3-Test Diagram Main Form

Why a Test Diagram?

The user schematic is created dynamically by the user in the diagram portion of the application. The user will create components and draw wires between input and outputs. The diagram tool needs to support creation of new components from a menu of component buttons. The user should be able to select, move, and rotate components. When a connected component is "dragged" by the mouse, the connected wires should also stretch as needed. Also, the user should be able to delete components and save/load the circuit schematic to/from the file system.

In the TestDiagram project created in the previous post, select the form and set the following properties:

• Text: Test Diagram
• BackColor: LightCyan
• StartPosition: CenterScreen

Run the program to ensure that TestDiagram is the start up project and that the following window is displayed:

For a modern UI, we will use the "panel" widget as the container for menu buttons. Add a panel to the form. Set the panel properties:

• Name: panelMainMenu
• Dock: Top
• BackColor: LightSkyBlue
• Size: 800, 52

Add a pictureBox widget to the form. Set the following properties:

• Name: schematicCanvas
• Dock: Fill

The pictureBox is the drawing surface or canvas for drawing the circuit components. It is essentially a container for graphical elements of the user interface. The colors were selected to distinguish "test" windows from the main application window. Run the program again to see the results of this post.

Next post, we begin writing code!