.NET (Core and Framework)

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//
//	CopyRight 2009, www.perceler.com, Luc Pattyn
//
//	Version 1.0
//
//	use freely for non-commercial use as long as this notice remains present;
//	ask me before using commercially.
//
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Drawing.Printing;

namespace LP_Core {

	/// <summary>
	/// LP_RichTextBox is an extended RichTextBox offering Print functionality (courtesy Microsoft)
	/// and a proprietary method to draw all the content to a bitmap
	/// </summary>
	/// <remarks>"http://support.microsoft.com/kb/812425"</remarks>
	[System.ComponentModel.DesignerCategory("Code")]
	class LP_RichTextBox : RichTextBox {
		//Convert the unit used by the .NET framework (1/100 inch) 
		//and the unit used by Win32 API calls (twips 1/1440 inch)
		private const double anInch = 14.4;

		[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
		private struct RECT {
			public int Left;
			public int Top;
			public int Right;
			public int Bottom;
		}

		[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
		private struct CHARRANGE {
			public int cpMin;         //First character of range (0 for start of doc)
			public int cpMax;           //Last character of range (-1 for end of doc)
		}

		[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
		private struct FORMATRANGE {
			public IntPtr hdc;             //Actual DC to draw on
			public IntPtr hdcTarget;       //Target DC for determining text formatting
			public RECT rc;                //Region of the DC to draw to (in twips)
			public RECT rcPage;            //Region of the whole DC (page size) (in twips)
			public CHARRANGE chrg;         //Range of text to draw (see earlier declaration)
		}

		private const int WM_USER  = 0x0400;
		private const int EM_FORMATRANGE  = WM_USER + 57;

		[DllImport("USER32.dll")]
		private static extern IntPtr SendMessage(IntPtr hWnd, int msg, IntPtr wp, IntPtr lp);

		// Render the contents of the RichTextBox for printing
		//	Return the last character printed + 1 (printing start from this point for next page)
		// WARNING: I have not tested this method, I only used it as a starting point
		//	to create the next method!
		public int Print(int charFrom, int charTo, PrintPageEventArgs e) {
			//Calculate the area to render and print
			RECT rectToPrint;
			rectToPrint.Top = (int)(e.MarginBounds.Top * anInch);
			rectToPrint.Bottom = (int)(e.MarginBounds.Bottom * anInch);
			rectToPrint.Left = (int)(e.MarginBounds.Left * anInch);
			rectToPrint.Right = (int)(e.MarginBounds.Right * anInch);

			//Calculate the size of the page
			RECT rectPage;
			rectPage.Top = (int)(e.PageBounds.Top * anInch);
			rectPage.Bottom = (int)(e.PageBounds.Bottom * anInch);
			rectPage.Left = (int)(e.PageBounds.Left * anInch);
			rectPage.Right = (int)(e.PageBounds.Right * anInch);

			IntPtr hdc = e.Graphics.GetHdc();

			FORMATRANGE fmtRange;
			fmtRange.chrg.cpMax = charTo;		//Indicate character from to character to 
			fmtRange.chrg.cpMin = charFrom;
			fmtRange.hdc = hdc;                    //Use the same DC for measuring and rendering
			fmtRange.hdcTarget = hdc;              //Point at printer hDC
			fmtRange.rc = rectToPrint;             //Indicate the area on page to print
			fmtRange.rcPage = rectPage;            //Indicate size of page

			IntPtr res = IntPtr.Zero;

			IntPtr wparam = IntPtr.Zero;
			wparam = new IntPtr(1);

			//Get the pointer to the FORMATRANGE structure in memory
			IntPtr lparam= IntPtr.Zero;
			lparam = Marshal.AllocCoTaskMem(Marshal.SizeOf(fmtRange));
			Marshal.StructureToPtr(fmtRange, lparam, false);

			//Send the rendered data for printing 
			res = SendMessage(Handle, EM_FORMATRANGE, wparam, lparam);

