Immediate Solutions: Using the <i class="emphasis">Graphics</i> Class

Immediate Solutions: Using the Graphics Class

As its name suggests, and as discussed in the In Depth section of this chapter, you use the Graphics class to create graphics. Here's the class hierarchy of the Graphics class:

Object
   MarshalByRefObject
      Graphics

You can find the some notable public class (shared) methods of the Graphics class in Table 13.1, the notable public properties of Graphics objects in Table 13.2, and their more notable public methods in Table 13.3.

Table 13.1: Noteworthy class (shared) methods of the *Graphics* class.
Method	Means
FromHwnd	Returns a new Graphics object given a Windows handle.
FromImage	Returns a new Graphics object given an Image object.

Table 13.2: Noteworthy public properties of *Graphics* objects.
Property	Means
Clip	Holds the drawing region of this Graphics object.
DpiX	Holds the horizontal resolution of this Graphics object.
DpiY	Holds the vertical resolution of this Graphics object.
IsClipEmpty	True if the clip region is empty.
PixelOffsetMode	Indicates how pixels are offset when drawn, affecting both drawing quality and speed.
SmoothingMode	Sets the quality for rendering with this Graphics object.

Table 13.3: Noteworthy public methods of *Graphics* objects.
Method	Means
Clear	Clears the drawing surface, filling it with the background color.
Dispose	Deletes and deallocates this Graphics object.
DrawArc	Draws an arc.
DrawBezier	Draws a Bézier curve.
DrawBeziers	Draws Bézier curves.
DrawClosedCurve	Draws a closed curve.
DrawCurve	Draws a curve.
DrawEllipse	Draws an ellipse.
DrawIcon	Draws an icon.
DrawIconUnstretched	Draws an icon without scaling the icon.
DrawImage	Draws an image.
DrawImageUnscaled	Draws an image without scaling the image.
DrawLine	Draws a line.
DrawLines	Draws lines.
DrawPath	Draws a graphics path.
DrawPie	Draws a pie section.
DrawPolygon	Draws a polygon.
DrawRectangle	Draws a rectangle.
DrawRectangles	Draws rectangles.
DrawString	Draws a text string.
FillClosedCurve	Fills a closed curve.
FillEllipse	Fills an ellipse.
FillPath	Fills the inside of a path.
FillPie	Fills a pie section.
FillPolygon	Fills a polygon.
FillRectangle	Fills a rectangle.
FillRectangles	Fills rectangles.
FillRegion	Fills the inside of a region.
GetHdc	Gets Windows device context handle for this Graphics object.
GetNearestColor	Gets the nearest color to a given color.
MeasureString	Gets the length of a string to display.
Save	Saves this object as a GraphicsState object.
SetClip	Sets the clipping region.