Data Binding with Windows Forms 2.0, Addison-Wesley
Microsoft .NET Framework, ASP.NET, Visual C# (CSharp, C Sharp, C-Sharp) Developer Training, Visual Studio
|
Contents |
C# Online.NET Book Review
Smart client has no one standard definition; however, the definition usually includes most of the following: client device versatility, connectedness, intelligent installation and update, local resource access, offline capability. And, the author understands this (p. 27). The .NET Framework addresses these requirements with flexible binding, deployment, and security models. Unfortunately, the book hardly touches upon smart client topics like ClickOnce deployment. Virtually, the only smart client element that is addressed in the book is a rich user interface. Therefore,—despite the title—this is not a book about smart client development.
That said, this book has a lot to say about Windows Forms 2.0, the .NET Framework 2.0, and Visual Studio 2005. And, it is an excellent book on Forms programming. The book begins by establishing the context of data-bound Windows Forms, followed by new data-binding features, and, finally, advanced topics. The appendices cover specific usages in ADO.NET, ASP.NET, Windows Forms, and WinFX. The coverage of custom business objects and collections, custom controls, and DataSets is exemplary.
If you got an early start with .NET, you are, probably, accustomed to writing all your data binding code by hand. Well, the latest software described in this book will impress you and increase your productivity.
If you are a beginning or intermediate programmer charged with using the designer for data binding, you will learn what the designer is doing behind the scenes, what the designer-generated code is doing, and how to handle cases where the generated code is insufficient to the task at hand.
The author is a talented trainer; and, it shows in his writing style. Not only does he know his material cold; but, he writes engagingly. And, the author always explains why he recommends a particular practice or usage.
All the source code examples are in the C# language. You will need access to SQL Server to run the examples without changes.
So, consider the "Smart Client" in the title to mean "Rich Client", because, the book covers virtually all aspects of data binding under .NET. And, don't judge the book by its cover.
Bottom line
Data Binding with Windows Forms 2.0 is a basic necessity for Windows Forms developers using Visual Studio.
Other books in this series
Microsoft .NET Development Series (Addison-Wesley):
- .NET Developer's Guide to Directory Services Programming, Addison-Wesley
- .NET Developer's Guide to Windows Security, Addison-Wesley
- .NET Framework Standard Library Annotated Reference, v.1, Addison-Wesley
- .NET Framework Standard Library Annotated Reference, v.2, Addison-Wesley
- .NET Internationalization, Addison-Wesley
- .NET Web Services, Addison-Wesley
- ASP.NET 2.0 Illustrated, Addison-Wesley
- C# Programming Language, The, 2nd Ed., Addison-Wesley
- Common Language Infrastructure Annotated Standard, Addison-Wesley
- Data Binding with Windows Forms 2.0, Addison-Wesley
- Enterprise Services with the .NET Framework, Addison-Wesley
- eXtreme .NET, Addison-Wesley
- Framework Design Guidelines, Addison-Wesley
- Visual Studio Tools for Office, Addison-Wesley
- Windows Forms 2.0 Programming, Addison-Wesley
From the back cover
Data binding is the most important part of many business applications—and one of the most difficult things to understand. Data Binding with Windows Forms 2.0 is the first book to focus on this crucial area of development. It will quickly get you up to speed on binding data sources to Windows Forms components. The book contains clear examples in C# that work with SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005. Visual Basic .NET examples are available on the book’s Web site.
Brian Noyes, leading consultant and speaker on .NET programming, teaches you both the theory and practice of data binding and provides numerous samples ready to run in Visual Studio 2005.
From his in-depth coverage, you’ll learn how to
- Use Visual Studio 2005 to generate a data-bound application from a database
- Use the new Visual Studio 2005 typed data set designer, and how and why to use typed data sets and typed data adapters
- Perform simple and complex binding of data to controls, and how to use the .NET 2.0 BindingSource
- Use the Binding object for simple binding with automatic formatting, and how to handle binding events
- Generate bound controls with the Visual Studio Designer, and how to use Data Sources
- Present data with the new DataGridView control, and how to implement advanced features of the DataGridView
- Implement custom data-bound controls in Windows Forms
- Create custom business objects and collections that are suitable for use in data binding
- Implement validation and error handling at the Windows Forms and data-binding levels
- Implement data binding with ASP.NET 2.0 and the upcoming Windows Presentation Foundation (Avalon) technologies
About the author(s)
Brian Noyes is a software architect, trainer, writer, and speaker with IDesign, a premier .NET architecture and design consulting and training company. He has been developing software systems for more than fifteen years, speaks at many major software conferences around the world, and writes for a variety of software journals and magazines.
Table of Contents (abbreviated)
Chapter 1: Building Data-Bound Applications with Windows Forms
Chapter 2: Working with Typed Data Sets and Table Adapters
Chapter 3: Introducing Data Binding in Windows Forms
Chapter 4: Binding Controls to Data Sources
Chapter 5: Generating Bound Controls with the Visual Studio Designer
Chapter 6: Presenting Data with the DataGridView Control
Chapter 7: Understanding Data-Binding Interfaces
Chapter 8: Implementing Custom Data-Bound Controls
Chapter 9: Implementing Custom Data-Bound Business Objects and Collections
Chapter 10: Validating Data Input and Handling Errors
Appendix A: Binding to Data in ASP.NET
Appendix B: Binding Data in WinFx Applications
Appendix C: Programming Windows Forms Applications
Appendix D: Accessing Data with ADO.NET
