Table of Contents

Part 1 Hello Windows Forms 1

1 Getting started with Windows Forms 3

1.1 Programming in C# 4

Namespaces and classes 6
Constructors and methods 8
C# types 9
The entry point 11
The Application class 11
Program execution 13

1.2 Adding controls 13

Shortcuts and fully qualified names 15
Fields and properties 16
The Controls property 18

1.3 Loading files 18

Events 20
The OpenFileDialog class 22
Bitmap images 24

1.4 Resizing forms 26

Desktop layout properties 28
The Anchor property 29
The Dock property 31

1.5 Recap 33

2 Getting started with Visual Studio .NET 34

2.1 Programming with Visual Studio .NET 35

Creating a project 36
Executing a program 39
Viewing the source code 39

2.2 Adding controls 43

The AssemblyInfo file 43
Renaming a form 46
The Toolbox window 48

2.3 Loading files 54

Event handlers in Visual Studio .NET 54
Exception handling 58

2.4 Resizing forms 61

Assign the Anchor property 63
Assign the MinimumSize property 64

2.5 Recap 65

Part 2 Basic Windows Forms 67

3 Menus 69

3.1 The nature of menus 70

The Menu class 71
The Menu class hierarchy 71
Derived classes 73

3.2 Menu bars 74

Adding the Main menu 74
Adding the File menu 77
Adding the dropdown menu 79
Adding a View menu 83

3.3 Click events 85

Adding handlers via the designer window 85
Adding handlers via the properties window 86

3.4 Popup events and shared handlers 88

Defining a shared handler 89
Handling Popup events 93

3.5 Context menus 97

Creating a context menu 98
Adding menu items 100

3.6 Recap 101

4 Status bars 102

4.1 The Control class 103

4.2 The StatusBar class 105

Adding a status bar 106
Assigning status bar text 109

4.3 Status bar panels 110

Adding panels to a status bar 111
Assigning panel text 116

4.4 Owner-drawn panels 118

The DrawItem event 118
Drawing a panel 121

4.5 Recap 125

5 Reusable libraries 126

5.1 C# classes and interfaces 127

Interfaces 128
Data collection classes 129

5.2 Class libraries 133

Creating the class library 134
Using the command-line tools 138
Creating the PhotoAlbum class 139
Creating the Photograph class 141

5.3 Interfaces revisited 145

Supporting the ICollection interface 146
Supporting the IList interface 146
Implementing album position operations 148

5.4 Robustness issues 151

Handling an invalid bitmap 151
Overriding methods in the Object class 154
Disposing of resources 157
Associating a file name with an album 159

5.5 Recap 160

6 Common file dialogs 161

6.1 Design issues 162

Changing the menu bar 162
Adding class variables 165

6.2 Multiple file selection 166

Adding images to an album 166
Removing images from an album 169

6.3 Paint events 169

Drawing the current photograph 170
Displaying the current position 171

6.4 Context menus revisited 173

Displaying the next photograph 174
Displaying the previous photograph 174

6.5 Files and paths 175

Creating a default album directory 175
Setting the title bar 179
Handling the New menu 180

6.6 Save file dialogs 181

Writing album data 182
Saving an album as a new file 186
Saving an existing album 188

6.7 Open file dialogs 189

Reading album data 190
Opening an album file 191

6.8 Recap 193

7 Drawing and scrolling 194

7.1 Form class hierarchy 195

The ScrollableControl class 196
The Form class 196

7.2 Image drawing 198

Deleting the PictureBox control 198
Handling the Image menu 199
Implementing the Stretch to Fit option 202
Implementing a Scale to Fit option 205
Repainting when the form is resized 210

7.3 Automated scrolling 212

Properties for scrolling 213
Implementing automated scrolling 213

7.4 Panels 215

Adding a panel 217
Updating the menu handlers 218
Drawing the status bar panel 219
Drawing the image 220

7.5 Recap 222

8 Dialog boxes 224

8.1 Message boxes 225

The MessageBox.Show method 227
Creating an OK dialog 227
Creating a YesNo dialog 229
Creating A YesNoCancel dialog 230

8.2 The Form.Close method 233

The relationship between Close and Dispose 233
Intercepting the Form.Close method 235

8.3 Modal dialog boxes 237

Adding captions to photos 238
Preserving caption values 239
Creating the CaptionDlg form 240
Adding properties to the CaptionDlg form 247
Displaying the dialog in the MainForm class 249

8.4 Modeless dialogs 252

Creating the PixelDlg form 253
Adding class members to PixelDlg 255
Displaying the modeless PixelDlg form 256
Updating the PixelDlg form 259
Updating PixelDlg as the mouse moves 260

8.5 Recap 262

9 Basic controls 263

9.1 Form inheritance 264

Creating a base form 265
Creating a derived form 269

9.2 Labels and text boxes 271

Expanding the Photograph class 272
Creating the PhotoEditDlg panel area 277
Creating the multiline text box 281
Adding PhotoEditDlg to our main form 285
Using TextBox controls 287

