Microsoft Foundation Class Library

Last updated

Microsoft Foundation Class Library
Developer(s) Microsoft
Initial release1992;33 years ago (1992)
Stable release
14.22.27821.0 / July 24, 2019 [1]
Written in C++
Operating system Microsoft Windows
License Proprietary
Website docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/mfc/mfc-desktop-applications

Microsoft Foundation Class Library (MFC) is a C++ object-oriented library for developing desktop applications for Windows.

Contents

MFC was introduced by Microsoft in 1992 and quickly gained widespread use. While Microsoft has introduced alternative application frameworks since then, MFC remains widely used.

History

MFC was introduced in 1992 with Microsoft's C/C++ 7.0 compiler for use with 16-bit versions of Windows as an extremely thin object-oriented C++ wrapper for the Windows API. C++ was just beginning to replace C for development of commercial application software at the time. In an MFC program, direct Windows API calls are rarely needed. Instead, programs create objects from Microsoft Foundation Class classes and call member functions belonging to those objects. Many of those functions share their names with corresponding API functions. [2]

One quirk of MFC is the use of "Afx" as the prefix for many functions, macros and the standard precompiled header name "stdafx.h". During early development, what became MFC was called "Application Framework Extensions" and abbreviated "Afx". The name Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC) was adopted too late in the release cycle to change these references.

MFC 8.0 was released with Visual Studio 2005. MFC 9.0 was released with Visual Studio 2008. On April 7, 2008, Microsoft released an update to the MFC classes as an out-of-band update to Visual Studio 2008 and MFC 9. [3] [4] [5] The update features new user interface constructs, including the ribbons and associated UI widgets, fully customizable toolbars, docking panes which can either be freely floated or docked to any side and document tabs. [6]

MFC was initially a feature of the commercial versions of Visual Studio. As such, it is not included in the freeware Visual C++ Express. [7] The Community edition of Visual Studio, introduced in 2014, however, includes MFC.

Object Windows Library (OWL), designed for use with Borland's Turbo C++ compiler, was a competing product introduced by Borland around the same time. Eventually, Borland discontinued OWL development and licensed the distribution of the MFC headers, libraries and DLLs from Microsoft [8] for a short time, though it never offered fully integrated support for MFC. Borland later released Visual Component Library to replace the OWL framework.

Features

MFC is a library that wraps portions of the Windows API in C++ classes, including functionality that enables them to use a default application framework. Classes are defined for many of the handle-managed Windows objects and also for predefined windows and common controls.

At the time of its introduction, MFC provided C++ macros for Windows message-handling (via Message Maps [9] ), exceptions, run-time type identification (RTTI), serialization and dynamic class instantiation. The macros for message-handling aimed to reduce memory consumption by avoiding gratuitous virtual table use and also to provide a more concrete structure for various Visual C++-supplied tools to edit and manipulate code without parsing the full language. The message-handling macros replaced the virtual function mechanism provided by C++.

The macros for serialization, exceptions, and RTTI predated availability of these features in Microsoft C++ by a number of years. 32-bit versions of MFC, for Windows NT 3.1 and later Windows operating systems, used compilers that implemented the language features and updated the macros to simply wrap the language features instead of providing customized implementations, realizing upward compatibility.

The MFC ribbon resource editor allows the developer to design the ribbon graphically instead of having to use the XML-based declarative markup like the RibbonX API. Optionally, ribbon components may be programmed directly by calling a new set of ribbon class methods. The developer may mix graphical and programmatic ribbon development as is convenient. The MFC application wizard has also been upgraded to support the new features, including a check-box to select whether the application will use the ribbon or the docking panes. The new functionality is provided in new classes so that old applications still continue to run. [6] This update builds on top of BCGSoft’s BCGControlBar Library Professional Edition. [10] Microsoft has imposed additional licensing requirements on users of the ribbons. [11] These include a requirement to adhere to Microsoft UI Design Guidelines, and an anti-competition clause prohibiting the use of the UI in applications which compete with Microsoft Office.

