C++ Language (How Do I in Visual C++ Express)
This page links to help on tasks related to the Visual C++ language using Visual C++. To view other categories of popular tasks covered in Help, see How Do I in Visual C++ Express.
- Managed Extensions for C++ Syntax Upgrade Checklist
Lists the syntactic differences between Managed Extensions for C++ and the new C++ syntax.
- How to: Create Single-Dimension Arrays
Shows how to create single-dimension arrays of reference, value, and native pointer types.
- How to: Create Multidimension Arrays
Shows how to create multi-dimension arrays of reference, value, and native pointer types.
- How to: Iterate Over Arrays with for each
Shows how to use the for each, in keyword on different types of arrays.
- How to: Create Arrays of Managed Arrays (Jagged Arrays)
Shows how to create single-dimension arrays of managed array of reference, value, and native pointer types.
- How to: Sort Arrays
Demonstrates how to use the Sort method to sort the elements of an array.
- How to: Sort Arrays Using Custom Criteria
Demonstrates how to sort arrays by implementing the IComparable interface.
- How to: Make Typedefs for Managed Arrays
Shows how to make a typedef for a managed array.
- How to: Accept Variable Arguments
Shows how functions with a variable number of arguments can be implemented in Visual C++ using the ... syntax.
- How to: Use Managed Arrays as Template Type Parameters
Shows how to use a managed array as a parameter to a template.
- How to: Declare and Use Interior Pointers and Managed Arrays
Shows how you can declare and use an interior pointer to an array.
- How to: Use gcnew to Create Value Types and Use Implicit Boxing
Shows how to use gcnew on a value type to create a boxed value type, which can then be placed on the managed, garbage-collected heap.
- How to: Unbox
Shows how to unbox and modify a value.
- How to: Explicitly Request Boxing
Shows how to explicitly request boxing by assigning a variable to a variable of type Object.
- How to: Downcast with safe_cast
Shows how to downcast from a base class to a class derived from the base class using safe_cast.
- How to: Use safe_cast and Boxing
Shows how to use safe_cast to box a value on the CLR heap.
- How to: Use safe_cast and Generic Types
Shows how to use safe_cast to perform a downcast with a generic type.
- How to: Use safe_cast and Unboxing
Shows how to use safe_cast to unbox a value on the CLR heap.
- How to: Use safe_cast and User-Defined Conversions
Shows how to invoke user-defined conversions by using safe_cast.
- How to: Upcast with safe_cast
Shows how to do an upcast—a cast from a derived type to one of its base classes—using safe_cast.
- How to: Instantiate Classes and Structs
Demonstrates that reference types and value types can only be instantiated on the managed heap, not on the stack or on the native heap.
- How to: Convert with Constructors
Introduces converting constructors, constructors that take a type and use it to create an object.
- How to: Define an Interface Static Constructor
Introduces static constructors, constructors which can be used to initialize static data members.
- How to: Define Static Constructors in a Class or Struct
Demonstrates how to create a static constructor.
- How to: Write Template Functions that Take Native, Value, or Reference Parameters
Demonstrates that by using a tracking reference in the signature of a template function, you can ensure that the function can be called with parameters whose type are native, CLR value, or CLR reference.
- How to: Specify Underlying Types of Enums
Shows how to specify the underlying type of an enum.
- How to: Convert Between Managed and Standard Enumerations
Demonstrates how to convert between an enum and an integral type by using a cast.
- How to: Compose Delegates
Demonstrates how to compose delegates.
- How to: Define and Use Delegates
Demonstrates how to define and use a delegate.
- How to: Define and Use Static Events
Shows how to define and use static events.
- How to: Define Event Accessor Methods
Shows how you can define an event's behavior when handlers are added or removed, and for when an event is raised.
- How to: Implement Abstract Events
Shows how to implement an abstract event.
- How to: Implement Managed Virtual Events
Shows how to implement virtual, managed events in an interface and class.
- How to: Access Events in Interfaces
Shows how to access an event in an interface.
- How to: Add Multiple Handlers to Events
Demonstrates that an event receiver, or any other client code, can add one or more handlers to an event.
- How to: Associate Delegates to Members of a Value Class
Shows how to associate a delegate with a member of a value class.
- How to: Associate Delegates to Unmanaged Functions
Shows how to associate a delegate with a native function by wrapping the native function in a managed type, and declaring the function to be invoked through P/Invoke.
- How to: Override Default Access of add, remove, and raise Methods
Shows how to override the default access on the add, remove, and raise events methods.
- How to: Raise Events Defined in a Different Assembly
Shows how to consume an event and event handler defined in one assembly by another assembly.
- Basic Concepts in Using Managed Exceptions
Discusses the basic concepts for exception handling in managed applications.
- Differences in Exception Handling Behavior Under /CLR
Discusses differences from the standard behavior of exception handling and some restrictions in detail.
- How to: Define and Install a Global Exception Handler
Demonstrates how unhandled exceptions can be captured.
