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VisualHint's blog
2007
Aug22

Performance hit under Vista ... solved!

Some customers reported the following problem under Windows Vista: when positionning the mouse over the PropertyGrid, the cpu was raising at 100% and as a consequence the grid was experiencing redrawing problems when expanding nodes, checking radiobuttons, etc. I worked this week on this issue and discovered the culprit: VisualTips. This wonderful component from Skybound was indirectly sending a ton of MouseMove events to the grid (and to any control on the form). The cause of this behaviour [...]
2007
Aug03

VisualHint’s web site has been reviewed by Bob Walsh from 47hats.com

As a customer or visitor of this web site, this is maybe not the post you wish to read. It won’t talk about PropertyGrids, DateTimePickers or other editors but about the design and the life of this web site. As a micro independant software vendor (aka mISV) and specialist of software development it is sometimes difficult to create a good website, attract customers with perfect descriptions and screenshots of products as well as interesting and relevant informations. On the other hand it’s very [...]
2007
Jul25

A true IP address control for windows forms

Some days ago, I was asked by a visitor if it is possible to edit an IP address in Smart PropertyGrid with a specialized editor. The short answer was no. But then I realized that the FieldPackEditor would make a wonderful IP address editor. So I derived a new editor from the base class, created special IpAddrSegmentFieldPack and IpAddrSegmentField classes and voila! Like with other field pack editors, you can show updown buttons, handle a null value, have fixed-width fields or not, set the Text [...]
2007
Jul17

A new year begins for VisualHint

Yes, this is like a new year beginning here. I was in vacations in France during three weeks for a break from VisualHint, with family in Normandy by the sea not far from the american cemetery for those who know this place. This was very relaxing and the kids had a lot of fun with the beach activities (when one lives in Montreal at four years old, the sea is something new). Now that I'm back, this is time to take stock of the VisualHint's future. So how is it going here you will ask. Here is the [...]
2007
Jun27

More about null values in a DateTimePicker

Before releasing version 1.0 of Smart FieldPackEditor.Net I must ensure that the support for null values is really complete. So what does this feature really involves? First let’s remind in what contexts a DateTimePicker can operate: It can be a standalone control and completely encapsulate a DateTime value. You can manually bind one of your properties to the component’s Value property. You can embed the component in a container like the DataGridView. In this case, the component will be [...]
2007
Jun11

Right To Left languages support in Smart DateTimePicker acclaimed!

Even so Smart FieldPackEditor.Net is still in early beta, I received this week-end a message from a developer working at a big israelian company about the support for Hebrew. Here is an excerpt: I examined the control and let me tell you it is very professionally designed and implemented; way to go! Also the RTL and Hebrew are working great, a feat not easily performed by many professional companies. Supporting RTL is something new for me and when I designed the component I even hadn't the RTL [...]
2007
Jun03

PropertyGrid, SelectedObjects and the property cloning syndrome

Time permitting, I sometimes haunt the newsgroups and developer forums to help when the PropertyGrid is involved. Last week, a poster noticed a very subtle issue concerning .Net 1.1 and .Net 2.0 and I decided to know more about it. It appears that the MS PropertyGrid behaves differently in these two versions of .Net. Here is an excerpt of the original request for help: ... When there are multiple objects selected, and an object property value is changed in the grid, it is assigning the same [...]
2007
May24

Screencast 4: a FieldPackEditor is not just for dates and times

To conclude this series of videos, I'll show what can be done with the editor base class. Everything is inside to handle a set of packs and fields which can edit any predetermined data. And since a field is pretty abstract (after all, this is just a rectangle in which we can draw), I'm sure that some nice scenarios will appear after the product is released. Anyway, here is the show: If there is no last minute drama, the beta will be available next week. If you want to be informed, simply [...]
2007
May23

Screencast 3: Databinding and the DataGridView

In this third video, I show several features of the FieldPackEditor: how flexible it is to bind a DatTimePicker to a data source, how independant field packs in the same editor can be bound to different sources and how the editor can be used in the DataGridView as a perfectly well integrated inplace control. Keep in mind that this editor will also be compatible with Smart PropertyGrid.Net and integrated in place in its value column. [...]
2007
May22

Screencast 2: three different ways to nullify a DateTimePicker

Just before the beta is released I will publish each day of this week a screencast to showcase the main features of Smart FieldPackEditor.Net. Here is the schedule for this week: Tuesday, overview of the FieldpackEditor. Wednesday, how to handle the null value. Thursday, SFPE, data binding and the DataGridView. Friday, multi packs and other editors. Here is the second screencast of the week. It will show you how SFPE can nullify the underlying value and how it can restore a valid datetime value. [...]