A Template for C# Windows Applications
Pages: 1, 2, 3, 4

The Template

Finally, here is the template that you can use as a starting point for your C# Windows application. The whole application, including the image files, can be downloaded here.

Listing 1. A C# Windows Application Template

/*
  to compile this source file, type
    csc MyWinApp.cs
*/

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Drawing;
using System.IO;
using System.ComponentModel;

public class MyWinApp: Form {

  Label label = new Label();
  Button button = new Button();
  TreeView tree = new TreeView();
  ImageList imageList = new ImageList();
  static String imageFolder = "Images" + Path.DirectorySeparatorChar.ToString();

  // -------------- Images declarations ------------------------------------
  Image newFileImage = new Bitmap(imageFolder + "newFile.bmp");
  Image openFileImage = new Bitmap(imageFolder + "openFile.gif");
  Image saveFileImage = new Bitmap(imageFolder + "saveFile.bmp");
  Image printImage = new Bitmap(imageFolder + "print.gif");

  // -------------- End of Images declaration ------------------------------------

  // -------------- menu ------------------------------------
  MainMenu mainMenu = new MainMenu();

  MenuItem fileMenuItem = new MenuItem();
  MenuItem fileNewMenuItem;
  MenuItem fileOpenMenuItem;
  MenuItem fileSaveMenuItem;
  MenuItem fileSaveAsMenuItem;
  MenuItem fileMenuWithSubmenu;
  MenuItem submenuMenuItem;
  MenuItem fileExitMenuItem;

  // -------------- End of menu ------------------------------------
  
  // -------------- Toolbar ------------------------------------
  ToolBar toolBar = new ToolBar();
  ToolBarButton separatorToolBarButton = new ToolBarButton();
  ToolBarButton newToolBarButton = new ToolBarButton();
  ToolBarButton openToolBarButton = new ToolBarButton();
  ToolBarButton saveToolBarButton = new ToolBarButton();
  ToolBarButton printToolBarButton = new ToolBarButton();

  // -------------- End of Toolbar ------------------------------------

  // -------------- StatusBar ------------------------------------
  StatusBar statusBar = new StatusBar();

  StatusBarPanel statusBarPanel1 = new StatusBarPanel();
  StatusBarPanel statusBarPanel2 = new StatusBarPanel();

  // -------------- End of StatusBar ------------------------------------
 

  public MyWinApp() {
    InitializeComponent();
  }

  private void InitializeComponent() {
    this.Text = "My Windows Application";
    this.Icon = new Icon(imageFolder + "applicationLogo.ico");
    this.Width = 400;
    this.Height = 300;
    this.StartPosition = FormStartPosition.CenterScreen;

    imageList.Images.Add(newFileImage);
    imageList.Images.Add(openFileImage);
    imageList.Images.Add(saveFileImage);
    imageList.Images.Add(printImage);


    // menu
    fileMenuItem.Text = "&File";

    // the following constructor is the same as:
    //   menuItem fileNewMenuItem = new MenuItem();
    //   fileNewMenuItem.Text = "&New";
    //   fileNewMenuItem.Shortcut = Shortcut.CtrlN;
    //   fileNewMenuItem.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.fileNewMenuItem_Click);
    fileNewMenuItem = new MenuItem("&New", 
      new System.EventHandler(this.fileNewMenuItem_Click), Shortcut.CtrlN);

    fileOpenMenuItem = new MenuItem("&Open", 
      new System.EventHandler(this.fileOpenMenuItem_Click), Shortcut.CtrlO);
  
    fileSaveMenuItem = new MenuItem("&Save", 
      new System.EventHandler(this.fileSaveMenuItem_Click), Shortcut.CtrlS);

    fileSaveAsMenuItem = new MenuItem("Save &As", 
      new System.EventHandler(this.fileSaveAsMenuItem_Click));

    fileMenuWithSubmenu = new MenuItem("&With Submenu");

    submenuMenuItem = new MenuItem("Su&bmenu", 
      new System.EventHandler(this.submenuMenuItem_Click));

    fileExitMenuItem = new MenuItem("E&xit", 
      new System.EventHandler(this.fileExitMenuItem_Click));


    mainMenu.MenuItems.Add(fileMenuItem);
    fileOpenMenuItem.Checked = true;
    fileMenuItem.MenuItems.Add(fileNewMenuItem);
    fileMenuItem.MenuItems.Add(fileOpenMenuItem);
    fileMenuItem.MenuItems.Add(fileSaveMenuItem);
    fileMenuItem.MenuItems.Add(fileSaveAsMenuItem);
    fileMenuItem.MenuItems.Add(fileMenuWithSubmenu);
    fileMenuWithSubmenu.MenuItems.Add(submenuMenuItem);
    fileMenuItem.MenuItems.Add("-"); // add a separator
    fileMenuItem.MenuItems.Add(fileExitMenuItem);


