C# Windows Forms

Graphical User Interface

• Gives a program distinctive “look” and
“feel”
• Built from GUI controls
• Objects that can display information on the
screen or enable users to interact with an
application
 Common GUI Event
– mouse move
– mouse click
– mouse double-click
– key press
– button click
– change in focus
– window activation
 Windows Forms

• Used to create GUIs for programs

• Graphical element that appears on your
computer’s desktop
• Active window is the front most window
• A Form is a container for controls and
components
• In visual programming, Visual Studio
generates much of the GUI-related code
 C# Windows Forms
• C# programmers have made extensive use of
forms to build user interfaces.
 C# Windows Forms
• At the top of the form there is a title bar which
displays the forms title.
• Form1 is the default name, and you can
change the name to your convenience .
• The title bar also includes the control box,
which holds the minimize, maximize, and close
buttons.
•the properties of the currently selected Windows Form or
control, and its here that you can change the existing values.
• For example , if you want to change the back color of
the form to Brown , you can code in the Form1_Load
event like the following.

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)

{
this.BackColor = Color.Brown;
}

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {

this.Text = "Change Prperties Through Coding";
this.BackColor = Color.Brown;
this.Size = new Size(350, 125);
this.Location = new Point(300, 300);
this.MaximizeBox = false;
}
 Keep Form on Top of All Other Windows

private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)

{
Form2 frm = new Form2();
frm.TopMost = true;
frm.Show();
}
 Multiple Document Interface (MDI)
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {
IsMdiContainer = true;
}
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Form2 frm2 = new Form2();
frm2.Show();
frm2.MdiParent = this;
}
 C# Label Control
• Labels are one of the most frequently used C#
control.
• We can use the Label control to display text in
a set location on the page.
• Label controls can also be used to add
descriptive text to a Form to provide the user
with helpful information.
 C# Label Control

If you want to change the display text of the Label, you have to set a new
text to the Text property of Label.
label1.Text = "This is my first Label";

Label control can also display an image using the Image property, or a
combination of the ImageIndex and ImageList properties.

label1.Image = Image.FromFile("C:\\testimage.jpg");
The following C# source code shows how to set
some properties of the Label through coding.

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {

label1.Text = "This is my first Lable";
label1.BorderStyle = BorderStyle.FixedSingle;
label1.TextAlign = ContentAlignment.MiddleCenter;
}
 C# Button Control
• Windows Forms controls are reusable components
that encapsulate user interface functionality and
are used in client side Windows applications.
• A button is a control, which is an interactive
component that enables users to communicate
with an application.
• The Button class inherits directly from the
ButtonBase class.
• A Button can be clicked by using the mouse, ENTER
key, or SPACEBAR if the button has focus.
• button1.Text = "Click Here";
• button1.Image = Image.FromFile("C:\\testimage.jpg");
How to Call a Button's Click Event Programmatically
The Click event is raised when the Button control is clicked. This event is commonly used when no
command name is associated with the Button control. Raising an event invokes the event handler through
a delegate.

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)

{
Button b = new Button();
b.Click += new EventHandler(ShowMessage);
Controls.Add(b);
}
private void ShowMessage(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
MessageBox.Show("Button Click");
}
 C# TextBox Control
• A TextBox control is used to display, or accept
as input, a single line of text.
• For displaying a text in a TextBox control
– textBox1.Text = "http://csharp.net-informations.com";
• You can also collect the input value from a
TextBox control to a variable
– string var;
– var = textBox1.Text;
 C# TextBox Control
• A text box object is used to display text on a
form or to get user input while a C# program is
running.
• For displaying a text in a TextBox control , you can code like
this:
textBox1.Text = “Hello world”
• You can also collect the input value from a TextBox control to
a variable like this way.
string var;
var = textBox1.Text;
 C# TextBox Properties
• You can set TextBox properties through Property window or through
program.
textBox1.Multiline = true;
textBox1.Width = 250;
textBox1.Height = 50;
textBox1.MaxLength = 40;
textBox1.ReadOnly = true;
textBox1.PasswordChar = '*';

