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Neat format when copying Tables and Views
(developers) and .NET Data Grids (end users)
When a row is copied to the clipboard from a table/view in Microsoft Access and
pasted into a word-processing document (e.g. WordPad, Word), the data is automatically
formatted as a table.
This doesn't work with .NET DataGrids; instead, when pasted into a document, the
row comes out as a string of characters and tabs that make up the row, not as a
formatted table.
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- Figure: The pasted row turns out alright when copied from Access.
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- Figure: This is the same row copied from a Visual Studio DataGrid/DataGridView -
the formatting should be as good as Access was in 1992!
In addition, add the ability to copy from a list box. Once you have this, then I
won't have this
silly recommendation.
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Right-Click/Filter-By Control for Tables and Views
(developers) and .NET Data Grids (end users)
This is exactly the same functionality I requested for
Outlook, but giving developers access to this Control would be very handy.
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Make .NET TreeView Tri-State
The .NET TreeView control allows for the display of checkboxes beside each item.
If these checkboxes were tri-state; i.e. could be either checked, unchecked or gray,
it would make it easier for certain types of information to be represented.
For example, if the sub-items of a particular tree node were partially selected
and the node was collapsed, the checkbox for that node would fittingly be neither
checked nor unchecked but gray.
Figure: Here's an example of where a tri-state-checkbox TreeView could be implemented.
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Invoking an OLE DB Data Link
Properties Dialog Box
The OLE DB Data Link Properties Dialog Box (see screenshot) is a commonly used dialog
that allows a user to configure a connection to an OLE DB data source.
There are well documented methods of invoking this dialog box from a Visual Basic
6.0 application. (See Microsoft's
HOWTO: Invoke the OLE DB Data Link Properties Dialog Box in Visual Basic Code
page.) For .NET programmers, however, there will be a native .NET class for handling
this.
Figure: OLE DB Data Link Properties Dialog Box
Figure: Visual Studio 2005 comes with a new Database Connection dialog, but it is
not publicly accessible from an API
It would be a good thing for developers to use the
standard UDL control to get database settings in their applications.
This functionality could be provided as part of the System.Windows.Forms as a standard
UI form (for example "File Open" functionality). You will be able to filter
out datasources based on their type (e.g. hide all OLE types) just as you might
filter out file extensions.
PS: And please Scott Guthrie (from the ASP.NET team), give us the same thing in
a web control.
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Make Separate Event Handlers
for ToolBarButtons (this is total inconsistency)
Visual Basic .NET has made the implementation of menus on forms quite simple and
straightforward. Each MenuBar has its own MenuItems, and each of these MenuItems
can be assigned a separate event handler, as in the following example.
Private Sub MenuItem6_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
Handles MenuItem6.Click
ClientNew()
End Sub
Private Sub MenuItem7_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
Handles MenuItem7.Click
ApplyFilter()
End Sub
Private Sub MenuItem9_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
Handles MenuItem9.Click
RemoveFilter()
End Sub
Figure: VB .NET menu example
There are similarities between creating MenuItems for a MenuBar and creating ToolBarButtons
for a ToolBar. It would be easy and convenient to handle each toolbar button's Click
event separately. However, this is not possible.
The only way to process such an event at all, currently, is to use the ToolBar's
ButtonClick event, as seen below.
Private Sub ToolBar1_ButtonClick(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.ToolBarButtonClickEventArgs)
Handles ToolBar1.ButtonClick
If e.Button Is btnNewClient Then
ClientNew()
ElseIf e.Button Is btnApplyFilter Then
ApplyFilter()
ElseIf e.Button Is btnRemoveFilter Then
RemoveFilter()
Else
MsgBox("Logic Error")
End If
End Sub
Figure: Toolbar ButtonClick event
As you can see, it would be simpler and less messy if we had each menu item's Click
event handled in a separate event procedure.
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DirtyProvider control
Many intrinsic .NET controls could benefit from an IsDirty property (or equivalent)
that allows you to query whether or not the control has been changed by the user
in any way.
An IsDirty property could be provided by an extended provider in much the same way
as the Tooltip property is provided by the ToolTip control.
The code below demonstrates the use of an IsDirty property.
If DirtyProvider1.GetIsDirty(Me) = True Then
Dim result As MsgBoxResult = MsgBox("Do you want to save changes?",
MsgBoxStyle.YesNoCancel, "Save")
Select Case result
Case MsgBoxResult.Yes
Save()
Case MsgBoxResult.Cancel
e.Cancel = True
Case MsgBoxResult.No
' Do nothing - the form will
close
Case Else
MsgBox("Logic Error")
End Select
End If
Figure: Example IsDirty code
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Make Extender Provider Properties
More Visible
Extender providers are objects that add properties to other controls. They are useful
in a number of areas. For example, the ErrorProvider control adds an Error property
to all controls, through which the developer can provide notification of errors
to the user.
However, properties specific to a particular extender provider are often difficult
to locate in the properties window because they're mixed in with other properties
belonging to a control. Extender provider properties will be separated from normal
properties; this could be done by:
- Color-coding them in the properties window (using the background color)
- Allowing the user to select an extender provider from the top combo (see figure)
Figure: Extender provider could be selected from the top combo box
Furthermore, when an extender provider and a normal control are selected simultaneously,
none of the extender properties are shown in the properties window, as seen below.
