Microsoft Windows provides a control used to select dates on a colorful calendar:

The dates used and the way they display are based on the Regional Settings of the Control Panel. It may also depend on the operating system. This convenient control is called a month calendar or simply a calendar. The title bar of the control displays two buttons and one label. The left button allows the user to select the previous value depending on the type that is displaying on the label (month, year, decade, or century). The user does this by clicking the left button. By default, the label displays the currently selected month and the year. The right button is used to get to the next value (month, year, decade, or century, depending on the value on the label).

Under the title bar, the short names of week days display, using the format set in the Windows Control Panel. In US English, the first day is usually Sun for Sunday. The first day can be changed by the programmer. On the control, the currently selected date is highlighted. In the main area, the numeric days of the month display on a white background (this color and any color on the control can be changed). To select a date, the user can click it in the list.

By default, the calendar opens with today's day highlighted. Using the buttons of the title bar, the month-year label, the user can change the date. If at one time the month calendar is displaying a date other than today, and if the user wants to return to today's date, he or she can:

• Click the bottom label that displays Today (you as the programmer can hide the Today label if you want)
• Right-click anywhere on the control and click Go To Today

If the month calendar displays regularly (with a month, a year, the week days, and the days of a month), if the user clicks the label that is between the buttons, the month calendar displays a list of 12 months from January to December, and the month of the date that was previously selected is highlighted. Here is an example:

If the month calendar is displaying a list of months:

• To select a month, the user can click it
• To get the 12 months of the previous year, the user can click the left button
• To get the 12 months of the next year, the user can click the right button

If the month calendar is displaying the names of months and if the user clicks the year, the label would display a decade of the current year and the 9th year from it. The body of the month calendar would display the years in that decade, plus the year prior to that decade and the year after that decade:

That display has new options:

• To select a year, the user can click it
• To get a list of the previous 12 years, the user can click the left button
• To get a list of the next 12 years, the user can click the right button

If the month calendar is displaying the numbers of 12 years and if the user clicks the label, the label would display a century from the current year and the 99th year from it. The body of the month calendar would display 12 labels that each shows a decade:

This time:

• To select a decade, the user can click it
• To get a list of the previous decades, the user can click the left button
• To get a list of the next decades, the user can click the right button

The calendar can be configured to display more than one month. You have many options. You can display the months horizontally:

Or you can display them vertically:

If the control is displaying more than one month, the buttons would increment or decrement by the previous or next value (month, year, decade, or century) in the list. For example, if the control is displaying April and May and if the user clicks the left button, the control would display March and April. If the control is displaying April and May and if the user clicks the right button, the control would display May and June.

1. To create a new application, on the main menu, click File -> New Project...
2. In the middle list, click MFC Application and set the name to TimeSheet1
3. Click OK
4. In the first page of the wizard, click Next
5. In the second page of the wizard, click Dialog based and click Next
6. In the third page of the wizard, click Finish
7. On the dialog box, click the TODO label and press Delete

To create a calendar, on the Toolbox, you can click the Month Calendar Control button and the desired container. The month calendar control is based on the CMonthCalCtrl class. Therefore, to dynamically create this control, declare a CMonthCalCtrl variable or a pointer to CMonthCalCtrl. Here is an example:

// Exercise1Dlg.h : header file
 
class CExercise1Dlg : public CDialog
{
// Construction
public:
	CExercise1Dlg(CWnd* pParent = NULL); // standard constructor
 
private:
	CMonthCalCtrl *ctlCalendar;
 
};

The CMonthCalCtrl class, like all other control-oriented classes of the MFC library, is equipped with a Create() member function that can be used to programmatically create a calendar and place it on a container. Here is an example:

CExercise1Dlg::CExercise1Dlg(CWnd* pParent /*=NULL*/)
	: CDialog(CExercise1Dlg::IDD, pParent)
{
	//{{AFX_DATA_INIT(CExercise1Dlg)
	
	//}}AFX_DATA_INIT
	// Note that LoadIcon does not require a subsequent DestroyIcon in Win32
	m_hIcon = AfxGetApp()->LoadIcon(IDR_MAINFRAME);
 
	ctlCalendar = new CMonthCalCtrl;
}
 
	. . . No Change
 
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// CExercise1Dlg message handlers
 
BOOL CExercise1Dlg::OnInitDialog()
{
	CDialog::OnInitDialog();
 
	// Set the icon for this dialog. The framework does this automatically
	// when the application's main window is not a dialog
	SetIcon(m_hIcon, TRUE); // Set big icon
	SetIcon(m_hIcon, FALSE); // Set small icon
 
