Is there an easy way to create a circle with initials in it for a custom control?

Question

I would like to create a custom control that looks like an item in an Outlook Contacts panel - A circle with initials in it, along with text for the name. I am using VB.NET.

Is there an easy way to do this?

Answer 1

Hi
Here is one possibility. This is a simplistic version with only two control properties explicitly dealt with - border or no border and text (long name). Minimal testing as I was out for a few hours.

Form1 code

Option Strict On  
Option Explicit On  
Public Class Form1  
  Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load  
    MyControl1.BorderStyle = BorderStyle.None  
  End Sub  
  Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click  
    MyControl1.Txt = Trim(TextBox1.Text)  
  End Sub  
  Private Sub CheckBox1_CheckedChanged(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles CheckBox1.CheckedChanged  
    With MyControl1  
      Dim bs As BorderStyle = .BorderStyle  
      Select Case bs  
        Case BorderStyle.FixedSingle  
          .BorderStyle = BorderStyle.None  
        Case Else  
          .BorderStyle = BorderStyle.FixedSingle  
      End Select  
    End With  
  End Sub  
End Class  

MyControl Class code

Imports System.ComponentModel  
Public Class MyControl  
  Inherits Panel  
  Private longnamefont As New Font(Font.FontFamily, 20)  
  Private initialfont As New Font(Font.FontFamily, 23, FontStyle.Bold)  
  
  Private longnamecolor As New SolidBrush(Color.Black)  
  Private circlefillcolor As New SolidBrush(Color.Green)  
  Private initialcolor As New SolidBrush(Color.White)  
  
  Private Shared ReadOnly penWidth As Single = 3.0F  
  Public Sub New()  
  
  End Sub  
  Protected Overrides Sub OnPaint(e As PaintEventArgs)  
    MyBase.OnPaint(e)  
    Dim sz As Integer = ClientRectangle.Height  
  
    e.Graphics.FillEllipse(circlefillcolor, 5, 5, sz - 10, sz - 10)  
  
    Dim w1 As Size = TextRenderer.MeasureText(Txt, longnamefont)  
    e.Graphics.DrawString(Txt, longnamefont, longnamecolor, New PointF(sz, sz \ 2 - w1.Height \ 2))  
  
    Dim init() As String = Split(Txt.ToUpper, " "c)  
    Dim ct As String = Nothing  
    For Each s As String In init  
      ct &= s(0)  
    Next  
    Dim w2 As Size = TextRenderer.MeasureText(ct, initialfont)  
    e.Graphics.DrawString(ct, initialfont, initialcolor, New PointF(5 + sz \ 2 - w2.Width \ 2, sz \ 2 - w2.Height \ 2))  
  End Sub  
  Private _text As String = "My Control 1"  
  <Browsable(True)>  
  Public Property Txt As String  
    Get  
      Return _text  
    End Get  
    Set(Value As String)  
      _text = Value  
      Invalidate()  
    End Set  
  End Property  
End Class