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OLE 2.0 vs. OpenDoc and Microsoft Foundation Classes
Presentation
Microsoft's brain-child. It is
supposed to take over the world and be the definitive answer to object
technology...according to Microsoft of course. OLE is also the basis for the
next version of
Windows NT (the real 32-bit OS from MS) which is code named Cairo. OLE
is an "open" standard...depending on who you ask. If you ask Microsoft, it
is open, but if you ask anyone else, they will probably disagree. Microsoft
has made information on
OLE
available through the internet.
OpenDoc Overview
OpenDoc is backed by many companies in the computer industry. The standard is
controlled by an organization called C.I.
Labs. OpenDoc is positioned as a component architecture that exceeds the
capabilities of Microsoft's OLE.
OpenDoc Supporters
These are the companies that have officially jumped on the OpenDoc bandwagon.
Each of the companies and organizations have pledged to use it, contributed
time, money, and/or helped to implement it.
Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC) Overview
The Foundation classes are a "thin" wrapper around the Windows (16-bit &
32-bit) API. These classes also have utility classes that implement some base
functionality that could prove to be useful during a project. For example, a
linked list is one of the implemented classes.
In addition to the other features, the "best" part of MFC is the cross
platform aspect of the libraries. If the libraries are used for application
development, almost all that is required for a Mac OS compliant version is a
simple recompile of the code. Most platform differences are hidden within MFC.
Foundation Class Supporters
- Microsoft
- The gatekeeper of
the libraries. All development is done here. It also ships with their
Visual C++ product.
- Symantec
- Symantec has licensed
the classes from Microsoft to ship them with their compiler product.
- Borland
- Borland has added compiler
support for the class libraries (to support the non-standard extensions
Microsoft used). Their compiler does not ship with the libraries
included. Borland ships their own class libraries (Object Windows Libraries)
with their compiler.
Last updated: 12 September 1995
jmm@cs.cornell.edu