Transcript .NET Framework and Windows Forms (WinForms) Hints, Tips & Tricks, Performance Tuning

.NET Framework and
Windows Forms (WinForms)
Hints, Tips & Tricks, Performance Tuning
Cory Smith, MVP – Visual Basic
Senior Developer, Scott Studios, LLC / dMarc Broadcasting
http://www.addressof.com
December 15, 2004
Ft. Worth .NET Users Group
Agenda
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Quick tips for all types of development
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Windows Forms specific tips
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String Comparison and Manipulation
Converting between value types
Digging deeper… Using IL
An even easier way to dig deeper
Encryption
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Using BitConverter
Using ASCIIEncoding.ASCII
Using Structures
What about ASCII and Char (Unicode)?
Exploring performance tuning
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Managing event handlers
Internationalization and Localization
XP Visual Styles
Converting values
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Assembly Debug or Release?
Managing Memory Consumption
Load image from a stream
Load image from a URI
Generate a unique ID
Retrieve a list of printers
Retrieve more information from P/Invoke error messages
DPAPI – Pro’s & Con’s
An easy alternative
Open Discussion
Determine if the executing assembly was built
as debug or release programmatically?
Sub Main()
If Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly.GetCustomAttributes( _
GetType(DebuggableAttribute), False ).Length > 0 Then
Console.WriteLine ("Assembly compiled with as 'Debug' mode.")
Else
Console.WriteLine ("Assembly compiled with as 'Release' mode.")
End If
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
My customer is complaining my application
uses too much memory? What can I do?
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Is it really using that much memory?
Demo of the problem
What can you do?
How can I force Windows to reset the reported
memory usage for my application?
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Code a possible solution
Warnings / Disclaimer
How do I load an image from a stream?
Dim image As Image = New Bitmap(stream)
How do I load an image from a URI?
Private Function ImageFromUri(ByVal uri As String) As Image
Dim request As HttpWebRequest = _
DirectCast(WebRequest.Create(uri), HttpWebRequest)
Dim response As HttpWebResponse = _
DirectCast(request.GetResponse, HttpWebResponse)
Dim ws As Stream = response.GetResponseStream
Dim br As BinaryReader = New BinaryReader(ws)
Dim bytes() As Byte = br.ReadBytes(CInt(response.ContentLength))
Return New Bitmap(New IO.MemoryStream(bytes))
End Function
What’s the easiest way to generate a unique
identifier?
Dim guid As String = System.Guid.NewGuid.ToString
How do I retrieve a list of installed printers?
Imports System.Drawing.Printing.PrinterSettings
For Each printerName As String In InstalledPrinters
Console.WriteLine(printerName)
Next
How can I get more information from a Win32
style error when using P/Invoke?
Imports System.ComponentModel
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Throw New Win32Exception(Marshal.GetLastWin32Error)
How do I stop events from happening when I
update data on my form programmatically?
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You can dynamically add and remove event handlers at
runtime.
Demo
I need to support multiple languages, how do I
do this?
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Visual Studio .NET 2003 supports multiple languages
(Internationalization and Localization) in the box.
Walkthrough (from scratch)
Gotcha’s…
Visual Studio 2005 improvements
How do I enable Visual Styles support when
running under Windows XP?
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Modify your application so it uses Sub Main() to start.
Public Shared Sub Main()
Application.EnableVisualStyles()
Application.DoEvents() ' To work around a bug.
Application.Run(New Form1)
End Sub
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Modify all controls that support the FlatStyle property, setting
the value to System.
Set all TabPage instances BackColor property to White.
Code
Demo – Possible problems.
How do I truly determine of Visual Styles are
enabled when running Windows XP?
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Why is this important?
Demo
References - Websites
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AddressOf – Articles, Code Samples
 http://www.addressof.com
GotDotNet – Code Samples, Discussions
 http://www.gotdotnet.com
Code Project – Articles, Code Samples, Discussions
 http://www.codeproject.com
Fort Worth .NET Users Group
 http://www.fwdnug.com
Open Discussion
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Questions?