Sample projects on GitHub

Open the WinForms sample projects on GitHub to try the HTML Editor in working C# and VB.NET applications. Start with Quickstart, then choose a sample for the feature you want to add.

Running the samples

Use Windows and Visual Studio with the .NET desktop development workload and .NET Framework 4.8 targeting pack for the default net48 projects. Clone the GitHub repository, open WinFormsHtmlEditorSamples.sln, set 01-Quickstart-CS or 01-Quickstart-VB as the startup project, then press F5.

If you use Git and the .NET CLI, run these commands one line at a time from a terminal:

git clone https://github.com/spicelogic/winforms-html-editor-control-samples.git
cd winforms-html-editor-control-samples
dotnet build WinFormsHtmlEditorSamples.sln
dotnet run --project 01-Quickstart-CS

You can also open WinFormsHtmlEditorSamples.sln in Visual Studio and set any project as the startup project.

The sample code is MIT licensed, so you can copy any of it straight into your own application. The control itself remains commercial and is installed from NuGet.

What is in the repository

Eleven samples, each with a C# project and a VB.NET twin side by side in a matching -VB folder, both wired into the same solution.

• 01-Quickstart-CS (VB.NET) - the smallest possible host: dock the editor, set BodyHtml, react to HtmlChanged. Start here to see the control running.
• 02-LoadAndSaveHtml-CS (VB.NET) - the practical difference between BodyHtml, which is what you store in a database column, and DocumentHtml, the complete document including the head.
• 03-PasteFromWord-CS (VB.NET) - intercepting the Pasting event to strip Word and Outlook markup, with a before and after view so you can see what was removed.
• 04-ToolbarCustomization-CS (VB.NET) - hiding built-in buttons, relocating editor commands into a toolbar of your own through ToolbarItemOverrider, and adding buttons that act on the document.
• 05-MailMergeTemplate-CS (VB.NET) - registering merge fields, the built-in placeholder toolbar, and previewing a template with a record substituted in.
• 06-DataBinding-CS (VB.NET) - binding BodyHtml and DocumentHtml through a BindingSource to a record, with a navigator and grid, exactly the way you would bind a TextBox.
• 07-Localization-CS (VB.NET) - switching the editor UI language at runtime, and overriding individual strings through a JSON file.
• 08-CustomSpellChecker-CS (VB.NET) - plugging your own spell-check engine in behind the editor's inline checking.
• 09-CustomDialog-CS (VB.NET) - replacing every built-in dialog (image, hyperlink, table, symbol, search, spell check, style builder) with your own, so the editor carries your branding.
• 10-CustomContextMenu-CS (VB.NET) - replacing the right-click menu with your own commands.
• 11-FullEditorDemo-CS (VB.NET) - the wider tour: editor options, high DPI scaling, a persistent user dictionary, and document-level styling.

Which .NET version you need

Use whichever target framework your application already uses. The NuGet package ships binaries for .NET Framework 4.5, 4.7.2 and 4.8, plus .NET 5 through .NET 10 on Windows.

The sample projects intentionally target net48 by default. This provides broad out-of-the-box Visual Studio compatibility and avoids requiring the latest .NET SDK merely to open and build a sample. It does not limit the control or sample code to .NET Framework 4.8.

To use another supported target, change the Target framework from the project's Application property page in Visual Studio. To retarget every sample at once, change the single shared setting in Directory.Build.props at the repository root:

<TargetFramework>net48</TargetFramework>

For example, change it to net10.0-windows to build the samples on .NET 10. NuGet automatically selects the matching package asset for the framework you choose.

Every sample is verified building on net45, net472, net48, net8.0-windows and net10.0-windows. The sample code already includes the small framework-specific adjustments it needs, so retargeting does not require manual source edits.

If your company blocks GitHub

Only if your company blocks the GitHub website, download the sample package from SpiceLogic, which includes the sample projects. For a trusted downloaded ZIP, open its Properties and select Unblock before extracting it; see Microsoft's guidance on Mark of the Web build errors if Visual Studio reports MSB3821.

Building on WPF as well

The WPF edition has its own sample repository covering MVVM binding, theming, custom dialogs and mail merge: github.com/spicelogic/wpf-html-editor-control-samples. See the WPF HTML Editor control for the product itself.