06/05/2017 BuildingaWin32App,Part2:WindowsandMessages|Codementor

PublishedJun23,2015LastupdatedApr14,2017

BuildingaWin32App,Part2:WindowsandMessages
Purpose
ThepurposeofthistutorialistotakeadeeperlookattheWinMainfunctioninordertounderstandhowstructuredaWin32applicationis.Bytheendofthistutorial,readers
shouldbeabletounderstandtheconceptsofmessagequeues,windowregistration&creation,aswellasthebaseofmessageloopandhowalltheseoperatetomakean
applicationwork.

Readpartonehere.

IntendedAudience
ThistutorialrequiresbasicknowledgeofVisualStudio,proficiencyinC/C++,asthistutorialdoesnotcovertheC++programminglanguage.

Objectives
Demestifythemainfunction.
Windowregistration&creationanalysis.
Understandingthemessageloop.
Analyzingwindowprocedure.

WindowsGraphicalEnvironment
Inthewindowsgraphicalenvironment,everythingisawindow.Eventhedesktopareaispartofawindow.Thiswindowismorepreciselyknownasthedesktopwindow.
Everytimeyourunanapplicationthatdisplaysoneormorewindows,allofit'swindowsbecomechildrenofthedesktopwindow.

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AnOverviewofWinMain
Declaration

Thisisthemainfunction.Let'sanalyzeit'stypesignature

intAPIENTRY_tWinMain(
_In_HINSTANCEhInstance,
_In_HINSTANCEhPrevInstance,
_In_LPTSTRlpCmdLine,
_In_intnCmdShow
);

Thefirstparameter,hInstance,representstheactualinstanceofanapplication.

Thesecondparameter,hPrevInstance,isahandletoapreviousinstance,(suchinstanceonlyexistsifthereisanalreadyrunningapplicationofthesameapplication).

Thirdparameter,lpCmdLine,representsthecommandlinearguments.

Finally,nCmdShowisavaluethattellshowthewindowshouldbedisplayed.Forexample,ifthedisplayissettobeminimized,thisvaluewillbe2.Ifthewindowneedsto
showasmaximized,thisvaluewillbe3,etc.

HereisaschematicthatdemonstratesthemaindifferencesbetweenhInstanceandhPrevInstance.

Definition

Then,comesthedefinitionofWinMain.
intAPIENTRY_tWinMain(_In_HINSTANCEhInstance,
_In_opt_HINSTANCEhPrevInstance,
_In_LPTSTRlpCmdLine,
_In_intnCmdShow)
{
UNREFERENCED_PARAMETER(hPrevInstance);
UNREFERENCED_PARAMETER(lpCmdLine);

//TODO:Placecodehere.
MSGmsg;
HACCELhAccelTable;

//Initializeglobalstrings
LoadString(hInstance,IDS_APP_TITLE,szTitle,MAX_LOADSTRING);
LoadString(hInstance,IDC_INTRODUCTION,szWindowClass,MAX_LOADSTRING);
MyRegisterClass(hInstance);

//Performapplicationinitialization:
if(!InitInstance(hInstance,nCmdShow))
{
returnFALSE;
}

hAccelTable=LoadAccelerators(hInstance,MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDC_INTRODUCTION));
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//Mainmessageloop:
while(GetMessage(&msg,NULL,0,0))
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if(!TranslateAccelerator(msg.hwnd,hAccelTable,&msg))
{
TranslateMessage(&msg);
DispatchMessage(&msg);
}
}

return(int)msg.wParam;
}

Ibelieveyouarecurrentlyaskingyourself,"ShouldIhavetomemorizeallthis?","Isitthehelloworldprogramatit'ssimplestform?".Simplycalmdown.Thisreallyisnot
theminimalisthelloworldprogram.Bydefault,whenyouchoosetostartfromaWin32applicationtemplate,itwillcreatevariousresourcessuchasdialogs,andstring
tables.

