Building Windows Applcation using C#
Author
Date Of Submission
User Level
Mahesh Chand
07/23/2001
Beginner
Tools Used
Project Download
Visual C# .NET Final Release
mcWinFormApp.zip 20 KB
Ok, here I am with one more beginners tutorial. This time the pick is Windows (GUI) Application.
Creating a GUI application using Visual C# is way easier than that in VC++ previous versions.
This tutorial guides you to create your first Windows Application using the Visual C# Project
Wizard.
Creating Skeleton of the Application
Select New->Project->Visual C# Projects->Windows Application from your VS .NET IDE
and type your application name. I use mcWinFormApp.
And hit OK. The IDE will take you to the design view of a form ( similar to VB or Delphi ). In right
side, you will see the Solution Explorer. The Wizard adds one cs file for new from called Form1.cs.
This class has code for the form and all of its child windows.
When you double click (or user View Code menu option on the right click) on the Form1.cs, you
see this code:
/// Required designer variable.
/// </summary>
private System.ComponentModel.Container components = null;
public Form1()
{
//
// Required for Windows Form Designer support
//
InitializeComponent();
//
// TODO: Add any constructor code after InitializeComponent call
//
}
/// <summary>
/// Clean up any resources being used.
/// </summary>
protected override void Dispose( bool disposing )
{
if( disposing )
{
if (components != null)
{
components.Dispose();
}
}
base.Dispose( disposing );
}
#region Windows Form Designer generated code
/// <summary>
/// Required method for Designer support - do not modify
/// the contents of this method with the code editor.
/// </summary>
private void InitializeComponent()
{
this.components = new System.ComponentModel.Container();
this.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(300,300);
this.Text = "Form1";
}
#endregion
/// <summary>
/// The main entry point for the application.
/// </summary>
[STAThread]
static void Main()
{
Application.Run(new Form1());
}
}
}
This wizards adds a default namespace and adds reference to various namespaces require by
WinForms. The Form1 class is derived from System.WinForms.Form. The InitializeComponent
method initializes (creates) Form and its controls. You will see it in more details when you will
drop some controls on the form. The Dispose method cleans up all the resource which are not
being used anymore.
Adding Controls
To add controls ( Child Windows ) to a form, you need to open ToolBox ( Controls in VC++
previous versions ). This toolbox concepts came from VB. You can open ToolBox by clicking View>ToolBox menu item.
The ToolBox window looks like the below picture. Now you add controls similar to previous version
of Visual Studio either by drag-drop or by double clicking on the control.
Now I am going to drop few controls and let's see what Designer adds to InitializeComponent. I
drop a button and an edit box on the form and change Button property "Text" to Browse.
You use Properties Window to set properties of controls. This is similar to VB. You call
Properties Windows by right clicking on the control and clicking Properties menu item.
The Properties window for a button control looks like following. As you can see from the following
figure, I change Text property of button control to "Browse".
The Now if you see the InitializeComponent method you will see this code has been added to the
method. You can even modify this code by your hand.
#region Windows Form Designer generated code
/// <summary>
/// Required method for Designer support - do not modify
/// the contents of this method with the code editor.
/// </summary>
private void InitializeComponent()
{
this.button1 = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
this.textBox1 = new System.Windows.Forms.TextBox();
this.SuspendLayout();
//
// button1
//
this.button1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(8, 24);
this.button1.Name = "button1";
this.button1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(88, 24);
this.button1.TabIndex = 0;
this.button1.Text = "Browse";
//
// textBox1
//
this.textBox1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(128, 24);
this.textBox1.Name = "textBox1";
this.textBox1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(136, 20);
this.textBox1.TabIndex = 1;
this.textBox1.Text = "textBox1";
//
// Form1
//
this.AutoScaleBaseSize = new System.Drawing.Size(5, 13);
this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(292, 273);
this.Controls.AddRange(new System.Windows.Forms.Control[] {
this.textBox1,
this.button1});
this.Name = "Form1";
this.Text = "Form1";
this.ResumeLayout(false);
}
#endregion
Adding Event Handler
The last part of this tutorial is to add an event handler for the button and browse for a file in the
text box. You double click on the button to add an event handler for the button. Button1_Click is
the event handler for button. In same way you can write event handler for any control.
