Month: February 2008

  • Adding Auto Format for ASP.NET Custom Controls Design Time

    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…

  • Extracting Icons from Files

    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…

  • Exploring GDI+ : Using The Brush

    One 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 :   [more]  The 5 types as shown are : SolidBrush…

  • The ASP.NET Configuration Model

    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…

  • Custom Controls Design Time Support Part 15: Debugging Design Time

    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…

  • Custom Controls Design Time Support Part 14: Extra Property Tab

    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…

  • Custom Controls Design Time Support Part 13: Adding Snaplines

    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…

  • Custom Controls Design Time Support Part 12: Adding SmartTag

    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? SmartTag is one of the new enhancement of VisualStudio 2005 design time and VS 2008 as well. Smart tags are…