Figure: Extender provider properties will be shown when extender provider and regular
control are selected.
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Sub forms
Access sub forms were fantastic. So simply and so effective. Visual Studio needs
an out-of-the-box equivalent to manage Master/Child relationships.
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Hiding properties in inherited forms
Using special attributes, it is possible to hide properties from the designer in
inherited forms (see
Rules to Better Windows Forms). However, it would be better to be able to
disable properties (have them appear grayed out or with strikethrough).
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Would like a Bread crumb control for windows forms
This would be used in wizards this is too much work to do manually at the moment.
Figure: Bread crumb control for SSW Upsizing PRO!.
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ListView shouldn't change the checkbox's checkstate
on double click
By default, ListView with checkboxes will automatically check or uncheck the checkbox
on double click. This default behaviour somehow could be very annoying and make
your ListView looks bugged if you have a custom action for double click event.
Example of ListView that will have custom action on double click:
Users would expect to edit the value of "Path" on double click, not check/uncheck
the checkbox.
Double click will really just do 1 action (edit).
How we fix this:
private bool isDoubleClick = false;
private void listView1_MouseDown(object sender, System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventArgs e)
{ if ((e.Button == MouseButtons.Left) && (e.Clicks >= 2) )
{ isDoubleClick = true; }
}
private void listView1_ItemCheck(object sender, System.Windows.Forms.ItemCheckEventArgs e)
{ if (isDoubleClick)
{ e.NewValue = e.CurrentValue; isDoubleClick = false; }
}
private void listView1_DoubleClick(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{ // Your custom action for double click goes here. :)
}
Suggestion:
Make a boolean property "Automatically check/uncheck checkbox on double click".
Automatically check/uncheck the checkbox is good (and needed) if the ListView doesn't
have any action on double click.
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Need the ability to trim characters from a
string that does not completely fit into a ListView column
To implement a custom string trimming
in ListView, we need to override the Paint event of the ListView. However, the ListView
in .NET 1.x is not really a .NET control, it is just wrapper around the control
in ComCtl. It doesn't have the OwnerDraw property and Paint Event like other .NET
controls.
There are a few workarounds like generating Paint Event for ListView on CodeProject.com,
but they don't work out really good.
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Update: .NET Framework 2.0
This can be implemented easily in .NET Framework 2.0.
E.g:
Figure: This can be implemented easily in .NET Framework 2.0
Steps:
- Set OwnerDraw of ListView to True.
- ListView in .NET 2.0 has DrawColumnHeader, DrawItem, and DrawSubItem event handlers.
In this case, DrawSubItem is what we need, add the code like below:
Private Sub ListView1_DrawSubItem(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.DrawListViewSubItemEventArgs)
Handles ListView1.DrawSubItem e.DrawText(TextFormatFlags.PathEllipsis)
End Sub
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Make ComboBox control sortable
We believe ComboBox control will have a property to make it sortable, which may
be called 'SortMember' like the existing properties of 'DisplayMember' and 'ValueMember'.
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Ctrl+A to select all text for TextBox
We believe TextBox control will have a property to enable Ctrl+A to select all text
for TextBox, which may be called 'AcceptsCtrlA' like the existing properties 'AcceptsReturn'
and 'AcceptsTab"; It will make us easy to copy all text by CTRL+A and then CTRL+C
- especially for copy long text in multiple-lines TextBox;
Private Sub txtScript_KeyDown(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.KeyEventArgs) Handles txtScript.KeyDown
If e.Control And Also e.KeyCode = Keys.A Then
Me.txtScript.SelectAll()
End If
End Sub
Figure: Get CTRL+A to select all text in TextBox.
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A top CheckBox to "select all" in windows forms
The header of a checkbox column (e.g. in DataGridView) will contain a checkbox by
default. When this checkbox is checked, all checkboxes below are checked too. This
checkbox is more than a check box with all things (e.g. properties, methods and
events) applied to a CheckBox control.
Figure: A top checkbox to select all checkboxes underneath it in a windows form
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Adding an error provider on a tab header
According to our experience, the error provider icon will be able to show on a tab
header to indicate the tabpage contains errors.
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Figure: Add an error provider on an Tab Header.
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Transparent images don't get rendered correctly
Figure: Transparent images don't get rendered correctly.
Figure: Transparent images don't get rendered correctly in project properties form
as well.
The purple area will be rendered as transparent.
Add support for pasting in screenshots
We can always paste images into the content in Outlook, but we don't have any control to support this feature. Sometimes images are more expressive than words, especially when we want to describe a kind of state or result. Why can't we just paste in the sceenshots from the clipboard?
See the similar suggestion to web forms
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Have a CheckedListBox support Control+A and Control+C
Add support for Control+A to select all items.
Add support for Control+C to copy all items to the clipboard.
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- Figure: Windows Forms should have the same functionality
See the same suggestion at Microsoft WPF Suggestions .