Can anybody identify what type of Windows Form control(s) the Select signature to edit, Choose default signature, and Edit Signature are in the Microsoft Outlook insert signature modal? I cannot figure out if it's a super-shruken panel, or if it's some other control I'm not finding?
They are not controls at all. Most of what you see on that dialog is what I call "pseudo controls", that is painted bits that look and operate as controls, but which do not have system windows. You can see this by using a Spy tool to find the (non-existent) system windows.
You can achieve this yourself with Graphics.DrawText and ControlPaint.DrawXXX, where XXX I'm not sure of. Maybe Border, or 3DBorder?
Here's a cheap and dirty example. I used the WinForms Label control because it was easy.
using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
public class Form1 : Form
{
[STAThread]
static void Main()
{
Application.EnableVisualStyles();
Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
Application.Run(new Form1());
}
public Form1()
{
ClientSize = new Size(400, 200);
Controls.Add(new LineLabel { Text = "Edit signature", Location = new Point(10, 10), Anchor = AnchorStyles.Left | AnchorStyles.Right, Width = 380 });
}
}
public class LineLabel : Label
{
protected override void OnPaint(PaintEventArgs e)
{
base.OnPaint(e);
SizeF textSize = e.Graphics.MeasureString(this.Text, this.Font);
int leftWidth = (int)(textSize.Width + 2);
Rectangle bounds = new Rectangle(leftWidth, Height / 2 - 4, Bounds.Width - leftWidth, 2);
ControlPaint.DrawBorder(e.Graphics, bounds, Color.DarkGray, ButtonBorderStyle.Solid);
}
}
They are GroupBoxes, albeit looking a little modified in terms of their borders.
If you would like to customize your own, you could do that for a WinForms groupbox (to some extent) but it will prove a LOT easier to go with a WPF Groupbox and read up on styling in Styling a GroupBox.
A must-read is also MSDN - How To Define a GroupBox Template.
Related
In my C# Form I have a Label that displays a download percentage in the download event:
this.lblprg.Text = overallpercent.ToString("#0") + "%";
The Label control's BackColor property is set to be transparent and I want it to be displayed over a PictureBox. But that doesn't appear to work correctly, I see a gray background, it doesn't look transparent on top of the picture box. How can I fix this?
The Label control supports transparency well. It is just that the designer won't let you place the label correctly. The PictureBox control is not a container control so the Form becomes the parent of the label. So you see the form's background.
It is easy to fix by adding a bit of code to the form constructor. You'll need to change the label's Parent property and recalculate it's Location since it is now relative to the picture box instead of the form. Like this:
public Form1() {
InitializeComponent();
var pos = label1.Parent.PointToScreen(label1.Location);
pos = pictureBox1.PointToClient(pos);
label1.Parent = pictureBox1;
label1.Location = pos;
label1.BackColor = Color.Transparent;
}
Looks like this at runtime:
Another approach is to solve the design-time problem. That just takes an attribute. Add a reference to System.Design and add a class to your project, paste this code:
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Windows.Forms.Design; // Add reference to System.Design
[Designer(typeof(ParentControlDesigner))]
class PictureContainer : PictureBox {}
You can just use
label1.Parent = pictureBox1;
label1.BackColor = Color.Transparent; // You can also set this in the designer, as stated by ElDoRado1239
You can draw text using TextRenderer which will draw it without background:
private void pictureBox1_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
TextRenderer.DrawText(e.Graphics,
overallpercent.ToString("#0") + "%",
this.Font,
new Point(10, 10),
Color.Red);
}
When overallpercent value changes, refresh pictureBox:
pictureBox1.Refresh();
You can also use Graphics.DrawString but TextRenderer.DrawText (using GDI) is faster than DrawString (GDI+)
Also look at another answer here and DrawText reference here
For easy for your design.
You can place your label inside a panel. and set background image of panel is what every image you want. set label background is transparent
After trying most of the provided solutions without success, the following worked for me:
label1.FlatStyle = FlatStyle.Standard
label1.Parent = pictureBox1
label1.BackColor = Color.Transparent
You most likely not putting the code in the load function. the objects aren't drawn yet if you put in the form initialize section hence nothing happens.
