Name That Layout: In the beginning ...
Windows Forms 2.0 contains a set of new layout features that are a blast to use - but first-time users can be easily overwhelmed by the options, and even developers experienced with Windows Forms may need a helping hand to figure out how to get the most of the new features. So, as a way of demonstrating how, when, and why the features should be used, I thought it'd be fun - well, okay, at least interesting and even moderately compelling - to make a game out of it. So I bring you ...
Name That Layout!
Sure to shock and amuse, excite and confuse. Bring your family, bring your friends.
The Rules
Every so often I'll be posting a new "Name That Layout" scenario. Most will consist of a set of screenshots of different types of Windows Forms UI, along with notes on how the UI should behave. The challenge for you, the contestant, will be to respond and say how you think you'd achieve a UI layout of that type - that looks and acts like the screenshots provided.
The catch: I'll always include a specific "challenge", in the form of "I can layout that UI with ..." and then some bold but almost always true assertion of how it could be achieved in Windows Forms. Anybody can write gobs of code and cobble together UI that looks and acts pretty much any old way, but we're here to learn the Right and Blessed Way of achieving various kinds of simple, advanced, and cool Windows Forms UI.
In place of further explanation, here's an example ...
CHALLENGE #1: In the beginning ...
The Look:
Fig. A
Fig. B
The Behavior:
When the application starts, it looks like Fig. A. The form can be resized by the user to look like Fig. B. It cannot be made to be smaller than Fig. A or larger than Fig. B.
The Challenge:
I can name that layout ... without using any Whidbey/Windows Forms 2.0 features whatsoever.
Simple rules, simple game, and simple first problem ... any takers, or do I have to sit here and talk to myself?
