I was under the impression that WebGUI applications, restricted to the set of WebGUI controls, are able to run on the desktop domain as well as the web domain. My investigation shows that this claim may be far fetched. Since I need to write one source that will run on either domain, I must restrict myself to using controls that work on both.

Is it true that the controls will work on either domain? Is there any documentation about which controls will work on both domains? How can I be assured that future release of the controls still work under the desktop, as well as the web?

To wit...

I am running 6.3.5 of WebGUI on XP SP3 with VS2008. I downloaded the Catalog application, installed it, compiled it, and proved it worked. Then I recompiled the Catalog application as a 2 in 1 application. I did this exactly as shown in the demonstration at :

http://www.visualwebgui.com/Developers/Resources/QuickStarts/tabid/582/articleType/ArticleView/art

It would not compile until I also did the following:

(1) Add Gizbox.WebGUI.Client, Common, Forms, Server as project references.
(2) Copy Web.Config from the Web project to the Client project as App.Config.
(3) Copied Resource directory from Web project to the Client project after a successful compile.

This much I understand. Once I got the WebGUI.Client running, I noted that the following items did not work in the WebGUI.Client application, but did (mostly) in the WebGUI.Catalog application. The list is so so long, I may need to reevaluate our company direction. Please tell me I am doing something wrong!

General
(1) Action->Themes does not work
(2) No icons ever show on the main toolbar
(3) Category pane subdirectory navigation (clicking) does not work

Controls - Input Controls
(1) Lists - the color box (upper right) does not appear
(2) Lists - the lower left list does not have check boxes
(3) Lists - ComboBox2 drop down is empty
(4) Up Down - does display correctly or allow any user input
(5) Rich Text Box - editor works, but not Rich
(6) Rich Text Editor - there is no entry text box
(7) FCKEditor - did not test

Controls - Data Controls
(1) TreeView - missing icons
(2) ListView - Sample1 - columns do not sort
(3) ListView - Sample1 - column headings are missing icons (most likely configuration?)
(4) ListView - Sample1 - rows show the word "Icon" rather than the icon (most likely

configuration?)
(5) ListView - Sample2 - "Could not find a part of the path

'C:\\WINDOWS\\assembly\\GAC_MSIL\\Gizmox.WebGUI.Common\\3.0.5701.0__263fa4ef694acff6\\Resources\\I

cons'." Why is it looking for icon in GAC?
(6) Charting - did not test, neither work on my machine
(7) DataGridView - Selection Changed - no data displays
(8) DataGridView - Binded - could not find a path

'C:\\WINDOWS\\assembly\\GAC_MSIL\\Gizmox.WebGUI.Common\\3.0.5701.0__263fa4ef694acff6\\Resources\\D

ata\\Orders.mdb'. Why is it looking in GAC?
(9) DataGridView - Custom DataGridView - no data displays
(10) Schedule Box - no data displays
(11) ReportViewer - no report is displayed

Controls - Host Controls
(1) XamlBox - nothing shows
(2) FlashBox - nothing shows
(3) Graph - nothing shows
(4) AspPageBox - did not test, doesn't work in either

Controls - Action Controls
(1) ContextMenu - Pop Window - Web and System tabs are empty (unlikely configuration since same

values show on other windows)
(2) Buttons - missing icons (most likely configuration?)
(3) Buttons - flat buttons are not flat
(4) ToolBar - missing icons
(5) ToolBar - disabled button is active
(6) ToolBar - buttons show a window that contains the button text, rather than exeuting the

program action
(7) Ribbon - some buttons are text rather than icons
(8) Ribbon - missing text box

Controls - Navigation Control
(1) TabControl - tab 4 is missing explorer control

Behaviors - Visual Behaviors
(1) Background Image - missing icons (most likely configuration?)

Behaviors - Misc Behaviors
(1) Timers - no visual progress
(2) Drag And Drop - Drag Source is blank so this cannot be tested
(3) Error Provider - list box is missing check boxes
(4) Error Provider - no visual indication of errors
(5) Silverlight Extender - did not test

Behaviors - Layout Behaviors
(1) Split Container - missing Split Container
(2) Surface Panel - did not test
(3) Window Panel - no panels displayed

Behavior - Data Behaviors
(1) Binding Navigator - + button does not move focus to new worker entry
(2) Binding Navigator - navigation buttons do not work

Applications
(1) Class Browser - missing icons (possible configuration?)

Jay,

Thanks for a quick response. Being new to WebGUI, maybe I'm doing something wrong. If I follow your instructions, then "Gizmox.WebGUI.Client.Application" is unknown and the application will not compile. So, I must also add "Gizmox.WebGUI.Client" as project reference.

Also, anytime WebGUI creates a new project, the project references are for WebGUI 2.0 libraries, and I have WebGUI 3.0 libraries installed. So I must remove them from the project and add the correct ones, right?

Then it compiles. But as soon as I try to run it, it throws an exception:

{"Object reference not set to an instance of an object."}
"   at Gizmox.WebGUI.Forms.Catalog.CatalogSettings.get_CatalogSections() in C:\\Program Files\\Gizmox\\Visual WebGUI\\Sources 3.5\\Gizmox.WebGUI.Forms.Catalog\\CatalogSettings.cs:line 284\r\n   at Gizmox.WebGUI.Forms.Catalog.MainForm.InitializeCatalogSections() in C:\\Program Files\\Gizmox\\Visual WebGUI\\Sources 3.5\\Gizmox.WebGUI.Forms.Catalog\\MainForm.cs:line 115\r\n   at Gizmox.WebGUI.Forms.Catalog.MainForm..ctor() in C:\\Program Files\\Gizmox\\Visual WebGUI\\Sources 3.5\\Gizmox.WebGUI.Forms.Catalog\\MainForm.cs:line 24"

And that's when I decided to copy the Web.Config to the App.Config, and the result is that nothing appears to work.

Remember, I'm running 6.3.5 with the 6.3.5 Catalog data I downloaded on 3/19/2009. Is there something I'm doing wrong? Why does nothing work for me like the 2 in 1 demo?

Thank,

Bill

Hello Bill,

I was suggesting you stay away from using 2 in 1 with the Catalog Sample because of known problems

Here is an example that works

Form1.cs
It has a Button and a textbox on the form
#region Using

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Text;

using Gizmox.WebGUI.Common;
using Gizmox.WebGUI.Forms;

#endregion

namespace ClientTest
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            textBox1.Text = "hello";
        }
    }
}
************************
The Client Program.cs

using System;
namespace WebGUIClient
{
    static class Program
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// The main entry point for the application.
        /// </summary>
        [STAThread]
        static void Main()
        {
            Gizmox.WebGUI.Client.Application.Run(Program.MainFormType, Program.LogonFormType);
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Gets the type of the form that should be the application's main form.
        /// </summary>
        static Type MainFormType
        {
            get
            {
                return typeof(ClientTest.Form1);
            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Gets the type of the logon form that should be used for authentication
        /// </summary>
        static Type LogonFormType
        {
            get
            {
                return null;
            }
        }
    }
}

The VWG application needs Common, Forms and Server and should be set to Copy Local

The Client uses ClientTest (the VWG App),  Client, Common and Forms

If your system is adding Version 2 libraries then obviously they need to be removed and the correct ones added.

If the wrong libraries are copied you may also need to change Web.config to Version=3.0.5701.0 or else you will get a runtime error.

Obviously an application has to work before you try 2 in 1

What problems are you having with binding?

Jay