C++

WinRT and winmd Files

by

If you tried the Win8 Developer Preview and built WinRT components (native or managed) you noticed the .winmd files. The name stands for Windows Meta Data and the format of these files is the same used by the .NET framework for the CLI, i.e. ECMA-335. That means you can actually read these files with a … Read more

Accessing 64-bit Native COM Server From a Managed Client

by

Not long ago I ran into a COM interop problem that was a bit tricky to fix. So I’m sharing the problem and the solution here in case others encounter the same problem. I had this native in-proc COM server that initially was built only for x86. It was used in a native MFC application … Read more

C++, WinRT and Partial Classes

by

Partial classes are finally available to C++. Sort of. It’s not part of the new C++11 standard, it’s part of the C++/CX language developed by Microsoft for targeting WinRT on Windows 8. Partial classes mean that you can define a class spanned across several files. Why is this great? Because it allows developers and automatic … Read more

Windows Runtime

by

Windows Runtime, or shortly WinRT, is a new runtime (siting on top of the Windows kernel) that allows developers to write Metro style applications for Windows 8, using a variety of languages including C/C++, C#, VB.NET or JavaScript/HTML5. Microsoft has started rolling out information about Windows 8 and the new runtime at BUILD. WinRT is … Read more

Display images as you type in C++

by

There was a question on Stackoverflow about a C++ project displaying an image as you type. Here is the original question: I am writing a very simple program in C++ that listens to keyboard input, but what I want to output is much more difficult than I expected. For every key I press, I want … Read more

Redefinition of ‘BOOKMARK’

by

If you include in a VC++ project <mapidefs.h> and <sqltypes.h> and build for the x64 platform you get a redefinition error. #include <Windows.h> #include <MAPIDefS.h> #include <sqltypes.h> int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[]) { return 0; } 1>C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0A\include\sqltypes.h(283) : error C2371: ‘BOOKMARK’ : redefinition; different basic types 1> C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0A\include\MAPIDefS.h(1142) : see declaration … Read more

C++ Renaissance at Microsoft

by

At the beginning of this year, Microsoft announced a “C++ renaissance”. Quoting from the description of a Channel 9 video with Craig Symonds and Mohsen Agsen: C++ is currently undergoing a renaissance. This means that, by definition, the language, compilers and compositional tooling are evolving and coalescing into a state that maximizes native developer efficiency, … Read more

C++ Accelerated Massive Parallelism

by

Microsoft has recently announced at the AMD Fusion Developer Summit the introduction of a new technology called C++ Accelerated Massive Parallelism or shortly C++ AMP that helps C++ developers use the GPU for parallel programming. The new technology will be part of Visual C++, integrated with full support (edit, build, debug, profile) in the next … Read more

Finding Installed Applications with VC++

by

Finding applications installed on a machine (the ones that you see in Control Panel Add/Remove programs) could be a little bit tricky, because there isn’t a bulletproof API or method. Each of the available methods has its own weak points. WMI is slow and can actually be disabled on a machine. MSI API only shows … Read more

MVP Global Summit 2011

by

The MVP Global Summit 2011 took place in Redmond and Bellevue at the beginning of March. This year I attended for the fifth time, and as usual it was a great time. Fellow MVPs, discussions with the Microsoft product groups, parties, everything made it worth it. And this year it was also a little bit … Read more