Background Color and Foreground Color

textBox1.BackColor = Color.Blue;
textBox1.ForeColor = Color.White;

Textbox BorderStyle
textBox1.BorderStyle = BorderStyle.Fixed3D;
 TextBox Events
Keydown event
You can capture which key is pressed by the user using KeyDown event
e.g

TextChanged Event
When user input or setting the Text property to a new value raises the TextChanged event
e.g
 How to Newline in a TextBox
textBox1.Text += "your text" + "\r\n";
Or
textBox1.Text += "your text" + Environment.NewLine;
How to retrieve integer values from textbox ?
int i;
i = int.Parse (textBox1.Text);
 C# ComboBox Control
• A ComboBox displays a text box combined with a
ListBox, which enables the user to select items from
the list or enter a new value.
• You can add individual objects with the Add method.
You can delete items with the Remove method or
clear the entire list with the Clear method.
comboBox1.Items.Add("Sunday"); comboBox1.Items.RemoveAt(1);
comboBox1.Items.Add("Monday"); comboBox1.Items.Remove("Friday");
comboBox1.Items.Add("Tuesday");
 ComboBox SelectedItem
string var;
var = comboBox1.Text;
Or
var item = this.comboBox1.GetItemText(this.comboBox1.SelectedItem);
MessageBox.Show(item);

ComboBox Selected Value

comboBox1.Items.Add("test1");
comboBox1.Items.Add("test2");
comboBox1.Items.Add("test3");
comboBox1.SelectedItem = "test3";
or
comboBox1.SelectedIndex =
comboBox1.FindStringExact("test3");
 The DropDownStyle property
• specifies whether the list is always displayed or
whether the list is displayed in a drop-down.
• The DropDownStyle property also specifies
whether the text portion can be edited.
comboBox1.DropDownStyle = ComboBoxStyle.DropDown;
 ComboBox DataSource Property
• How to populate a combo box with a DataSet?
• You can Programmatically Binding DataSource to
ComboBox in the following way
• Consider an sql string like...."select
au_id,au_lname from authors";
• Make a datasource and bind it like the following...
comboBox1.DataSource = ds.Tables[0];
comboBox1.ValueMember = "au_id";
comboBox1.DisplayMember = "au_lname";
 C# ListBox Control
• enables you to display a list of items to the user
that the user can select by clicking.
Setting ListBox Properties
C# Listbox example
listBox1.Items.Add("Sunday");
Insert Items in a Listbox
listBox1.Items.Insert(0, "First");
listBox1.Items.Insert(1, "Second");
listBox1.Items.Insert(2, "Third");
listBox1.Items.Insert(3, "Forth");
Listbox Selected Item
string item =
listBox1.GetItemText(listBox1.SelectedIte
m);
OR
string item =
listBox1.SelectedItem.ToString();
OR
string item= listBox1.Text;
 Selecting Multiple Items from Listbox
• The SelectionMode property determines how
many items in the list can be selected at a time.
listBox1.SelectionMode = SelectionMode.MultiSimple;
How to bind a ListBox to a List ?
Creating a List
List<string> nList = new List<string>();
nList.Add("January");
nList.Add("February");
nList.Add("March");
nList.Add("April");
Binding to List
listBox1.DataSource = nList;
 How to clear all data in a listBox?
listBox1.Items.Clear();
Remove item from Listbox
listBox1.Items.RemoveAt(2);

Listbox Vs ListView Vs GridView

• C# ListBox has many similarities with ListView or GridView (they
share the parent class ItemsControl), but each control is oriented
towards different situations.

