Sams Teach Yourself Visual Basic 2010 in 24 Hours Complete Starter Kit (Sams Teach Yourself -- Hours)
A pen is an object that defines line-drawing characteristics. Pens are used to define color , line width, and line style (solid, dashed, and so on), and pens are used with almost all the drawing methods you'll learn about in this hour .
C# supplies a number of predefined pens, and you can also create your own. To create your own pen, use the following syntax:
Pen variable = new Pen( color, width );
After a pen is created, you can set its properties to adjust its appearance. For example, all Pen objects have a DashStyle property that determines the appearance of lines drawn with the pen. Table 10.2 lists the possible values for DashStyle.
Table 10.2. Possible Values for DashStyle
| Value | Description |
|---|---|
| Dash | Specifies a line consisting of dashes. |
| DashDot | Specifies a line consisting of a pattern of dashes and dots. |
| DashDotDot | Specifies a line consisting of alternating dashes and double dots. |
| Dot | Specifies a line consisting of dots. |
| Solid | Specifies a solid line. |
| Custom | Specifies a custom dash style. The Pen object contains properties that can be used to define the custom line. |
The enumeration for DashStyle is part of the Drawing.Drawing2D object. Therefore, to create a new pen and use it to draw an ellipse, for example, you could use the following code:
Pen objMyPen = new Pen(System.Drawing.Color.DarkBlue, 3); objMyPen.DashStyle = System.Drawing.Drawing2D.DashStyle.Dot;
C# includes many standard pens, which are available via the System.Drawing.Pens class, as in the following:
objPen = System.Drawing.Pens.DarkBlue;
When drawing using the techniques discussed shortly, you can use custom pens or system-defined pens ”it's your choice.
| Top |