Once the objects are drawn then the load function runs and that will make the form transparents.
private void ScreenSaverForm_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
label2.FlatStyle = FlatStyle.Standard;
label2.Parent = pictureBox1;
label2.BackColor = Color.Transparent;
}
One way which works for everything, but you need to handle the position, on resize, on move etc.. is using a transparent form:
Form form = new Form();
form.FormBorderStyle = FormBorderStyle.None;
form.BackColor = Color.Black;
form.TransparencyKey = Color.Black;
form.Owner = this;
form.Controls.Add(new Label() { Text = "Hello", Left = 0, Top = 0, Font = new Font(FontFamily.GenericSerif, 20), ForeColor = Color.White });
form.Show();
Using Visual Studio with Windows Form you may apply transparency to labels or other elements by adding using System.Drawing; into Form1.Designer.cs This way you will have Transparency available from the Properties panel ( in Appearance at BackColor ). Or just edit code in Designer.cs this.label1.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Transparent;
I am creating my textbox programmatically in a console application that builds a form window on the fly. I am trying to get Input boxes such as the textbox to show up invisible but still allow the user to input data such as username and password or any other customisation fields I provide. This is for a game launcher and I am attempting to make it NOT look like a windows component.
I have tried some of the solutions on the post below.
Transparency for windows forms textbox
EDIT: As you can see above I have already cited that this does not solve my issue. I do not use the form designer as it has a nasty habit of deleting my code because I presume "It knows better".
The Accepted answer for that does not work for me as I do not use the form designer and InitializeComponent();
Does not work it just tells me that it is not a function of the component.
I have gotten as far as this.
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace Launcher_Namespace
{
public class TransparentTextBox : TextBox
{
public TransparentTextBox()
{
this.SetStyle(ControlStyles.SupportsTransparentBackColor, true);
}
}
}
And in the main body of code that initialises fields
//Initialise Inputs
_username = new TransparentTextBox();
_username.Bounds = new Rectangle(120, 10, 120, 21);
_username.BackColor = Color.Transparent;
_username.BorderStyle = 0;
_username.Visible = false;
But all this has achieved is allow me to set _username.BackColor = Color.Transparent; Without throwing an error. The Input box remains White with no border. I just want to make the background transparent. Even MSDN recomends this solution but It does not work for me. My only solution left is to build a custom Label class that grabs the inputs and reads the key inputs and adds them to the .Text property but I don't want to do this.
The solution in your linked answer works fine. If you're not using the designer it doesn't matter... you can still use the same solution. InitializeComponent() is simply a method that's created by the code generator in the designer file. If you ever want to know what it does to create controls (it can be very informational to have a look) then create a control using the designer and then inspect the .Designer.cs file.
EDIT: It acts a little funny. You can override OnPaint to fix the white background and disappearing text, see below. Not a "finished" implementation, the cursor doesn't seem to know where to go, but this should get you in the right direction.
using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace WindowsFormsApplication1
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++)
{
var x = new UserControl1 {Location = new Point(0, i*20)};
this.Controls.Add(x);
}
}
}
public class UserControl1 : TextBox
{
public UserControl1()
{
SetStyle(ControlStyles.SupportsTransparentBackColor |
ControlStyles.OptimizedDoubleBuffer |
ControlStyles.AllPaintingInWmPaint |
ControlStyles.ResizeRedraw |
ControlStyles.UserPaint, true);
BackColor = Color.Transparent;
TextChanged += UserControl2_OnTextChanged;
}
protected override void OnPaint(PaintEventArgs e)
{
var backgroundBrush = new SolidBrush(Color.Transparent);
Graphics g = e.Graphics;
g.FillRectangle(backgroundBrush, 0, 0, this.Width, this.Height);
g.DrawString(Text, Font, new SolidBrush(ForeColor), new PointF(0,0), StringFormat.GenericDefault);
}
public void UserControl2_OnTextChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Invalidate();
}
}
}
When we use SetStyle(ControlStyles.UserPaint,true) Control Border Doesn't paint. I did this in Textbox. My textbox border style is FixedSingle but after using setstyle with UserPaint Textbox border is not drawn. Textbox appears like border is set to None.
