Quick Start for WinForms

In this article, you will learn how to download the DotNetBrowser library, get an evaluation license, and create, configure and run your first .NET WinForms application which loads and displays the DotNetBrowser Home Page.

Environment:
Windows 10, Microsoft Visual Studio 2017, .NET Framework 4.6.

The sample solution which demonstrates how to embed lightweight or heavyweight controls into WinForms applications can be downloaded here. The projects in this solution have NuGet dependencies which will be resolved automatically during build.

1. Download the library

To download DotNetBrowser library, navigate to http://www.teamdev.com/dotnetbrowser and click the Download button. Extract the downloaded dotnetbrowser-2.x.zip archive into the D:\Projects\DotNetBrowser\ directory.

2. Get license

To get a free 30-day evaluation license, fill the web form and click the GET EVALUATION button. You will receive an email with the license key that you should use to run the example.

3. Create a Windows Forms application

Create a new WinForms.DotNetBrowser WinForms Application C# Project or WinForms Application Visual Basic Project in the D:\Projects\DotNetBrowser directory:

4. Add DotNetBrowser DLL assemblies

In the Solution Explorer, right-click References and select the Add References… menu item:

In the Reference Manager which opens, click the Browse button:

Select the DotNetBrowser.dll, DotNetBrowser.Core.dll, DotNetBrowser.Logging.dll, DotNetBrowser-Chromium.Win-x86.dll, DotNetBrowser-Chromium.Win-x64.dll, DotNetBrowser.WinForms.dll files and click Add:

Double-check all selected references are added and appear in the Reference Manager dialog and click OK:

5. Add a license

To embed the license key into your project, copy the license key string from the email and insert it as shown below:

IEngine engine = EngineFactory.Create(new EngineOptions.Builder
{
    LicenseKey = "your_license_key"
}.Build());

Dim engine As IEngine = EngineFactory.Create(New EngineOptions.Builder With 
{
    .LicenseKey = "your_license_key"
}.Build())

For more information on license installation, refer to this article.

6. Change the source code

Insert the following code into the Form1.cs Form1.vb file:

using System.Windows.Forms;
using DotNetBrowser.Browser;
using DotNetBrowser.Engine;
using DotNetBrowser.WinForms;

namespace Embedding.WinForms
{
    /// <summary>
    ///     This example demonstrates how to embed DotNetBrowser
    ///     into a Windows Forms application.
    /// </summary>
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        private const string Url = "https://html5test.com/";
        private readonly IBrowser browser;
        private readonly IEngine engine;

        public Form1()
        {
            // Create the Windows Forms BrowserView control.
            BrowserView browserView = new BrowserView
            {
                Dock = DockStyle.Fill
            };

            // Create and initialize the IEngine instance.
            EngineOptions engineOptions = new EngineOptions.Builder
            {
                RenderingMode = RenderingMode.HardwareAccelerated
            }.Build();
            engine = EngineFactory.Create(engineOptions);

            // Create the IBrowser instance.
            browser = engine.CreateBrowser();

            InitializeComponent();

            // Add the BrowserView control to the Form.
            Controls.Add(browserView);
            FormClosed += Form1_FormClosed;

            // Initialize the Windows Forms BrowserView control.
            browserView.InitializeFrom(browser);
            browser.Navigation.LoadUrl(Url);
        }

        private void Form1_FormClosed(object sender, FormClosedEventArgs e)
        {
            browser?.Dispose();
            engine?.Dispose();
        }
    }
}

Imports System.Windows.Forms
Imports DotNetBrowser.Browser
Imports DotNetBrowser.Engine
Imports DotNetBrowser.WinForms

Namespace Embedding.WinForms
    ''' <summary>
    '''     This example demonstrates how to embed DotNetBrowser
    '''     into a Windows Forms application.
    ''' </summary>
    Partial Public Class Form1
        Inherits Form

        Private Const Url As String = "https://html5test.com/"
        Private ReadOnly browser As IBrowser
        Private ReadOnly engine As IEngine

        Public Sub New()
            ' Create the Windows Forms BrowserView control.
            Dim browserView As New BrowserView With {.Dock = DockStyle.Fill}

            ' Create and initialize the IEngine instance.
            Dim engineOptions As EngineOptions = New EngineOptions.Builder With {
                .RenderingMode = RenderingMode.HardwareAccelerated
            }.Build()
            engine = EngineFactory.Create(engineOptions)

            ' Create the IBrowser instance.
            browser = engine.CreateBrowser()

            InitializeComponent()

            ' Add the BrowserView control to the Form.
            Controls.Add(browserView)
            AddHandler FormClosed, AddressOf Form1_FormClosed

            ' Initialize the Windows Forms BrowserView control.
            browserView.InitializeFrom(browser)
            browser.Navigation.LoadUrl(Url)
        End Sub

        Private Sub Form1_FormClosed(sender As Object, e As FormClosedEventArgs)
            browser?.Dispose()
            engine?.Dispose()
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

The complete project is available in our repository: C#, VB.

7. Run the application

To run the application, press F5 or click the Start button on the toolbar. The Form1 window opens: