Usage Notes

This topic contains general usage notes for the control library.

• Installing the Assemblies in the Global Assembly Cache
• Installing the Controls in the Visual Studio Toolbox
• Using the Assembly in Your Projects
• Design-time Support
• Demonstration Applications
• See Also

The EWSoftware.ListControls assembly has a strong name. As such, you can install the assembly in the Global Assembly Cache (GAC) if so desired. To do so, use the GACUTIL command line tool as follows replacing the path to the assemblies to match the installed location on your system:

gacutil -i \GH\ListControls\Deployment\EWSoftware.ListControls.dll

To remove the assembly from the Global Assembly Cache, use the GACUTIL command line tool as follows:

gacutil -u EWSoftware.ListControls

Installing the controls in the Visual Studio toolbox will allow you to use the controls at design time by dragging them from the toolbox and dropping them on to your form. To install them for the first time or to refresh the toolbox after the control assemblies have been updated, do the following:

• Open the toolbox window. Right click on it and select the Show All option.

• If you do not currently have a tab for the control library, create one by right clicking on the toolbox window, selecting Add Tab, and then typing in a name for the tab such as EWSoftware List Controls.

• Click on the tab for the control library so that it is selected.

• If the tab is not empty, remove the existing controls by doing the following:

  • Right click on the toolbox tab and select Choose Items....

  • In the dialog box that opens, select the .NET Framework Components tab. Click on the Namespace header to sort the list of controls by namespace.

  • Locate the EWSoftware.ListControls namespaces and uncheck all of the controls in those namespaces.

  • Click the OK button and the controls will be removed from the toolbox. You are now ready to add the new version of the control library.

• To add the controls to the toolbox tab, do the following:

  • Right click on the toolbox tab and select Choose Items....

  • In the dialog box that opens, select the .NET Framework Components tab. Click on the Namespace header to sort the list of controls by namespace.

  • Click on the Browse button and navigate to where the EWSoftware.ListControls.dll assembly is stored. Select it and click the Open button. This will add the controls in the assembly to the list in the dialog box. They will all be selected and checked by default.

  • Click the OK button to complete the process and the new controls will appear in the toolbox tab.

The classes can be found in the assembly EWSoftware.ListControls.dll. In order to use the classes, add a reference to the assembly in your project. To add the reference, open your project in Visual Studio, open the Solution Explorer pane of the project, right click on the References folder, select Add Reference..., click the Browse button and navigate to the folder in which you placed the assembly, and finally select the EWSoftware.ListControls.dll assembly and click OK to close the dialogs and add the reference.

In code modules that use classes from the EWSoftware.ListControls namespace, you will have to add a using statement (Imports in VB.NET) for the EWSoftware.ListControls namespace.

All controls provide rich design-time support. They appear on the design surface as they do at runtime. Their properties can be edited using the normal Properties window.

Windows Forms applications in C# and VB.NET are provided that demonstrate the basic use of the various list controls. For the combo box demos, the form presents an auto-complete and a multi-column or user control combo box control. A property grid can be used to modify the multi-column/user control combo box's properties at runtime to try out its various features. The radio button list and checkbox list demos work in a similar fashion. The data list demo provide a simple template for editing rows in the supplied name and address database and provides an example of how to implement templates for your own data list needs. It also contains examples of drag and drop operations utilizing the data list. The data navigator demo uses the same name and address database but displays the information one row at a time using the data navigator control. An example is also provided that shows the use of the data navigator in conjunction with a data list to edit names and addresses and related phone number information. The extended tree view demo contains examples of the various drawing enhancements and its additional features such as node enumeration.

For additional information on the features of each control and how to use them, see the Control Tutorials section of this help file.

Other Resources