MFC can be used by linking a static library or by adding the MFC DLL.

Versions

ProductLibraryVersionRelease dateRemarks
NameVersion
Microsoft C/C++ 7.0mafxcw.libMFC 1.0February 26, 1992 [12] [13]
Microsoft Visual C++ 1.0Visual C++ 1.0mfc200.dllMFC 2.01993
Visual C++ 1.5mfc250.dllMFC 2.51993
Visual C++ 1.51mfc250.dllMFC 2.511994
Visual C++ 1.52mfc250.dllMFC 2.521995
Visual C++ 1.52bmfc250.dllMFC 2.531995
Visual C++ 1.52cmfc250.dllMFC 2.531995Last development platform for Windows 3.x
Microsoft Visual C++ 2.0Visual C++ 2.0mfc30.dllMFC 3.01994
Visual C++ 2.1mfc30.dllMFC 3.11995
Visual C++ 2.2mfc30.dllMFC 3.21995
Microsoft Visual C++ 4.0Visual C++ 4.0mfc40.dllMFC 4.01995
Visual C++ 4.1mfc40.dllMFC 4.11996mfc40.dll included with Windows 95 OSR2
Visual C++ 4.2mfc42.dllMFC 4.21996
Microsoft Visual C++ 5.0Visual C++ 5.0mfc42.dll4.21.0.7022March 19, 1997
Visual C++ 5.0 SP14.21.0.7160July 3, 1997
Visual C++ 5.0 SP24.21.0.7160August 26, 1997
Visual C++ 5.0 SP34.21.0.7303December 4, 1997mfc42.dll included with Windows 98
Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0Visual C++ 6.0mfc42.dll6.0.8168.0September 2, 1998
Visual C++ 6.0 SP16.0.8267.0October 30, 1998
Visual C++ 6.0 SP26.0.8267.0January 21, 1999
Visual C++ 6.0 SP36.0.8447.0May 21, 1999
Visual C++ 6.0 SP46.0.8665.0June 27, 2000
Visual C++ 6.0 SP56.0.8665.0February 26, 2001
Visual C++ 6.0 SP66.0.9782.0March 29, 2004
Microsoft Visual C++ .NET 2002Visual C++ .NET 2002 (Visual C++ 7.0)mfc70.dll7.0.9466.0February 13, 2002
Visual C++ .NET 2002 + MS07-012 (KB924641)7.0.9801.0February 27, 2008
Visual C++ .NET 2002 SP17.0.9955.0March 8, 2005
Visual C++ .NET 2002 SP1 + MS07-012 (KB924642)7.0.9975.0February 27, 2008
Microsoft Visual C++ .NET 2003Visual C++ .NET 2003 (Visual C++ 7.1)mfc71.dll7.10.3077.0April 24, 2003
Visual C++ .NET 2003 + MS07-012 (KB924643)7.10.5057.0February 27, 2008
Visual C++ .NET 2003 SP17.10.6030.0August 15, 2006
Visual C++ .NET 2003 SP1 + MS07-012 (KB927696)7.10.6041.0February 27, 2008
Visual C++ .NET 2003 SP1 + MS09-035 (KB971089) [14] 7.10.6101.0July 28, 2009
Visual C++ .NET 2003 SP1 + MS11-025 (KB2465373) [15] [16] 7.10.6119.0April 12, 2011
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005Visual C++ 2005 (Visual C++ 8.0)mfc80.dll8.0.50727.42 (included in redist 8.0.50727.42/8.0.50727.42)April 10, 2006
Visual C++ 2005 SP18.0.50727.762 (included in redist 8.0.56336/8.0.56336)August 27, 2007
Visual C++ 2005 SP1 + MS09-035 (KB973544) [14] [17] 8.0.50727.4053 (included in redist 8.0.59192/8.0.59193)July 28, 2009
