storing and retrieving colors with database, C# windows forms application

I'm making a windows application with C#. I'm using the color dialog box for the user to select a color. I'd like to store that color 开发者_开发百科in a database, and be able to retrieve it later on, and be able to use that color in the user interface.

What approach would you suggest to me?

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The best way will be to store the hex color in a database field nvarchar(7) ... the input would be #ffffff as an example. varchar(6) would work just as well, and take up less space in your DB. Just be sure to append the # in your code.

Since you need to convert it to/from a control color, you can use System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.FromHtml(someHexColor)

// Hex to Control Color
var myColor = "#[color from database]";
var myControlColor = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.FromHtml(myColor);

// Control Color to Hex
var colorBlue = System.Drawing.Color.Blue;
var hexBlue = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToHtml(colorBlue);

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I use the functions System.Drawing.Color.FromArgb() and System.Drawing.Color.ToArgb() to convert the color from and to integer, and save it as int on the database

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i found a way to get the hex code of a selected color with ColorDialog

ColorDialog col = new ColorDialog();

col.ShowDialog();

string color = col.Color.ToArgb().ToString("x");

color = color.Substring(2, 6);

color = "#" + color;

MessageBox.Show(color);

button1.BackColor = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.FromHtml(color);

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Way after the question was originally asked, but this might be useful. It allows you to convert between Color and String in a single function call, no matter whether the color is a SystemColor, a KnownColor, or straight ARGB. Code:

        public static Color Str2Color(string cS, Color oDefault)
        {
            string cColor;
            Color oColor;

            try
            {
                if ((cS == null) || (cS == ""))
                {
                    return oDefault;
                }
                if (cS.StartsWith("[SystemColor]"))
                {
                    cColor = cS.Substring(13);
                    oColor = Color.FromName(cColor);
                    return oColor;
                }
                else if (cS.StartsWith("[KnownColor]"))
                {
                    cColor = cS.Substring(12);
                    oColor = Color.FromName(cColor);
                    return oColor;
                }
                else if (cS.StartsWith("[ARGB]"))
                {
                    cColor = cS.Substring(6);
                    oColor = Color.FromArgb(Convert.ToInt32(cColor));
                    return oColor;
                }
                else
                    throw new IndexOutOfRangeException();
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                return oDefault;
            }
        }


        public static string Color2Str(Color oColor)
        {
            // To note:
            // 1. System.Windows.SystemColors => [SystemColor]
            //      Examples: SystemColors.Control, SystemColors.Window, SystemColors.WindowFrame. These are synonymous with System.Drawing.SystemColors, and are defined in the Windows style selected by the user.
            // 2. Windows.UI.Colors => [KnownColor]
            //      Examples: Colors.AliceBlue, Colors.AntiqueWhite, Colors.Aqua, Colors.Aquamarine etc. These are named colors that I think are the same as those expressable in HTML
            // 3. ARGB => [ARGB]
            //      Example: #ffff77 - hex representation of the RGB colour scheme.
            string cColor;

            
            try
            {
                if (oColor.IsSystemColor)
                {
                    cColor = "[SystemColor]" + oColor.Name;
                }
                else if (oColor.IsKnownColor)
                {
                    cColor = "[KnownColor]" + oColor.Name;
                }
                else
                {
                    cColor = "[ARGB]" + oColor.ToArgb();
                }

                return cColor;
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                throw ex;
            }
        }

I put it in a static "helper" class. Means you can store the value in a database in a human readable format, and human editable format (as long as you get the name right).