Integration Guide
A first editor on an empty form is quickly built; fitting TX Text Control .NET for Windows Forms into an existing application raises more questions. How is the editor configured in the designer and in code, how does it live in a UserControl or a tab, how does it get its documents from a database, how do the menus of the application reach it, and how do TX Spell .NET, charts and barcodes, high-resolution displays and screen readers come in? The Integration Guide answers them for developers who have completed Getting Started.
How the Editor Connects to an Application
The TextControl is a Windows Forms control: it sits in the Controls collection of a form or a UserControl, docks and anchors like any other control, and raises the usual events such as KeyDown next to its own. Everything else connects to it through properties and methods:
- Bars and ribbon tabs are connected through properties that hold the other control, such as ButtonBar, RulerBar and StatusBar. The designer sets them in the Properties window; code assigns the object.
- TX Spell .NET is connected through SpellChecker, which takes a
TXSpellCheckercomponent. - Your menus, toolbars and data call methods such as
Copy,FontDialog,LoadandSave, and bind to InputFormat, the formatting at the input position.
Find the Right Page
| If you want to | Read |
|---|---|
| Add and configure the editor with the Visual Studio designer | Visual Studio Designer Integration |
| Create the editor and its bars without the designer | Creating and Configuring Controls in Code |
Put the editor into a UserControl, a tab page or a dialog form | Embedding the Editor in Forms and UserControls |
| Bind controls to the formatting, or documents to database records | Data Binding and Database Storage |
Connect the MenuStrip and ToolStrip of an existing form | Integrating Existing Menus and Toolbars |
| Add spell checking with TX Spell .NET | Integrating TX Spell .NET for Windows Forms |
| Add charts and barcodes to documents | Integrating Charts and Barcodes |
| Make the editor sharp on high-resolution displays | High DPI and Display Scaling |
| Support screen readers and UI automation | Accessibility and UI Automation |
| Let an AI coding assistant look up the TX Text Control documentation | AI Coding Assistants |
Where to Start
- Visual Studio Designer Integration or Creating and Configuring Controls in Code, depending on how your forms are built.
- Embedding the Editor in Forms and UserControls when the editor is one part of a larger form.
- Integrating Existing Menus and Toolbars and Data Binding and Database Storage to connect it to the rest of the application.
- The remaining pages as your application needs them.
Pages in This Section
- Visual Studio Designer Integration: the controls of TX Text Control in the Windows Forms designer and the Properties window.
- Creating and Configuring Controls in Code: the editor and its bars created and connected at run time.
- Embedding the Editor in Forms and UserControls: the editor inside other containers of Windows Forms.
- Data Binding and Database Storage:
DataBindingswithInputFormat, a bindable document property and documents in a database. - Integrating Existing Menus and Toolbars: menu items and toolbar buttons that call the editor and show its state.
- Integrating TX Spell .NET for Windows Forms: spell checking in the editor with TX Spell .NET.
- Integrating Charts and Barcodes: charts and barcodes in the documents of the editor.
- High DPI and Display Scaling: the editor and its bars on displays with a scale factor above 100%.
- Accessibility and UI Automation: the editor for screen readers and UI automation.
- AI Coding Assistants: the Text Control MCP Server and Agent Skills for GitHub Copilot, Claude Code and other assistants.