Microsoft Net Framework 2.0 Windows-Based Client Development Contents Windows Forms and the User Interface Configuring Controls and Creating the User Interface 49 Advanced Windows Forms Controls 93 Tool Strips, Menus, and Events 145 Configuring Connections and Connecting to Data 197 Working with Data in a Connected Environment 251 Create, Add, Delete, and Edit Data in a Disconnected Environment 329 Implementing Data-Bound Controls 409 11 Advanced Topics in Windows Forms 521 12 Enhancing Usability 555 15 Deployment 663 Crystal report 687 3-tier architecture 699 Chapter Windows Forms and the User Interface This chapter introduces you to Windows Forms Windows Forms are the basis for most Microsoft Windows applications and can be configured to provide a variety of user interface (UI) options The developer can create forms of various sizes and shapes and customize them to the user’s needs Forms are hosts for controls, which provide the main functionality of the user interface Special controls called container controls can be used to control the layout of the user interface Exam objectives in this chapter: ■ ■ ■ Add and configure a Windows Form ❑ Add a Windows Form to a project at design time ❑ Configure a Windows Form to control accessibility, appearance, behavior, configuration, data, design, focus, layout, style, and other functionality Manage control layout on a Windows Form ❑ Group and arrange controls by using the Panel control, GroupBox control, TabControl control, FlowLayoutPanel control, and TableLayoutPanel control ❑ Use the SplitContainer control to create dynamic container areas Add and configure a Windows Forms control ❑ Use the integrated development environment (IDE) to add a control to a Windows Form or other container control of a project at design time ❑ Add controls to a Windows Form at run time Lessons in this chapter: ■ Lesson 1: Adding and Configuring Windows Forms ■ Lesson 2: Managing Control Layout with Container Controls 24 Lesson 1: Adding and Configuring Windows Forms Lesson 1: Adding and Configuring Windows Forms This lesson describes how to create and configure Windows Forms You will learn how to create forms and refer to them in code, alter the visual properties of the form, and control the behavior of the form at run time After this lesson, you will be able to: ■ Add a Windows Form to a project at design time ■ Add a new Windows Form at run time ■ Resize a window at design time or run time ■ Identify and set the properties that determine a form’s appearance and behavior at run time ■ Refer to the default instance of a form in code ■ Create a non-rectangular form Estimated lesson time: 45 minutes Overview of Windows Forms Windows Forms are the basic building block of the user interface They provide a container that hosts controls and menus and allow you to present an application in a familiar and consistent fashion Forms can receive user input in the form of key strokes or mouse interactions and can display data to the user through hosted con trols Although it is possible to create applications that not contain forms, such as console applications or services, most applications that require sustained user interaction will include at least one Windows Form, and complex applications fre quently require several forms to allow the program to execute in a consistent and logical fashion When you create a new Windows Forms project, a form named Form1 is added to your project by default You can edit your form by adding controls and other visual elements in the designer, which is a graphic representation of a designable, visual ele ment (such as a Form) that appears in the Visual Studio Integrated Development Envi ronment (IDE) The Visual Studio IDE is shown in Figure 1-1 4 Chapter Figure 1-1 Windows Forms and the User Interface A Windows Form in the Visual Studio IDE Adding Forms to Your Project Most projects will require more than one form You can add and configure additional forms at design time, or you can create instances of pre-designed forms in code at run time � To add a new form to your project at design time From the Project menu, select Add Windows Form The Add New Item dialog box opens Select Windows Form and type a name for the new form in the Name box Click Add to add the form to the development environment You can add and configure as many forms as your application needs at design time You can also create new instances of forms in your code This method is most often employed when you want to display a form that has already been designed In Visual Basic, you can access default instances of a form by referring to that form by name For example, if you have a form named Form1 in your application, you can refer to it directly by its name, Form1 //standard dataset function that updates //details of a customer based on ID public void Update(BOCustomer cus) { OpenCnn(); String selectStr = "UPDATE " + thisTable + " set " + cus_LName + " = '" + cus.LName + "'" + ", " + cus_FName + " = '" + cus.FName + "'" + ", " + cus_Address + " = '" + cus.Address + "'" + ", " + cus_Tel + " = '" + cus.Tel + "'" + " where cus_ID = '" + cus.cusID + "'"; OleDbCommand cmd = new OleDbCommand(selectStr,cnn); cmd.ExecuteNonQuery(); } CloseCnn(); //standard dataset function that finds and //return the detail of a customer in a dataset public DataSet Find(String argStr) { DataSet ds=null; try { OpenCnn(); String selectStr = "select * from " + thisTable + " where cus_ID = '" + argStr + "'"; OleDbDataAdapter da = new OleDbDataAdapter(selectStr,cnn); ds = new DataSet(); da.Fill(ds,thisTable); CloseCnn(); } catch(Exception e) { String Str = e.Message; } } return ds; private void OpenCnn() { // initialise connection String cnnStr = CnnStr; cnn = new OleDbConnection(cnnStr); // open connection cnn.Open(); } 707 private void CloseCnn() { // 5- step five cnn.Close(); } // just a supporting function that builds // and return the insert string for dataset private String BuildAddString(BOCustomer cus) { // these are the constants as // set in the top of this module strTable="Insert into " + thisTable; strFields=" (" + cus_ID + "," + cus_LName + "," + cus_FName + "," + cus_Address + "," + cus_Tel + ")"; //these are the attributes of the //customer business object strValues= " Values ( '" + cus.cusID + "' , '" + cus.LName + "' , '" + cus.FName + "' , '" + cus.Address + "' , '" + cus.Tel + "' )"; insertStr = strTable + strFields + strValues; return insertStr; } } } Possible enhancements This code is very simple and shows the basic usage of 3-tier architecture A lot of enhancements including complete details of a client, error handling and many more are possible 708 ... Windows Forms ■ Lesson 2: Managing Control Layout with Container Controls 24 Lesson 1: Adding and Configuring Windows Forms Lesson 1: Adding and Configuring Windows... 699 Chapter Windows Forms and the User Interface This chapter introduces you to Windows Forms Windows Forms are the basis for most Microsoft Windows applications and can be... Exam objectives in this chapter: ■ ■ ■ Add and configure a Windows Form ❑ Add a Windows Form to a project at design time ❑ Configure a Windows Form to control accessibility, appearance, behavior,