Visual C++ 2005 SP1 + MS11-025 (KB2467175) [15] [18] 8.0.50727.5592April 12, 2011
Visual C++ 2005 SP1 + MS11-025 (KB2538242) [15] [19] 8.0.50727.6195 (included in redist 8.0.61000/8.0.61001 [20] )June 14, 2011
Visual C++ 2005 SP1 + MS11-025 (KB2643995) [21] [22] 8.0.50727.62292021-01-25?
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008Visual C++ 2008 (Visual C++ 9.0)mfc90.dll9.0.21022.8November 19, 2007
Visual C++ 2008 + MS09-035 (KB973551) [14] [23] 9.0.21022.218July 28, 2009
Visual C++ 2008 Feature Pack9.0.30411.0April 7, 2008Refresh: April 22, 2008
Visual C++ 2008 SP19.0.30729.1August 11, 2008
Visual C++ 2008 SP1 + MS09-035 (KB973552) [14] [24] 9.0.30729.4148July 28, 2009
Visual C++ 2008 SP1 + MS11-025 (KB2467174) [15] [25] 9.0.30729.5570April 12, 2011
Visual C++ 2008 SP1 + MS11-025 (KB2538243) [15] [26] 9.0.30729.6161 (installer has version 9.0.30729.5677)June 14, 2011
Microsoft Visual C++ 2010Visual C++ 2010 (Visual C++ 10.0)mfc100.dll10.0.30319.1April 12, 2010 [27]
Visual C++ 2010 + MS11-025 (KB2467173) [15] [28] 10.0.30319.415April 12, 2011
Visual C++ 2010 SP110.0.40219.1March 10, 2011
Visual C++ 2010 SP1 + MS11-025 (KB2565063) [15] [29] 10.0.40219.325August 9, 2011
Microsoft Visual C++ 2012Visual C++ 2012 (Visual C++ 11.0)mfc110.dll11.0.50727.1September 12, 2012
Visual C++ 2012 Update 111.0.51106.1November 26, 2012
Visual C++ 2012 Update 311.0.60610.1June 26, 2013
Visual C++ 2012 Update 411.0.61030.0November 13, 2013
Microsoft Visual C++ 2013Visual C++ 2013 (Visual C++ 12.0)mfc120.dll12.0.21005.1October 17, 2013
Visual C++ 2013 Update 212.0.30501.0May 12, 2014
Visual C++ 2013 Update 5 + KB3138367 [30] 12.0.40649.5February 2016?
Visual C++ 2013 Update 5 + KB3179560 [31] 12.0.40660.0July 2016?
Visual C++ 2013 Update 5 + KB4032938 [32] 12.0.40664.0July 18, 2017
Microsoft Visual C++ 2015Visual C++ 2015 (Visual C++ 14.0)mfc140.dll14.0.23026.0July 20, 2015
Visual C++ 2015 Update 114.0.23506.0November 30, 2015
Visual C++ 2015 Update 214.0.23918.0March 30, 2016
Visual C++ 2015 Update 314.0.24210.0June 27, 2016
Visual C++ 2015 Update 314.0.24212.0August 18, 2016
Visual C++ 2015 Update 3 + KB3165756 [33] 14.0.24215.1September 14, 2016
Visual C++ 2015 Update 314.0.24245.0November 13, 2018
Visual C++ 2015 Update 314.0.24247.2June 13, 2023
Microsoft Visual C++ 2017Visual C++ 15.0mfc140.dll14.10.25008.0March 7, 2017
Visual C++ 15.1?14.10.25017.0April 5, 2017?
Visual C++ 15.214.11.25325.0May 10, 2017
Visual C++ 15.414.12.25810.0October 9, 2017
Visual C++ 15.614.13.26020.0March 5, 2018
Visual C++ 15.714.14.26405.0May 7, 2018
