VC6 with XP look

• Download source files - 8 Kb

Introduction

By default Microsoft Visual C++ V6 when running under Windows XP manages a half-hearted XP look. In theory it shouldn't really have any XP look, but somehow bits seem to acquire it by magic.

So, I decided if I could make all (or most) of VC appear in the new look. And overall, I have. Note the correct scrollbars, search combobox, and dialog box controls

As many of you will know, the way to make a program XP aware is to include a manifest resource in each .EXE or .DLL, but another way to achieve this is merely to add a manifest file to the same directory as the program (or DLL) named exactly the same as the file, but with .manifest appended to it.

e.g.
	Program Filename		Manifest Filename
	----------------		----------------------
	myprogram.exe		myprogram.exe.manifest
	mysupport.dll		mysupport.dll.manifest

The manifest file I have used is fairly standard:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?> 
<assembly 
   xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" 
   manifestVersion="1.0">
	<assemblyIdentity 
    processorArchitecture="x86" 
    version="5.1.0.0"
    type="win32"
    name="test.exe"/>
    <description>Test Application</description>
    <dependency>
    <dependentAssembly>
    <assemblyIdentity
         type="win32"
         name="Microsoft.Windows.Common-Controls"
         version="6.0.0.0"
         publicKeyToken="6595b64144ccf1df"
         language="*"
         processorArchitecture="x86"/>
    </dependentAssembly>
    </dependency>
</assembly>

The only thing left to do is explain how to make it work!

Download the VC-XP_src.zip file (at the top of the page) and extract it to:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\Common\MSDev98\Bin

of course you may need to change this if you didn't install VC to the default directory/drive. Then, the next time you run VC (MSDEV.EXE), you will get the new look.

Of course, this doesn't actually give any extra features or benefits, it just looks nicer.