Having introduced his cross-platform Query Template solution, Michael now gives us the technical details on how to integrate his .NET controls into applications both simple and complex. With screenshots and code samples, this has everything you need to build your own powerful SQL editor or Query Template explorer. This is the second of a two-part [...]

SharePoint 2007 is the latest release of Microsoft’s enterprise collaboration suite, which tightly integrates with the Microsoft Office Suite and allows organizations to establish well-managed corporate knowledge from the darkest depths of informational chaos. At least that’s Microsoft unbiased opinion. In my experience, SharePoint 2007 is a major improvement over its predecessor, but it still [...]

One of my clients wanted to be able to restrict any given control, on any form, so that it is either invisible or disabled based on who is using the form. We decided to make the restrictions "roles-based" – that is "managers can click this button, users can see it, but to guests it is [...]

The basics of asynchronous processing In Windows Forms applications, we often need to perform some complex processing in the background, while still continuing with other tasks, such as monitoring user input and updating the user interface. For example, if you think of a web browser, it fetches and renders a web page without the main [...]

Data solutions for disconnected applications "Smart client" is more than a fancy moniker for Win Forms, or a marketing ploy to sell Visual Studio 2005. It is an architecture that allows Win Forms applications to function when they are disconnected from the network and their primary data source. Smart client is not a new concept. [...]