Introduction
This book, titled 'Visual
Studio.Net - Controls and Add-ins', picks up from where our earlier book named
'Visual Studio.Net - The Basics', left off.
The preceding book encompassed
the following three primary aspects:-
• It elucidated the design of the
framework by creating unpretentious and simple applications
• It laid abundant emphasis on the use
of the C# language.
• It discoursed about the internal
mechanism of the Framework.
This book is a sequel in which,
the sophisticated subject of User-Controls and the Extensibility features
offered by Add-ins are probed in detail.
The first section of the book
evinces the creation of Windows Forms Controls. It swathes the basics of creating
a Control, exposing its properties and events. It also explores the process of
adding design-time behavior to the Control.
The second section of the book
undertakes a voyage of discovery of the Extensibility option. Microsoft has
invested heavily in incorporating extensibility in Visual Studio.Net. This
facilitates customization and extension of Visual Studio.Net by third-party
developers, by means of exploiting the Add-in options.
In order to extract and absorb
the essence of this book in full measure, your sound familiarity with the C#
language is an absolute inevitability. Further, you should be at considerable
ease with the User Interface aspects of the Framework. If it is any other way,
then a word to the wise is to become conversant with the basic fundamentals
from our preceding book, before venturing forth to grapple with the contents of
this one.
Controls insulate the user from
the complexity of the underlying software infrastructure. A control could
either inherit directly from the base class or it could differ substantially
from its parent class. The provision to construct one's own controls bestows
the greatest measure of flexibility possible on a programmer. However, while
germinating such controls, certain fundamental guidelines have to be conformed
to. These guidelines are delineated in
a 'step-by-step' approach in the ensuing chapters, with the aid of sample
programs.
The first chapter lays the basal
foundation and gets you acquainted with the fundamental structure and the
methodology of a User Control. It also characterizes and expounds the
attributes, properties and events associated with a Control. All the Controls
are emplaced in an Editor as a matter of course. Here, we have made a deviation
by way of creating our own User Interface Type Editor, instead of using the
Editor provided by Microsoft.
The second chapter assiduously
explicates, in minute detail, the creation and mechanism of the User Interface
Type Editor. We look upon it as obligatory, since we have exploited this Editor
extensively, throughout the book.
The issue of Type Conversion,
which rears its head while we essay at analyzing the fundamental concepts of
the User Interface Type Editor, has been addressed in the third chapter.
The very quintessence of the
fourth chapter is the exposition of how Controls work in consort with the
Design Time environment of Visual Studio.Net. Extender Providers and Advanced
Designers, the other concepts of considerable consequence, have also been
canvassed here.
The fifth chapter espies us
formulating user-defined controls, whose foremost mission is to generate C#
code in the Code Editor. In other words, the chief intent of this chapter is to
assimilate Controls, which in turn, slot in additional code to the already
existent code generated by the Designer.
So far, the book discourses
about Controls that work in consonance with Windows Forms. The sixth chapter
deviates from the trodden path and plumbs into the arena of Web Controls, which
are controls in a Web Form. They are discernible in a browser and work on the
Internet.
On specific occasions, it is
desirable to integrate auxiliary functionality directly into the
environment. Add-ins are a potent and
effective way of doing so. They fit into Visual Studio.Net seamlessly, thus rendering
it extremely easy for the end-users to tailor the tool as per their working
style.
Almost everything about Visual
Studio.Net can be altered or customized by the programmer. For a prolonged
spell of time, Visual Studio.Net is destined to rule as the most extensible
product in the world. This product can be extended using the principles of
Automation.
Add-ins are the starting point
for any programmer who wishes to extend Visual Studio.Net in any desired
manner. These Add-ins must capture the events to implement smooth integration.
The last two chapters in the book weigh up these aspects, where the events that
get triggered off at distinct levels, have been adeptly explained.
Thus, this book serves as a
springboard for any programmer who wishes to learn the innards of the sterling
features of User Controls and Add-ins of Visual Studio.Net. It provides stimulus apropos to an inquiring mind. It
teems up with abundant sample programs and captivating text. It will play an
ameliorating role in assisting you to acquire ample knowledge of these vital
features of Visual Studio.Net. Therefore, we beseech you to explore with this
book with unremitting attention, without further ado.
Software Requirements
The software requirements to
successfully run all the programs in this book are
• Operating System - Windows 2000
• Microsoft IIS ver 5.0
• SQLServer 2000 (Evaluation Edition)
• Internet Explorer 6
• Visual Studio.Net
SQLServer 2000
While installing the evaluation
edition of SQLServer 2000, we have chosen the default selected settings. The
only modification made is in the Authentication Dialog Box.
You see two options
• Windows Authentication mode
• Mixed mode (Windows Authentication
and SQL Server Mode)
The default option selected is
Windows Authentication mode. We have instead selected Mixed mode (Windows
Authentication and SQL Server Mode). Once this option is selected, the password
text boxes for the 'sa' user gets activated. As we would prefer using a blank
password in our programs, we select Blank Password. On selecting this option,
the text boxes get disabled again.
Acknowledgements
The many individuals who have
worked together to produce this great work of art and motivated me all the way
need a mention here. Their bright ideas, inspiration, support has made me a lot
more stronger and wiser.
First and foremost, thanks to Manish
Jain, BPB Publications for publishing the book.
To my co-authors, Sonal
and Manish who have put in a lot of hard work to complete the work
assigned to them.
To Tanuja Sodhi, an
ex-Naval Officer from the first batch of lady officers and an MBA from Jamnalal
Bajaj, for editing the book. She is presently freelancing as a creative writer.
To Altaf Hemani and Kishore
Rohra, for their creativity in designing the cover in a given short time.
To Shivanand Shetty, who
has always been there, as a source of inspiration and encouragement.
A long list of friends need a
mention here for their patience and cooperation on this book while it was being
written.
-Vijay Mukhi