Here and there I've seen nicely styled dialog controls, similar to this one which appears in Beyond Compare v4:
My own implementation of this gets vaguely close, and consists of a listbox on the left and usercontrols which change when the listbox selected item changes. However no amount of putting lipstick on that pig will get it looking like the above. I can picture how I might undertake this with custom painting of things and so forth, but my real intent is to generate the left hand entries at runtime not design time (there will be one for each column in a datafile).
I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on how to reasonably easily implement such a thing, either with a component (commercial is fine) or some other ingenious method.
Thanks!
Here is an example of mimicking your design. I have one large panel1 to house both sides and in it one panel2 to house the left side. Inside panel2 there are the search controls and the listview.
The search controls are a Label1 containing a TextBox and another Label2. The Label.Images are aligned and the Textbox has no Border. The Labels are AutoSize=false and Label1 has a 3D-border.
Panel1 has a singleLine border, panel2 and the ListView have no borders. The ListView has View=Details and one column, HeaderStyle=None. It also has OwnerDraw=true.
I have added a Paint event for the ListView but have to call it in code.
Please note that I haven't taken the time to create nice images. Also note: Their height will determine the Items' Height (!) so leave a little transparent border above and below; their good looks will be key to the overall looks!
They are contained in an Imagelist with appropriate Size and BitDepth. You may need to adapt the DrawIamge numbers..
The stuff on the right side is pretty much standard; for the horizontal bar I use a Panel with height=1 and Border=Single. If you have more than one group of RadioButtons make sure to put each group in a separate Panel, transparent and no Borders, of course..
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
listView1.Width = panel2.ClientSize.Width;
listView1.Columns[0].Width = listView1.ClientSize.Width;
listView1.Paint += listView1_Paint;
listView1.BackColor = panel2.BackColor;
leftBrush = new SolidBrush(panel2.BackColor);
rightBrush = new SolidBrush(panel1.BackColor);
}
Pen borderPen = new Pen(SystemColors.ActiveBorder);
SolidBrush leftBrush, rightBrush;
private void listView1_DrawItem(object sender, DrawListViewItemEventArgs e)
{
if (e.ItemIndex == 0) listView1_Paint(
null, new PaintEventArgs(e.Graphics, listView1.ClientRectangle));
if (!e.Item.Selected)
{
e.Graphics.FillRectangle(leftBrush, e.Bounds);
e.Graphics.DrawLine(borderPen,
listView1.Width-1, e.Bounds.Y, listView1.Width-1, e.Bounds.Bottom);
}
else
{
e.Graphics.FillRectangle(rightBrush , e.Bounds);
e.Graphics.DrawLine(borderPen, 0, e.Bounds.Top, e.Bounds.Width, e.Bounds.Top);
e.Graphics.DrawLine(borderPen,
0, e.Bounds.Bottom-1, e.Bounds.Width, e.Bounds.Bottom-1);
}
e.Graphics.DrawString( e.Item.Text, listView1.Font,
Brushes.Black, 35, e.Bounds.Y + 5 );
e.Graphics.DrawImage(imageList1.Images[e.Item.ImageIndex], 2, e.Bounds.Y );
}
void listView1_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
int hh = listView1.Items.Count * imageList1.ImageSize.Height;
e.Graphics.DrawLine(borderPen,
listView1.Width - 1, hh, listView1.Width - 1, listView1.Height);
}
private void panel2_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
e.Graphics.DrawLine(borderPen, panel2.Width-1, 0, panel2.Width-1, listView1.Top);
}
}
Here is a screenshot of my Q&D version:
Let me begin by saying that I have not done a lot of Windows Forms development -- if there is an obvious mistake that I may be making, please don't hesitate to mention it.
