Chapter 12: Using Controls

Examining the IDE’s Automatically Generated Code A new Windows Forms project has been started and given the name FormWithALabelAndAButton A Label has been dragged onto Form1 and its properties updated A Button has been dragged onto Form1 and its properties updated 2Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

3 Examining the IDE’s Automatically Generated Code (cont’d.)

Within the Form1.Designer.cs file in Visual Studio, two lines of code are generated as follows: private System.Windows.Forms.Label label1; private System.Windows.Forms.Button okButton; These lines appear under a gray box that contains Windows Form Designer generated code Expand the code generated by clicking the + in the method node or double-clicking the gray box 4Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

5 Examining the IDE’s Automatically Generated Code (cont’d.)

Setting a Control ’s Font Use the Font class to change the appearance of printed text on your Form s Change the appearance of printed text using code – Create your own instance of the Font class The class includes a number of overloaded constructors Example: System.Drawing.Font bigFont = new System.Drawing.Font("Courier New", 16.5f); this.label1.Font = bigFont; this.okButton.Font = bigFont; 6Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

Setting a Control ’s Font (cont’d.) 7Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

8 Setting a Control ’s Font (cont’d.)

9Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Setting a Control ’s Font (cont’d.)

Using a LinkLabel LinkLabel – Similar to a Label – Provides the additional capability to link the user to other sources Such as Web pages or files Default event – The method whose shell is automatically created when you double-click the Control – The method you are most likely to alter with Control – The event that users most likely expect to generate 10Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

Using a LinkLabel (cont’d.) 11Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

LinkLabel appears as underlined text – The text is blue by default When you pass the mouse pointer over a LinkLabel, the pointer changes to a hand When a user clicks a LinkLabel, it generates a click event – Executing a LinkClicked() method The LinkVisited property can be set to true when you determine that a user has clicked a link 12Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Using a LinkLabel (cont’d.)

13Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Using a LinkLabel (cont’d.)

14Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Using a LinkLabel (cont’d.)

15Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Using a LinkLabel (cont’d.)

Adding Color to a Form Color class – Contains a wide variety of predefined Color s that you can use with your Control s You can change a Form ’s color using its BackColor and ForeColor properties 16Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

Using CheckBox and RadioButton Objects CheckBox objects – GUI widgets the user can click to select or deselect an option RadioButton s – Similar to CheckBox es – Only one RadioButton in a group can be selected at a time 17Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

Using CheckBox and RadioButton Objects (cont’d.) 18Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

19Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Using CheckBox and RadioButton Objects (cont’d.)

20Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Using CheckBox and RadioButton Objects (cont’d.)

21Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Using CheckBox and RadioButton Objects (cont’d.)

22Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Using CheckBox and RadioButton Objects (cont’d.)

Adding a PictureBox to a Form PictureBox – A Control in which you can display graphics from a bitmap, icon, JPEG, GIF, or other image file type 23Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

24Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

25Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Adding a PictureBox to a Form (cont’d.)

26Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Adding a PictureBox to a Form (cont’d.)

Adding ListBox, CheckedListBox, and ComboBox Control s to a Form ListBox, ComboBox, and CheckedListBox objects – List-type widgets that descend from ListControl ListBox Control – Displays a list of items the user can select by clicking – Allows the user to make a single selection or multiple selections by setting the SelectionMode property – SelectedItem property Contains the value of the item a user has selected 27Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

28 Adding ListBox, CheckedListBox, and ComboBox Control s to a Form (cont’d.) Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

29Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Adding ListBox, CheckedListBox, and ComboBox Control s to a Form (cont’d.)

30Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Adding ListBox, CheckedListBox, and ComboBox Control s to a Form (cont’d.)

31Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Adding ListBox, CheckedListBox, and ComboBox Control s to a Form (cont’d.)

32Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Adding ListBox, CheckedListBox, and ComboBox Control s to a Form (cont’d.)

ComboBox Control – Similar to a ListBox – Displays an additional editing field Allows the user to select from the list or to enter new text CheckedListBox Control – Similar to a ListBox – Check boxes appear to the left of each desired item 33Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Adding ListBox, CheckedListBox, and ComboBox Control s to a Form (cont’d.)

34Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Adding ListBox, CheckedListBox, and ComboBox Control s to a Form (cont’d.)

Adding MonthCalendar and DateTimePicker Control s to a Form MonthCalendar and DateTimePicker Control s – Allow you to retrieve date and time information 35Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

36Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Adding MonthCalendar and DateTimePicker Control s to a Form (cont’d.)

37Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Adding MonthCalendar and DateTimePicker Control s to a Form (cont’d.)

38Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Adding MonthCalendar and DateTimePicker Control s to a Form (cont’d.)

39Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Adding MonthCalendar and DateTimePicker Control s to a Form (cont’d.)

DateTimePicker Control – Displays a month calendar when the down arrow is selected 40Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Adding MonthCalendar and DateTimePicker Control s to a Form (cont’d.)

41Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Adding MonthCalendar and DateTimePicker Control s to a Form (cont’d.)

42Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Adding MonthCalendar and DateTimePicker Control s to a Form (cont’d.)

Working with a Form ’s Layout Blue snap lines – Appear when you drag multiple Control s onto a Form – Help align new Control s with others already in place – Appear when you place a control closer to the edge of a container than is recommended Can use the Location property in the Properties list to specify a location 43Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

Working with a Form ’s Layout (cont’d.) 44Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

Working with a Form ’s Layout (cont’d.) Dock property – Attaches a Control to the side of a container so that the Control stretches when the container’s size is adjusted 45Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

Working with a Form ’s Layout (cont’d.) 46Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

Working with a Form ’s Layout (cont’d.) 47Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

Understanding GroupBox es and Panel s GroupBox or Panel – Groups related Control s on a Form – Can be docked inside a Form GroupBox es – Can display a caption – Do not have scroll bars Panel s – Cannot display a caption – Have scroll bars 48Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

Adding a MenuStrip to a Form Menu strip – A horizontal list of general options that appears under the title bar of a Form or Window You can add a MenuStrip Control object to any Form you create When you double-click an entry in the MenuStrip, a Click() method is generated 49Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

Adding a MenuStrip to a Form (cont’d.) 50Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

Adding a MenuStrip to a Form (cont’d.) 51Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

52Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition Adding a MenuStrip to a Form (cont’d.)

Using Other Control s If you click Project on the main menu and click Add New Item, you can add extra Form s, File s, Control s, and other elements to your project 53Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition

You Do It Adding Label s to a Form and Changing Their Properties Examining the Code Generated by the IDE Adding CheckBox es to a Form Adding RadioButton s to a Form 54Microsoft Visual C# 2012, Fifth Edition