Non-Client operations

This month you'll see how to use the non-client mouse and button messages to enhance forms and controls with new window adornments. The demo shows how to create a non-client slider control that enables you to control the opacity of a window. Ideal for those always-on-top utility windows.

The opacity slider form.

The Custom ListView-fest.

Not just one detailed article but two on how to really get to grips with ListView customization in Windows Forms. This is probably the most comprehensive set of articles on this subject available in any forum or on-line publication. The techniques shown will also start you on the road to understanding customization for any Windows Forms object based on a common control.

Detail View Customization.

See how to use the common control ListView OWNERDRAWFIXED style to create ListView derivatives that show off their wares in detail view. Learn how to obtain the DRAWITEMSTRUCT and paint your own items. The example code shows how to create this repeater style ListView that needs no fiddly setting of the ListViewItems to get the colours and fonts to come out right.

Custom drawn detail views.

Full custom drawing using reflected notifications.

For full-on ListView customization the CustomListViewEx does what no-other example does and turns the complex stream of NM_CUSTOMDRAW messages and DrawStage codes into a simple event structure that can be used to custom-paint any ListView display mode.

Custom draw in any mode.

This control could be the basis for any type of custom painting you can think of and comes with a royalty free runtime license for incorporation into your applications.

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Find out what you've missed in previous months. 

August, 2003. 

September, 2003. 

October, 2003. 

November, 2003. 

December, 2003

January, 2004

February 2004.