Steps to reproduce my issue:
Create a new C# Windows Forms Project using VS 2010 or VS 2012
Using the VS Form Designer, add three FlowLayoutPanel components to the form
Set each FlowLayoutPanel to have the same height as the form and approximately 1/3 the width of the form
Position each FlowLayoutPanel so that they do not overlap each other horizontally and collectively consume approximately the entire area of the Form.
The leftmost FlowLayoutPanel is configured to have an Anchor of Top, Bottom, Left
The middle FlowLayoutPanel is configured to have an Anchor of Top, Bottom
The rightmost FlowLayoutPanel is configured to have an Anchor of Top, Bottom, Right
Add an event for Form_Shown:
private void Form1_Shown(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Panel p = new Panel();
p.BorderStyle = BorderStyle.FixedSingle;
p.Width = 200;
p.Height = 100;
Label label1 = new Label();
label1.BorderStyle = BorderStyle.FixedSingle;
label1.Text = "Hello";
label1.Anchor = AnchorStyles.Top;
Label label2 = new Label();
label2.BorderStyle = BorderStyle.FixedSingle;
label2.Text = "World!";
label2.Anchor = AnchorStyles.Bottom;
p.Controls.Add(label1);
p.Controls.Add(label2);
middleFlow.Controls.Add(p); // add to the center most FlowLayoutPanel on Form1
}
The result seems to be that label1 is placed on top of label2, despite label2 being added second. Moreover, the anchor values seem to be ignored (as label1 is covering label2 when I intend for them to be anchored to the top and bottom of the Panel component, respectively)
If I use the Dock property instead of the Anchor property, the behavior is as desired. Why does the Anchor property not work in this situation?
Also, is there a way to anchor components to other components? I notice as I increase the size of my Form at runtime, horizontal "gaps" between panels appear. Ideally, I would like the panels to grow together, preventing any gaps/whitespace between them horizontally?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions or tips.
I'm still starting to learn c# and winforms, so the following may not be optimal but it does what you required.
Handled the labels with Dock=Top. Note that the labels are switched so that label1 is on top of label2, i.e., registering label1 last pushes down the already registered label2.
The positioning of the three panels is done without anchors and docks with an event handler for resize. Setting the size of the form after that raises a resize event. Colored to see the components.
using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
public class ThreePanel : Form {
FlowLayoutPanel leftFlow;
FlowLayoutPanel middleFlow;
FlowLayoutPanel rightFlow;
public ThreePanel(){
leftFlow = new FlowLayoutPanel() {
BackColor = Color.Yellow
};
middleFlow = new FlowLayoutPanel() {
BackColor = Color.LightGreen
};
rightFlow = new FlowLayoutPanel() {
BackColor = Color.LightBlue
};
this.Controls.Add(rightFlow);
this.Controls.Add(middleFlow);
this.Controls.Add(leftFlow);
this.Load += (s,e)=>Form1_Shown(s,e);
this.Resize += (s,e)=>{
int w=this.Width/3;
leftFlow.Width=middleFlow.Width
=rightFlow.Width=w;
leftFlow.Height=middleFlow.Height
=rightFlow.Height=this.Height;
leftFlow.Location=new Point(0,0);
middleFlow.Location=new Point(w,0);
rightFlow.Location=new Point(2*w,0);
};
this.Size = new Size(750,450);
}
private void Form1_Shown(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Panel p = new Panel() {
BorderStyle = BorderStyle.FixedSingle,
Width = 200,
Height = 100,
BackColor = Color.Fuchsia,
};
Label label1 = new Label() {
BorderStyle = BorderStyle.FixedSingle,
Text = "Hello",
Dock = DockStyle.Top
};
Label label2 = new Label() {
BorderStyle = BorderStyle.FixedSingle,
Text = "World!",
Dock = DockStyle.Top
};
p.Controls.Add(label2);
p.Controls.Add(label1);
// add to the center most FlowLayoutPanel on Form1
middleFlow.Controls.Add(p);
}
public static void Main()
{
Application.Run(new ThreePanel());
}
}
I would expect exactly the behaviour that you mentioned.
