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Start up visual studio .net
Select "New Project"
Visual C# and Windows Application, set folder and project name/OK
At this point you have the following program (all for free)
using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Collections;
using System.ComponentModel; // curious
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Data;
namespace Experiment1
{
/// <summary>
/// Summary description for Form1.
/// </summary>
public class Form1 : System.Windows.Forms.Form
{
/// <summary>
/// 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] // what could this be?
static void Main()
{
Application.Run(new Form1());
}
}
}
I saved a copy of this program in order to see difference as I used the forms editor
Using the toolbox, select one of the controls to insert (I choose "button" to start with)
Using the properties form, I changed the "text" property to "Click Here"
Double click on the Button in the forms editor and you will see the following code (after adding the "MessageBox.Show" line
private void button1_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
MessageBox.Show("you clicked here");
}
In addition, the wizard added the following lines of code (in red - with one line on each side for context
//// around line 14
public class Form1 : System.Windows.Forms.Form
{
private System.Windows.Forms.Button button1;
/// <summary>
//// around line 54 - changed most of this function
private void InitializeComponent()
{
this.button1 = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
this.SuspendLayout();
//
// button1
//
this.button1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(104, 8);
this.button1.Name = "button1";
this.button1.TabIndex = 0;
this.button1.Text = "Click Here";
this.button1.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.button1_Click);
//
// 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.button1});
this.Name = "Form1";
this.Text = "Form1";
this.ResumeLayout(false);
}
Build the solution and test it out.
Next I added a textbox, doubly clicked to put in a "Text_change" event handler, with the following MessageBox (to display the text currently in the box)
private void myText_TextChanged(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
MessageBox.Show("Text is: " + ((TextBox) sender).Text); }
}
However this is called every character typed - could change it to a click event. What changes would that take?
Before doing that - let's output the text typed in the button click and also set the title to that text.
private void button1_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
MessageBox.Show("you clicked here, text is: " + this.myText.Text);
this.Text = this.myText.Text;
}
Select "events" tab in properties, goto MouseUp and type in event handler name, make it look like this
private void myText_MouseUp(object sender, System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventArgs e)
{
MessageBox.Show("Text is: " + ((TextBox) sender).Text);
}
Add more controls and insert message boxes in their handlers
In Componenets found a "Timer" - hmm what can we do with this?
How about make a slider move back and forth?
Here is a program I had at the end of a set of experiments: (deleting some lines - full source is here).
public class Form1 : System.Windows.Forms.Form
{
private System.Windows.Forms.Button clickButton;
private System.Windows.Forms.TextBox myText;
private System.Timers.Timer timer1;
private System.Windows.Forms.TrackBar trackBar1;
private int trackDirection; // plus or minus one depending on direction
private int trackIncrement;
private System.Windows.Forms.ListBox listBox1;
////...
public Form1()
{
//
// Required for Windows Form Designer support
//
InitializeComponent();
//
// TODO: Add any constructor code after InitializeComponent call
//
timer1.Interval = 50; // set for two seconds
timer1.AutoReset = true; // let it repeat
timer1.Enabled = true; // and turn it on
trackDirection = 1;
trackIncrement = (trackBar1.Maximum - trackBar1.Minimum)/10;
}
#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.clickButton = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
this.myText = new System.Windows.Forms.TextBox();
this.timer1 = new System.Timers.Timer();
this.trackBar1 = new System.Windows.Forms.TrackBar();
this.listBox1 = new System.Windows.Forms.ListBox();
((System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize)(this.timer1)).BeginInit();
((System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize)(this.trackBar1)).BeginInit();
this.SuspendLayout();
//
// clickButton
//
this.clickButton.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(8, 64);
this.clickButton.Name = "clickButton";
this.clickButton.TabIndex = 0;
this.clickButton.Text = "Click Here";
this.clickButton.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.button1_Click);
//
// myText
//
this.myText.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(16, 8);
this.myText.Name = "myText";
this.myText.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(248, 20);
this.myText.TabIndex = 1;
this.myText.Text = "";
this.myText.TextChanged += new System.EventHandler(this.myText_TextChanged);
this.myText.MouseUp += new System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventHandler(this.myText_MouseUp);
//
// timer1
//
this.timer1.Enabled = true;
this.timer1.SynchronizingObject = this;
this.timer1.Elapsed += new System.Timers.ElapsedEventHandler(this.timer1_Elapsed);
//
// trackBar1
//
this.trackBar1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(16, 208);
this.trackBar1.Name = "trackBar1";
this.trackBar1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(272, 42);
this.trackBar1.TabIndex = 2;
//
// listBox1
//
this.listBox1.Items.AddRange(new object[] {
"Red",
"Green",
"Blue",
"Purple"});
this.listBox1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(160, 48);
this.listBox1.Name = "listBox1";
this.listBox1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(120, 95);
this.listBox1.TabIndex = 3;
this.listBox1.SelectedIndexChanged += new System.EventHandler(this.listBox1_SelectedIndexChanged);
//
// 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.listBox1,
this.trackBar1,
this.myText,
this.clickButton});
this.Name = "Form1";
this.Text = "Form1";
((System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize)(this.timer1)).EndInit();
((System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize)(this.trackBar1)).EndInit();
this.ResumeLayout(false);
}
#endregion
/// <summary>
/// The main entry point for the application.
/// </summary>
[STAThread]
static void Main()
{
Application.Run(new Form1());
}
private void button1_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
MessageBox.Show("you clicked here, text is: " + this.myText.Text);
this.Text = this.myText.Text;
}
private void myText_TextChanged(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
// MessageBox.Show("Text is: " + ((TextBox) sender).Text);
}
private void myText_MouseUp(object sender, System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventArgs e)
{
MessageBox.Show("Text is: " + ((TextBox) sender).Text);
}
private void timer1_Elapsed(object sender, System.Timers.ElapsedEventArgs e)
{
int currentValue = this.trackBar1.Value +
trackDirection*trackIncrement;
if(currentValue > trackBar1.Maximum)
{
currentValue = trackBar1.Maximum;
trackDirection = -1;
}
if(currentValue < trackBar1.Minimum)
{
currentValue = trackBar1.Minimum;
trackDirection = 1;
}
this.trackBar1.Value = currentValue;
}
private void listBox1_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
ListBox tempBox = (ListBox) sender;
string msg = tempBox.Items[tempBox.SelectedIndex].ToString();
MessageBox.Show(" You selected index "
+ listBox1.SelectedIndex.ToString()
+ " Value is " + msg);
}
}
}