You can simply drag and drop NOV controls from the Visual Studio Toolbox. The Visual Studio Designer will automatically add the necessary dll references to your project and you can start coding directly. The following code snippet shows how to say "Hello World from Nevron Open Vision" using this type:

1. Drag and Drop the NLabelControl from the "Nevron NOV Controls" toolbox category to the form.

2. Write the following code in the Form Load event handler

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
      nLabelControl1.Widget.Text = "Hello World from NOV";
}

With this type of integration you write the code needed to add NOV components to the WinForms form. This approach allows you to create interfaces that can easily be ported to Mac. Another benefit from this approach is that you can create heavier interfaces (with many NOV controls).

The steps to use in this case are:

1. Create a new WinForm project in Visual Studio

• From File Menu - Choose New Project
• Select the "Visual C# -> Windows Forms App" or "Visual Basic -> Windows Forms App"
• Click OK

2. Reference the NOV Assemblies

Ensure that your application references the following NOV dlls:

3. Initialize the NOV Application

For C# projects open the Program.cs file and ensure that the NNovApplicationInstaller.Install() method is called before the WinForm application runs the main form of the application.

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
         
using Nevron.Nov;
using Nevron.Nov.Barcode;
using Nevron.Nov.Chart;
using Nevron.Nov.Diagram;
using Nevron.Nov.Grid;
using Nevron.Nov.Schedule;
using Nevron.Nov.Text;
using Nevron.Nov.Windows.Forms;

namespace WindowsFormsApplication1
{
    static class Program
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// The main entry point for the application.
        /// </summary>
        [STAThread]
        static void Main()
        {
            Application.EnableVisualStyles();
            Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);

            // Apply license for redistribution here. You can skip this code when evaluating NOV.
            // NLicenseManager.Instance.SetLicense(new NLicense("LICENSE KEY"));

            // GPU rendering is enabled by default. To disable GPU rendering uncomment the following line.
            // NApplication.EnableGPURendering = false;

            // Install NOV
            NModule[] modules = new NModule[] {
                NBarcodeModule.Instance,
                NChartModule.Instance,
                NDiagramModule.Instance,
                NGridModule.Instance,
                NScheduleModule.Instance,
                NTextModule.Instance
            };

            NNovApplicationInstaller.Install(modules);
            Application.Run(new Form1());
        }
    }
}

For Visual Basic projects open the file ApplicationEvents.vb and add a handler for the Application Startup like shown below. Note that if your VB.NET project does not target .NET 5.0 or newer, the ApplicationEvents.vb file might be missing. To add it, right-click the project in Solution Explorer, select "Properties" and click the "View Application Events" button.

Imports Microsoft.VisualBasic.ApplicationServices
Imports Nevron.Nov
Imports Nevron.Nov.Barcode
Imports Nevron.Nov.Chart
Imports Nevron.Nov.Diagram
Imports Nevron.Nov.Grid
Imports Nevron.Nov.Schedule
Imports Nevron.Nov.Text
Imports Nevron.Nov.Windows.Forms

Namespace My
    Partial Friend Class MyApplication
        Private Sub MyApplication_Startup(sender As Object, e As ApplicationServices.StartupEventArgs) Handles Me.Startup
            ' TODO: Apply license for redistribution here. You can skip this code when evaluating NOV.
            ' NLicenseManager.Instance.SetLicense(New NLicense("LICENSE KEY"))

            ' GPU rendering is enabled by default. To disable GPU rendering uncomment the following line.
            ' NApplication.EnableGPURendering = False

            ' Install Nevron Open Vision for Windows Forms
            NNovApplicationInstaller.Install(
                NBarcodeModule.Instance,
                NTextModule.Instance,
                NChartModule.Instance,
                NDiagramModule.Instance,
                NScheduleModule.Instance,
                NGridModule.Instance)
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

4. Say Hello World from NOV

For C# projects right-click the Form1.cs file in Solution Explorer, select "View Code" and replace its content with the following code:

using System.Windows.Forms;
using Nevron.Nov.UI;
using Nevron.Nov.Windows.Forms;

namespace WindowsFormsApplication1
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();

            // clear all controls from the form
            Controls.Clear();

            // Add a NOV widget inside the form
            NLabel sayHelloWorld = new NLabel("Hello World from Nevron Open Vision");
            Controls.Add(new NNovWidgetHost<NLabel>(sayHelloWorld));
        }
    }
}

 For Visual Basic (VB.NET) project right-click the Form1.vb file in Solution Explorer, select "View Code" and and replace its content with the following code:

Imports Nevron.Nov
Imports Nevron.Nov.UI
Imports Nevron.Nov.Windows.Forms

Public Class Form1
    Protected Overrides Sub OnLoad(e As EventArgs)
        MyBase.OnLoad(e)

        Dim host As New NNovWidgetHost(Of NWidget)(CreateNovContent())
        host.Dock = DockStyle.Fill
        Controls.Add(host)
    End Sub

    Private Function CreateNovContent() As NWidget
        Dim label As NLabel = New NLabel("Hello World from Nevron Open Vision")
        label.TextAlignment = ENContentAlignment.MiddleCenter
        Return label
    End Function
End Class

Run the application - it should display a simple form with a "Hello World from Nevron Open Vision" label inside.

This is as much as is required to host some NOV content in Windows Forms. The sample just makes a simple label, as content of the NNovWidgetHost WinForms Control, but this control can actually contain any NOV widget. See the UI Overview topic for an overview of the User Interface that comes along with NOV.

UI