Runtime DesignSurface and Drag 'n' Drop

[a_jam_sandwich]

Hi,

 

 

I�m currently creating a control inherited from the System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignSurface. So far I have been able to add & remove controls to and from the surface. Using the Selection service to find out selected controls on the surface but what I need to do now is have the ability to drag controls on this service from a very limited list of usercontrols contained within a Toolstrip and place them on the surface.

 

The controls will need to have some properties set one places on the surface for example there is a field list that once you drag the field onto the surface the field properties are already set within that control based off what as field was initaly dragged.

 

The only thing I need to do is figure out how to actually initate the drag and drop on a designer surface, searching the .NET had not thown up much in the was of help.

 

Creation code for the control snippet.

 

Public Class Designer
   Inherits DesignSurface

   Private mobjDragDrop As DesignerDragDrop
   Private mobjHost As Control = Nothing
   Private mobjSelectionService As ISelectionService = Nothing
   Private WithEvents mobjDesignerHost As IDesignerHost = Nothing

   Private Function New(ByVal RootType As Type) As IComponent
       ' Get the designer host/services
       Me.mobjDesignerHost = GetServiceDesignerHost()
       Me.mobjSelectionService = GetServiceSelectionService()

       ' Exit if the designer already exists
       If (mobjDesignerHost.RootComponent IsNot Nothing) Then Return mobjDesignerHost.RootComponent

       ' Root componant
       Call Me.BeginLoad(RootType)

       ' Get the designer host
       mobjDesignerHost = GetServiceDesignerHost()

       ' Root control
       Dim ctlControl As IComponent = Nothing
       ctlControl = mobjDesignerHost.RootComponent

       Return ctlControl
   End Function

 

Any pointer would be greatly appreciated

 

Thanks

 

Andy

[PlausiblyDamp]

Have you looked at

http://www.xtremedotnettalk.com/showthread.php?t=73162 and http://www.xtremedotnettalk.com/showthread.php?t=73163 as these two postings cover designer support in quite a bit of detail and may be of some use.

[a_jam_sandwich]

Yes I did read Divil's articles on his website but unfortunatly it did not shine to much light.

 

Many thanks

[a_jam_sandwich]

I've created a control that implements IToolboxService and then added this control as a service to the DesignSurface, this now allow me to drag controls from my toolbox onto the designer form.

 

Only problem now is how to set properties for the control such as the name and or text etc?

 

 

Thanks

 

Andy

[a_jam_sandwich]

So much fun ... NOT

 

Right I can drop controls onto my form using

 

       Dim objToolboxItem As New ToolboxItem(GetType(ExtendedTextbox))

       Dim objToolboxService As IToolboxService = Me
       Dim objDataObject As DataObject = objToolboxService.SerializeToolboxItem(objToolboxItem)

       Call Me.DoDragDrop(objDataObject, DragDropEffects.Copy)

 

This works fine for droping a textbox control that i've inherited from. The problem comes when I create inherited ToolboxItem which i've i'm using (hope to) to set default properties. The code i'm using below will not drag and drop on the form!

 

<Serializable(), PermissionSetAttribute(SecurityAction.Demand, Name:="FullTrust")> _
Public Class ToolboxItemFieldBox
   Inherits System.Drawing.Design.ToolboxItem

   Public Sub New()
       MyBase.New()
   End Sub

   Public Sub New(ByVal ToolType As Type)
       MyBase.New(GetType(ExtendedTextbox))
   End Sub

End Class

 

I'm at my wits end creating a designsurface to host a form editor, this has been the baine of my life this last week.

 

Many thanks

 

Andy

[a_jam_sandwich]

In the end it was because I attempted to cast incorrectly the type on the deserialization of the toolbox item in the toolbox control.

 

When adding a toolbox item on the designsurface the toolbox item gets serialized when calling DataObject and adding it to DoDragDrop, as you drag the item onto the designsurface this item it attempted to be deserialized in the toolbox, if it can the item is then availble for drag drop if not the deserialization returns nothing.

 

Hope this helps anyone if they have the same problems

 

Andy