Letusbeginwiththetwofirstlines.
UNREFERENCED_PARAMETER(hPrevInstance);
UNREFERENCED_PARAMETER(lpCmdLine);

UNREFERENCED_PARAMETERisasimplemacrotopreventthecompilerfromgeneratingwarnings,duetounusedvariables.Sinceanapplicationdoesnotneedtospecify
commandlinearguments(lpCmdLine)orwaystoshowthewindow(nCmdShow),thesevariablesmayornotbeused,thus,unreferenced,whichleadstoaminor/harmless
memorywaste.

Thenexttwolines,aresimpledeclarations.Theirusewillbeexplainedlaterthroughoutthistutorial.
MSGmsg;
HACCELhAccelTable;

AlwaysinWinMain,thesenextthreefunctions.

LoadString(hInstance,IDS_APP_TITLE,szTitle,MAX_LOADSTRING);
LoadString(hInstance,IDC_INTRODUCTION,szWindowClass,MAX_LOADSTRING);
MyRegisterClass(hInstance);

LoadStringisafunctionusedtoretrieveastringresourcefromaspecifiedinstance.Astringresourcecanrepresentlanguagetranslation/windowtitle/messageboxlabels,
etc.Onceretrieved,thestringiscopiedtoadestinationbuffer,szTitleandszWindowClassinthiscase.

MyRegisterClassisatemplatedefinedfunctionthatregisterstheclassoftheapplication.Wewillcoverthisfunctionatthenextstep.

AsforInitInstance,thistemplatedefinedfunctionissimplyusedtocreateandinitializethewindow.
if(!InitInstance(hInstance,nCmdShow))
{
returnFALSE;
}

ThefunctionLoadAcceleratorsisusedtoretrieveakeyboardacceleratorfromaresourcefile.Iwillnotdescribeit'susehere,asitwillbecoveredinfuturetutorials.

hAccelTable=LoadAccelerators(hInstance,MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDC_INTRODUCTION));

Finally,themessageloop.
while(GetMessage(&msg,NULL,0,0))
{
if(!TranslateAccelerator(msg.hwnd,hAccelTable,&msg))
{
TranslateMessage(&msg);
DispatchMessage(&msg);
}
}

return(int)msg.wParam;

Themessageloopisresponsiblefordispatchingmessagesfromthemessagequeuetotheappropriatewindow,asWin32APIusesaneventdrivenarchitecture.The
application'sexitcodeisstoredinastructureMSGandreturned.

WindowRegistration
Beforeawindowcanbecreated,itneedstoberegisteredinordertobeidentifiedduringruntimebymessagesandevents.Inordertounderstandtheregistrationprocess,
let'sheadtoMyRegisterClassdefinition.
//
//FUNCTION:MyRegisterClass()
//
//PURPOSE:Registersthewindowclass.
//
ATOMMyRegisterClass(HINSTANCEhInstance)
{
WNDCLASSEXwcex;

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wcex.cbSize=sizeof(WNDCLASSEX);
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wcex.style =CS_HREDRAW|CS_VREDRAW;
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wcex.lpfnWndProc =WndProc;
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wcex.cbClsExtra =0;
wcex.cbWndExtra =0;
wcex.hInstance =hInstance;
wcex.hIcon =LoadIcon(hInstance,MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDI_INTRODUCTION));
wcex.hCursor =LoadCursor(NULL,IDC_ARROW);
wcex.hbrBackground =(HBRUSH)(COLOR_WINDOW+1);
wcex.lpszMenuName =MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDC_INTRODUCTION);
wcex.lpszClassName =szWindowClass;
wcex.hIconSm =LoadIcon(wcex.hInstance,MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDI_SMALL));

returnRegisterClassEx(&wcex);
}

Toregisterawindow,wemustbeginbydefiningthewindowclassattributes.Theseareattributestobesharedbyallwindowsthatwillusethiskindofclass.Itisimportant
tonotethatawindowclassmustbeunique.

