Can anyone recommend a book for writing custom control in C#?

[Li kai Liu Angus]

Any good ideas of what to buy in regard to writing custom control? I'm looking for a book that explains the ins and outs of Control class, like when to override createParams, WndProc. I also saw a few books: .NET Windows Forms Custom Controls by Richard L. Weeks, Richard L Weeks GDI+ Programming: Creating Custom Controls Using C# by Eric White, Chris Garrett (Contributor) are they good??

[Nnamdi Onyeyiri]

i have read only Programming Windows With C# by Charles Patzold Clickety[^] and havce found it a very good resource for information.

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:suss:"All programmers are playwrights and all computers are lousy actors."

[Li kai Liu Angus]

I have one at hand. I agree with you that this one is a comprehensive guide on GDI+ and how to use these controls. But not in depth when it comes to writing our own controls.

[leppie]

I cant remember the books name now, but its on the WROX website (www.wrox.com) Best is the source code for the book is available on the site (no need to even register) and the examples therein is so well written that you dont even need the book. :) Hope you find it usefull :) MYrc : A .NET IRC client with C# Plugin Capabilities. See http://sourceforge.net/projects/myrc for more info. :-D

[Alastair Stell]

I have both the Petzold book (Programming Microsoft Windows with C#) and the Eric White book (GDI+ Programming: Creating Custom Controls Using C#). The Petzold book is not aimed at custom controls, and although it is a good read it is probably not what you want. The reason I own both books is because the Petzold book has more GDI+ details, especially in regard to drawing paths, working with Beziers and other splines etc.. The Eric White book has three chapters directly relevant to designing custom controls. These are entitled: An Overview of GDI+ and Custom Controls Architecture and Design of Windows Forms Custom Controls Design Time Support However much of the book is slanted towards the design of custom controls. I would not like to be without either book, but if you can only get one, go with the Eric White book because it seems to best match your needs. You should probably not override WndProc until you have explored other options. For example, you don't have to override WndProc to create a custom shape for your form or control. Instead you need only set the Region property of the form or control. Of course there are times you may really need to override WndProc. Just don't rush to it! I live in the hope that sticking to a higher layer abstraction, which is what GDI+ really is, might someday make my life easier when it comes to porting code. But the reality is somewhat different! I cannot comment on the .NET Windows Forms Custom Controls. I have not seen it. Only change is constant