Chapter 8: Integrating with Windows Forms Applications

Overview

After writing seven chapters about the wonders of Web Forms applications, I must acknowledge that Web Forms applications are not the complete solution to every problem. As the Microsoft ASP.NET team worked on improvements and enhancements, the team supporting Microsoft Windows Forms applications was not standing still.

Improvements to Windows Forms applications have not taken place in isolation from the Internet and Web Forms applications. For example, ClickOnce deployment of Windows Forms applications is a new feature of Windows Forms applications in .NET 2.0 that leverages the Internet. Traditionally, Windows Forms applications required a multi-step installation process on each workstation running the application. ClickOnce deployment uses the Internet or an intranet for both initial deployment and updates of a Windows Forms application.

A less-heralded improvement, but one that is significant for Web Forms developers, is the inclusion of the WebBrowser control. The WebBrowser control is a managed wrapper around the Microsoft ActiveX control that Microsoft Internet Explorer uses to display Web pages. Strictly speaking, developers always could use the ActiveX Web browser control in their applications; however, the WebBrowser control makes it a great deal easier. The WebBrowser control is the focus of this chapter. Details will follow, but first, let's take a brief look at what the control can do.