	// TODO: Add extra initialization here
 
	ctlCalendar->Create(WS_TABSTOP | WS_CHILD | 
			WS_VISIBLE | WS_BORDER,
			CPoint(20, 20), this, 0x224);
 
	return TRUE; // return TRUE unless you set the focus to a control
}

1. Design the dialog box as follows:
    

   Control Caption ID Align Left Other Properties Group Box Employee Identification       Static Text Employee #:       MFC MaskedEdit Control   IDC_EMPLOYEE_NUMBER     Edit Control   IDC_EMPLOYEE_NAME     Group Box Time Frame       Month Calendar Control   IDC_TIME_FRAME     Group Box Dates Worked - Time Value Worked       Static Text Monday       Static Text Tuesday       Static Text Wednesday       Static Text Thursday       Static Text Friday       Static Text Saturday       Static Text Sunday       Picture Control       Type: Rectangle Static Text Monday IDC_MONDAY1     Static Text Tuesday IDC_TUESDAY1     Static Text Wednesday IDC_WEDNESDAY1     Static Text Thursday IDC_THURSDAY1     Static Text Friday IDC_FRIDAY1     Static Text Saturday IDC_SATURDAY1     Static Text Sunday IDC_SUNDAY1     Static Text Week 1:       Edit Control   IDC_WEEK1MONDAY Right   Edit Control   IDC_WEEK1TUESDAY Right   Edit Control   IDC_WEEK1WEDNESDAY Right   Edit Control   IDC_WEEK1THURSDAY Right   Edit Control   IDC_WEEK1FRIDAY Right   Edit Control   IDC_WEEK1SATURDAY Right   Edit Control   IDC_WEEK1SUNDAY Right   Static Text Monday IDC_MONDAY2     Static Text Tuesday IDC_TUESDAY2     Static Text Wednesday IDC_WEDNESDAY2     Static Text Thursday IDC_THURSDAY2     Static Text Friday IDC_FRIDAY2     Static Text Saturday IDC_SATURDAY2     Static Text Sunday IDC_SUNDAY2     Static Text Week 2:       Edit Control   IDC_WEEK2MONDAY Right   Edit Control   IDC_WEEK2TUESDAY Right   Edit Control   IDC_WEEK2WEDNESDAY Right   Edit Control   IDC_WEEK2THURSDAY Right   Edit Control   IDC_WEEK2FRIDAY Right   Edit Control   IDC_WEEK2SATURDAY Right   Edit Control   IDC_WEEK2SUNDAY Right

2. Right-click each of the edit controls and click Add Variable... Then create the variables as follows:
    

   ID
   	Category	Type	Name
   IDC_EMPLOYEE_NUMBER	Value	CString	m_EmployeeNumber
   IDC_EMPLOYEE_NAME	Value	CString	m_EmployeeName
   IDC_TIME_FRAME	Control	CMonthCalCtrl	m_TimeFrame
   IDC_MONDAY1	Value	CString	m_Monday1
   IDC_TUESDAY1	Value	CString	m_Tuesday1
   IDC_WEDNESDAY1	Value	CString	m_Wednesday1
   IDC_THURSDAY1	Value	CString	m_Thursday1
   IDC_FRIDAY1	Value	CString	m_Friday1
   IDC_SATURDAY1	Value	CString	m_Saturday1
   IDC_SUNDAY1	Value	CString	m_Sunday1
   IDC_WEEK1MONDAY	Value	double	m_Week1Monday
   IDC_WEEK1TUESDAY	Value	double	m_Week1Tuesday
   IDC_WEEK1WEDNESDAY	Value	double	m_Week1Wednesday
   IDC_WEEK1THURSDAY	Value	double	m_Week1Thursday
   IDC_WEEK1FRIDAY	Value	double	m_Week1Friday
   IDC_WEEK1SATURDAY	Value	double	m_Week1Saturday
   IDC_WEEK1SUNDAY	Value	double	m_Week1Sunday
   IDC_MONDAY2	Value	CString	m_Monday2
   IDC_TUESDAY2	Value	CString	m_Tuesday2
   IDC_WEDNESDAY2	Value	CString	m_Wednesday2
   IDC_THURSDAY2	Value	CString	m_Thursday2
   IDC_FRIDAY2	Value	CString	m_Friday2
   IDC_SATURDAY2	Value	CString	m_Saturday2
   IDC_SUNDAY1	Value	CString	m_Sunday2
   IDC_WEEK2MONDAY	Value	double	m_Week2Monday
   IDC_WEEK2TUESDAY	Value	double	m_Week2Tuesday
   IDC_WEEK2WEDNESDAY	Value	double	m_Week2Wednesday
   IDC_WEEK2THURSDAY	Value	double	m_Week2Thursday
   IDC_WEEK2FRIDAY	Value	double	m_Week2Friday
   IDC_WEEK2SATURDAY	Value	double	m_Week2Saturday
   IDC_WEEK2SUNDAY	Value	double	m_Week2Sunday