Visual C++ 15.7.3?14.14.26429.4May 31, 2018
Visual C++ 15.814.15.26706.0August 14, 2018
Visual C++ 15.914.16.27012.6November 13, 2018
Visual C++ 15.9.514.16.27024.1January 8, 2019
Visual C++ 15.9.614.16.27026.1January 24, 2019
Visual C++ 15.9.914.16.27027.1March 12, 2019
Visual C++ 15.9.1514.16.27033.0August 13, 2019
Visual C++ 15.9.6714.16.27052.0October 8, 2024
Microsoft Visual C++ 2019Visual C++ 16.0.0mfc140.dll14.20.27508.1April 2, 2019
Visual C++ 16.0.1014.20.27519.0December 10, 2019
Visual C++ 16.1.014.21.27702.2May 21, 2019
Visual C++ 16.2.014.22.27821.0July 24, 2019
Visual C++ 16.3.014.23.27820.0September 23, 2019
Visual C++ 16.4.014.24.28127.4December 3, 2019
Visual C++ 16.5.014.25.28508.3March 16, 2020
Visual C++ 16.6.014.26.28720.3May 19, 2020
Visual C++ 16.6.314.26.28808.1June 30, 2020
Visual C++ 16.7.014.27.29016.0August 5, 2020
Visual C++ 16.7.514.27.29112.0September 29, 2020
Visual C++ 16.7.814.27.29114.0 [note 1] November 10, 2020
Visual C++ 16.8.014.28.29325.2November 10, 2020
Visual C++ 16.8.214.28.29334.0November 19, 2020
Visual C++ 16.9.014.28.29910.0March 2, 2021
Visual C++ 16.9.214.28.29913.0March 16, 2021
Visual C++ 16.9.414.28.29914.0April 13, 2021
Visual C++ 16.9.914.28.29918.0July 13, 2021
Visual C++ 16.10.014.29.30037.0May 25, 2021
Visual C++ 16.10.214.29.30038.0June 15, 2021
Visual C++ 16.10.414.29.30040.0July 20, 2021
Visual C++ 16.11.014.29.30133.0August 10, 2021
Visual C++ 16.11.414.29.30135.0October 5, 2021
Visual C++ 16.11.914.29.30139.0January 11, 2022
Visual C++ 16.11.3214.29.30153.0November 14, 2023
Visual C++ 16.11.4114.29.30156.0October 8, 2024
Visual C++ 16.11.4214.29.30157.0November 12, 2024
Microsoft Visual C++ 2022Visual C++ 17.0.0RCmfc140.dll14.30.30704.0October 13, 2021
Visual C++ 17.0.514.31.30708.0January 14, 2022
Visual C++ 17.1.014.31.30818.0October 27, 2021
Visual C++ 17.1.014.31.30919.0December 23, 2021
Visual C++ 17.1.014.31.31005.0January 26, 2022
Visual C++ 17.1.014.31.31103.0January 26, 2022
Visual C++ 17.2.014.32.31302.0March 17, 2022
Visual C++ 17.2.014.32.31326.0April 9, 2022
Visual C++ 17.2.514.32.31332.0July 1, 2022
Visual C++ 17.4.014.34.31931.0November 9, 2022
Visual C++ 17.4.514.34.31938.0February 14, 2023
Visual C++ 17.6.014.36.32532.0May 16, 2023
Visual C++ 17.7.114.38.32919.0August 11, 2023
Visual C++ 17.8.014.38.33130.0November 15, 2023
Visual C++ 17.8.614.38.33135.0February 6, 2024
Visual C++ 17.9.414.40.33617.1March 19, 2024
Visual C++ 17.9.414.40.33810.0May 1, 2024
Visual C++ 17.9.514.40.33816.0October 8, 2024

