The Microsoft Foundation Class Library can be divided into two major sections: (1) the MFC classes and (2) macros and globals. If a function or variable is not a member of a class, it is a global function or variable.

The MFC library and the Active Template Library (ATL) share string conversion macros. See String Conversion Macros in the ATL documentation for a discussion of these macros.

The MFC macros and globals offer functionality in the following categories:

General MFC

• Data types
• Type casting of MFC class objects
• Run-time object model services
• Diagnostic services
• Exception processing
• CString formatting and message-box display
• Message maps
• Application information and management
• Standard command and window IDs
• Collection class helpers
• Gray and dithered bitmap functions

Database

• Record Field Exchange (RFX) functions and Bulk Record Field Exchange (bulk RFX) functions for the MFC ODBC classes
• Record field exchange (DFX) functions for the MFC DAO classes
• Dialog data exchange (DDX) functions for CRecordView and CDaoRecordView (MFC ODBC and DAO classes)
• Dialog data exchange (DDX) functions for OLE controls
• Macros and globals to aid in calling Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) API functions directly
• DAO database engine initialization and termination

Internet

• Internet Server API (ISAPI) parse maps
• Internet URL parsing globals
• Internet Server API (ISAPI) diagnostic macros

DHTML Event Maps

• DHTML event maps
• Multipage DHTML and URL event maps

OLE

• OLE initialization
• Application control
• Dispatch maps

In addition, MFC provides a function called AfxEnableControlContainer that enables any OLE container developed with MFC 4.0 to fully support embedded OLE controls.

OLE Controls

• Variant parameter type constants
• Type library access
• Property pages
• Event maps
• Event sink maps
• Connection maps
• Registering OLE controls
• Class factories and licensing
• Persistence of OLE controls

The first part of this section briefly discusses each of the previous categories and lists each global and macro in the category, along with a brief description of what it does. Following this alphabetically are complete descriptions of the global functions, global variables, and macros in the MFC library.

To find more information on MFC Macros and Globals, see MFC Macros and Globals.

Note   Many global functions start with the prefix "Afx", but some, such as the dialog data exchange (DDX) functions and many of the database functions, deviate from this convention. All global variables start with "afx" as a prefix. Macros do not start with any particular prefix, but they are written in uppercase letters.