C# Frequently Asked QuestionsThe C# team posts answers to common questionsPreprocess Win32 Messages through Windows Forms- October 20, 2004 In the unmanaged world, it was quite common to intercept Win32 messages as they were plucked off the message queue. In that rare case in which you wish to do so from a managed Windows Forms application, your first step is to build a helper class which implements the IMessageFilter interface. The sole method, PreFilterMessage(), allows you to get at the underlying message ID, as well as the raw WPARAM and LPARAM data. By way of a simple example: public class MyMessageFilter : IMessageFilter..http://blogs.msdn.com/csharpfaq/archive/2004/10/20/245412.aspx Be Mindful of the References 'using' Manifest Relationship- October 20, 2004 Given that the .NET platform encourages binary reuse of types, it is commonplace to set references to external assemblies using the Visual Studio .NET Add Reference dialog box. Many programmers (especially those of the C(++) ilk) fear that adding unnecessary external references can result in a bit of 'code bloat'. Nothing could be further from the truth. When you add assembly references or make use of the 'using' keyword, csc.exe will ignore any assembly which you have not actually made use..http://blogs.msdn.com/csharpfaq/archive/2004/10/20/245411.aspx Activate 'Full Screen Mode' During your Source Code Editing- October 20, 2004 Okay, I admit this is a rather lame tip which can hardly qualify as 'insightful', however this is one of my favorite features of Visual Studio .NET (as well as previous editions of the Visual Studio product line) which many folks are (surprisingly) unaware of. Under the View menu you will find a menu item named 'Full Screen'. When activated, the only window displayed will be the active document. This is especially helpful for those working on low resolution monitors, given that the size of...http://blogs.msdn.com/csharpfaq/archive/2004/10/20/245408.aspx Leverage the C Preprocessor- October 20, 2004 Like other languages in the C-family, C supports a set of 'preprocessor' directives, most notably define, if and endif (technically, csc.exe does not literally have a preprocessor as these symbols are resolved at the lexical analysis phase, but no need to split hairs&8230;). The define directive allows you to set up custom symbols which control code compilation. Be very aware that unlike C(++), C's define does not allow you to create macro-like code. Once a symbol is defined, the if and...http://blogs.msdn.com/csharpfaq/archive/2004/10/20/245316.aspx |