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Fireball.Windows.Forms

Introduction

Fireball.Windows.Forms is a library devoted to creating some custom and advanced User Interface Control with professional look, all control of this library are licenzed under the term of LGPL Licenze that give you the possibilty to use my library on you commercial products the only requirement is to provide the source of my library if you apply modification on the code otherwise also a link to my website is apreciated ;)

Using the library

For use this library you don't need to be a programmer expert because most of this control are simple to use, Fireball.Windows.Forms contains some controls that are not show on this article because are incomplete or because are in fixing, the TabStrip Control is a work in progress but it is fully working, on future i can add custom renderm other nice features ;), The best control Presented on this Article is the Discover Control!! it a nice navigation system like the Microsoft Outlook 2003, with this control you can give to your product a better user interface, with an easy to use separation of you software functionalities.

On Fireball.Windows.Forms it is also present a Control called DocumentPresenter is the control that you see on the image with the text Welcome to Fireball, this control give you the power to add document viewing like a Microsoft Outlook 2003 document, the example provided not give the full graphics power it is only a test, if anyone can make an application you are freely to send me a screenshot and i put it on my websites ;), another nice control is FormatLabelControl, this control was merged from the LGPL code provided from the compona software http://www.compona.com, this control give to you the possibility to show a text with html formattation.

Putting a Discover control on your form is very simple you can simply drag from your toolbox,and also adding a pane is simple you need only to right click on the control on the Visual Studio 2005 designer and Select "Add Discover Pane", for setting pane properties for now you need to select the new created pane from the PropertyGrid this because i need to solve an issue with the designer.

TabStrip control because for now is a work in progress, it can be used only from code see this example

TabStrip tabStrip = new TabStrip();
tabStrip.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
myForm.Controls.Add(tabStrip);
TabStripItem myItem = new TabStripItem();
myItem.Text = "Hello i am a TabStrip";
tabStrip.Controls.Add(myItem);

If you run this code you see the created tabstrip with an item ;)

On this example is also showed a simple FileSystemTreeView but it incomplete and not perfect.

Bugs And Updates



21/02/2007 - new versione of the fireball framework upload to sourceforge with some new bug fixes for the fireball collections and for the DiscoverControl
20/03/2006 - Added another demo for the DiscoverControl

7/03/2006 - Fixed some small's bugs and added libraries documentation

19/02/2006 - Fixed a bug TabStrip when you mouse over the close and menu button the click event is raise on this two button FIXED!

19/02/2006 - Updated with a zip file with a new Installer if you have installed a old version of Fireball Framework with the old installer please uninstall it and install this after

04/02/2006 - Updated with zip files and with last version of source code

You have find a bug?you have any comment on this controls?or simply on search of the last version, please go on http://www.dotnetfireball.net and ask your questions on my forum.

N.B. this is a brief article i can write more later.

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RantWhat a joke!
buyValu
11:00 18 Jul '08  
There are almost as many errors as there are line of code.Confused

Guess I will never know since I don't have the time or desire to debug all the code.
GeneralI should give you a 1
John Simmons / outlaw programmer
11:58 30 Oct '07  
And I still might do so.

I downloaded the latest version of the source from sourceforge, and

1) There's NO documentation. This is absurd given the size of the code.

2) It doesn't build under VS2005 - 159 errors (missing reference) and 2082 warnings (missing xml comment)!

Of course, if there were documentation, I'm not sure you would provide all of the necessary text that would help us just use this code without having to take time out of our already busy day to address the compiling problems.




"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001

GeneralRe: I should give you a 1
dotnetfireball
15:20 30 Oct '07  
Sorry for your lost time, but to me the code build succefully the only thing i found is the build path that is wrong, about documentation im sorry but at this moment i don't have the time if you have time you can wrote, i'm not payed for doing this work i only do because i like software development, and if you don't like this project or don't have the time go away, contribution is alway welcome.

DotNetFireball

http://www.dotnetfireball.net

QuestionPanes Shift During Runtime
pablleaf
4:42 1 Mar '07  
Can someone please help. When you click on the panes during runtime, they move around. Is there a way to stop this?
AnswerRe: Panes Shift During Runtime
Euloblas
2:12 10 Apr '07  
I also had the problem of the panes rearrange. The panes’ buttons change it´s initial order after clicking on then.
I followed the code and I noticed that the problem occurs at the “DiscoverControl.cs” file on the public SelectedPane method, at the line:
_SelectedPane.Visible = true;

After this sentence, the Collection base.Controls[i] changes it´s order.

I have solved this bug using the tag property of each pane and changing the code of DiscoverControl.cs.

A) I assigne the tag value (0-based) of all the panes.

B) This is the code that I changed and added:

B1) I replaced the OnLayout method with a modified one.

