Using Forms Classes

Control Classes

• Button - A push button that responds to a user's click by sending an event to the calling analysis technique.
• Chart - A chart that can be added to a Form or Panel for display of user-supplied data.
• Checkbox - A small box that can be checked or unchecked by the user.  They send an event when clicked allowing the analysis technique to review the checked or unchecked state.
• ComboBox - Presents a list of items to a user from a drop-down list and sends an event when a selection is made.
• DataGridView - A grid that contains columns and rows.
• DateTimePicker - A control useful for allowing selection of a date from a calendar.
• FastSymbolLookupComboBox - A type of combobox that's useful for selecting stock, futures, or other asset symbols.
• Label - Displays non-editable text on form. They can be used to provide descriptions or identify surrounding controls.
• LinkLabel - A control that acts like a hyperlink.
• ListView - Displays a collection of text items in a multi-column format. They send an event when a selection is made.
• NumericUpDown - Displays a numeric value that users can quickly increment or decrement at a predefined step value using up-down arrows.
• ProgressBar - A control that's used to display the percentage of completion of a task.
• Radio Button - Typically placed in groups of two or more, allows users to select from a group of mutually exclusive options. Radio buttons can send an event when clicked, and their state can be queried at run-time.
• RichTextBox - A textbox-like control that supports formatted text.
• Slider - A control that allows a user to specify a setting by dragging a scaled pointer using the mouse.
• TableLayoutPanel - A collection of cells defined by rows and columns that can be used to organize a user interface.
• TextBox - Displays a string of characters that can be edited by a user.
• WebBrowser - A control used to allow navigation to a web site from a user interface.
• WebView2 - A Chromium-based alternative to the WebBrowser control; useful for providing a browser interface to modern web sites.

Container Classes

• Form - A window in which to place the form's related controls and containers.
• Panel - An area to visually place a form's related controls.
• GroupBox - An area used to visually group a form's related controls.

   To use EasyLanguage form controls and containers, you must have the following elements:  

• Declare a variable for each container or control to be used. The class type of each variable must be appropriate for the object it will reference. Remember to include the identifier "elsystem.windows.forms" in front of the specific class type unless you have previously added a 'using' statement for the forms namespace.  In this example, "form1" and "button1" are the names of the variables being created.

vars: elsystem.windows.forms.Form form1(Null ),     //declare form1 as a Form type variable
      elsystem.windows.forms.Button button1(Null);  //declare button1 as a Button type variable

• Create an instance of each container and control object by assigning it to the object variable created above.

form1 = form.create("Form Heading", 100, 100);      //create a form container object and assign it to form1
button1 = button.create("MY BUTTON", 40, 30 );      //create a button control object and assign it to button1

• Add control objects (eg. buttons) to a container object (eg. form1).

form1.AddControl(button1);

• Set the location property to specify the relative placement of a control within a container.

button1.Location( 50, 50 );   

• Add an event handler (a method to call when a control event occurs, such as when a button is clicked).

button1.Click += OnButton1Click;

• Finally, write the method(s) to be called when an event happens.

method void OnButton1Click( elsystem.Object sender, elsystem.EventArgs args )
begin
         //Your EasyLanguage code
end;

The following example shows how to create a windows form with a button and a text box.  

Import Example

Windows form with a button control and text box.

1. Click on the Import Example link to import the example into TradeStation.   
2. Go to the TradeStation platform and create a chart window.  Use the Insert - Indicator menu sequence and Add !ex_WinForm to the window.
3. To review or modify the example code, go to the TS Development Environment and open indicator !ex_WinForm in the EasyLanguage Editor.

elsystem.Object

elsystem.windows.forms.[ClassType]