From Forum Nokia Wiki

Most of the new people working for S60 are confused between views and containers.

Contents 1 The basic reasons for confusion 1.1 1) SDK examples 1.2 2) Lack of proper documentation 2 What exactly is a view 3 What exactly is a Container 4 Why do we need Views 5 Why do we need a Container

The basic reasons for confusion

1) SDK examples

Most of the example applications name the CCoeControl-derived class View (maybe because they mean the generic term : View means representation of data, View may be derived from CAknView or from CCoeControl and its a generic term). To avoid confusion it should in fact be named Container because the view class that derives directly from CCoeControl should be called Container.

2) Lack of proper documentation

There is no straightforward documentation which explains what view and container are, what the basic difference between them is, and when each of them should be used.

What exactly is a view

• In abstract terms, a view means representation of data.

• If we talk in terms of classes, then a View class in S60 is derived from CAknView.

• It is not an actual control.

• It owns a Container control (derived from CCoeControl) to create its view.

What exactly is a Container

• As stated above it is derived from CCoeControl.

• It actually is a control, all the controls are derived from abstract base class CCoeControl.

• It is a drawable control and may contain one or more controls.

Why do we need Views

• Most of the normal applications don't need views ( derived from CAknView ).

• You need views when your application has multiple screens that form complex navigational paths.

• When you want to save data on every view switching, to update the model with the newly entered or updated data.

• When you want to send data among screens or to external applications.

• It handles switching of views, handling menu-commands, sending keyboard/pointer events to respective container class.

Why do we need a Container

• Well certainly you may want to display some information on the screen, this is the class which will actually have access to screen. For example, you may want to display a list box or a query dialog for user input.

• Most of the normal applications don't require view classes, container will satisfy the basic requirements.