9.3 Button classes 290

Expanding the PhotoAlbum class 293
Using the new album settings 296
Creating the AlbumEditDlg panel area 298
Using radio buttons 300
Using check box buttons 304
Adding AlbumEditDlg to our main form 310

9.4 Recap 313

10 List controls 314

10.1 List boxes 315

Creating a list box 315
Handling selected items 322

10.2 Multiselection list boxes 325

Enabling multiple selection 325
Handling the Move Up and Move Down buttons 328
Handling the Remove button 331

10.3 Combo boxes 333

Creating a combo box 333
Handling the selected item 336

10.4 Combo box edits 339

Replacing the photographer control 340
Updating the combo box dynamically 341

10.5 Owner-drawn lists 343

Adding a context menu 344
Setting the item height 346
Drawing the list items 348

10.6 Recap 352

11 More controls 353

11.1 Tab controls 354

The TabControl class 355
Creating a tab control 356

11.2 Tab pages 359

Creating tab pages dynamically 360
Creating tab pages in Visual Studio 363

11.3 Dates and Times 366

Dates and times 367
Customizing a DateTimePicker control 369

11.4 Calendars 372

Adding a MonthCalendar control 372
Initializing a calendar 374
Handling mouse clicks in a calendar control 376

11.5 Recap 381

12 A .NET assortment 383

12.1 Keyboard events 384

Handling the KeyPress event 384
Handling other keyboard events 386

12.2 Mouse events 387

The MouseEventArgs class 388
Handling mouse events 388

12.3 Image buttons 393

Implementing Next and Prev buttons 393
Drawing bitmaps for our buttons 399
Placing images on our buttons 402

12.4 Icons 405

Replacing the icon on a form 406
Replacing the application icon 408

12.5 Recap 409

13 Toolbars and tips 410

13.1 Toolbars 411

The ToolBar class 411
Adding a toolbar 412
The ToolBarButton class 413

13.2 Image lists 416

The ImageList class 416
Creating an image list 417

13.3 Toolbar buttons 420

Adding a push button 420
Adding a dropdown button 424
Adding a toggle button 426

13.4 Tool tips 430

The ToolTip class 431
Creating tool tips 431

13.5 Recap 434

Part 3 Advanced Windows Forms 437

14 List views 439

14.1 The nature of list views 440

14.2 The ListView class 443

Creating the MyAlbumExplorer project 443
Creating a list view 445
Populating a ListView 448

14.3 ListView columns 453

Creating the columns 454
Populating the columns 456
Sorting a column 458

14.4 Selection and editing 464

Supporting item selection 464
Supporting label edits 468

14.5 Item activation 472

Handling item activation 473
Defining new columns 474
Populating the ListView 476
Sorting a column (again) 477
Updating the properties menu 480
Updating label editing 481
Redisplaying the albums 483

14.6 Recap 483

15 Tree views 485

15.1 Tree view basics 486

15.2 The TreeView class 486

Creating a tree view 488
Using the Splitter class 489
Using the TreeNode class 492

15.3 Dynamic tree nodes 497

Assigning index constants 497
Creating the album nodes 498
Creating the photograph nodes 501

15.4 Node selection 505

Supporting node selection 506
Revisiting the list view 509

15.5 Fun with tree views 513

Displaying the photograph 514
Supporting label edits 516
Updating the properties menu 520

15.6 Recap 524

16 Multiple document interfaces 525

16.1 Interface styles 526

Single document interfaces 526
Explorer interfaces 526
Multiple document interfaces 527
Support in Windows Forms 529

16.2 MDI forms 530

Creating an MDI container form 531
Creating an MDI child form 532
Adding a new entry point 533

16.3 Merged menus 535

Assigning merge types 535
Assigning merge order 537
Opening a child form 541

16.4 MDI children 543

Replacing the toolbar 543
Displaying pixel data 548
Opening an album twice 551
Updating the title bar 553
Revisiting the activation events 556

16.5 MDI child window management 557

Arranging MDI forms 558
Creating an MDI child list 561

16.6 Recap 563

17 Data binding 564

17.1 Data grids 565

Creating the MyAlbumData project 568
Displaying data in a data grid 569

17.2 Data grid customization 573

Customizing table styles 574
Customizing column styles 576

17.3 Editable objects 580

The IEditableObject interface 580
Supporting the IEditableObject interface 582
Using editable objects 584

17.4 Simple data binding 586

Altering the MyAlbumData application 587
Performing simple binding 590
Updating data bound controls 594
Displaying the image 599
Saving changes to bound controls 601

17.5 Recap 602

18 Odds and ends .NET 603

18.1 Printing 604

Using the print classes 605
Drawing a print page 607

18.2 Timers 611

Creating a slide show form 612
Implementing the slide show behavior 615

18.3 Drag and drop 618

Initiating drag and drop 620
Receiving drag and drop 622

18.4 ActiveX controls 625

Creating the About box 626
Wrapping the web browser control 629
Using the web browser control 631

18.5 Recap 635