Docking a form

[Shimon Klier]

Can I dock a form?

I want to design a sub form that has some components (image, textbox, etc.). This sub form should be docked to the main apps form.

[Aidas]

You can create user control and then dock it on your main form. The problem is, that this crashes in 99% of all cases ( At least for me. Actually I managed to compile an application with docked user control only once ). Of course tolls are in Beta version, but it would be interesting to know if this issue is already known and if it is planned to fix it ( or maybe there is already fixed versionb or other solution ).

> Can I dock a form?
>
> I want to design a sub form that has some components (image, textbox, etc.). This sub form should be docked to the main apps form.

[Prakash S]

Aidas,

We have several cusotmers using the DockingManager and, till date, we have not heard about any critical issues whatsoever. I am inclined to think that the crashes that you are experiencing could be due to usage error or are being caused by other conditions that are very specific to your application.

Please try to provide us with a sample project that will allow us to reproduce this condition. If the crash can be attributed to our DockingManager, I assure you that we will fix the problem immediately.

Prakash

[Prakash S]

Eldan,

The Essential Tools DockingManager is form-centric and will allow only controls that are located on a form to be made into docked controls. It is not possible to make an entire form into a docking window. In fact, this is more of a Windows Forms restriction as I do not think it is possible to parent a Form to any Control other than an MDIClient window. Instead of a sub-form, I would recommend that you use a Panel control to host your sub-components and make the Panel a dockable control.

Thanks,
Prakash

[Prakash S]

Aidas,

Actually I just discovered that the DockingManager designer was having problems with UserControls. Regular controls work fine, but UserControls appear to bog the designer.

A temporary workaround would be enable UserControls for docking exclusively through the programmatic API. Call DockingManager.DockControl() on the UserControl after the InitializeComponent() call. The following code should give you an idea,

// Dock the UserControl to the bottom of the form
this.dockingManager1.DockControl(this.userControl11, this, Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools.DockingStyle.Bottom, 150);
this.dockingManager1.SetDockLabel(this.userControl11, "User Control");
this.dockingManager1.SetDockIcon(this.userControl11, 1);

Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. We will fix this problem as soon as possible and provide you with an update.

Prakash
Syncfusion, Inc.

[Aidas]

Hello Prakash,

First of all thanks for the quick answer.
IMHO your tools are great and they are pretty stable for the release candidate. Actually I have found another workaround for my problem. I used Panel control for docking and have put my user control on it. This works fine and I also have a possibility to control scroll bars on the docked window.

Thanks and Regards,

Aidas

> Aidas,
>
> Actually I just discovered that the DockingManager designer was having problems with UserControls. Regular controls work fine, but UserControls appear to bog the designer.
>
> A temporary workaround would be enable UserControls for docking exclusively through the programmatic API. Call DockingManager.DockControl() on the UserControl after the InitializeComponent() call. The following code should give you an idea,
>
> // Dock the UserControl to the bottom of the form
> this.dockingManager1.DockControl(this.userControl11, this, Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools.DockingStyle.Bottom, 150);
> this.dockingManager1.SetDockLabel(this.userControl11, "User Control");
> this.dockingManager1.SetDockIcon(this.userControl11, 1);
>
>
> Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. We will fix this problem as soon as possible and provide you with an update.
>
> Prakash
> Syncfusion, Inc.
>
>

[Prakash S]

Aidas,

I am glad that you were able to workaround this issue. We are looking into this problem and will fix it as soon as possible.

I do have a request. Whenever you encounter any problems, please notify us immediately using our Direct-Trac support system. This will be of enormous help as it will allow us to weed out any issues before the final release.

Thanks,
Prakash
Syncfusion, Inc.

[Prakash S]

This problem has been fixed. The final release of Essential Tools will contain the fix. However, if you are interested in an immediate update, please notify us using the Direct-Trac support system.

Prakash
Syncfusion