Creating a custom control

This sample application demonstrates how to create a custom control that obtains information from the Contact Name field in the Act! database and displays that information on a layout. The control is a tool, which means that after you compile it and place it in an Act! installation, the tool is available in the Toolbox of the Act! Layout Designer.

Since this application is a control rather than a plugin, you place it in the Tools folder rather than the Plugins folder.

To implement the tool as is 

  1. Locate the ContactNameControl.zip file you downloaded with the SDK in the Code Samples folder, and unzip it.
  2. Open the ContactNameControl.cs file in Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 or later.
  3. Create a Visual Studio project using the open CS file, referencing:
  1. Compile the project by clicking the Compile tool.
  2. Locate the DLL file that you just compiled, and copy it to the Tools folder in your Act! installation.

The tool loads next time you start Act!.

You can make changes to the tool by editing the ContactNameControl.cs file. Each method in the CS file displays comments that direct you where to make changes. For example, you can: