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<br><h1>Quick Start</h1>
<div class="banner">
<a href="../better-listview.html"><img src="../documentation/better-listview/resources/overview.gif" alt="Better ListView" class="ss"></a>
<div class="inside">
<div class="text">Better ListView: Ultimate .NET ListView replacement control for WinForms (C#, VB.NET)</div>
<span class="dbtn-c dbtn-hilight"><span class="dbtn-w"><a href="../betterlistview.exe" class="dbtn">Download</a></span></span>
<span class="dbtn-c"><span class="dbtn-w"><a href="../better-listview.html" class="dbtn">More Info</a></span></span>
</div>
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<h2>Table of Contents</h2>
<p class="toc-entry"><a href="quick-start-guide.html#prerequisites">Tutorial Prerequisites</a></p>
<p class="toc-entry"><a href="quick-start-guide.html#tutorial">Step-by-step tutorial</a></p>
<p class="toc-entry"><a href="quick-start-guide.html#troubleshooting">Installation
Troubleshooting</a></p>
<p class="toc-entry"><a href="quick-start-guide.html#activation-online">Online
Activation</a></p>
<p class="toc-entry"><a href="quick-start-guide.html#activation-offline">Offline
Activation</a></p>
<p class="toc-entry"><a href="quick-start-guide.html#migrating">Migrating from .NET ListView</a></p>
<p class="toc-entry"><a href="quick-start-guide.html#support">Learning Resources and Getting
Support</a></p>
<h2>
<a name="prerequisites" id="prerequisites"></a>Tutorial Prerequisites</h2>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Visual Studio 2012 / 2010 / 2008 / 2005</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>.NET Framework 4.5 / 4.0 / 3.5 / 3.0 / 2.0 (<strong><em>Compact
Framework is not supported</em></strong>)</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Visual C# or Visual Basic</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>
<a name="tutorial" id="tutorial"></a>Step-by-step Tutorial</h2>
<p>Start with a new "<strong><em>Windows Forms Application</em></strong>"
project. A designer with empty Form appears. Display the
<strong><em>Toolbox</em></strong> window (<strong><em>View -
Toolbox</em></strong>):</p>
<p class="images"><img src="../documentation/better-listview/data/quickstart1.png"></p>
<p>The Toolbox should contain a new tab called
"<strong><em>ComponentOwl</em></strong>" containing all the installed component
from ComponentOwl, including Better ListView.</p>
<p>If you chose <strong><em>not to</em></strong> integrate component in
Visual Studio during installation or the component have not been
successfully integrated, please follow the next steps.</p>
<p>Right-click on empty area of the Toolbox window and select
"<strong><em>Choose Items...</em></strong>":</p>
<p class="images"><img src="../documentation/better-listview/data/quickstart2.png"></p>
<p>In the "<strong><em>Choose Toolbox Items</em></strong>" dialog, select
the "<strong><em>.NET Framework Components</em></strong>" tab. If the comonent
has been properly installed, it will be already listed here. If you find
it, make sure the newest version is checked (e.g. 2.5.2.0 instead of
1.0.0.0) and click "<strong><em>OK</em></strong>":</p>
<p class="images"><img src="../documentation/better-listview/data/quickstart3-1.png"></p>
<p>If you need other than installed version (e.g. DLL to match for
specific .NET Framework version) click on the
"<strong><em>Browse...</em></strong>" button:</p>
<p class="images"><img src="../documentation/better-listview/data/quickstart3-2.png"></p>
<p>Browse for the <span class="code">betterlistview.dll</span> file containing the
component.</p>
<p>The location depends on where you installed the product. The default
location is:</p>
<pre>C:\Program Files\Component Owl\Better ListView\Redistributable</pre>
<p>You can choose the file right within
"<strong><em>Redistributable</em></strong>" folder. This is .NET 2.0 component
compatible with .NET Framework 2.0 or higher. If you want binary for a
specific .NET version or Client Profile, choose the file from
"<strong><em>.NET Framework Specific</em></strong>" folder:</p>
<p class="images"><img src="../documentation/better-listview/data/quickstart4.png"></p>
<p>Make sure the check box next to
"<strong><em>BetterListView</em></strong>" is checked and click
"<strong><em>OK</em></strong>":</p>
<p class="images"><img src="../documentation/better-listview/data/quickstart5.png"></p>
<p>Now the component should appear in your Toolbox:</p>
<p class="images"><img src="../documentation/better-listview/data/quickstart6.png"></p>
<p>Select the component and place it on designer surface:</p>
<p class="images"><img src="../documentation/better-listview/data/quickstart7.png"></p>
<p>Now you can design Better ListView the same way as any other
control:</p>
<p class="images"><img src="../documentation/better-listview/data/quickstart8.png"></p>
<h2>
<a name="troubleshooting" id="troubleshooting"></a>Installation
Troubleshooting</h2>
<p>If the component does not appear in Toolbox, make sure that your
target framework version is a full-featured .NET Framework 2.0, 3.0, 3.5
or 4.0. The Compact Framework is not supported.</p>
<p>You can also try the "<strong><em>Reset Toolbox</em></strong>" option
from the Toolbox context menu, restart Visual Studio and try to add the
control again.</p>
<p>Sometimes even the Toolbox can get corrupted (known issue on Visual
Studio 2010) and its cache needs to be cleared. Simply remove all
"<strong><em>.tbd</em></strong>" files from this folder:</p>
<p>Vista/Windows 7:</p>
<pre>\Users\&lt;user&gt;\AppData\Local\Microsoft\VisualStudio\10.0\*.tbd</pre>
<p>Windows XP:</p>
<pre>\Documents and Settings\&lt;user directory&gt;\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\VisualStudio\10.0\*.tbd</pre>
<p>Make sure the Visual Studio is not running when removing the files.
