Fortran QuickWin graphics applications (.EXE) are more versatile than standard graphics (QuickWin single document) applications because you can open multiple windows (usually called multiple-document interface or MDI) while your project is executing. For example, you might want to generate several graphic plots and be able to switch between them while also having a window for controlling the execution of your program. These windows can be full screen or reduced in size and placed in various parts of the screen.
QuickWin library routines lets you build applications with a simplified version of the Windows interface with Visual Fortran. The QuickWin library provides a rich set of Windows features, but it does not include the complete Windows Applications Programming Interface (API). If you need additional capabilities, you must set up a Windows application to call the Win32 API directly rather than using QuickWin to build your program. For more information on QuickWin programming, see Using QuickWin.
Fortran QuickWin graphics applications (.EXE) have a multiple-document interface. Applications that use a multiple-document interface (MDI) have a menu bar at the top of the window and a status bar at the bottom. The QuickWin library provides a default set of menus and menu items that you can customize with the QuickWin APIs. An application that uses MDI creates many "child" windows within an outer application window. The user area in an MDI application is a child window that appears in the space between the menu bar and status bar of the application window. Your application can have more than one child window open at a time.
Fortran QuickWin applications can also use the DFLOGM.F90 module to access functions to control dialog boxes. These functions allow you to display, initialize, and communicate with special dialog boxes in your application. They are a subset of Win32 API functions, which Windows applications can call directly. For more information on using dialog boxes, see Using Dialogs.
When you select the Fortran QuickWin project type, the visual development environment includes the QuickWin library automatically, which lets you use the graphics functions. QuickWin applications should be written as multithreaded applications. (For information about multithreaded programs, see Creating Multithread Applications.)
When building from the command line, you must specify the /libs:qwin compiler option to indicate a QuickWin application (or /libs:qwins option to indicate a Fortran Standard Graphics application). A Fortran QuickWin application that uses the compiler option is similar to a Fortran Standard Graphics application in that it has no menu bar or status bar. (A Fortran Standard Graphics application is a QuickWin application with a set of preset options that is offered in the program types list for your convenience.)
As with a Fortran Standard Graphics application, the application covers the entire screen if the resolution selected matches the screen size; otherwise, it is a resizable window with scroll bars.
You cannot make a Fortran QuickWin application a DLL.
For information on how to use QuickWin functions, including how to open and control multiple windows, see Using Quickwin.