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Advanced TrackBar (Slider) Control with MAC Style (C# & VB.NET)

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4.63/5 (49 votes)
24 Nov 2006CPOL4 min read 302K   20.4K   106   38
An advanced TrackBar (Slider) control that supports MAC Style and many other features
Sample Image - TrackBar_Demo.jpg

It's nicer when we put this control with other MAC Style controls as below:

Sample image

Introduction

We think about developing an advanced TrackBar (Slider) control that supports MAC Style and many other features in the time working in ‘MAC-UI Suite' project (a project focus on building a rich library of UI controls with MAC style for .NET).

Main Features

  • Supports MAC style
  • Vertical and Horizontal trackbar
  • Supports many Text Tick styles: None, TopLeft, BottomRight, Both
  • You can change Text Font, ForeColor for Text Tick
  • Supports many Tick styles: None, TopLeft, BottomRight, Both
  • You can change TickColor, TickFrequency, TickHeight
  • You can change TrackerColor and TrackerSize
  • You can change TrackLineColor and TrackLineHeight
  • Easy to Use and Integrate in Visual Studio .NET
  • 100% compatible to the standard control in VS.NET
  • 100% managed code

To explore features of this TrackBar control, just download and run the demo program.

Control Properties

Property Description
AutoSize Gets or sets a value indicating whether the height or width of the track bar is being automatically sized.
BorderColor Gets or sets the border color of the control.
BorderStyle Gets or sets the border type of the trackbar control.
IndentHeight Gets or sets the height of indent (or Padding-Y).
IndentWidth Gets or sets the width of indent (or Padding-Y).
LargeChange Gets or sets a value to be added to or subtracted from the Value property when the slider is moved a large distance.
Maximum Gets or sets the upper limit of the range this MACTrackBar is working with.
Minimum Gets or sets the lower limit of the range this MACTrackBar is working with.
Orientation Gets or sets a value indicating the horizontal or vertical orientation of the track bar.
Size Gets or sets the height and width of the control.
SmallChange Gets or sets a value to be added to or subtracted from the Value property when the slider is moved a small distance.
TextTickStyle Gets or sets the text tick style of the trackbar. There are 4 styles for selection: None, TopLeft, BottomRight, Both.
TickColor Gets or sets the tick's Color of the control.
TickFrequency Gets or sets a value that specifies the delta between ticks drawn on the control.
TickHeight Gets or sets the height of tick.
TickStyle Gets or sets the tick style of the trackbar. There are 4 styles for selection: None, TopLeft, BottomRight, Both.
TrackerColor Gets or set tracker's color.
TrackerSize Gets or sets the tracker's size. The tracker's width must be greater or equal to tracker's height.
TrackLineColor Gets or sets the color of the track line.
TrackLineHeight Gets or sets the height of track line.
Value Gets or sets a numeric value that represents the current position of the slider on the track bar.

Control Methods

Methods Description
Decrement Call the Decrement() method to decrease the value displayed by an integer you specify
Increment Call the Increment() method to increase the value displayed by an integer you specify
OnScroll Raises the Scroll event.
OnValueChanged Raises the ValueChanged event.
ResetAppearance Reset the appearance properties after the UIStyle property.
SetRange Sets the minimum and maximum values for a TrackBar.

Control Events

Event Description
Scroll Occurs when either a mouse or keyboard action moves the slider.
ValueChanged Occurs when the property Value has been changed.

Using the Control

  • Download the source code and unzip it.
  • Open VS.NET's Tool menu and select "Add/Remove ToolBox Items".
  • Click "Browse", and navigate to the MACTrackBar.dll in the bin\Release directory of the source code.
  • Click Open and then OK, the MACTrackBar control will now be in your ToolBox. Just drag the control onto your form to use it.
  • Set the control's properties, and coding an event handle, and you press F5 to run your program.

Inside the Code

The calculation for all Orientation of the Tracker may be fairly complex and interesting.

Please read the below methods for more detail:

  • DrawTickTextLine()
  • DrawTickLine()
  • OnMouseDownSlider()
  • OnMouseUpSlider()
  • OnMouseMoveSlider()

Conclusion

Basing on this core code, you can build quite easily other UI Style for the TrackBar (e.g. XP Style...). You can draw the Tracker of any style by loading pictures...

We can support easily all tracker shapes as on MAC (by loading and drawing tracker's pictures). However, to optimize the memory usage, currently I didn't add them.

I hope others find this control useful. Please feel free to report errors, issues, or requests.

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


Written By
Web Developer
Vietnam Vietnam
Founder & Manager of X-Component (MAC-UI Suite, XP-UI Suite, IDE-UI Suite...)
URL: http://www.x-component.com

MCP with below MS certifications.
- MFC
- VC++ Desktop
- VC++ Distributed

Comments and Discussions

 
GeneralRe: Very nice job! [modified] Pin
NicolNghia24-Nov-06 2:53
NicolNghia24-Nov-06 2:53 
QuestionMax value exeeded? Pin
davelanton226-Sep-06 11:42
davelanton226-Sep-06 11:42 
AnswerRe: Max value exeeded? Pin
NicolNghia25-Nov-06 1:17
NicolNghia25-Nov-06 1:17 
QuestionLicense Pin
Robert Rohde23-Jul-06 20:47
Robert Rohde23-Jul-06 20:47 
AnswerRe: Licence (The license makes it useless) Pin
Yoooder13-Apr-07 5:05
Yoooder13-Apr-07 5:05 
GeneralRe: Licence (The license makes it useless) Pin
bubblyShabana20-Feb-09 18:48
bubblyShabana20-Feb-09 18:48 
GeneralRe: Licence (The license makes it useless) Pin
LimitedAtonement26-Mar-12 10:01
LimitedAtonement26-Mar-12 10:01 
QuestionTransparant background? Pin
MagnusJohansson18-Jun-06 21:35
MagnusJohansson18-Jun-06 21:35 
AnswerRe: Transparant background? [modified] Pin
NicolNghia19-Jun-06 16:02
NicolNghia19-Jun-06 16:02 
GeneralRe: Transparant background? Pin
MagnusJohansson19-Jun-06 19:29
MagnusJohansson19-Jun-06 19:29 
GeneralRe: Transparant background? [modified] Pin
NicolNghia21-Jun-06 23:49
NicolNghia21-Jun-06 23:49 
GeneralRe: Transparant background? Pin
antoineplantier25-Jun-07 22:32
antoineplantier25-Jun-07 22:32 
GeneralRe: Transparant background? Pin
David Littell28-Jul-10 8:21
David Littell28-Jul-10 8:21 

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