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Last version of library officially supporting Windows XP. [34]

References

  1. ↑ "Visual Studio 2019 Release Notes". Msdn.microsoft.com. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  2. ↑ Visual C++ Express Overview
  3. ↑ "Visual C++ 2008 Feature Pack shipped". Somasegar's blog. Microsoft. April 7, 2008.
  4. ↑ "Visual C++ 2008 Feature Pack Released!". C++ Team Blog. Microsoft. April 7, 2008.
  5. ↑ "Visual C++ 2008 Feature Pack Refresh". C++ Team Blog. Microsoft. April 22, 2008.
  6. 1 2 "Quick Tour of New MFC functionality". Blogs.msdn.com. November 9, 2007. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Visual Studio Express Edition FAQ". Microsoft.com. Archived from the original on June 11, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Microsoft Buys Into Inprise, Settles Disputes". Techweb.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2007. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  9. ↑ Williams, Mickey; David Bennett. "Creating Your Own Message Maps". Inform IT.
  10. ↑ "MFC Update Powered By BCGSoft". Msdn2.microsoft.com. November 9, 2007. Retrieved November 16, 2007.
  11. ↑ "Visual C++ 2008 Feature Pack Release Download Page". Microsoft.com. Retrieved May 16, 2008.
  12. ↑ "The Microsoft C++ Compiler Turns 20!". C++ Team Blog. Microsoft. February 3, 2012.
  13. ↑ "Happy 25th Birthday MFC!". C++ Team Blog. Microsoft. February 27, 2017.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-035 - Moderate: Vulnerabilities in Visual Studio Active Template Library Could Allow Remote Code Execution (969706)". Microsoft Learn. Microsoft. July 28, 2009.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Microsoft Security Bulletin MS11-025 - Important: Vulnerability in Microsoft Foundation Class (MFC) Library Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2500212)". Microsoft Learn. Microsoft. April 12, 2011.
  16. ↑ "MS11-025: Description of the security update for Visual Studio .NET 2003 SP1: April 12, 2011". Microsoft Support. Microsoft. April 12, 2011.
  17. ↑ "Description of the security update for Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Service Pack 1 Redistributable Package: July 28, 2009". Microsoft Support. Microsoft. July 28, 2009.
  18. ↑ "MS11-025: Description of the security update for Visual C++ 2005 SP1 Redistributable Package: April 12, 2011". Microsoft Support. Microsoft. April 12, 2011.
  19. ↑ "MS11-025: Description of the security update for Visual C++ 2005 SP1 Redistributable Package: June 14, 2011". Microsoft Support. Microsoft. June 14, 2011.
  20. ↑ "Where can I download Visual C++ Redistributables?". Jags Blog. Microsoft. September 4, 2017. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  21. ↑ "FIX: "HRESULT: 0x80073715" error when you install an application by using an .msi file if the file is merged with merge modules for the Visual C++ 2005 runtime library". Microsoft.com. January 25, 2021.
  22. ↑ vcredist/source_links/README.md > Source Links Archive
  23. ↑ "Description of the security update for the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package: July 28, 2009". Microsoft Support. Microsoft. July 28, 2009.
  24. ↑ "Description of the security update for Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Service Pack 1 Redistributable Package: July 28, 2009". Microsoft Support. Microsoft. July 28, 2009.
  25. ↑ "MS11-025: Description of the security update for Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package: April 12, 2011". Microsoft Support. Microsoft. April 12, 2011.
  26. ↑ "MS11-025: Description of the security update for Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package: June 14, 2011". Microsoft Support. Microsoft. June 14, 2011.
  27. ↑ "Visual C++ - Exploring New C++ and MFC Features in Visual Studio 2010". Msdn.microsoft.com. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
  28. ↑ "MS11-025: Description of the security update for Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package: April 12, 2011". Microsoft Support. Microsoft. April 12, 2011.
  29. ↑ "MS11-025: Description of the security update for Visual C++ 2010 Service Pack 1: August 9, 2011". Microsoft Support. Microsoft. August 9, 2011.
  30. ↑ "Update for Visual C++ 2013 and Visual C++ Redistributable Package". Microsoft Support. Microsoft. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  31. ↑ "Update for Visual C++ 2013 and Visual C++ Redistributable Package". Microsoft Support. Microsoft. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  32. ↑ "Update for Visual C++ 2013 Redistributable Package". Microsoft Support. Microsoft. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  33. ↑ "Cumulative Servicing Release for Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 Update 3 (KB3165756)". Microsoft Learn. Microsoft. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  34. ↑ C++ binary compatibility between Visual Studio versions

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