The Toolbox should reload its default items when opened.</p>
<h2>
<a name="activation-online" id="activation-online"></a>Online Activation</h2>
<p>By default, Better ListView runs in <strong><em>trial</em></strong> mode.
The only limitations of <strong><em>trial</em></strong> version are watermark
displayed on the control...</p>
<p class="images"><img src="../documentation/better-listview/data/quickstart-watermark.png"></p>
<p>and an <strong><em>Activation Dialog</em></strong>, that appears on every
application run:</p>
<p class="images"><img src="../documentation/better-listview/data/quickstart-activation.png"></p>
<p>There are three possible actions:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><strong><em>Purchase</em></strong> - obtain serial key for Better
ListView to activate it</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong><em>Activate</em></strong> - enter serial key to obtain
license</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong><em>Continue</em></strong> (or close the dialog) - skip this
dialog and start using Better ListView</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>When activating Better ListView, you are asked for a serial key
(obtained by <strong><em><a href="../pricing-licensing/better-listview.html">pruchasing
Better ListView</a></em></strong>):</p>
<p class="images"><img src="../documentation/better-listview/data/quickstart-sn.png"></p>
<br><hr>
<p class="note">Internet connection is required to activate Better ListView. If
you need to activate the product off-line, please <strong><em><a href="mailto:support@componentowl.com?subject=Offline%20Activation%20of%20Better%20ListView">contact
us</a></em></strong>.</p>
<hr>
<br><p>When the Better ListView is activated, it uses the standard
licensing scheme of .NET. When a form is created or opened in
<strong><em>Windows Forms Designer</em></strong>, a
<strong><em>licenses.licx</em></strong> file is updated in your project and the
trial version notification disappears.</p>
<h2>
<a name="activation-offline" id="activation-offline"></a>Offline Activation</h2>
<p>If the activation is blocked by a firewall or proxy server, you can
activate Better ListView <strong><em>offline</em></strong>.</p>
<p>First, call the following static method from code:</p>
<pre>BetterListView.ShowOfflineActivationDialog()</pre>
<p>A dialog appears containing your computer ID:</p>
<p class="images"><img src="../documentation/better-listview/data/quickstart-activation-offline.png"></p>
<p>Please copy this code to clipboard (Control+C) and send us the code
along with your <strong><em>serial number</em></strong> you obtained when
purchased the product to <strong><em><a href="mailto:support@componentowl.com?subject=Offline%20Activation%20of%20Better%20ListView">support@componentowl.com</a></em></strong>.</p>
<p>The serial number is a 16-character code the identifies your
purchased product, e.g.:</p>
<p></p>
<pre>5KTPNX6QNJBZNJTL</pre>The computer ID is
rather longer code that is unique to your machine:
<pre>6780f65cb1b86f9a10dacc662906c3d371ab4abc</pre>
<p>With this information, we will generate a license file and send it
to back to you via e-mail.</p>
<p>You can find a file <span class="code">license-blv.dat</span> in the e-mail
attachment we send in reply. Please copy this file in the following path
(and create the folder <span class="code">Component Owl</span> if it does not
exist):</p>
<p>Windows 7, 8, Vista:</p>
<pre>c:\ProgramData\Component Owl\</pre>
<p>Windows XP:</p>
<pre>c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Component Owl\</pre>
<p>Now just rebuild the project referencing Better ListView and you are
done.</p>
<p>Please note the license works for <strong><em>specific
product</em></strong> and <strong><em>specific computer</em></strong>. It won't
work on other machines or with other Component Owl's products. You need to
activate Better ListView for each machine on which you want to build
projects.</p>
<h2>Updating to Newer Version of Better ListView</h2>
<p>If a new version of Better ListView is released, to update to newer
version, simply <strong><em><a href="../betterlistview.exe">download</a></em></strong>
and install the new version. The installer will prompt for updating to a
new version.</p>
<p>The DLL with the component (<span class="code">betterlistview.dll</span>) is
installed usually in <strong><em>Program Files</em></strong> folder, so if you
use copies of the library on other locations on your disk, replace the old
copies with the new version.</p>
<p>The <strong><em>licenses.licx</em></strong> file in your project may also
point to an older version of Better ListView. To update
<strong><em>licenses.licx</em></strong> open some form with Better ListView in
<strong><em>Windows Forms Designer</em></strong> and compile. A new line will
be added to the <strong><em>licenses.licx</em></strong> for the new version of
the Better ListView. You can delete the line with the reference to older
version, e.g.:</p>
<pre>ComponentOwl.BetterListView.BetterListView, BetterListView, Version=1.4.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=e6c91a3add447be2</pre>
<p>should be switched to:</p>
<pre>ComponentOwl.BetterListView.BetterListView, BetterListView, Version=2.7.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=e6c91a3add447be2</pre>
<p>if <span class="code">2.7.0.0</span> is the updated version of Better ListView.
