Program Options: Common

This section contains settings in regards to generation of source code using form.suite4.net.

It is subdivided in the following areas:

• Code Generation
• Code View

Code Generation

Code Generation Options

• Generate Visual Studio compatible code?
  The difference between the two possible states lies primarily in the way events are treated in the generated code. This is best explainend using sample code:
  The scenario is a simple form with one button on it that has a Click event attached to it. The following code is generated when the checkbox is activated:
  

  using System;
  using System.Windows.Forms;
  public class Form1 : System.Windows.Forms.Form
  {
  	private System.Windows.Forms.Button cmdButton1;
  
  	public Form1()
  	{
  		this.InitializeComponent();
  	}
  
  	private void InitializeComponent()
  	{
  		this.cmdButton1 = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
  		this.SuspendLayout();
  		this.cmdButton1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(8, 8);
  		this.cmdButton1.Name = "cmdButton1";
  		this.cmdButton1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(75, 23);
  		this.cmdButton1.TabIndex = 0;
  		this.cmdButton1.Text = "cmdButton1";
  		this.cmdButton1.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.cmdButton1_Click);
  		this.AutoScaleBaseSize = new System.Drawing.Size(5, 13);
  		this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(292, 266);
  		this.Controls.Add(this.cmdButton1);
  		this.Name = "Form1";
  		this.Text = "Form1";
  		this.ResumeLayout(false);
  	}
  
  	private void cmdButton1_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e) {
  
  	}
  }

  The event handler is registered in the InitializeComponent method of the form just as it would in Visual Studio .NET. Now compare this to the code output when the checkbox is not checked:
  

  using System;
  using System.Windows.Forms;
  public class Form1 : System.Windows.Forms.Form
  {
  	private System.Windows.Forms.Button cmdButton1;
  
  	public Form1()
  	{
  		this.InitializeComponent();
  		this.InitializeEvents();
  	}
  
  	private void InitializeComponent()
  	{
  		this.cmdButton1 = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
  		this.SuspendLayout();
  		this.cmdButton1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(72, 48);
  		this.cmdButton1.Name = "cmdButton1";
  		this.cmdButton1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(75, 23);
  		this.cmdButton1.TabIndex = 0;
  		this.cmdButton1.Text = "cmdButton1";
  		this.AutoScaleBaseSize = new System.Drawing.Size(5, 13);
  		this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(292, 266);
  		this.Controls.Add(this.cmdButton1);
  		this.Name = "Form1";
  		this.Text = "Form1";
  		this.ResumeLayout(false);
  	}
  
  	private void InitializeEvents()
  	{
  		this.cmdButton1.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.cmdButton1_Click);
  	}
  
  	private void cmdButton1_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
  	{
  	}
  }

  As you can see, an additional method InitializeEvents is created which registers the event handler for the Click event of cmdButton1 (and, of course, any event handlers of other controls). The advantage of this approach over the one shown earlier is that you can edit all event handler registrations in one location rather than having to search for them in InitializeComponent.
• Would you like extended comments for each form?
  If this checkbox is activated and you have been assigning tasks and/or descriptions to controls during the design process using the Task/Description Editor, these get added to the generated code.

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Data Binding / Data Initialization Options

The settings available here apply to binding business classes to forms as described in Working With Business Classes.

• Name for the Dirty Property
  When a user changes any of the business class property values, the form is set to dirty. The value you enter here determines the name of the form's property that indicates whether it is dirty or not.
• Name for the Make Dirty Event
  An event gets raised once the form becomes dirty. Here you can customize its name.
• Name for the Data Initialization Method
  The data initialization method referred to here is where the form controls get bound to the data source (business object). Depending on the type of data binding you are using (see Working With Business Classes for more information on the two common data binding scenarios) the code generation engine will produce code for the data initialization method that looks similar to the following:

  public void InitializeDataSource(assetm.Northwind.EmployeesRow employeesRowdata)
  {
  	this.SuspendLayout();
  	this.Save();
  	this._IsInitializing = true;
  	this.Reset();
  	this._EmployeesRowdata = employeesRowdata;
  	if((this._EmployeesRowdata != null))
  	{
  		this.txtTitleOfCourtesy.Text = this._EmployeesRowdata.TitleOfCourtesy;
  		this.txtTitle.Text = this._EmployeesRowdata.Title;
  		this.txtCountry.Text = this._EmployeesRowdata.Country;
  		this.txtRegion.Text = this._EmployeesRowdata.Region;
  		this.txtPostalCode.Text = this._EmployeesRowdata.PostalCode;
  		this.txtCity.Text = this._EmployeesRowdata.City;
  		this.txtStreet.Text = this._EmployeesRowdata.Address;
  		this.txtFirstName.Text = this._EmployeesRowdata.FirstName;
  		this.txtLastName.Text = this._EmployeesRowdata.LastName;
  	}
  	this.ResumeLayout(false);
  	this._IsInitializing = false;
  	this._IsDirty = false;
  }

  If you want to omit the call to the method that saves any changes to the business object (marked blue in the code snippet above) deactivate the checkbox next to Save before new Initialize new Datasource.
• DataSource Extension
  The value you enter here will be appended to the variable name of your business object — providing the checkbox Use as suffix is activated.
• Name for the Save Data Method
  This sets the name of the method that saves the form control values back to the business object.
• Name for the Reset Data Method
  This method empties all the controls on the form. Call it if you want to allow the user to create a new record. Set the method's name by entering a value here.
• Use System.Convert
  This setting is used in the method that is storing control values back to the business object (see Name for the Save Data Method above). If you have a business object with a property type that is different from the type of the corresponding control value, a type conversion needs to be performed in order to write the value to the business object property.
  Example: a TextBox control txtCustomerAge stores the value of the myCustomer.Age business object property which is of type System.Int32. If the Use System.Convert checkbox is not selected, the generated code will be
      myCustomer.Age = int.Parse(txtCustomerAge.Text ); in C# and
      myCustomer.Age = Integer.Parse(txtCustomerAge.Text) in Visual Basic .NET.
  Selecting the checkbox, however, results in the following code:
      myCustomer.Age = System.Convert.ToInt32(txtCustomerAge.Text); in C# and
      myCustomer.Age = System.Convert.ToInt32(txtCustomerAge.Text) in VB .NET respectively.

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Code View

Check the following if you want the text used as a comment during code generation

In this section you can further customize the generated code, although the changes you make here will not affect the code's functionality. The settings provided are merely intended to organize the code. If you select any of the checkboxes below the "Toggle all" button, the code output will contain additional comments such as //end try ( C#) or 'End try ( Visual Basic .NET) after a try/catch block is complete. This is a convenience feature mainly targeted at C# programmers to increase code readablility.

Activating the Add regions to type level code objects checkbox will add #region/#endregion (C#) or #Region/#End Region (VB.NET) preprocessor directives to the code output, as illustrated by the following excerpt from the InitializeComponent method of a sample form:

#region txtCountry 
this.txtCountry.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.FromArgb(((System.Byte)(255)), ((System.Byte)(255)), ((System.Byte)(192)));
this.txtCountry.ForeColor = System.Drawing.Color.Black;
this.txtCountry.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(80, 114);
this.txtCountry.Name = "txtCountry";
this.txtCountry.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(160, 20);
this.txtCountry.TabIndex = 22;
this.txtCountry.Text = "Country";
#endregion

The initialization of the TextBox txtCountry is wrapped in a region, as are the initializations of all other controls (not shown here).

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Color settings for code viewing

The settings here apply to the code generation preview window (which is available through the Form Designer's main menu) and are self-explanatory. Change the color of various code elements as you see fit or accept the defaults.

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