.NET Controls

An imported .NET control is a GUI .NET component and is added to the Control palette of the Jade Painter. It cannot be distinguished from the standard Jade-supplied controls.

As with non-GUI components, creating an instance of the Jade control object does not create the corresponding .NET object. The .NET object is created when the control is dropped onto a form in the Jade Painter, when the form (with a .NET control) is loaded at run time, or when the addControl method of the Form class is used to add a dynamically created control.

Some controls include designers, which are usually forms that enable properties of the control to be set. These are particularly useful when the control is made up of a number of subcontrols or when properties have dependencies on other properties. The first time a control with a designer is dropped onto a form in the Jade Painter, the designer form is displayed. When the designer form is closed the control, modified by the designer, is shown on the form being painted.

When a control with a designer has been displayed in the Jade Painter, the designer can usually be reactivated using the context menu. The context menu in the Jade Painter, when activated over a .NET control, can include up to 10 extra entries corresponding to the first 10 available designer verbs. These are options defined in the designer that perform various designer functions, including re-activating the designer, or altering the control in some way.