- How to: Catch Exceptions in Native Code Thrown from MSIL
Shows how to catch CLR exceptions in native code with __try and __except.
- finally
Discusses the CLR exception handling finally clause.
- Basic Concepts in Using Managed Exceptions
Discusses the basic concepts for exception handling in managed applications.
- How to: Iterate Over Arrays with for each
Shows how to use the for each, in keyword on different types of arrays.
- How to: Iterate Over a Generic Collection with for each
Demonstrates how to create generic collections and iterate over them using for each, in.
- How to: Iterate Over a User-Defined Collection with for each
Demonstrates how to iterate over a user-defined collection using for each, in.
- How to: Iterate Over STL Collection with for each
Demonstrates how to iterate over STL collections using for each, in.
- Overview of Generics in Visual C++
Provides an overview of generics, parameterized types supported by the Common Language Runtime.
- Generic Functions
Discusses generic functions, a function that is declared with type parameters.
- Generic Classes (Visual C++)
Describes how to create a generic class.
- Generic Interfaces (Visual C++)
Describes how to create a generic interface.
- Generic Delegates (Visual C++)
Describes how to create a generic delegate.
- Constraints
Describes that constraints are a requirement that types used as type arguments must satisfy.
- Consuming Generics from Other .NET Languages
Discusses how generics authored in one .NET language may be used in other .NET languages.
- Generics and Templates
Provides an overview of the many differences between generics and templates.
- How to: Convert Generic Classes
Shows how to convert a generic class to T.
- How to: Declare Interior Pointers with the const Keyword
Shows how to use const in the declaration of an interior pointer.
- How to: Overload Functions with Interior Pointers and Native Pointers
Demonstrates that functions can be overloaded depending on whether the parameter type is an interior pointer or a native pointer.
- How to: Cannot Use Tracking References and Unary "Take-Address" Operator
Shows that a tracking reference cannot be used as a unary take-address operator.
- How to: Declare Pinning Pointers and Value Types
Shows that you can declare a pinning pointer to a value type object and use a pin_ptr to the boxed value type.
- How to: Declare Value Types with the interior_ptr Keyword
Demonstrates that an interior_ptr can be used with a value type.
- How to: Define the Scope of Pinning Pointers
Demonstrates that an object is pinned only while a pin_ptr points to it.
- How to: Pin Pointers and Arrays
Shows how to pin an array by declaring a pinning pointer to its element type, and pinning one of its elements.
- How to: Use Simple Properties
Demonstrates that for simple properties—those that merely assign and retrieve a private data member—it is not necessary to explicitly define the get and set accessor functions.
- How to: Use Indexed Properties
Shows how to use default and user defined indexed properties.
- How to: Use Multidimensional Properties
Shows how to create multidimension properties that take a non-standard number of parameters.
- How to: Declare and Use Static Properties
Shows how to declare and use a static property.
- How to: Declare and Use Virtual Properties
Shows how to declare and use virtual properties.
- How to: Declare Abstract and Sealed Properties
Shows how to declare a sealed or abstract property by defining a non-trivial property and specifying the abstract or sealed keywords on the get and set accessor functions.
- How to: Overload Property Accessor Methods
Demonstrates how to overload indexed properties.
- How to: Use Tracking References and Value Types
Shows simple boxing through a tracking reference to a value type.
- How to: Using Tracking References and Interior Pointers
Shows that taking the address of a tracking reference returns an interior_ptr and how to modify and access data through a tracking reference.
- How to: Pass CLR Types by Reference with Tracking References
Shows how to pass CLR types by reference with tracking references.
- How to: Read a Binary File
Demonstrates reading binary data from a file.
- How to: Write a Binary File
Demonstrates writing binary data to a file.
- How to: Read a Text File
Demonstrates how to open and read a text file one line at a time.
- How to: Write a Text File
Demonstrates how to create a text file and write text to it using the StreamWriter class.
- How to: Enumerate Files in a Directory
Demonstrates how to retrieve a list of the files in a directory.
- How to: Monitor File System Changes
Uses FileSystemWatcher to register for events corresponding to files being created, changed, deleted, or renamed.
- How to: Retrieve File Information
Demonstrates the FileInfo class. When you have the name of a file, you can use this class to retrieve information about the file such as the file size, directory, full name, and date and time of creation and of the last modification.
- How to: Write Data to the Windows Registry
Uses the CurrentUser key to create a writable instance of the RegistryKey class.
- How to: Read Data from the Windows Registry
Uses the CurrentUser key to read data from the Windows registry.
- How to: Retrieve Text from the Clipboard
Uses the GetDataObject member function to return a pointer to the IDataObject interface, which can then be queried for the format of the data and used to retrieve the actual data.
- How to: Store Text in the Clipboard
Uses the Clipboard object defined in the System.Windows.Forms namespace to store a string.
- How to: Retrieve the Windows Version
Demonstrates how to retrieve the platform and version information of the current operating system.