docking toolbar and general ObjectARX problems

[BBobson]

I've had problems trying to get a custom docking toolbar working.  I'm using ObjectARX/C++ with MFC, and inherited from CAcUiDockControlBar.  The toolbar appears, and it docks properly, but the visuals are off.  When docked the bar has the standard border and title bar as expected; but when floating the title bar is gone instead replaced by the standard win32 dialog title/border (not the nice dark rounded AutoCAD look with the title bar on the left).  I've looked through all the methods of CAcUiDockControlBar and could find nothing related to visual styles or the like.  The closest thing I've looked at that seems to be along the lines of what I'm looking for is CAdUiDockFrame but the help files state "for internal use only"

I'm quite proficient with C++ and Win32 programming (granted I am new to MFC) and yet I still find myself repeatedly stymied by this SDK.  The help files are very poorly written and often contain errors and/or are very old.  All the forum posts/online examples seem to be even older.  I'm honestly not sure where to go for good up-to-date information.  The dearth of information has left me perplexed, as any other large program I've writting pluings for has had a plethora of online information as well as an active forum community, which just doesn't seem to exist for AutoCAD.   Is the ObjectARX C++ part deprecated and should I be moving to .net?  Is no one writting plugins for AutoCAD anymore?

Also there isn't a good explanation on why there seems to be 3-4 different ways to do any one thing (what's the difference between the AcUi* and AdUi* classes?  why prefere one over the other?  Are the MFC just wrappers around the ActiveX components and how do they play into this?  Is the ObjectARX C++ part deprecated and should I be moving to .net?, ect...).

Any thoughts, links to better/more up to date documention/samples, or any other help would be much appreciated.

[owenwengerd]

I'd bet that you've set a window style (or extended style) that control bars don't like. Are you perhaps confusing tool windows and docking control bars? Toolbars don't dock, but control bars do.

If you're an ADN member, Autodesk's ADN support can often be helpful, but the only way to get high quality technical assistance on demand is to hire an expert. If you're not in a hurry, forums like this one are a good source for free peer support. For help with MFC, you're best served to go to forums specifically for MFC.

[BBobson]

I inherited from CAcUiDockControlBar.  And it did dock properly.  It just didn't display properly when floating.  Its a moot point anyways.  I went with C# as its very clear AutoDesk has no intention of supporting MFC.  What took me 2 days (and I am quite an experienced Win32/C++ programmer) to get up and running took less than 10 min in C#, and I'm quite new to C#.  Funny how much quicker things go when the documentation exists, isn't incorrect/old, and the samples aren't broken.

Heheh...  Hire an expert.  I guarantee I know more about C++ than any of your so called experts; and intentionally shipping an SDK without proper documentation so that you can sell subscriptions is just underhanded.

[owenwengerd]

I'm glad to hear you found a solution. It sounds like you're a very experienced programmer, but your condescending attitude is not very professional. Instead of wasting your (and our) time here, please use the 'Comments?' link in the documentation itself to vent your frustrations to Autodesk, where they actually have the power to do something about it.

[dgorsman]

In addition, Owen is NOT AutoDesk personnel.  He's here toiling away (well, my impression anyways - I'd buy you a beer if I was down at AU) providing *free* support to those who need it.

As for the lack of public posting, feedback, etc. thats fairly easy to explain.  Most hack'n'slash programmers are either still in LISP or using C#/VB.NET.  Those who are using C++ are doing so in a professional capacity and are limited in what they can publicly post, due to an NDA/ownership rights or otherwise unwilling to publicly divulge their "ways and means".  Instead they are using ADN membership to gain direct access to programming support along with hiring folks like Owen as consultants to deal with the tricky bits.  By no means deprecated, just much more in the private domain rather than the public one.