A fix for the above problem is to place the OnSize code above into ShowWindow.  You still get that annoying redraw flash whenver you click on a tab, but it works:

Any thoughts on how to prevent the redraw flashing?

void CChildFrame::OnShowWindow(BOOL bShow, UINT nStatus)
{
CMDIChildWnd::OnShowWindow(bShow, nStatus);

if (bShow) {
WINDOWPLACEMENT sWndPos;
sWndPos.length = sizeof(WINDOWPLACEMENT);
sWndPos.flags = 0;
sWndPos.showCmd = SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED;
SetWindowPlacement(&sWndPos);
}
}

I used the OnSize tip and and it worked great.  It even removed that annoying "flash" when tabbing between the  windows caused by rendering the "normal size" window frame then erasing it and rendering the maximized frame.

BUT... create three frames, then click on the middle tab (frame #2 on forefront).   Now resize the window.  As you resize, the XTP MDI manager goes nuts making frames #2 and #3 alternately the forefront window.

You can easily replicate this by adding the OnSize bit to the GUI_VisualStudio7 demo, then when running it select File->New->File three times and resize the application:

void CChildFrame::OnSize(UINT nType, int cx, int cy)
{
     CMDIChildWnd::OnSize(nType, cx, cy);

      // ADD ->
     if(nType == SIZE_MINIMIZED || nType == SIZE_RESTORED) {
          WINDOWPLACEMENT sWndPos;
          sWndPos.length = sizeof(WINDOWPLACEMENT);
          sWndPos.flags = 0;
          sWndPos.showCmd = SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED;
          SetWindowPlacement(&sWndPos);
     }
     //<- ADD
}

Is this an XTP bug?

Thanks oleg that worked ok only you must place it after "LoadCommandBars(_T("Bar State"));"

If you use ToolkitPro you can add  

CXTPCommandBar* pMenuBar = pCommandBars->SetMenu("Menu Bar", IDR_MAINFRAME);
pMenuBar->SetFlags(xtpFlagHideMinimizeBox | xtpFlagHideMaximizeBox);

this hide minimize and maximize buttons in the menu bar.

Kelvin,

Try using this code in your child frame's OnSize() function:

void CChildFrame::OnSize(UINT nType, int cx, int cy)
{
     CMDIChildWnd::OnSize(nType, cx, cy);

      // ADD ->
     if(nType == SIZE_MINIMIZED || nType == SIZE_RESTORED) {
          WINDOWPLACEMENT sWndPos;
          sWndPos.length = sizeof(WINDOWPLACEMENT);
          sWndPos.flags = 0;
          sWndPos.showCmd = SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED;
          SetWindowPlacement(&sWndPos);
     }
     //<- ADD
}

This actually seems to work well with ToolkitPro when combined with a child window that doesn't have Min/Max box styles like yours.  For straight MFC this does not work so well because the Min/Max boxes sometimes show up for some reason.

Also, you might want to remove the FWS_ADDTOTITLE style too because the above code interferes with that process.

If you end up finding a better solution, please post it here.

This is an MFC issue.

I also would benefit from MDI windows that are force to stay maximized.  I've tried forcing this in OnSize() but it's hackish and makes the Min/Max/Close buttons do strange things.

Does anybody know how to solve this problem gracefully?

I can not do that because I need the windows to remain maximized and not let the user changed them.

Thanks

Kelvin

You remove WS_MAXIMIZEBOX flag and it cant be maximized.

Try to remove  this line

 cs.style &= ~(WS_MINIMIZEBOX|WS_MAXIMIZEBOX);

I have written a Tabbed MDI program with a PreCreateWindow function as follows:

BOOL CDigitizeFrame::PreCreateWindow(CREATESTRUCT& cs)
{
  cs.x=cs.y=0;
  cs.cx=cs.cy=32767;
  cs.style |= WS_BORDER;
  cs.style &= ~WS_THICKFRAME;
  cs.style &= ~(WS_MINIMIZEBOX|WS_MAXIMIZEBOX);
  return CMDIChildWnd::PreCreateWindow(cs);
}

The problem is that when I tab to the next window it is drawn as a restored window and not a maximized windows. Does anyone know how to prevent this from happening.

Thanks

Kelvin