Developing Microsoft .NET Controls with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET (Pro Developer) [Paperback]

John Connell (Author)

Book Description

Series: Pro Developer | Publication Date: November 5, 2003

Every click on a menu item or a dialog box—every interaction with a control—shapes the user’s experience and satisfaction with your software. Learn how to maximize the usability and impact of your Visual Basic .NET–based solutions by using the powerful intrinsic controls in the .NET Framework right out of the box—or by building complex controls from scratch. Expert developer and teacher John Connell shares a wealth of code samples and techniques to illustrate how .NET controls operate as well as how to integrate even the most complex controls into Windows Forms and Microsoft ASP.NET Web Forms. Whether you’re developing in-house or commercial software, you’ll learn how to build custom controls and other interface components that make your programs easy—and enjoyable—to use.Discover how to use encryption technologies, isolated storage, and serialization in the .NET Framework in your own programs and controls Build custom .NET type editors, type converters, and designers to add and manage sophisticated properties in your custom controls Learn how to inherit and enhance .NET controls—from handling events to building custom designers Aggregate multiple .NET intrinsic controls into one user control for simpler, custom functionality Use GDI+ to perform hit tests, create dynamic bitmaps, and add graphics to Windows Forms and ASP.NET controlsAdd licensing to your controls, including custom validation of authorized users Manipulate the built-in ASP.NET Web server controls, from basic HTML wrappers to the powerful DataGrid control Design ASP.NET custom server controls to create Web page hit counters, wireless applications, and more

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Microsoft Press; 1 edition (November 5, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735619247
• ISBN-13: 978-0735619241
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,191,164 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The outstanding, and the ugly, September 29, 2004

By 

Mary Roach "Lady Bug" (Chula Vista, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Developing Microsoft .NET Controls with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET (Pro Developer) (Paperback)

This book is unusual in that, in addition to providing you with the information you actually bought the book for, you get lots of information about some pretty obscure .Net topics. Even better (assuming you're an experienced VB Developer), he doesn't waste so darn much space taking up topics you're already sick of reading about (controlling program flow, what is a class, and the like). He also mentioned in passing a couple of little gems in the SDK that I was unaware of. Of course, if you're not an experienced developer, why are you buying a book on controls? (save your money!) So John Connell gets a dozen stars for content.

The ugly: the book is poorly edited. There are a number of typographical errors, grammatical word omissions, etc. There are innumerable bugs in the book's code. There are also a number of omissions in the instructions, of a type such as instructing you to add a class without mentioning which component to add the class to, things like that. You'll want to get the download code from MSPress, so you can look at his code to see where he added a module, or whatever. Because I am an experienced developer, I found that the debugging required actually improved my learning (by keeping me awake), but I'm pretty sure an inexperienced programmer would get pretty frustrated. So: no stars to MSPress for the editing and testing of code! Bad job here, you guys, and considerably worse than the job you usually do.

If you already know how to program, buy this book!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The first I've heard of GUCCI verbs, November 19, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Developing Microsoft .NET Controls with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET (Pro Developer) (Paperback)

While I've never built a control before, I need to build something for a client. After pre-ordering this, I was amazed to find out about designer verbs and designers in general. The Wizards of Redmond constructed the pieces to interact and really make building sophisticated controls easy for anyone that understands OO and VB.Net (which is what I use). I purchased and read Connell's other books so hoped this would be in a par. "Controls" takes you from soup to nuts - and even discusses sophisticated licensing so you can build a control and sell it. If you are new to controls, even though this covers some fairly complicated technology, Mr. Connell clearly explains how its used and provides tons of full examples. Anyway, that's my 2 cents worth. Personally, I found the book extremely useful even if I didnt need it as I do. The technologies he explains such as encryption, serialization, and isolated storage alone make this a valuable tool for any serious professional programmer.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally - not a me-too VB.Net Book, October 16, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Developing Microsoft .NET Controls with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET (Pro Developer) (Paperback)

I browse every new VB.Net book that comes out, and find that most are pretty much the same in terms of generalized content. This book is a refreshing change. Mr. Connell covers encryption with a handy control to encrypt your important files so that even governments can't crack them, let alone snooping co-workers. But he covers isolated storage, the control designer, custom designers, designer verbs, type editors, type converters, and other topics you just don't find elsewhere. Other topics such as serialization, control licensing, the advanced use of the ASP.NET datagrid, and of course building sophisticated controls for both the desktop and the web are well done. This book treads new and exciting ground, so you won't have to worry about not learning new concepts. There is fresh and incredibly useful material in each chapter. Even if you are not building controls today, this book will help you be a better all-round programmer in so many ways. I've read Mr. Connell's other books and enjoyed them - this was not a disappointment and for me worth the wait.