WinForms Login

[jmcilhinney]

VB version here.

Here are some simple steps to create login functionality in your WinForms app.

1. Create a new WinForms project.
2. Add a new form to act as the Login dialogue.
3. Open the Program.cs code file.
4. Change the body of the Main method to the following:

Application.EnableVisualStyles();
Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
 
bool loginSuccessful;
 
using (LoginForm loginDialogue = new LoginForm())
{
    loginSuccessful = (loginDialogue.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK);
}
 
if (loginSuccessful)
{
    Application.Run(new Form1());
}

5. Add the logic to your Login form to validate the credentials supplied by the user. You may like to use this as a basis.
6. If the login succeeds set your Login dialogue's DialogResult property to OK. If the user presses the Cancel button or fails to login within a prescribed maximum number of attempts then set the DialogResult to something else.

If the user logs in successfully the app will start normally, otherwise it will exit without ever creating a main form.