ADO.NET 3.5 Cookbook, 2nd Edition

1.19. Displaying a Connection Property Dialog Box

Problem

You want to display a dialog box from an application that lets users create database connections using a Properties dialog box similar to that in the Visual Studio IDE.

Solution

Use a PropertyGrid control.

Follow these steps to create the solution:

1. Create a C# Windows Forms application, DisplayConnectionPropertyDialog.

2. Add a PropertyGrid control. Accept all default properties including the name propertyGrid1. Add an event handler named onPropertyValueChanged() for the PropertyValueChanged event.

3. Add a Label control below the PropertyGrid control. Set its Text property to Connection String:.

4. Add a TextBox control below the Label control. Name it connectString. Set the ReadOnly property to true. Set the Multiline property to true. Size the control to accommodate about four lines of text.

5. The C# code in Form1.cs in the project DisplayConnectionPropertyDialog is shown in Example 1-18. You need to add the highlighted code.

Example 1-18. File: Program.cs for DisplayConnectionPropertyDialog solution

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Data.SqlClient;

namespace DisplayConnectionPropertyDialog
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        SqlConnectionStringBuilder scsb =
            new SqlConnectionStringBuilder();

        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();

            propertyGrid1.SelectedObject = scsb;
        }

        private void onPropertyValueChanged(
            object s, PropertyValueChangedEventArgs e)
        {
            connectString.Text = scsb.ConnectionString;
        }
    }
}

Run the solution and ...