Eto.Forms spike: Convert PortableCreatorDialog and SelectCommandDialog

[Copilot]

Proof of concept converting two WinForms dialogs to Eto.Forms to evaluate cross-platform UI modernization.

Implementation

New Projects

• Central.Eto - Library with Eto.Forms dialog implementations
• Central.Eto.Demo - Demo application showcasing converted dialogs

Converted Dialogs

• PortableCreatorDialog - Portable installation creator
• SelectCommandDialog - Command selection interface (simplified)

Key Patterns

• Manual UI construction using TableLayout and StackLayout
• Resx localization via ResourceManager (17 languages preserved)
• Event handlers map directly from WinForms equivalents

// Eto.Forms layout approach
Content = new TableLayout
{
    Spacing = new Size(5, 10),
    Rows =
    {
        new TableRow(labelInfo),
        new TableRow(targetLayout),
        new TableRow { ScaleHeight = true }
    }
};

Findings

Viable for cross-platform UI - Resx localization works unchanged, layout system is more flexible than WinForms anchoring, but requires manual UI construction.

Trade-offs - ~2x LOC per dialog (no designer code separation), steeper learning curve, but cleaner diffs and explicit layout logic.

See ETO_FORMS_SPIKE.md for detailed analysis and src/Central.Eto/README.md for technical comparison.

[!WARNING]

Firewall rules blocked me from connecting to one or more addresses (expand for details)

I tried to connect to the following addresses, but was blocked by firewall rules:

• ci.appveyor.com
  • Triggering command: /usr/bin/dotnet dotnet restore (dns block)
  • Triggering command: /usr/bin/dotnet dotnet build (dns block)
  • Triggering command: /usr/bin/dotnet dotnet build Central.Eto.Demo/Central.Eto.Demo.csproj --no-restore (dns block)
• t1.symcb.com
  • Triggering command: /usr/bin/dotnet dotnet build (dns block)
• t2.symcb.com
  • Triggering command: /usr/bin/dotnet dotnet build (dns block)
• tl.symcb.com
  • Triggering command: /usr/bin/dotnet dotnet build (dns block)
• tl.symcd.com
  • Triggering command: /usr/bin/dotnet dotnet build (dns block)

If you need me to access, download, or install something from one of these locations, you can either:

• Configure Actions setup steps to set up my environment, which run before the firewall is enabled
• Add the appropriate URLs or hosts to the custom allowlist in this repository's Copilot coding agent settings (admins only)

Original prompt

---

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Eto.Forms spike</issue_title> <issue_description>Pick one or two simple Forms in the project and convert them from WinForms to Eto.Forms as a proof of concept. Make sure to retain resx-based localization.</issue_description>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

• Fixes 0install/0install-win#236

---

💡 You can make Copilot smarter by setting up custom instructions, customizing its development environment and configuring Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. Learn more Copilot coding agent tips in the docs.