VS : How to Add Component Class using C# in Visual Studio Express

Visual Studio Express is a lightweight version of VS products and although it is very powerful, it is missing several features from paid editions and one of them is ability to add a Component Class using Add New Item dialog box.

But users of Express editions can still create Component Class by following the steps below:

• Using Add New Item dialog box, add a User Control and name it Component1 .
• select Component1.cs and choose View Code to view the code. Now delete everything and replace it with the following code.

  using System;
  using System.Collections.Generic;
  using System.ComponentModel;
  using System.Diagnostics;
  using System.Linq;
  using System.Text;
  
  namespace EmptyComponent
  {
      public partial class Component1 : Component
      {
          public Component1()
          {
              InitializeComponent();
          }
  
          public Component1(IContainer container)
          {
              container.Add(this);
  
              InitializeComponent();
          }
      }
  }
• Rename the namespace to the one you are using. Visual Studio will give your namespace same name as your project name.
• Go to Component1.Designer.cs and remove the following line in InitializeComponent method. Method is located in Component Designer generated code region, so expand that region if necessary.

  this.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Font;

And you are done.

If you found this article useful, drop a comment or connect with the blog on the social networks.