Organization with WinForms

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So I've just started developing C# WinForm applications and each project I've been working on seems to be larger and requires more user functionality. If I add all of the functionality to one form, obviously it can get out of control very quickly. My last project I would divide up the functionality into individual Forms, and whenever someone say wanted to perform "Feature1" I would instantiate Feature1 Form and show it as a dialog with the main Form as it's owner (so they couldn't click off it).

I'm just curious of what other methods are out there for keeping code organized within Forms. If you are forced to have tons of features/functionality on a single form is there a good way to keep items organized? I simply hate having a code file with hundreds/thousands of lines long.

The answer may simply be in the design, try to design the UI up front so you can utilize multiple forms?

Another example I faced. I created a Tab Control and had about 5 tabs. Those 5 tabs had tons of features and were all stored in the same CS file. What other options did I have? Create a new custom TabControl class with my specific functionality for that tab in it?

I don't mind reading, so if there are decent articles out there feel free to link them!

4 Answers

I know this is a late answer, but if anyone still reads this question, another way to reduce the number of lines of code in your form is to use Data Bindings. If you are using properties, Data Bindings make it so that you don't have to constantly write handlers just to do something like PropertyName = textBox.Text;. Data Bindings work with both datasets and objects.

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