• ListBox is best for general UI composition, particularly when the

elements are always intended to be selectable, whereas ListView
or GridView are best for data binding scenarios, particularly if
virtualization or large data sets are involved.
 C# Checked ListBox Control
• gives you all the capability of a list box and also allows you
to display a check mark next to the items in the list box.
Checkedlistbox add items

checkedListBox1.Items.Add("Sunday"
, CheckState.Checked);
checkedListBox1.Items.Add("Monday"
, CheckState.Unchecked);
checkedListBox1.Items.Add("Tuesday
", CheckState.Indeterminate);
AddRange method
string[] days = new[] { "Sunday",
"Monday", "Tuesday" };
checkedListBox1.Items.AddRange(days);
 C# RadioButton Control
• A radio button or option button enables the
user to select a single option from a group of
choices when paired with other RadioButton
controls.
• When a user clicks on a radio button, it
becomes checked, and all other radio buttons
with same group become unchecked.
Example
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{ if (radioButton1.Checked == true) {
MessageBox.Show ("You are selected Red !! ");
return; }
else if (radioButton2.Checked == true) {
MessageBox.Show("You are selected Blue !! "); return; }
else {
MessageBox.Show("You are selected Green !! "); return;
}
}
 C# CheckBox Control
• allows the user to make multiple selections
from a number of options.
• You can use the CheckBox control ThreeState
property to direct the control to return the
Checked, Unchecked, and Indeterminate
values.
checkBox1.ThreeState = true;
 C# PictureBox Control
• The Windows Forms PictureBox control is used to
display images in bitmap, GIF , icon , or JPEG formats.

• You can programmatically change the

image displayed in a picture box
pictureBox1.Image =
Image.FromFile("c:\\testImage.jpg");
• The SizeMode property, which is set to
values in the PictureBoxSizeMode
pictureBox1.SizeMode =
PictureBoxSizeMode.StretchImage;
five different PictureBoxSizeMode
• AutoSize - Sizes the picture box to the image.
• CenterImage - Centers the image in the
picture box.
• Normal - Places the upper-left corner of the
image at upper left in the picture box
• StretchImage - Allows you to stretch the image
in code
 C# ProgressBar Control
• It is a control that an application can use to indicate the
progress of a lengthy operation such as calculating a
complex result, downloading a large file from the Web etc.
• The Maximum and Minimum properties define the range
of values to represent the progress of a task.
• Minimum : Sets the lower value for the range of valid
values for progress.
• Maximum : Sets the upper value for the range of valid
values for progress.
• Value : This property obtains or sets the current level of
progress.
• By default, Minimum and Maximum are set to 0 and 100.
 Example
private void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
int i;
progressBar1.Minimum = 0;
progressBar1.Maximum = 200;
for (i = 0; i <= 200; i++)
progressBar1.Value = i;
}
 C# ScrollBars Control
• allows you to view content that is outside of the
current viewing area by sliding the Thumb to
make the content visible.
Example
private void Form1_Load(object sender,
EventArgs e) {
textBox1.Multiline = true;
textBox1.ScrollBars = ScrollBars.Both;
}
 C# DateTimePicker Control
• allows you to display and collect date and time
from the user with a specified format.
• The DateTimePicker control has two parts, a label
that displays the selected date and a popup
calendar that allows users to select a new date.
 DateTimePicker , Value property
• which holds the selected date and time.
dateTimePicker1.Value = DateTime.Today;
• The Value property contains the current date and time the control
is set to.
DateTime iDate;
iDate = dateTimePicker1.Value;
• The values can be displayed in four formats, which are set by the
Format property: Long, Short, Time, or Custom.
dateTimePicker1.Format = DateTimePickerFormat.Short;

