Synopsis
This Wrox Blox shows you how to add graphics to Visual Basic 2008 applications by explaining fundamental graphics techniques such as: drawing shapes with different colors and line styles; filling areas with colors, gradients, and patterns; drawing text that is properly aligned, sized, and clipped exactly where you want it; manipulating images and saving results in bitmap, JPEG, and other types of files. Also covered are instructions for how to greatly increase your graphics capabilities using transformations, which allow you to move, stretch, or rotate graphics. They also let you work in coordinate systems that make sense for your application. The author also describes techniques for using the above in printouts, describing the sequence of events that produce a printout and show how to generate and preview printouts, with examples which show how to wrap long chunks of text across multiple pages, if necessary. In addition, you will learn about two powerful new graphic tools that were introduced with .NET Framework 3.0: WPF graphics and FlowDocuments. XAML graphic commands allow a WPF application to draw and fill the same kinds of shapes that a program can draw by using graphics objects. Finally, a discussion on the FlowDocument object shows you how to define items that should be flowed across multiple pages as space permits. This lets you display text, graphics, controls, and other items that automatically flow across page breaks. FlowDocument viewers make displaying these documents easy for you, and simplifies the user′s reading of the documents. This Wrox Blox also contains 35 example programs written in Visual Basic 2008, although most of the code works in previous versions of Visual Basic .NET as well. The most notable exceptions are WPF graphics and FlowDocuments, both of which require WPF provided in .NET Framework 3.0 and later. Table of Contents Section 1: Using Graphics, Pens, and Brushes 2 Getting a Graphics Object 3 Using a Graphics Object 5 Creating Pens 8 Creating Brushes 11 Section 1 Wrap–up 13 Section 2: Using Advanced Pens and Brushes 14 Custom Dash Patterns 14 Longitudinal Stripes 16 Custom End Caps 17 Linear Gradient Brushes 18 Path Gradient Brushes 20 Section 2 Wrap–up 21 Section 3: Drawing Text 22 Drawing Simple Text 22 Using Layout Rectangles 23 Section 3 Wrap–up 27 Section 4: Manipulating Images 27 Creating and Loading Bitmaps 27 Manipulating Bitmaps 29 Saving Image Files 32 Section 4 Wrap–Up 33 Section 5: Using Transformations 33 Basic Transformations 33 World Coordinate Mapping 36 Section 5 Wrap–up 40 Section 6: Printing 40 Using PrintPage 41 Using Other Event Handlers 44 Printing Transformations 45 Section 6 Wrap–up 48 Section 7: Using WPF Graphics 48 Decorative Controls 49 Shape Controls 49 Brushes 53 ImageBrush 56 Section 7 Wrap–up 57 Section 8: Building FlowDocuments 57 BlockUIContainer 58 List 58 Paragraph 58 Section 58 Table 58 Section 8 Wrap–up 60 Conclusion 61 About Rod Stephens 62 Usage Rights for Wiley Wrox Blox Any Wrox Blox you purchase from this site will come with certain restrictions that allow Wiley to protect the copyrights of its products. After you purchase and download this title, you: Are entitled to three downloads Are entitled to make a backup copy of the file for your own use Are entitled to print the Wrox Blox for your own use Are entitled to make annotations and comments in the Wrox Blox file for your own use May not lend, sell or give the Wrox Blox to another user May not place the Wrox Blox file on a network or any file sharing service for use by anyone other than yourself or allow anyone other than yourself to access it May not copy the Wrox Blox file other than as allowed above May not copy, redistribute, or modify any portion of the Wrox Blox contents in any way without prior permission from Wiley If you have any questions about these restrictions, you may contact Customer Care at (877) 762–2974 (8 a.m. – 5 p.m. EST, Monday – Friday). If you have any issues related to Technical Support, please contact us at 800–762–2974 (United States only) or 317–572–3994 (International) 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. EST, Monday – Friday).
About the Author
ROD STEPHENS is a contract software engineer specializing in graphical user interface design, algorithms, and database systems. He writes a column on Visual Basic algorithms for the professional newsletter Visual Basic Developer. Previously a senior member of the technical staff at GTE Laboratories, he has developed several large systems for GTE and other clients using components.
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