TheWNDCLASSEXstructure
typedefstructtagWNDCLASSEXW{
UINTcbSize;
/*Win3.x*/
UINTstyle;
WNDPROClpfnWndProc;
intcbClsExtra;
intcbWndExtra;
HINSTANCEhInstance;
HICONhIcon;
HCURSORhCursor;
HBRUSHhbrBackground;
LPCWSTRlpszMenuName;
LPCWSTRlpszClassName;
/*Win4.0*/
HICONhIconSm;
}WNDCLASSEXW,*PWNDCLASSEXW,NEAR*NPWNDCLASSEXW,FAR*LPWNDCLASSEXW;

Name Description
cbSize ThesizeinbytesofWNDCLASSEX
style Thestyleofthewindow
lpfnWndProc ApointertoaWNDPROCcallbacktouseasamessagelistener
cbClsExtra Asetofadditionalflagvalues
cbWndExtra Asetofadditionalflagvalues
hInstance Ahandletothecurrentapplicationinstance
hIcon Ahandletoanicon
hCursor Ahandletoacursor
hbrBackground Ahandletoabrushcolor
lpszMenuName TheMenuname
lpszClassName Thiswindow'sclassname

*Reminder*

WindowsDatatypes

Name Definition
LPSTR typedefchar*LPSTR
LPCSTR typedefconstchar*LPCSTR
LPWSTR typedefwchar_t*LPWSTR
LPCWSTR typedefconstwchar_t*LPCWSTR
PVOID typedefvoid*PVOID
HANDLE typedefPVOIDHANDLE
HINSTANCE typedefHANDLEHINSTANCE

RegisterClassEx
returnRegisterClassEx(&wcex);

RegisterClassExisafunctionthattakesapointertoaWNDCLASSEXstructureandreturnsauniqueidentifierforthewindow.Ifthefunctionfails,thereturnvalueiszero.

ReasonswhyRegisterClassExwouldnotwork

cbSizeisnotspecifiedorimproperlyinitialized.TherecommendedwayistosetcbSizetosizeof(WNDCLASSEX).
lpszClassNameisalreadyregistered,andthusiscausingafailuretoavoidduplicateclasses.
hInstanceisnotavalidapplicationinstance,orisuninitialized.
hbrBackgroundisaninvalidHANDLEvalue.ThedefaultvalueisCOLOR_WINDOW+1.

Windowcreation
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Afterthewindowregistration,thewindowneedstobecreated.LetusproceedtothefunctionInitInstance.
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//
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//FUNCTION:InitInstance(HINSTANCE,int)

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//
//PURPOSE:Savesinstancehandleandcreatesmainwindow
//
//COMMENTS:
//
//Inthisfunction,wesavetheinstancehandleinaglobalvariableand
//createanddisplaythemainprogramwindow.
//
BOOLInitInstance(HINSTANCEhInstance,intnCmdShow)
{
HWNDhWnd;

hInst=hInstance;//Storeinstancehandleinourglobalvariable

hWnd=CreateWindow(szWindowClass,szTitle,WS_OVERLAPPEDWINDOW,
CW_USEDEFAULT,0,CW_USEDEFAULT,0,NULL,NULL,hInstance,NULL);

if(!hWnd)
{
returnFALSE;
}

ShowWindow(hWnd,nCmdShow);
UpdateWindow(hWnd);

returnTRUE;
}

ThisvariablehWnd,isahandletoourmainwindow.itisinitializedbyCreateWindow,whichisusedtocreateawindowofaparticularstyleatagivenposition.Ifawindow
parentisspecified,thenewlycreatedwindowwillbecomeachildoftheparent.

AllpresentparametersinCreateWindowarethesameasthosefoundinCREATESTRUCT.
Hereisacloserlookatthisparticularstructure.

TheCreateStructStructure
typedefstructtagCREATESTRUCTA{
LPVOIDlpCreateParams;
HINSTANCEhInstance;
HMENUhMenu;
HWNDhwndParent;
intcy;
intcx;
inty;
intx;
LONGstyle;
LPCSTRlpszName;
LPCSTRlpszClass;
DWORDdwExStyle;
}CREATESTRUCTA,*LPCREATESTRUCTA;

Name Description
lpCreateParams AnargumentthatcanbepassedforfurtheruseintheWndProcfunction
hInstance Theinstanceoftheassociatedapplication
hMenu Ahandletoamenu
hwndParent Ahandletoawindowtouseasparent
cy Theheightofthewindow
cx Thewidthofthewindow
x Theleftpositionofthewindow
y Thetoppositionofthewindow
style Thestyleofthewindow
lpszName Thenameofthewindow(title)
lpszClass Thewindow'sclassname.Thismustmatchwcex.lpszClassNameinWNDCLASSEX
dwExStyle AnextendedwindowstyleUnusedinthisexample!

