Adding Auto Format for ASP.NET Custom Controls Design Time

by Amr Elsehemy 25. February 2008 14:58

Back to design time support, but this time with ASP.NET server controls, most complex & simple controls built in the .NET framework are associated with an Auto Format.. link in the smart tag as the one shown in the figure, I showed in a previous post how to add links and properties to the smart tag of a control.

autoLink  More...

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Design Time Support

Extracting Icons from Files

by Amr Elsehemy 21. February 2008 15:25

Update: This approach is only to show one of the hidden gems in the .net framework and not to steal copyrighted icons.
Icons of other programs should only be used after owner approval.

Have you ever seen a file with a pretty icon you wanted to use but you couldn't get a similar one in your program?

If yes,  try this method >> Icon.ExtractAssociatedIcon here is the code I wrote that works fine, you will also find the sample attached

Icon ico;

public Form1()
{
  InitializeComponent();
  ico = this.Icon;
}

private void btnGetIcon_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
  if(dlgOpen.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
  {
    ico = Icon.ExtractAssociatedIcon(dlgOpen.FileName);
    this.Icon = ico;
    pnlIcon.Invalidate();
  }
}

private void pnlIcon_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
  e.Graphics.DrawIcon(ico, pnlIcon.ClientRectangle);
}

IconExtractor.zip (7.03 kb)

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Windows Forms

Exploring GDI+ : Using The Brush

by Amr Elsehemy 15. February 2008 08:01

Brush HierarchyOne of the core classes in the GDI+ framework built in .Net is the Brush class. There are 5 types of Brushes in .Net that help you to color your objects by lot of variations the five types are as shown in the figure :

 

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GDI+

The ASP.NET Configuration Model

by Amr Elsehemy 14. February 2008 11:20

ASP.NET as well as .NET applications have one more excellent feature, ASP.NET uses a flexible configuration management system that keeps the application configuration separate from application code. ASP.NET configuration is stored in XML files with the .config extension, which makes it easy for users to change it before, during and after deployment.

The configuration file we all are aware of is the web.config file found in the application root, which when added has almost very simple configurations. But guess what that is not the only configuration file that your ASP.NET application relies on, there are other config files that your application inherit that configuration by default, next I will show the Configuration Hierarchy in ASP.NET. More...

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ASP.NET

Custom Controls Design Time Support Part 15: Debugging Design Time

by Amr Elsehemy 12. February 2008 13:16

This is final part of my series/tutorial on design time support, it was really fun writing it and hearing your comments and suggestions, I really learnt alot and hope you too had some experience in writing design time support for the custom controls.

In this part, I will show you how to debug the design time code we are writing (works with vs 2005 and 2008).

More...

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Design Time Support

Custom Controls Design Time Support Part 14: Extra Property Tab

by Amr Elsehemy 8. February 2008 09:19

The default PropetryWindow in the visual studio shows 2 Tabs one for properties and another for events. If one day you thought that you have set of members might be Properties that you need to put them in an extra property tab then in this post you will learn how to put extra tabs.

When this can be useful?

After the ajax era has arrived and component authors started to build some ajax controls we usually see Properties named " ClientXXX " where xxx is the event name and these properties just appear in the properties tab while it would be more appropriate to show them in an extra tab say a Client side events.  More...

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Design Time Support

Custom Controls Design Time Support Part 13: Adding Snaplines

by Amr Elsehemy 4. February 2008 12:56

Another new feature added in the Design Time Environment in visual studio 2005 and 2008 for windows forms and windows user controls designers is the Snaplines.

What is a snapline?

A snapline is a dynamically generated UI layout guide line. Snaplines are generated during control move operations in the designer. The location of other controls on the design surface provide the lines.

All controls by default inherit the default the Snaplines which appear while moving that interact with Tops, Lefts, Bottoms and Rights of other controls, with the form border, spacings from other controls and some other. One remarkable snapline is the one that appears while moving a Label control beside TextBox controls the purple snapline that aligns the text position instead of the control position. More...

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Design Time Support

Custom Controls Design Time Support Part 12: Adding SmartTag

by Amr Elsehemy 1. February 2008 23:15
One more advantage you get from building a custom designer for your custom controls is that you can add smart tag panel to add important most used properties and methods.

What is a Smart Tag?

aa

SmartTag is one of the new enhancement of VisualStudio 2005 design time and VS 2008 as well. Smart tags are menu-like user interface (UI) elements that supply commonly used design-time options. Most of the standard components and controls provided with the .NET Framework contain smart tag and designer verb enhancements. More...

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Design Time Support

About the author

Amr Elsehemy
MCSD C#.Net,
MCTS Sql 2005,
MCPD Enterprise
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