You can do the update of <strong><em>licenses.licx</em></strong> file with text
editor within <strong><em>Visual Studio</em></strong>, if you know the new
version number.</p>
<p><br></p>
<hr>
<p class="note">If you use Better ListView in separate project, you need to copy
<strong><em>licenses.licx</em></strong> file to the main project as
well.</p>
<hr>
<br><h2>
<a name="migrating" id="migrating"></a>Migrating from .NET ListView</h2>
<p>We did our best to make Better ListView as similar to regular .NET
ListView as possible while having all its extra features. Better ListView,
however, is not a ListView-derived control - it is completely autonomous
WinForms control. The following rules of thumb will help you to migrate
from ListView to Better ListView:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Most structures are named equally, only with
<strong><em>Better-</em></strong> prefix (e.g.
<span class="code">BetterListViewItem</span> instead of
<span class="code">ListViewItem</span>).</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Better ListView <strong><em>does not</em></strong> use the same
structures and classes as .NET ListView (e.g. use
<span class="code">ComponentOwl.BetterListView.BetterListViewView</span> instead of
<span class="code">System.Windows.Forms.View</span>).</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Many features and structures of Better ListView are richer (e.g.
insertion mark, Drag and Drop functionality). The types contain extra
overrides for constructors, methods and properties. They should be
sometimes used differently and they behave little bit differently;
look in the documentation first to avoid confusion.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>To compare usage of .NET ListView and Better ListView, consider the
following code using Better ListView instead the regular .NET
ListView:</p>
<p><strong>C#</strong></p>
<pre class="prettyprint"><code class="lang-cs">BetterListView listView = new BetterListView();
BetterListViewItem item = new BetterListViewItem("new item");
listView.Items.Add(item);
listView.View = BetterListViewView.List;
// ...
BetterListViewHitTestInfo hitTestInfo = listView.HitTest(new Point(0, 0));</code></pre>
<p><strong>Visual Basic</strong></p>
<pre class="prettyprint"><code class="lang-vb">Dim listView As New BetterListView()
Dim item As New BetterListViewItem("new item")
listView.Items.Add(item)
listView.View = BetterListViewView.List
' ...
Dim hitTestInfo As BetterListViewHitTestInfo = listView.HitTest(New Point(0, 0))</code></pre>
<h2>
<a name="support" id="support"></a>Learning resources and getting
support</h2>
<p>The documentation and learning resources include:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><strong><em>HTML documentation</em></strong> with about 30 chapters
(the Quick Start guide you are reading right now is the second
chapter)</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Sample projects in C# and VB.NET</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Samples Explorer</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Class Reference (technical documentation)</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>You can find all these resources in <strong><em>Start Menu -
ComponentOwl - Better ListView</em></strong>.</p>
<p>The C# and Visual Basic Samples are located at:</p>
<p>Windows 7, 8, Vista:</p>
<pre>\Users\&lt;user&gt;\Documents\ComponentOwl\Better ListView Samples</pre>
<p>Windows XP:</p>
<pre>\Documents and Settings\&lt;user directory&gt;\My Documents\ComponentOwl\Better ListView Samples</pre>
<p>Make sure the Visual Studio is not running when removing the files.
The Toolbox should reload its default items when opened.</p>
<p>We will happily answer any of your questions and provide further
assistance. Just email us at <strong><em><a href="mailto:support@componentowl.com?subject=Better%20ListView%20Support">support@componentowl.com</a></em></strong>.
Or, you can use the online form at <strong><em><a href="../support.html">www.componentowl.com/support</a></em></strong>.</p>
<br><div class="banner">
<a href="../better-listview.html"><img src="../documentation/better-listview/resources/overview.gif" alt="Better ListView" class="ss"></a>
<div class="inside">
<div class="text">Better ListView: Ultimate .NET ListView replacement control for WinForms (C#, VB.NET)</div>
<span class="dbtn-c dbtn-hilight"><span class="dbtn-w"><a href="../betterlistview.exe" class="dbtn">Download</a></span></span>
<span class="dbtn-c"><span class="dbtn-w"><a href="../better-listview.html" class="dbtn">More Info</a></span></span>
</div>
</div>
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<td class="navigation-previous"><a href="../documentation/better-listview/data/chapter-introduction.html"><strong>
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