3.3 Add Symbols to Your Application

Now we need to add the symbols created in the previous section to our application so your user can insert a symbol onto your application's canvas. In this section, you learn how to:

• Add symbols as resources.

• Add custom and Objective Views symbols to a toolbar.

1. In Visual Studio, open the Resource View for your project. Expand project node, right click on *.rc node and select Add Resource, as shown in Figure 21.

   Figure 21: Importing a symbol into an application

   

2. In the Add Resource dialog box, click on Import, then select the circle symbol file you created. Because Visual Studio cannot automatically recognize the symbol resource type, it prompts you to specify the resource type.

   Figure 22: Specifying a resource type

   

3. Type SYMBOL in the Resource type: box and then click OK. Visual Studio adds a symbol folder to your project's resources.

4. Now, let's assign an ID to the newly imported symbol. Select the circle from the SYMBOL folder in the resource tree and choose Properties from the View menu. Assign an ID of IDR_CIRCLE to the circle.

   Figure 23: Assigning an ID to a symbol

   

5. Insert the stingray symbol the same way you inserted the circle and assign it an ID of IDR_STINGRAY.

   Now that the symbols have been added to the application as resources, we need to provide a way to insert the symbols onto the canvas through the application's user interface, such as a toolbar with buttons for each symbol.

6. Create a new toolbar resource. (If you have never created a toolbar with Visual Studio, we recommend you review this feature before continuing.) To make a new toolbar, click the right mouse button on the toolbar folder in the resource tree and select Insert Toolbar.

   Figure 24: Creating a new toolbar resource

   

7. Next, let's name the toolbar. Highlight the toolbar in the Resource View tab. Then, on the View menu, click Properties. Name the toolbar IDR_SYMBOLBAR.

   Figure 25: Naming the toolbar

   

8. Now we'll add four buttons to the Symbol toolbar. You can copy these buttons from resource files shipped with Objective Views. The first two buttons are in the Objective Views resource file, which is called OdRes.rc. It is stored in the Objective Views Include directory. Open the OdRes.rc file in Visual Studio and click the Resource View tab.

   Our toolbar should look like Figure 26.

   Figure 26: Sample symbol toolbar

   

9. Find the IDR_OD_LINK toolbar in OdRes.rc, as in Figure 27.

   Figure 27: The IDR_OD_LINK in OdRes.rc

   

10. Open IDR_OD_LINK and copy the Link toolbar button . Paste the button directly onto the Symbol toolbar, as shown in Figure 28.

    Figure 28: Pasting a button onto the symbol toolbar

    

11. In OdRes.rc, find the IDR_OD_DRAWING toolbar.

    Open it and copy the Select button . Then, paste it onto the Symbol toolbar.

12. The last two toolbar buttons you need to add to the Symbol toolbar enable the user to insert the symbols you created earlier. You can copy the buttons for the circle and stingray symbols from the resource file for the Showcase sample. The name of the resource file is Showcase.rc. It is stored in the <stingray-installdir>\Samples\Views\Showcase directory.

13. Open Showcase.rc and open the IDR_SYMBOLS toolbar.

    Copy the Stingray button and paste it onto the Symbol toolbar. With the button selected, select Properties from the View menu and name the button ID_STINGRAY.

14. Copy the Circle button from the IDR_SYMBOLS toolbar. Then, paste it onto the Symbol toolbar. With the button selected, select Properties from the View menu and name the button ID_CIRCLE.

15. Rearrange the buttons on the Symbol toolbar so it resembles Figure 29.

    Figure 29: Symbol toolbar

    

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