Business Card Designer Using C#

Also in the above routine the data is written out to a file using the BinaryFormatter.

BinaryFormatter

Did you know you could serialize your classes without having to make them serializable or write huge amounts of serialization code? (Visual C++ programmers know what I'm talking about). The BinaryFormatter allows you to output your class in a persistent file without changing your class at all. Below are the routines for reading and writing our business card:

To save a card using the BinaryFormatter, simply create a writeable stream and pass the stream with the class instance you wish to save into the BinaryFormatter.Serialize function. That's it! It's saved to a file. The BinaryFormatter saves all the private, public, protected member data of the class.

public void SaveCard()
{
try
{
// open the filestream
FileStream s = new FileStream(TheAppPath + "\\business_card1.bin", FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write);
BinaryFormatter b = new BinaryFormatter(); // create the formatter
b.Serialize(s, this); // serialize the graph to the stream
s.Close();
}
catch(Exception exx)
{
System.Console.WriteLine(exx.ToString());
}
}

To read the card using the BinaryFormatter is just as easy. Create a stream for reading and use the BinaryFormatter's Deserialize function to read the string into a BusinessCard object:

public BusinessCard OpenCard()
{
try
{
// open the filestream
FileStream s = new FileStream(TheAppPath + "\\business_card1.bin", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read);
BinaryFormatter b = new BinaryFormatter(); // create the formatter
BusinessCard bc = (BusinessCard)b.Deserialize (s); // serialize the graph to the stream
s.Close();
return bc;
}
catch(Exception nocardsaved)
{
System.Console.WriteLine(nocardsaved.ToString());
return null;
}
}

BusinessCard Layout

If you wish to change the layout of the business card, you can alter the routine below:

public void PaintCard(Graphics g, Point offset)
{
// Draw Picture in upper left hand corner
if (Picture != null)
{
g.DrawImage(Picture, offset.X + 20, offset.Y + 20, 80, 80);
}
float sumHeight = 20f;
// Draw Name in Large Font
g.DrawString(FirstName + " " + LastName, LargeFont, Brushes.Black, (float)offset.X + 110.0f, (float)offset.Y + sumHeight);
sumHeight += LargeFont.Height + 3.0f;
// Draw Address
g.DrawString(Address, SmallFont, Brushes.Black, (float)offset.X + 110.0f, (float)offset.Y + sumHeight);
sumHeight += SmallFont.Height + 3.0f;
// Draw City, State, Zip
g.DrawString(City + ", " + State + " " + ZipCode, SmallFont, Brushes.Black,
(float)offset.X + 110.0f, (float)offset.Y + sumHeight);
// Draw Info in large Font
g.DrawString(Info, LargeFont, Brushes.Black, (float)offset.X + 110.0f, (float)offset.Y + sumHeight + 40.0f);
sumHeight += SmallFont.Height + 3.0f;
// Draw Phone and Fax towards the bottom of the card
g.DrawString("Phone: " + Phone + " Fax: " + Fax, SmallFont, Brushes.Black, (float)offset.X + 10.0f, (float)offset.Y + sumHeight + 70.0f);
sumHeight += SmallFont.Height + 3.0f;
// Draw Email under Phone and Fax
g.DrawString("Email: " + Email, SmallFont, Brushes.Black, (float)offset.X + 10.0f, (float)offset.Y + sumHeight + 70.0f);
}

This is the first phase of the business card application. The application was written to print on Avery 8376 Ink Jet Business cards. You may have to manipulate the margin constants a bit in order to get the cards to line up correctly. Anyway, have fun making cards, and email if you have any additional suggestions.