Open Source Winform Control Library: Mulan Control Library

Recommended by a WeChat friend, this is a pretty nice Winforms control library. Let's take a look.

Introduction

• A Winforms control library developed based on C# 4.0, VS2019, Net Framework 4.0 (excluding Net Framework 4.0 Client Profile). To ensure compatibility, C# 4.0 was used, so lower versions of VS can also compile the project. Apart from the animation functions extracted from Silverlight and the ColorEditorExt.cs color panel view designer extender modified from online examples, all other controls were written from scratch based on native controls, without using any third-party libraries. So feel free to use it – there is no issue of copyright infringement.

• These controls were originally published individually on a blog, and this is their first full release on Gitee. Because the original controls were developed independently, many of them use sliding effects, leading to excessive timer consumption. Therefore, before the full release, most controls were modified, but there may still be bugs. Hence, this control library is suitable for those with basic knowledge of control development. The controls themselves are not complicated; they use minimal Windows messages and mostly rewrite the Paint method. Also, all controls currently use a full refresh drawing method, so you can further optimize them. These controls were developed out of curiosity and have never been used in a real project. If you use them in your own project, it's best to test them for bugs first. Why? Because during development, I encountered bugs that caused VS to crash and close automatically when operating the visual designer. Developing controls with a visual designer is quite troublesome – you must understand the principles of the VS visual designer.

About Licensing

• There are 3 licensing options: (None of the following include bug-fixing services, nor have I intentionally left any bugs)

  1. 30 RMB (Renminbi) perpetual license (applicable to all future versions). The control library can be integrated into your commercial system, but it cannot be resold or licensed to others. For secondary development, see option 2 below.

  2. Free perpetual license (applicable to all future versions). You can use it for learning but any commercial use is prohibited. However, if you perform secondary development on these controls, and your control library's functionality is at least twice as powerful as my free licensed source code, with code similarity below 50%, you may independently publish and sell your source code. In that case, you must add a description to your source code copyright stating: "This control library is developed based on the Hua Mulan control library." If your secondary development results in a source code that is 90% dissimilar from my free licensed source code, you don't need to add that description, because I acknowledge that a successful imitation can be original.

  3. Free perpetual license (applicable to all future versions). You may freely integrate the control library into your commercial system, but it cannot be resold or licensed to others. Also, all files in your system that use this control library must include my copyright notice, especially the Ballad of Mulan (木兰诗) which must not be deleted – don't ask why.

Repository Introduction

After cloning from the Gitee repository Hua Mulan Control Library, the overall directory structure is as follows:

The author used Chinese names for the solution – no problem there.

Open the solution with [Microsoft Visual Studio Enterprise 2022 (64-bit) - Preview]. Why use the VS 2022 preview? Hasn't the official version already been released? (...)

Solution structure:

We won't look at the source code here – feel free to study it if you're interested. Select the WinfromDemo project as the startup project, press F5 to run, and let's showcase a few effects (Note: The author mentioned in the repository README that exceptions may occur during runtime; use at your own risk):

Running the WinformDemo project:

First, let's see what controls are available. Below is the control list:

1. Menu

GDI irregular arc:

Right-click to expand/collapse

See the "Open Independently" button next to it? Click it:

You can move it around – use your imagination for how to use this.

MAC fisheye effect:

A pretty cool MAC fisheye effect menu:

Breadcrumb navigation bar:

2. Forms

Date selection beautification:

Color selection beautification:

Multi-point slider:

CheckBox:

Button animation:

Percentage progress:

Ripple progress:

Gradient progress:

This one is quite nice for real-time data monitoring.

Digital clock:

Thermometer:

TabControl beautification:

CAPTCHA:

Radar scan:

Loading spinner:

3. Playback

Image rotating carousel:

Marquee image slider:

Text marquee effect:

4. Verification

Pattern slide unlock:

Jigsaw slider verification:

This one is interesting – you can select multiple sliders to increase verification complexity.

5. Toolbar

These are quite common, so no GIF recording needed...

6. Components

Bottom-right corner popup notification:

Other components – you'll have to check them out yourself.

7. Analysis

The last major category – already recorded nearly 30 GIFs...

Gauge:

Radar analysis chart:

Chart analysis:

That's all for the introduction. Recording those GIFs was quite a workout.

About the Author

• Gitee repository: Hua Mulan Control Library
• Blog: https://www.cnblogs.com/tlmbem/ – control introductions.
• Email: 1252578118@qq.com – send questions here, I'll reply when I have time.
• QQ group: 180744253