			//Free the block of memory allocated
			Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(lparam);

			//Release the device context handle obtained by a previous call
			e.Graphics.ReleaseHdc(hdc);

			//Return last + 1 character printer
			return res.ToInt32();
		}

		public void DrawToBitmap(Bitmap bitmap) {
			//Calculate the area to render and print
			RECT rectToPrint;
			rectToPrint.Top = 0;
			rectToPrint.Bottom = (int)(bitmap.Height*anInch);
			rectToPrint.Left = 0;
			rectToPrint.Right = (int)(bitmap.Width*anInch);

			//Calculate the size of the page
			RECT rectPage;
			rectPage.Top = 0;
			rectPage.Bottom = (int)(bitmap.Height*anInch);
			rectPage.Left = 0;
			rectPage.Right = (int)(bitmap.Width*anInch);

			Graphics g=Graphics.FromImage(bitmap);
			IntPtr hdc = g.GetHdc();

			FORMATRANGE fmtRange;
			// [0,-1]=everything
			fmtRange.chrg.cpMax = -1;		//Indicate character from to character to 
			fmtRange.chrg.cpMin = 0;
			fmtRange.hdc = hdc;                    //Use the same DC for measuring and rendering
			fmtRange.hdcTarget = hdc;              //Point at printer hDC
			fmtRange.rc = rectToPrint;             //Indicate the area on page to print
			fmtRange.rcPage = rectPage;            //Indicate size of page

			IntPtr res = IntPtr.Zero;

			IntPtr wparam = IntPtr.Zero;
			wparam = new IntPtr(1);

			//Get the pointer to the FORMATRANGE structure in memory
			IntPtr lparam= IntPtr.Zero;
			lparam = Marshal.AllocCoTaskMem(Marshal.SizeOf(fmtRange));
			Marshal.StructureToPtr(fmtRange, lparam, false);

			//Send the rendered data for printing 
			res = SendMessage(Handle, EM_FORMATRANGE, wparam, lparam);

			//Free the block of memory allocated
			Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(lparam);

			//Release the device context handle obtained by a previous call
			g.ReleaseHdc(hdc);

		}
	}
}

private void Control_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
    Control control = sender as Control;
    if (control != null)
    {
        using(MemoryStream memoryStream = new MemoryStream())
        using (Bitmap bitmap = new Bitmap(memoryStream))
        {
            control.DrawToBitmap(bitmap, control.Bounds);
            // bitmap is now in memoryStream
        }
    }
}

sitruc7 wrote:

Is activex the only viable solution here or is there something else that can be done?

I are Troll

Thomas O'Donoghue wrote:

While Im not experienced in VB.net I have a team that is

Server:
using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Sockets;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;

namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            IPEndPoint ip = new IPEndPoint(IPAddress.Any, 9999);
            Socket s = new Socket(AddressFamily.InterNetwork, SocketType.Stream, ProtocolType.Tcp);

            s.Bind(ip);
            s.Listen(10);
            Console.WriteLine("Waiting for a client...");
            Socket cli = s.Accept();
            IPEndPoint cliep = (IPEndPoint)cli.RemoteEndPoint;
            Console.WriteLine("Connected with {0} at port {1}", cliep.Address, cliep.Port);

            byte[] buffer = new byte[1024];
            cli.Receive(buffer);
            string fname = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(buffer);

            Console.WriteLine("filename is " + fname);
            Console.ReadLine();
                       
            cli.Receive(buffer);
            Object obj = new Object();
            obj = bytearraytoobject(buffer);

            ArrayList al = (ArrayList)obj;
            int i = 0;
            foreach (Object o in al)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("\t[{0}]:\t{1}", i++, o);
            }
            Console.WriteLine();

