You can embed the client area of an ABL window in a .NET host form as long as the ABL window has not yet been realized. This allows all the client area widgets in the window to be displayed in the client area of the .NET form instead of in the ABL window to which they are attached. Using this feature, you can retain much of your existing OpenEdge GUI code as you migrate from a traditional OpenEdge GUI to an OpenEdge GUI for .NET application.
Using a common mechanism, ABL supports two basic ways to embed an ABL window in a .NET host form:
Embedding a single window in an MDI child form
Embedding one or more windows in any .NET or ABL-derived .NET form that is based on the System.Windows.Forms.Form class
Thus, this one feature allows you to migrate an existing OpenEdge GUI to a GUI for .NET in several different ways. You can use it to transform your existing OpenEdge GUI application into a .NET MDI application, migrate each window to a corresponding .NET host form, migrate elements of more than one window into a single .NET host form, or use a combination of these approaches in migrating your existing application.
Embedding a single window in an MDI child form
