Use custom controls to get the most out of Windows Forms

Overview:

Get the most out of Windows Forms, the next-generation Windows programming class library, by using C# to create dynamic user interfaces and graphical outputs for Windows applications. Focus on developing custom controls in this sample chapter from Programming Microsoft Windows Forms: A Streamlined Approach Using C#. From a programming perspective, a custom control is a class that you define that derives—either directly or indirectly—from Control. It may be an enhancement of an existing control or an entirely new control. Although you can perform a significant amount of customization just by installing event handlers on existing controls and processing those events, a new class is required if you need to entirely override default event handling. You also need to create a new class if you want to add fields or properties to an existing control. In this chapter, investigate:

• Enhancing existing controls
• Overriding methods
• Adding new properties
• Control paint jobs
• Combining existing controls
• Creating custom controls from scratch

As with most any programming job, the real benefit of custom controls comes with reusing them in multiple applications or in making them available to other programmers for profit or glory.

Title: Programming Microsoft Windows Forms: A Streamlined Approach Using C#
ISBN: 0735613702
Published: December 2001
Authors: Charles Petzold
Chapter: Chapter 4: Custom Controls
Published by Microsoft Press

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