Building a User Interface for Your Emulator

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You can use Windows Forms programming, displaying a Windows Form that looks like an LCD, to implement the user interface for your emulator program. This topic explains how to create a user interface for your hardware emulator program.

The most straightforward way to implement the user interface for your emulator program is to use Windows Forms programming. For instance, the emulator sample included with the Microsoft .NET Micro Framework creates a user interface program that uses a liquid crystal display (LCD). It does so by displaying a Windows Form that looks like an LCD. The Form's code obtains the information it displays by interacting with emulator components in the .NET Micro Framework.

Note

By default, the installation program for the .NET Micro Framework samples puts the samples in the folder My Documents\Microsoft .NET Micro Framework\Samples\SampleEmulator.

Suppose, for example, that you are creating the emulator sample application yourself. After you create an emulator component for the LCD, you design a Windows form that displays an on-screen image that resembles your LCD interface. It may also be advantageous to add debugging information or other information that would not normally be displayed in your final product's interface. For an example of a form that mimics an LCD interface in the emulator samples, see the file SampleEmulatorForm.Designer.cs. In addition, your program requires code that activates and uses the form. You'll find emulator samples that illustrate this in the file SampleEmulatorForm.cs.