Aquarium Database Keeper
1.00/5 (15 votes)
Mar 12, 2004
2 min read
38046
928
A program that can keep track of different chemical levels in an aquarium, using DataGrid with DataSet and DataTable and other Windows Forms
Introduction
Well I recently got into fish and aquariums, and had no experience with C# Windows Forms, so what goes better than learning about both at the same time! I created this program to keep track of a range of chemical values for my aquarium -> pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, General Hardness (GH) and Carbonate Hardness (KH).
This program is a good example of how to change windows forms on-the-fly, including background colors, text values, and data members.
More importantly it shows how to use the DataGrid form when it is NOT in conjunction with a real database. This happened because I wanted a multi-column listbox where the user could sort the values by clicking on the headers, and I was too lazy to actually create one myself ;).
Besides, the DataGrid form has built-in functions to export it's data to XML files, PERFECT!!! So my laziness actually paid off and this program also gives and example of how to use the SaveDialog and OpenDialog forms in windows.
And, on top of all that you get, absolutely free, an example of how to use a modal dialog in C#, what a value!
Oh yeah, I also included a nice icon for display as the application icon and for display in the main window, hope you like it. How tomake it display in the main window is fairly obvious, but to make it the application icon (the one you see in windows explorer) took about 10 mins to research, but if you want to know, just ask.
So what's next? well I would like some way to show the data I've collected in a graph-type of view (with curvy lines and all), so I'll work on that once my college courses cool down a little. I also think I need to do a little tweaking on my conversion boxes, sometimes they act up. And eventually (after all that probably) I'll have the ability to place more data, like copper levels, iron levels (which are bad for fish), calcium levels (good for coral), and some sort of radio button to switch between a saltwater aquarium setting and freshwater aquarium setting.
PS: sorry, but I really didn't comment the code, if you have any questions don't hesitate to email me