Acceleratortable
Thisinstructionisusedtoloadanacceleratortablefromaresourcefile.

hAccelTable=LoadAccelerators(hInstance,MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDC_INTRODUCTION));

Iwillnotexplainindepthresourcefiles,asresourceswillbeexplainedinfurthertutorials,butforaquickoverview:Anacceleratortableisusedtobindkeyboard
combinationstoapplicationcommands.

Bydefault,templateapplicationsuseautomaticallygeneratedacceleratortables,butkeepinmindthatthesearenotrequiredatall.

TheMessageLoop
Nowthatthemainwindowiscreatedandsetup,itistimetosetupthemainloopofourapplication,whichwilltakecareofprocessingmessagesandevents.Before
demonstratingthecode,wewilltakealookattheconceptofsendingandrecievingeventsinaneventdrivenarchitecture.
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Tobeginwith,thesystemchecksiftherearependingmessagesinthemessagequeue.Ifsuchaconditionismet,thenthesystemtranslatesanddispatchesthemessagetothe
appropriatewindow,whichis,inthiscase,ourmainwindow.Eachwindowisgivenaprocedure.ThisprocedureisrepresentedbylpfnWndProcintheWNDCLASSEX
structure.Thisprocedureiscalledbywiththewindowhandletowhichitisassociated,themessagetype,andadditionally,withuptotwoparameters,wParam,lParam.The
windowprocedureisresponsiblefordoingtasks,oftenbasedonthemessagetype.Ifthemessagetypeisthequitmessage,thefunctionwillreturnwithnegativeresult,
causingthemessagelooptoend.Ifthismessagediffersfromquitting,thenthesystemwillreturntothemessagequeuetoprocessthenextmessage,orwaituntilitreceives
newnotifications.

Inordertoprocessmessagescontinuously,weneedtocreatealoop.Thisloop,calledthemessageloop.HereisthecodefromWinMain.

//Mainmessageloop:
while(GetMessage(&msg,NULL,0,0))
{
if(!TranslateAccelerator(msg.hwnd,hAccelTable,&msg))
{
TranslateMessage(&msg);
DispatchMessage(&msg);
}
}

GetMessage
BOOLWINAPIGetMessage(
_Out_LPMSGlpMsg,
_In_opt_HWNDhWnd,
_In_UINTwMsgFilterMin,
_In_UINTwMsgFilterMax
);

TheGetMessagefunctionisusedtoretrievependingmessagesinthemessagequeue,waitingforaparticulareventtooccur,suchasmouseclicks,windowresizing,focus
loss,etc.

TranslateAccelerator
intWINAPITranslateAccelerator(
_In_HWNDhWnd,
_In_HACCELhAccTable,
_In_LPMSGlpMsg
);

Asitrecievesamessage,thefunctionTranslateAcceleratorisusedtodeterminewhetherthismessagewastriggeredbyanacceleratorhandle.Ifthisisthecase,thenthe
acceleratorwillhandlethemessageitselfandredirectittothepropercommands.

TranslateMessage
BOOLWINAPITranslateMessage(
_In_constMSG*lpMsg
);

Iftheapplicationneedstoreadfromuserinputsuchaskeyboard/mouse,TheTranslateMessagefunctionisusedtranslatevirtualkeymessagesintocharactermessages.

DispatchMessage
LRESULTWINAPIDispatchMessage(
_In_constMSG*lpmsg
);

Thisfunction,DispatchMessage,isusedtodispatchmessagestoawindowprocedure.Inthiscase,thewindowprocedureisrepresentedbyattributelpfnWndProcfrom
WNDCLASSEX,WndProc.

Message&Eventcallback
Thisisthewindowprocedure,whichiscalledwhenaparticulareventissentthiswindow.Tobeginwith,letushavealookatthefunction'sdeclarationandparameters.

