Rules to Better Interfaces (WinForms Controls)

ComboBoxes are often used for filtering data. It is best to have an '-All-' option to give your user chances to select all data.

It is important to understand the idea of visual text . In a list you could see either:

• -None- or
• No activity assigned

They both have the same meaning, but the first one is immediately visible whereas the second one must be read.

When designing your form, you should try to help your user whenever it's possible. So it's a good idea to include the number of results in ComboBoxes.

In Web we have:

• Grids E.g. http://demos.kendoui.com/web/grid/selection.html

In Windows Forms we have a CheckedListBox. With a CheckedListBox you cannot:

• Sort data - always useful when there are more than about 20 rows
• Contain much information - can only show one field
• DataBind - always costs heaps of code

A GridView provides much richer features than ListBox, you can easily add a checkbox onto the header to allow "check all" functionality, which is impossible for ListBox.

Yes a ListView looks nicer than a DataGrid, but a Datagrid is better because it has more functionality (out of the box that is). With a ListView you cannot:

• Copy and paste - although you can select a row of data in both controls, you can't copy and paste a whole row from the ListView
• Sort data - always useful when there are more than about 20 rows
• DataBind - always saves heaps of code

Group box should only be used when you want to notify the user the controls within it are really related, such as radio buttons.

When you can't see all the text for an item in a ListView you need to expose the full text via a ToolTip.

Many times you allow a multiple selection in a grid by using a checkbox. When you do this make it easy to see the distinction of a row that is selected and one that is not. Make it subtle by dimming the unselected text.

When designing your form, it's a good idea to help your user whenever it's possible. So it's a good idea to extend your ComboBoxes to show as many results as possible to save your user from scrolling. Also, you should extend the width of the dropdown in order to show the longest items.

Use Label controls to display static text of the application. Eg. "Customer ID:" Use Text Box controls to display data (results of calculations, information, records from a database, etc.).