Visual Basic 2005 for Programmers: Deitel Developer Series, Second Edition

14.12. Multiple Document Interface (MDI) Windows

In previous chapters, we have built only single document interface (SDI) applications. Such programs (including Microsoft’s Notepad and Paint) can support only one open window or document at a time. SDI applications usually have limited abilities—Paint and Notepad, for example, have limited image- and text-editing features. To edit multiple documents, the user must execute another instance of the SDI application.

Most recent applications have multiple document interfaces (MDIs), which allow users to edit multiple documents at once—for example, graphics applications like Jasc PaintShop Pro and Adobe Photoshop allow you to edit multiple images at once. MDI programs also tend to be more complex—PaintShop ...