Stephens' C# Programming with Visual Studio® 2010 24-Hour Trainer

Control Summary

This appendix summarizes the purposes of the most common Windows Forms controls. The

intent of this appendix is to let you know what kinds of controls are available, not to provide

an exhaustive reference.

For additional details on how to use a control, see the online documentation. The web page

describing a control is named after the control including its namespace. For example, the web

page describing the

ComboBox class is msdn.microsoft.com/library/system.windows

.forms.combobox.aspx

.

All of the controls listed here are in the

System.Windows.Forms namespace (which you need

to know to enter the correct URL) unless otherwise noted.

Control PurPose

BackgroundWorker

Executes a background task in parallel on a separate thread.

Events provide notification of progress and completion (

System.

ComponentModel

namespace).

BindingNavigator

Provides a user interface for controls bound to a data source.

BindingSource

Encapsulates a data source for a form. Provides methods for

manipulating the data.

Button

A button.

CheckBox

A checkbox.

CheckedListBox

A list of items with checkboxes that let the user easily select one

or more items without needing the Click/Shift+Click/Ctrl+Click

techniques used by the regular

ListBox control.

ColorDialog

A dialog that lets the user select a color.

ComboBox

A combo box.

B

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478

❘

APPendix B Control Summary

Control PurPose

ContextMenuStrip

A context menu. Assign this object to another control’s

ContextMenu property and the menu automatically appears

when the user right-clicks the control.

DataGridView

Displays a grid of data, possibly bound to a data source.

DataSet

An in-memory representation of a database.

DateTimePicker

Allows the user to select a date and a time.

DomainUpDown

Displays a spin box (up-down control) that lets the user scroll

through a list of predefined choices.

ErrorProvider

Displays an error indicator for other controls.

EventLog

Allows a program to interact with system event logs (System.

Diagnostics

namespace).

FileSystemWatcher

Raises events when a directory or file changes so you can keep

track of it (although I’ve had mixed success with this control)

(

System.IO namespace).

FlowLayoutPanel

A panel that dynamically arranges its contents in either rows or

columns.

FolderBrowserDialog

A dialog that lets the user select a folder (directory).

FontDialog

A dialog that lets the user select a font.

Form

Displays a window on the desktop.

GroupBox

Groups controls inside an outline and displays a header for the

group.

HelpProvider

Provides a tooltip or online help for other controls.

HScrollBar

A horizontal scrollbar.

ImageList

Stores a list of images for use by other controls.

Label

Displays non-editable text in a single font.

LinkLabel

Displays a label that contains a hyperlink. When the user clicks

the hyperlink, the control raises an event so the program can

take action.

ListBox

Displays a list of items.

ListView

Displays a group of items in four dierent views: LargeIcon,

SmallIcon, Details, and Tile.

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APPendix B Control Summary

❘

479

Control PurPose

MaskedTextBox

Similar to a TextBox except it displays an input mask to prompt

the user and restrict entry. For example, a telephone mask might

look like (___)-___-____.

MenuStrip

A form’s main menu.

MessageQueue

Provides tools for creating and interacting with message queues

(

System.Messaging namespace).

MonthCalendar

Allows the user to select a date or date range from a calendar.

NotifyIcon

Displays an icon in the notification area or system tray (usually

on the right end of the taskbar). Can provide a context menu,

and the program can use the icon to indicate status to the user.

NumericUpDown

Displays a spin box (up-down control) that lets the user pick a

numeric value.

OpenFileDialog

A dialog that lets the user select a file for opening. Can require

that the file actually exists.

PageSetupDialog

A dialog that allows the user to define printer page settings,

such as margins and printout orientation.

Panel

A simple container that holds other controls. Set AutoScroll

= true to make the

Panel automatically display scrollbars if

needed. (This is its coolest feature!)

PerformanceCounter

Provides access to Windows NT performance counters

(

System.Diagnostics namespace).

PictureBox

Displays an image. The SizeMode property determines how

the image is sized and can take the values

Normal (clip the

image if it doesn’t fit),

StretchImage (make the image fit

the

PictureBox even if that distorts it), AutoSize (size the

PictureBox to fit the image), CenterImage (center the image,

clipping it if it is too big), and

Zoom (make the image as large as

possible without distorting its shape).

PrintDialog

A dialog that allows the user to select a printer, set printer prop-

erties, and pick the pages to print.

PrintDocument

Represents a printed document. Catch the PrintPage event to

generate output.

PrintPreviewControl

Displays a preview of a PrintDocument in a control.

PrintPreviewDialog

Displays a preview of a PrintDocument in a dialog.

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