Making a form both a Child and a Parent

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I am a new Visual Basic 2010 programmer and the answer to this question might be beyond my current programming skills, but I need to know if I am on the right track before I start. I am developing a Book Store Management Application that has multiple parts, Textbook Management, Employee Scheduling, and Accounting to name a few. Each part could actually be a separate application. What I want to do is create one MDI application that has an Outlook 2007 look and feel. With the applications taking the place of the contacts, task, notes, etc. outlook buttons. My problem is each application needs to be MDI also and apparently a form can't be a Parent and a Child at the same time. Could I turn the children forms into user controls and create a tab interface placing the controls on the tab with code? Is there an easier way to accomplish this or is it just a bad idea in general?

Thanks
Charles

Posted 17-Mar-11 11:21am

Member 7759641

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2 solutions

Solution 2

Most certainly, you should turn all your children into controls and use two or more level hierarchy and choose from tab interface, docking interface, page switch controlled by list box or tree view navigation, or something else in some combination.

MDI is a poor help here and is generally accepted very negatively. Use if MDE interface is completely gone from the industry, because it's really ugly and inconvenient. It is never used in any more or less acceptable UI by these reasons.

—SA

Posted 18-Mar-11 8:53am

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov

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Espen Harlinn · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-17T11:50:00

Solution 1

Charles,

I'd take a serious look at XAF - If you're new to Visual Basic, you're likely to create something users will (literally) kill for - so a helping hand from a professional framework could be a lifesaver :)
DevExpress XAF[^]

Go through this demo:
Outlook in 60 Minutes[^]

XAF enables you to create both a web and a windows application, with a minimum of effort.

Best regards
Espen Harlinn

Posted 17-Mar-11 11:50am

Espen Harlinn

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fjdiewornncalwe 17-Mar-11 19:01pm

Well played, Espen.

Espen Harlinn 17-Mar-11 19:20pm

Thanks Marcus!

Member 7759641 17-Mar-11 19:34pm

Thanks for the input Espen. I am currently using the DevExpress tools in the application. I have watched the Outlook in 60 Minutes several times. I have been told that the learning curve for XAF is pretty steep. Why did Marcus say well played? Do you work for DevExpress or is there a subtle joke in your response I didn't catch?

Espen Harlinn 17-Mar-11 19:55pm

There are still many improvements that can be made to the documentation - that is, the framework is far more powerful then the documentation leads you to believe - that doesn't mean that there isn't many good examples included with the product, or that it's more difficult to learn than Windows Forms.

It's when you want to extend the framework that you may sometimes have to turn to the source code for the framework for some clarification.

There is also Gary's blog with samples like:
http://community.devexpress.com/blogs/garyshort/archive/2009/09/30/xaf-project-management-application-10.aspx

From the discription of your task - it seems the framework is more or less made for you :)

Also remember that you are always free to access the database using SqlCommand (if you are using MS SQL Server)

The key to success is to read up on the documented attributes for XAF and XPO, and remember that you can use [NonPersistent] to expose properties from "linked" entities and not have them saved along with the linking entity.

Albin Abel 18-Mar-11 0:37am

Good life saver. My 5

Espen Harlinn 18-Mar-11 4:52am

Thank you, AlbinAbel!

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 18-Mar-11 14:55pm

Espen, this is a good suggestion but only in case OP would agree with using commercial solution, my 5 anyway.
--SA