LRESULTCALLBACKWindowProc(
HWNDhwnd,
UINTmessage,
WPARAMwParam,
LPARAMlParam
);

Name Description
hwnd Ahandletothewindowitself
message Asystemdefinedmessage
wParam Amessageparameter
lParam Amessageparameter

Thefirstparameter,hwnd,representsthecurrentwindowbeingprocessed.ThisisrepresentedbyhwndintheInitWindow.

Thesecondparameter,message,isasystemdefinedmessage.Thisisusedtodeterminethenatureoftheevent,.i.e:Keyboardinput,mouseinput,windowfocus
acquisition/loss,etc.

TheremainingparameterswParam&lParamaremessageparametersthatmaycontaindata/valuesbasedonthecurrentvalueofmessage,themessagetype.
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Nowitistimetoexaminethedefinitionof
Follow WndProc,thewindowprocedurefunction.
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//
//FUNCTION:WndProc(HWND,UINT,WPARAM,LPARAM)
//
//PURPOSE:Processesmessagesforthemainwindow.
//
//WM_COMMAND processtheapplicationmenu
//WM_PAINT Paintthemainwindow
//WM_DESTROY postaquitmessageandreturn
//
//
LRESULTCALLBACKWndProc(HWNDhWnd,UINTmessage,WPARAMwParam,LPARAMlParam)
{
intwmId,wmEvent;
PAINTSTRUCTps;
HDChdc;

switch(message)
{
caseWM_COMMAND:
wmId=LOWORD(wParam);
wmEvent=HIWORD(wParam);
//Parsethemenuselections:
switch(wmId)
{
caseIDM_ABOUT:
DialogBox(hInst,MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDD_ABOUTBOX),hWnd,About);
break;
caseIDM_EXIT:
DestroyWindow(hWnd);
break;
default:
returnDefWindowProc(hWnd,message,wParam,lParam);
}
break;
caseWM_PAINT:
hdc=BeginPaint(hWnd,&ps);
//TODO:Addanydrawingcodehere...
EndPaint(hWnd,&ps);
break;
caseWM_DESTROY:
PostQuitMessage(0);
break;
default:
returnDefWindowProc(hWnd,message,wParam,lParam);
}
return0;
}

Atafirstlook,thisfunctionlooksconfusing,butitisrelativelysimpletounderstand.Assimplicitymattersintheseintroductorytutorials,thedefinitionofeachcasewillbe
separated.

WM_COMMAND
Thismessageissentwheneverauserinteractionoccurs,suchasmenuitemselection,orwhenaparentreceivesanotificationfromachildwindow.
caseWM_COMMAND:
wmId=LOWORD(wParam);
wmEvent=HIWORD(wParam);
//Parsethemenuselections:
switch(wmId)
{
caseIDM_ABOUT:
...
caseIDM_EXIT:
...
default:
returnDefWindowProc(hWnd,message,wParam,lParam);
}
break;

OneimportantthingtonotehereistheuseofmacrosLOWORD&HIWORD.

wmId=LOWORD(wParam);
wmEvent=HIWORD(wParam);

Beforeexplainingthemainpurposeofbothmacros,wemustcomprehendwhatwParamis.wParamisaparameteroftypeWPARAM.ThetypeWPARAMisanaliastoa32bits
unsignedinteger.Iftargetinga64bitsarchitecture,suchasWindowsx64,thiswillconstituteanaliastoa64bitsinteger,whichisequivalenttoanunsignedlonglong,or
unsignedlonglongint.

Assumingreadersarefamiliarwithbinaryrepresentation,LOWORD&HIWORDaremacrosforretrievingspecificbitsofwParam.Usingbitwiseoperators,theLOWORD
macrocanbeseenas:

#defineLOWORD(l)((WORD)(((DWORD_PTR)(l))&0xffff))

TheHIWORDmacroisdefinedas:

#defineHIWORD(l)((WORD)((((DWORD_PTR)(l))>>16)&0xffff))

Inshort,LOWORDsimplyperformslogicalconjunction(AND)operationwithvalue0xffffwhichclearstheupper16bits,leavingonlythelowerpartunaffected.
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HIWORD,itselfincludesoneextrabeforeLOWORD:tousetherightshiftoperators>>toshifttheupperparttotheright,thusoverridingthelower16bits,andthenapplying
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logicalconjunctiontocleartheupperpart.
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Note:Wemustensuretocleartheupperpartagain,otherwiseitcouldresultinimpropervalues.