    toolBar.Appearance = ToolBarAppearance.Normal;
    //toolBar.Appearance = ToolBarAppearance.Flat;
    toolBar.ImageList = imageList;
    toolBar.ButtonSize = new Size(14, 6);    

    separatorToolBarButton.Style = ToolBarButtonStyle.Separator;
    newToolBarButton.ToolTipText = "New Document"; 
    newToolBarButton.ImageIndex = 0;
    openToolBarButton.ToolTipText = "Open Document"; 
    openToolBarButton.ImageIndex = 1;
    saveToolBarButton.ToolTipText = "Save"; 
    saveToolBarButton.ImageIndex = 2;
    printToolBarButton.ToolTipText = "Print"; 
    printToolBarButton.ImageIndex = 3;

    toolBar.ButtonClick += new ToolBarButtonClickEventHandler(this.toolBar_ButtonClick);

    toolBar.Buttons.Add(separatorToolBarButton);
    toolBar.Buttons.Add(newToolBarButton);
    toolBar.Buttons.Add(openToolBarButton);
    toolBar.Buttons.Add(saveToolBarButton);
    toolBar.Buttons.Add(separatorToolBarButton);
    toolBar.Buttons.Add(printToolBarButton);

    tree.Top = 40;
    tree.Left = 20;
    tree.Width = 100;
    tree.Height = 100;

    label.Location = new Point(220, 40);
    label.Size = new Size(160, 30);
    label.Text = "Yes, click the button";
    
    button.Location = new Point(220, 80);
    button.Size = new Size(100, 30);
    button.Text = "Click this";
    button.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.button_Click);

    statusBarPanel1.BorderStyle = StatusBarPanelBorderStyle.Sunken;
    statusBarPanel1.Text = "Press F1 for Help";
    statusBarPanel1.AutoSize = StatusBarPanelAutoSize.Spring;
    statusBarPanel2.BorderStyle = StatusBarPanelBorderStyle.Raised;
    statusBarPanel2.ToolTipText = System.DateTime.Now.ToShortTimeString();
    statusBarPanel2.Text = System.DateTime.Today.ToLongDateString();
    statusBarPanel2.AutoSize = StatusBarPanelAutoSize.Contents;
    statusBar.ShowPanels = true;
    statusBar.Panels.Add(statusBarPanel1);
    statusBar.Panels.Add(statusBarPanel2);


    this.Menu = mainMenu;
    this.Controls.Add(toolBar);
    this.Controls.Add(tree);
    this.Controls.Add(label);
    this.Controls.Add(button);
    this.Controls.Add(statusBar);
  }


  // -------------- Event Handlers --------------------------

  private void fileNewMenuItem_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e) {
    MessageBox.Show("You clicked the File -- New menu.", "The Event Information");
  }

  private void fileOpenMenuItem_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e) {
    MessageBox.Show("You clicked the File -- Open menu.", "The Event Information");
  }

  private void fileSaveMenuItem_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e) {
    MessageBox.Show("You clicked the File -- Save menu.", "The Event Information");
  }

  private void fileSaveAsMenuItem_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e) {
    MessageBox.Show("You clicked the File -- Save As menu.", "The Event Information");
  }

  private void fileExitMenuItem_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e) {
    MessageBox.Show("You clicked the File -- Exit As menu.", "The Event Information");
  }

  private void submenuMenuItem_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e) {
    MessageBox.Show("You clicked the submenu.", "The Event Information");
  }

  protected void toolBar_ButtonClick(Object sender, ToolBarButtonClickEventArgs e) {
    
    // Evaluate the Button property to determine which button was clicked.
    switch (toolBar.Buttons.IndexOf(e.Button)) {
      case 1:
        MessageBox.Show("Second button.", "The Event Information");
        break;
      case 2:
        MessageBox.Show("third button", "The Event Information");
        break;
      case 3:
        MessageBox.Show("fourth button.", "The Event Information");
        break;
    }
  }        

  protected override void OnClosing(CancelEventArgs e) {
    MessageBox.Show("Exit now.", "The Event Information");
  }

  private void button_Click(Object sender, System.EventArgs e) {
    MessageBox.Show("Thank you.", "The Event Information");
  }

  // -------------- End of Event Handlers -------------------



  public static void Main() {
    MyWinApp form = new MyWinApp();
    Application.Run(form);
  }

}