetText displays a dialog box which prompts for a line of text. When the box is exited, the text is displayed on the screen. The executable file also can display an About box which contains a description of the program and a copyright notice with the author's name. Thus WinBegin creates source code for an application that has menu-bar commands, and which uses two dialog boxes. This is what I consider to be the smallest non-trivial Windows program. The generated files are meant to be modified! Here are some things to try: - Add another menu item. Adding, deleting, and changing the names of menu items are just about the easiest things to do in Windows. - Add another dialog box. Remember that the names of the dialog box functions must be added to the EXPORTS section of the name.def file, in order to prevent nasty things from happening. - Experiment with some of the more sophisticated dialog box controls, such as list boxes and edit boxes. - Instead of printing text using TextOut, try out some of the drawing functions, such as Rectangle and LineTo. Files included in the archive are: readme.txt winbegin.exe winbegin.dat winbegin.ico target.ico Copyright 1987,1990 by Susan Crayne. All Rights Reserved Written for uploading to Compuserve Forums by Susan Crayne 4 Charlotte Place Hartsdale, New York 10530 914-686-9822 WinBegin 3.0 is shareware. If this program has been useful to you, please register! You will receive bug fixes and enhancements when they occur. Your input about future enhancements will be highly valued. To register, send $35 to the above address. This program may be distributed freely. If it is distributed, this file (readme.txt) must be included. The copyright holder offers no warranty with this code whatsoever, including its fitness for any particular purpose. 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