• You can use the methods like Convert.ToDateTime(String), DateTime.Parse()

and DateTime.ParseExact() 
 Example
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {
dateTimePicker1.Format = DateTimePickerFormat.Short;
dateTimePicker1.Value = DateTime.Today;
}
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
DateTime iDate; iDate = dateTimePicker1.Value;
MessageBox.Show("Selected date is " + iDate); }
 C# Treeview Control
• contains a hierarchy of TreeViewItem controls.
It provides a way to display information in a
hierarchical structure by using collapsible
nodes .
• The top level in a tree view are root nodes
that can be expanded or collapsed if the
nodes have child nodes.
Example
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {
TreeNode tNode ;
tNode = treeView1.Nodes.Add("Websites");
treeView1.Nodes[0].Nodes.Add("Net-informations.com");
treeView1.Nodes[0].Nodes[0].Nodes.Add("CLR");
treeView1.Nodes[0].Nodes.Add("Vb.net-informations.com");
treeView1.Nodes[0].Nodes[1].Nodes.Add("String Tutorial");
treeView1.Nodes[0].Nodes[1].Nodes.Add("Excel Tutorial");
treeView1.Nodes[0].Nodes.Add("Csharp.net-
informations.com");
treeView1.Nodes[0].Nodes[2].Nodes.Add("ADO.NET");
treeView1.Nodes[0].Nodes[2].Nodes[0].Nodes.Add("Dataset")
;
}
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {
MessageBox.Show(treeView1.SelectedNode.FullPath.ToString
());
}
 C# ListView Control
• It is an ItemsControl that is derived from ListBox.
Add Columns in ListView
listView1.Columns.Add("ProductName", 100);
- first one is the Column heading and second one the column width.
- In the above code, "ProductName" is column heading and 100 is column width.
Add Item in Listview
• You can add items in listbox using ListViewItem which represents an item in a ListView control.
string[] arr = new string[4];
ListViewItem itm;
//add items to ListView
arr[0] = "product_1";
arr[1] = "100";
arr[2] = "10";
itm = new ListViewItem(arr);
listView1.Items.Add(itm);
Get selected item from ListView
productName = listView1.SelectedItems[0].SubItems[0].Text;
Above code will return the item from first column of first row.
 C# ListView Control
Sorting Listview Items
• The following code sorts the ListView items:
ListView1.Sorted = true;
Add Checkbox in Listview
myListView.CheckBoxes = true;
myListView.Columns.Add(text, width, alignment);

The following C# program first set its view property as Details and GridLines
property as true and FullRowSelect as true.
listView1.View = View.Details;
listView1.GridLines = true;
listView1.FullRowSelect = true;
Example
Cont…
 C# Menu Control
• A Menu on a Windows Form is created with a
MainMenu object, which is a collection of
MenuItem objects.
• MainMenu is the container for the Menu
structure of the form and
• menus are made of MenuItem objects that
represent individual parts of a menu.
Example
 C# Color Dialog Box
• There are several classes that implement
common dialog boxes, such as color selection ,
print setup etc.
• You can invite a color dialog box by calling
ShowDialog() method.
ColorDialog dlg = new ColorDialog();
dlg.ShowDialog();
Example
 C# Font Dialog Box
• Font dialog box represents a common dialog
box that displays a list of fonts that are
currently installed on the system.
• The Font dialog box lets the user choose
attributes for a logical font, such as font family
and associated font style, point size, effects ,
and a script .
Example
 C# OpenFile Dialog Box
• The OpenFileDialog component allows users
to browse the folders of their computer or any
computer on the network and select one or
more files to open.
• The dialog box returns the path and name of
the file the user selected in the dialog box.
Example
 C# Print Dialog Box
• A user can use the Print dialog box to select a
printer, configure it, and perform a print job.
• Print dialog boxes provide an easy way to
implement Print and Print Setup dialog boxes
in a manner consistent with Windows
standards.
Example
 C# Timer Control
• With the Timer Control we can raise events at
a specific interval of time without the
interaction of another thread.
• We have to use Timer Object when we want
to set an interval between events, periodic
checking, to start a process at a fixed time
schedule, to increase or decrease the speed in
an animation graphics with time schedule etc.
 How to use C# Timer Control ?
• The Timer Control allows us to set Interval
property in milliseconds.
• one second is equal to 1000 milliseconds.
• By default the Enabled property of Timer
Control is False. So before running the
program we have to set the Enabled property
is True , then only the Timer Control starts its
function.
 Example
display the current time in a Label Control. 
Database connection