Exploring Visual C# Express 2010

Visual C# Express has lots of windows and components  that provides functionality or displays certain informations. Let's further explore the different parts of Visual C# Express by going deeper into the IDE. Create a new Windows Forms Application by going to File > New Project or using the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+N.
You will be presented with the New Project Window.





 
 
 
 

To the left is a list of categories of installed templates. Since you are using Visual C# Express, only C# is available. The center of the window shows the installed template for the specified category. Templates are precreated project files which are provided to you so you will not create them from scratch. All you have to do is create a project from a template and start programming. The number of templates listed varies depending on the templates installed in your computer. You can sort the name of the templates by ascending or descending order by using the combo box(drop down box) found at the top center. You can change the view of the templates by clicking the buttons next to that combo box. The right side shows a search box for searching installed templates and the description of the selected template. Choose Windows Forms Application from the list of templates. You can name your project using the text box found at the bottom. For now, leave it as it is.  Click OK to generate a project from the selected template.

Figure 1 - Newly created Windows Forms Application Project

 

The Designer.

 

 

The (1)Designer is like your canvas or drawing area for designing windows forms. Windows forms are graphical user interfaces and you see them everywhere when you use computers. You add controls to the form such as buttons, text boxes, labels, and many more. A more detailed look at windows forms, controls, and visual programming is located at the Windows Forms Section of this site. But it is recommended to finish the basic and fundamental lessons first before creating windows forms application.

 

The Solution Explorer.

The (2)Solutions Explorer shows the different projects and the files associated with the solution.  A solution represents the application you are creating. It may compose of a single project, or multiple projects, and each project is composed of files such as source code files and images. When you create a project, a solution is automatically created containing the project you have chosen. If the Solution Explorer is not visible, go to View > Other Windows > Solution Explorer or you can use the shortcut Ctrl+Alt+L. If multiple projects are present, the project in bold text is considered the Startup Project which is considered as the default project and the one that will run when you start debugging (more on this later). If the project you want to execute is not the startup project, right click the project in the Solution Explorer and then choose "Set as StartUp Project". Below is the Solution Explorer showing a Solution with 2 Projects. Each project contains files and folders associated to them.

The first button in its top bar allows you to edit the properties of the project. Some files located in the project directory are hidden in the Solution Explorer. You can click the second button to show all the hidden files.The third button refreshes the Solution Explorer in case files are added, deleted or modified. More buttons will show up depending on the current project or view you are working on. You can double click the files in the solution explorer to open them up or check their contents. You can also click the arrows to the left of each node to reveal child nodes they contain.

 

The Properties Window

The (3)Properties Window shows the different properties or events of any selected item such as files, projects, the form, or controls. If it is not visible to you, go to View > Other Windows > Properties Window or use the shortcut F4.
Properties can be considered as characteristics or attributes of objects. For example, a car has properties color, speed, size, and brand. If you are selecting a form or control in the Design View, or projects or files in the Solution Explorer, the Properties Window will show the properties available for them.
The Properties Window also allows you to view the events of a selected control or form. An event is something that happens when certain conditions occur such as when a button is clicked or when the text inside the text box is modified.
The top combo box(A) allows you to choose the object whose properties will be shown in the Properties Window. This is useful when you can't select certain controls(probably because of their small size) in the Designer. Below the combo box shows some helpful buttons(B). Some buttons only appear on certain instances. The first button will arrange the properties in different categories. The second button will arrange the properties in alphabetical order. I recommend pressing this button as I found it easier to find the properties you want when it is alphabetized. The third and fourth buttons only appear when you are selecting a control or a form in the designer view. The third button allows you to view the available properties of the current selected control or form. The fourth button (indicated by the thunder bolt icon) shows the available events for the selected control or form. The bottom box shows the description of the selected property or event.
The main part of the properties window(C) contains the properties or the events. The left column specifies names of the properties or event. The right column shows the values of the properties and events. There are simple properties that require a single value, but there are also complex properties that consist of more properties. These can be identified with an arrow on the left of those properties. If you click that arrow, subproperties of the property are shown. Some properties opens up special tools or windows when normal text input cannot be accepted. The bottom part of the Properties Window is the Description Box(D) which shows the description of functionality of the selected property or event.