A graphical user interface (GUI) allows a user to interact visually with a program. A GUI (pronounced "GOO-ee") gives a program a distinctive "look" and "feel." Providing different applications with a consistent set of intuitive user-interface components enables users to become productive with each application faster.
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As an example of a GUI, consider Fig. 13.1, which shows an Internet Explorer Web browser window containing various GUI controls. Near the top of the window, there is a menu bar containing the menus File, Edit, View, Favorites, Tools and Help. Below the menu bar is a set of buttons, each of which has a defined task in Internet Explorer, such as going back to the previously viewed Web page, printing the current page or refreshing the page. Below these buttons lies a combobox, in which users can type the locations of Web sites that they wish to visit. To the left of the combobox is a label (Address) that indicates the combobox's purpose (in this case, entering the location of a Web site). Scrollbars are located at the right side and bottom of the window. Usually, scrollbars appear when a window contains more information than can be displayed in the window's viewable area. Scrollbars enable a user to view different portions of the window's contents. These controls form a user-friendly interface through which the user interacts with the Internet Explorer Web browser.
Figure 13.1. GUI controls in an Internet Explorer window.
GUIs are built from GUI controls (which are sometimes called components or widgetsshort for window gadgets). GUI controls are objects that can display information on the screen or enable users to interact with an application via the mouse, keyboard or some other form of input (such as voice commands). Several common GUI controls are listed in Fig. 13.2in the sections that follow and in Chapter 14, we discuss each of these in detail. Chapter 14 also explores the features and properties of additional GUI controls.
Control |
Description |
---|---|
Label |
Displays images or uneditable text. |
TextBox |
Enables the user to enter data via the keyboard. It can also be used to display editable or uneditable text. |
Button |
Triggers an event when clicked with the mouse. |
CheckBox |
Specifies an option that can be selected (checked) or unselected (not checked). |
ComboBox |
Provides a drop-down list of items from which the user can make a selection either by clicking an item in the list or by typing in a box. |
ListBox |
Provides a list of items from which the user can make a selection by clicking an item in the list. Multiple elements can be selected. |
Panel |
A container in which controls can be placed and organized. |
NumericUpDown |
Enables the user to select from a range of input values. |
Preface
Index
Introduction to Computers, the Internet and Visual C#
Introduction to the Visual C# 2005 Express Edition IDE
Introduction to C# Applications
Introduction to Classes and Objects
Control Statements: Part 1
Control Statements: Part 2
Methods: A Deeper Look
Arrays
Classes and Objects: A Deeper Look
Object-Oriented Programming: Inheritance
Polymorphism, Interfaces & Operator Overloading
Exception Handling
Graphical User Interface Concepts: Part 1
Graphical User Interface Concepts: Part 2
Multithreading
Strings, Characters and Regular Expressions
Graphics and Multimedia
Files and Streams
Extensible Markup Language (XML)
Database, SQL and ADO.NET
ASP.NET 2.0, Web Forms and Web Controls
Web Services
Networking: Streams-Based Sockets and Datagrams
Searching and Sorting
Data Structures
Generics
Collections
Appendix A. Operator Precedence Chart
Appendix B. Number Systems
Appendix C. Using the Visual Studio 2005 Debugger
Appendix D. ASCII Character Set
Appendix E. Unicode®
Appendix F. Introduction to XHTML: Part 1
Appendix G. Introduction to XHTML: Part 2
Appendix H. HTML/XHTML Special Characters
Appendix I. HTML/XHTML Colors
Appendix J. ATM Case Study Code
Appendix K. UML 2: Additional Diagram Types
Appendix L. Simple Types
Index