            ArrayList qal=new ArrayList();
            Random rnd = new Random(DateTime.Now.Millisecond);
            for (int counter = 0; counter < 5; counter++)
            {
                int randomindex = rnd.Next(al.Count);
                Console.WriteLine("{0}:{1}", counter+ 1, al[randomindex]);
                qal.Add(al[randomindex]);
            }

            foreach (Object o in qal)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("\t[{0}]:\t{1}", i++, o);
            }

            Object ob = (Object)qal;            
            buffer = objecttobytearray(ob);
            cli.Send(buffer);
            
            Console.ReadLine();

        }
        static Object bytearraytoobject(byte[] buffer)
        {
            MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream();
            BinaryFormatter bf = new BinaryFormatter();
            ms.Write(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);
            ms.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
            Object obj = (Object)bf.Deserialize(ms);
            return obj;
        }
        static byte[] objecttobytearray(Object obj)
        {
            if (obj == null)
                return null;
            BinaryFormatter bf = new BinaryFormatter();
            MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream();
            bf.Serialize(ms, obj);
            return ms.ToArray();
        }

    }
}

client:
using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Text;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Sockets;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;

namespace ConsoleApplication2
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            IPEndPoint ip = new IPEndPoint(IPAddress.Parse("127.0.0.1"), 9999);

            Socket s = new Socket(AddressFamily.InterNetwork, SocketType.Stream, ProtocolType.Tcp);
            try
            {
                s.Connect(ip);
            }
            catch (SocketException e)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Unable to connect to server" + e);
                return;
            }

            Console.WriteLine("Enter the input file ");
            string inp = Console.ReadLine();

            s.Send(Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(inp));

            StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(@"c:\" + inp);
            ArrayList al = new ArrayList();

            while (!sr.EndOfStream)
            {
                al.Add(sr.ReadLine());
            }

            Object o = (Object)al;
            byte[] buffer = new byte[1024];
            buffer = objecttobytearray(o);
            s.Send(buffer);

            byte[] buf = new byte[1024];
            Object obj = new Object();
            s.Receive(buf);                        
            obj = bytearraytoobject(buf);
            ArrayList qal = (ArrayList)obj;

            int i = 1;
            foreach (Object ob in qal)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("\t[{0}]:\t{1}", i++, ob);
            }
            Console.WriteLine();

            Console.ReadLine();

        }
        static byte[] objecttobytearray(Object obj)
        {
            if (obj == null)
                return null;
            BinaryFormatter bf = new BinaryFormatter();
            MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream();
            bf.Serialize(ms, obj);
            return ms.ToArray();
        }
        static Object bytearraytoobject(byte[] buffer)
        {
            MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream();
            BinaryFormatter bf = new BinaryFormatter();
            ms.Write(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);
            ms.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
            Object obj = (Object)bf.Deserialize(ms);
            return obj;
        }
    }
}

peterdrozd wrote:

I could not figure out how to change the background color though.

Ajakblackgoat wrote:

I've tried using RichTextBox but when the text in it becomes large, it becomes noticeably slow to update the text.

I are Troll

Ajakblackgoat wrote:

it's very fast in displaying 100MB++ of text data complete with highlights and formatting. And I believe it's not richtextbox.

I are Troll

Eddy Vluggen wrote:

It's not the control that makes it fast, it's the way they handle loading. Doing formatting and highlighting on 100Mb+ costs time, but you don't have to highlight what you cannot see. I'd also imagine that such applications load the parts that they're actually working with, as opposed to loading the entire file into memory.

Eddy Vluggen wrote:

Still, the ListBox would be the way to go.

Ajakblackgoat wrote:

Richtextbox doesn't handle it the same way?

Ajakblackgoat wrote:

But still it lacks textbox-like select & copy functionality.

Ajakblackgoat wrote:

I know what it's limitation which hinders me from using it for this particular app.

Ajakblackgoat wrote:

Perhaps I didn't post my question clearly. I was asking if anyone had come across a control which does the same, not how to do it.

I are Troll