first step to windows visual program from command prompt

[johansweden]

Hi!
I want to take my first steps in making a lightweight graphical interface from commandline, from "type 1 for ... type 2 for... type 3 to quit" to buttons, in an appropriate window, for the choises.

My simple quest is:

Where do I begin?
What library do I need to use?
I prefer a already built-in library to begin with, if possible.
I use Visual Studio 2008 now(will soon migrate to 2010).
Can You mention a good, very basic tutorial for my first steps with that library?

Hope someone can help me!
/Johan

[soranz]

Do u have a visual example of what u'r looking for ? I'm asking because cmd graphics r usually more tedious than worth the effort which could be much better spent learning how to use libraries like opengl or allegro or directx...

To answer ur question these r such libraries:
WinBGIm (new) or graphics.h (old)
http://codecutter.org/tools/winbgim/

[johansweden]

edit
the http://codecutter.org/tools/winbgim/ led me to a new term what I shall search for, I think: win32 programming in C++. Do I seem to be on the right track?
Thanx a lot soranz!
/edit

Hi!
yes, it's not the fancy looking graphic itself i am looking for, but the ability to create buttons for various actions, like for example menus, instead of the command-line way. I guess a library is needed.

for the moment I have built a rental system(what trailers are rented out now? when will they return? what trailers are available? what trailers are booked by who and when)for my fathers trailer-rental company, I did it first in Html/Php/Jscript. Now i have made it in C, the command line way, just to practice. Of course it cant be used that way(for: bookings, enter 1. returns, enter 2. to quit, enter 3...)

I need it with buttos to navigate around with, some buttons will be generated dynamically. No animated graphics is needed.

I have tried to find the answer on Google, but with no clear answer.
I am in need of an relatively easy library, as newbeginner, with good tutorials, well documented.

Hope You can give me an advice of an library that shold suit me.

I will take a look at that winbgim, i guess older are more documented than new!!
Thanks!

[soranz]

Ok, now it's clearer what u'r after. Forget about WinBGIm.

With a limited amount of menus it can certainly be done via cmd. It'll just be text menus and if you only need selections like 1, 2, 3 it might be the best solution. That's what they call a terminal and many businesses use them to keep track of inventory.

Of course, if u need it to look better u'll have to learn some windows programming (since it sounds like u'r using windows). There is a learning curve to grasp all of the things it takes to get a program to load up and show 'hello' on the screen but it is worth the effort. A GUI (graphical user interface) is muuuuuch easier to do this way.

2 options to get started: either code just about everything urself or if u have visual studio, use MFC (microsoft foundation class). MFC simplifies many of the basic tasks by using a wizard and a graphical interface that allows you to add buttons and place them where you want with just a couple mouse clicks. Note that MFC is just a wrapper for win32 programming (ie: it adds an extra layer over many basic tasks which saves u time coding).

If u'r only going to have essentially 1 thing popup then a 'dialog' is what u'r after. If u'r looking for more then learn about 'forms'. There are already lots of classes out there so take advantage of them.

Given that it sounds like u'r background is in c, the most important thing to get a strong foundation on is classes. I'd do this first...

As far as tutorials go...just look for 'hello world' win32 or mfc c++ in google