//It solves the problem of the rearrange of the panes´ buttons.
protected override void OnLayout(LayoutEventArgs levent)
{
base.OnLayout(levent);

if (this.IsHandleCreated)
{
int h = this.GripperRect.Top;
h -= this.HeaderRect.Bottom;

Rectangle rect = new Rectangle(1, this.HeaderRect.Bottom,
this.ClientSize.Width - 2, h);

int i = 0; //Index of the control in the collection base.Controls
int j = 0; //Counter used to calculate the Y coordinate of the ListButtonRect
int r = 0; //Index of the array order[r]
int count = base.Controls.Count; //Number of controls

//Because of the problem, to paint the panes I use an array with the tag property of the panes.
//I use the tag value instead of the index of base.Controls[i].
//The index r in order[r] follows the correct order of the panes.
int[] order = new int[count];

foreach (Control current in base.Controls)
{
if (Int32.TryParse(current.Tag.ToString(), out r))
{
if (0 <= r && r < count)
{
order[r] = i;
}
//I don´t take care of the 'else' case. Let´s assume that every tag has a correct numeric value.
}
else
{
order[i] = i;
}
i++;
}

for (int k = 0; k < count; k++)
{
ReDrawListButtonRect(rect, base.Controls[order[k]], k, k);
}

this.Invalidate();
}
}

B2) I added a new method

private void ReDrawListButtonRect(Rectangle rect, Control current, int i, int count)
{
current.ClientSize = rect.Size;
current.Location = rect.Location;

DiscoverPane pane = (DiscoverPane)current;

if (count < this.ShowPanes && this.ShowPanes > 0)
{
pane.ShowOnList = true;
}
else
{
pane.ShowOnList = false;
}

if (pane.ShowOnList)
{
int top = this.ListButtonHeight * (i + 1);

top = this.SwitchBarRect.Top - top;

Rectangle rc = new Rectangle(1, top,
this.ClientSize.Width - 2, this.ListButtonHeight);

pane.ListButtonRect = rc;
}
}

QuestionRe: Panes Shift During Runtime
pablleaf
11:39 31 May '07  
I added your code and everything works great! BUT Mad It won't let me add new panes to the control.............any ideas? Confused
GeneralDownloads?
Chris Maunder
15:28 12 Feb '07  
The download links are broken. Can you please upload a copy of the files with this article to ensure the readers have the code that goes with the article?

cheers,
Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP

QuestionFireball.Windows.Forms
23:12 23 Jan '07  
how I can change the language in the list of choice in the bottom left of the window in Fireball.windows.form.
AnswerRe: Fireball.Windows.Forms
Ante1
0:38 8 Jun '07  
Hi

I doscovered that you can Change the language by using DiscoveryLanguage.XXXX

Example, Changing one of the buttons to Swedish:

DiscoverLanguage.AddRemoveButtons = "Hej";

/Andreas
QuestionIs there any documentation?
edo khan
4:14 22 Aug '06  

Hi, is there any useful documentation on controls and other stuff?

Sincerely
GeneralLargeImage error
MCAST76
10:52 2 Jun '06  
Greetings!

First of all, I would like to congratulate you for this magnific work.

When I try to put an image on the LargeImage property in a DiscoverPane, I get the following error: "SmallImage must be 16x16."

How can I put an image in a DiscoverPane?

Best regards,



Miguel Castanheira, PT
AnswerRe: LargeImage error
pablleaf
9:39 21 Feb '07  
The image size has to be 24x24. I was getting the same error thinking i could use a 32x32. But after looking at the source code. The image size must be 24x24.
Generalhow to build this project
weqwewqeqw
10:44 18 Feb '06  
Smile I have been trying to build this application. Has anyone succeeded? Please tell me how you did it. Thank you!
QuestionZIP Contents
JaideepC99
2:11 7 Feb '06  
Hi,

I am a beginer in .NET technology, and liked your controls. I had downloaded the entire ZIP file (1.1mb) from CodeProject site. But I am unable to open any of the Solution files, as I have Visual Studio 2003. Is there a workaround?? Please advise and thanks in advance. Smile

JC.
AnswerRe: ZIP Contents
dotnetfireball
4:40 7 Feb '06  
Sorry but all solution are for Visual Studio 2005 if you see on the top of the article is written about this projects are for .NET 2.0 and vs 2005 sorry for this, i not planning to use .net 1.1 because for some missing feature, if you are a beginner download Visual Studio 2005 express bye and thanks for interesting on my controls

DotNetFireball

http://www.dotnetfireball.net
GeneralRe: ZIP Contents
JaideepC99
21:24 7 Feb '06  
Hi thanx for ur eply.

JC.
GeneralVisual Studio Express 2005 Download Link
The_Mega_ZZTer
19:21 19 Mar '06  
You can download Visual Studio Express 2005 for free from here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/

Happy coding. Smile
GeneralSource package
WillemM
23:16 30 Jan '06  
Looks way cool, but there's one little thing I would like to point out.
Can you package the source and the sample in zip format? It makes it easier for me to unpack it using the standard windows zip support Smile

WM.
What about weapons of mass-construction?
GeneralRe: Source package
dotnetfireball
23:39 30 Jan '06  
at this moment i am out of my home, and i can't make,but for open tar.gz and some other format you can download the free and open source 7-Zip at http://7-zip.org/ , if you have problem tell me and when i return to home i make for you a zip Wink

DotNetFireball

http://www.dotnetfireball.net
GeneralRe: Source package
Quinton Viljoen
20:01 31 Jan '06  
Hi

I would also prefer a .ZIP file, .TAR files are blocked by our proxy.

Nice looking controls, I stumbled upon your site a couple of weeks ago and was already impressed with your work.

Thanks
Quinton
GeneralRe: Source package
dotnetfireball
22:40 31 Jan '06  
i don't like zip :P but on the weekend i try to change my cronjob to work with zip Wink , i send for you a version on the next hours.

DotNetFireball

http://www.dotnetfireball.net
GeneralRe: Source package
dotnetfireball
23:07 31 Jan '06  
http://dotnetfireball.net/files/FireballWinForms.zip there a zip version with all is 1.6 mb c.a. Wink

DotNetFireball

http://www.dotnetfireball.net


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