The Anchor property only tells the parent container that the label should be sticked
to the parent. In your case AnchorStyles.Top means stick the label to the top and leave it there if the parent moves or resizes.
You did not specify dimensions or positions for the labels, so both overlapp.
The z-order of the controls is created implicitly from the order when added to middleFlow.Controls. You can check this using VS forms designer. Select "Bring to Front" or "Send to Back" and watch how the x.designer.cs changes.
Why it is in reverse order is one of the little .net secrets. The workaround is to change the order. Sometimes it is easier to do it manually than in the designer.
In my C# Form I have a Label that displays a download percentage in the download event:
this.lblprg.Text = overallpercent.ToString("#0") + "%";
The Label control's BackColor property is set to be transparent and I want it to be displayed over a PictureBox. But that doesn't appear to work correctly, I see a gray background, it doesn't look transparent on top of the picture box. How can I fix this?
The Label control supports transparency well. It is just that the designer won't let you place the label correctly. The PictureBox control is not a container control so the Form becomes the parent of the label. So you see the form's background.
It is easy to fix by adding a bit of code to the form constructor. You'll need to change the label's Parent property and recalculate it's Location since it is now relative to the picture box instead of the form. Like this:
public Form1() {
InitializeComponent();
var pos = label1.Parent.PointToScreen(label1.Location);
pos = pictureBox1.PointToClient(pos);
label1.Parent = pictureBox1;
label1.Location = pos;
label1.BackColor = Color.Transparent;
}
Looks like this at runtime:
Another approach is to solve the design-time problem. That just takes an attribute. Add a reference to System.Design and add a class to your project, paste this code:
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Windows.Forms.Design; // Add reference to System.Design
[Designer(typeof(ParentControlDesigner))]
class PictureContainer : PictureBox {}
You can just use
label1.Parent = pictureBox1;
label1.BackColor = Color.Transparent; // You can also set this in the designer, as stated by ElDoRado1239
You can draw text using TextRenderer which will draw it without background:
private void pictureBox1_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
TextRenderer.DrawText(e.Graphics,
overallpercent.ToString("#0") + "%",
this.Font,
new Point(10, 10),
Color.Red);
}
When overallpercent value changes, refresh pictureBox:
pictureBox1.Refresh();
You can also use Graphics.DrawString but TextRenderer.DrawText (using GDI) is faster than DrawString (GDI+)
Also look at another answer here and DrawText reference here
For easy for your design.
You can place your label inside a panel. and set background image of panel is what every image you want. set label background is transparent
After trying most of the provided solutions without success, the following worked for me:
label1.FlatStyle = FlatStyle.Standard
label1.Parent = pictureBox1
label1.BackColor = Color.Transparent
You most likely not putting the code in the load function. the objects aren't drawn yet if you put in the form initialize section hence nothing happens.
Once the objects are drawn then the load function runs and that will make the form transparents.
private void ScreenSaverForm_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
label2.FlatStyle = FlatStyle.Standard;
label2.Parent = pictureBox1;
label2.BackColor = Color.Transparent;
}
One way which works for everything, but you need to handle the position, on resize, on move etc.. is using a transparent form:
Form form = new Form();
form.FormBorderStyle = FormBorderStyle.None;
form.BackColor = Color.Black;
form.TransparencyKey = Color.Black;
form.Owner = this;
form.Controls.Add(new Label() { Text = "Hello", Left = 0, Top = 0, Font = new Font(FontFamily.GenericSerif, 20), ForeColor = Color.White });
form.Show();
Using Visual Studio with Windows Form you may apply transparency to labels or other elements by adding using System.Drawing; into Form1.Designer.cs This way you will have Transparency available from the Properties panel ( in Appearance at BackColor ). Or just edit code in Designer.cs this.label1.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Transparent;