private void button1_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
OpenFileDialog fdlg = new OpenFileDialog();
fdlg.Title = "C# Corner Open File Dialog" ;
fdlg.InitialDirectory = @"c:\" ;
fdlg.Filter = "All files (*.*)|*.*|All files (*.*)|*.*" ;
fdlg.FilterIndex = 2 ;
fdlg.RestoreDirectory = true ;
if(fdlg.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
{
textBox1.Text = fdlg.FileName ;
}
}
Now you run the program and click the Browse button. It calls Open File Dialog, which lets you
browse for a file. I select a file.
And click Open. Action adds file name to the text box and application looks like following figure.
Mahesh Chand is a .NET consultant, author and the admin and founder of C# Corner. He has
been working with .NET technology since pre beta releases. Mahesh's background includes
Master's in Computer Science and Applications and B.Sc. Mathematics. He is also a Microsoft
Certified Professional.
Publication: Mahesh's publication includes the following titles Graphics Programming with GDI+
"This is the most comprehensive book about graphics programming using
GDI+ so far. This book will be a very useful handbook for everyone who does
graphics programming for Windows."
--Min Liu, Software Design Engineer of GDI+, Microsoft Corporation
Graphics Programming with GDI+ is the .NET developer's guide to writing
graphics applications for Windows and the Web. Through the use of detailed
examples it provides experienced programmers with a deep understanding of
the entire GDI+ API defined in the .NET Framework class library.
Applied ADO.NET: Building Data-Driven Solutions
User level: Intermediate
This book is written for intermediate to advanced developers who want to
design database based Windows and Web solutions
Applied ADO.NET: Building Data-Driven Solutions provides extensive coverage
of ADO.NET technology including ADO.NET internals, namespaces, classes, and
interfaces. Where most books cover only SQL and OLE DB data providers,
Mahesh Chand and David Talbot cover SQL, OLE DB, ODBC data providers and
the latest additions to ADO.NET: Oracle, MySQL, and XML .NET data providers.
Chand and Talbot also cover internals of data binding and they provide detailed
coverage on both Windows Forms and Web Forms data binding and data-bound
controls. Since XML plays a major role in .NET development, the authors also
provide a comprehensive look at XML namespaces and classes, and how to
integrate both with ADO.NET.
The Complete Guide for Visual C# Programmers
User level: Intermediate
This book covers major components that make up C# and the .NET
environment. The book is geared toward the intermediate programmer, but
contains enough material to satisfy the advanced developer. The book starts by
introducing the reader to the .NET environment and some basic C# program
examples. The book then goes in depth on how to navigate the Visual Studio
environment and introduces the reader to the C# language From here the book
dives into the .NET framework and how to take advantage of its capabilities
using C#. Some of the topics covered in great detail include ADO.NET
database programming, ASP.NET and Web Services, COM interoperability
programming, security in .NET, mobile phone programming, GDI+ graphic
programming, multithreading, Windows Services, XML and SOAP in .NET, and
much more. Chapters in the book contain programming examples, reference
tables, and step-by-step tutorials to guide you through one of Microsoft’s
greatest achievements in programming environments.
A Programmer's Guide to ADO .NET in C#
User level: Beginner
This book is written for beginners who want to write database applications
using ADO.NET and C#. This is the book on ADO.NET. ADO.NET is the latest
database technology from Microsoft and represents the most powerful way to
manipulate a database to date. A Programmer's Guide to ADO.NET in C#
begins by taking readers through an overview of C# and then delves into
ADO.NET. Author Mahesh Chand provides details on each of the major data
providers of the .NET platform, such as OleDb, Sql, and ODBC, which enable
developers to read and write data to the targeted databases. This book also
serves as a good reference for finding detailed methods and properties for
these data provider classes.