Onceretrieved,thisvaluewilltellusthemessageID,whereprefixessuchasIDMareusedasnamingconventionstoindicatethatthisrepresentsamessageID.Thisleadsus
toanotherconditionalbranchwithtwocases,IDM_ABOUTandIDM_EXIT.
caseWM_COMMAND:
wmId=LOWORD(wParam);
wmEvent=HIWORD(wParam);
//Parsethemenuselections:
switch(wmId)
{
caseIDM_ABOUT:
...
caseIDM_EXIT:
...
default:
returnDefWindowProc(hWnd,message,wParam,lParam);
}
break;

IDM_ABOUT
Whenusersclicktheclosebutton(X)atthetoprightcorner,thiscausesthewindowtosendamessageWM_COMMANDwithargumentIDM_ABOUTpassedtowParamasthe
lowword(orlowpart),whichisretrievedwithmacroLOWORD.IfthevaluecorrespondstoIDM_ABOUT,thenDialogBoxiscalledandinitializeadialogthatdisplays
informationabouttheauthorsoftheapplication.IwillnotexplainhowDialogBoxworksforsimplicitypurposes.Thiswillbecoveredinfurthertutorials.
caseIDM_ABOUT:
DialogBox(hInst,MAKEINTRESOURCE(IDD_ABOUTBOX),hWnd,About);
break;

IDM_EXIT

Whenusersclicktheclosebutton(X)atthetoprightcorner,thiscausesthewindowtosendamessageWM_COMMANDwithargumentIDM_EXITpassedtowParamasthe
lowword(orlowpart),whichisretrievedwithmacroLOWORD.IfthevaluecorrespondstoIDM_EXIT,thentheDestroyWindowfunctioniscalled,whichwillthensenda
WM_DESTROYmessagetothewindow,whichwewillseefurtherinthistutorial.

caseIDM_EXIT:
DestroyWindow(hWnd);
break;

WM_PAINT
TheWM_PAINTidentifierisusedtodescribethepaintevent.Thiseventoccurseverytimeawindowisredrawn.ThefunctionBeginPaintandEndPaintareusedtospecifyboth
startandendofdrawingprocess.Onreturn,allthedrawingthatwasdonewillbesenttoscreen.

caseWM_PAINT:
hdc=BeginPaint(hWnd,&ps);
//TODO:Addanydrawingcodehere...
EndPaint(hWnd,&ps);
break;

WM_DESTROY

ThiscommandiscalledwhenevertheDestroyWindowfunctioniscalled.Forexample,wheneverauserclickstheclosebuttonofthewindow,attheupperrightcorner
(windowsapplications),DestroyWindowiscalled.Bydoingso,amessageWM_DESTROYisthensenttothewindowhandle.

CallofPostQuitMessageisusedtoindicatethatthewindowisterminating,thuscausingthemessagelooptoend.
caseWM_DESTROY:
PostQuitMessage(0);
break;

Default

Inthedefaultcase,afunctionnamedDefWindowProcisusedasadefaultreturnresult.
default:
returnDefWindowProc(hWnd,message,wParam,lParam);

ThisfunctionsimplycallsthedefaultwindowproceduretoprocessallmessagesthatwerenotcaughtinWndProc.Bytheendofthisfunction,thisleadsusbacktothe
messageloop,whichwillcontinueprocessmessagesthatareinthemessagequeue,orwaituntilamessageisreceived.

Conclusion
Fromthere,readersshouldbefamiliarwiththebasicsofaWin32API.ReadersshouldhaveafairunderstandingfromaconceptualpointofviewofWin32'sevent&
messageprocessingandhowthemainloopisinteractingwiththese.Readersareencouragedtoreadthistutorialagaintoensurecorrectunderstanding,asfurthertutorials
willcoverandexpandconceptsviewedthroughoutthislecture.

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Part3:CreatingaWindowfromScratch
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