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Responsive Design UI with DockPanel Suite

I have design 1 winform to look like the picture. But I want the highlighted yellow part to be dockable with dockpanel suite reference. Is that do-able or any other suggestion of better design?
Right now the treeview is on the dockpanel and the red box part is a usercontrol placed in the same dockpanel. I tried to put the redbox as another form but I can't place it as it is in the picture. Also, this winform is need to be responsive so I put in the redbox part in a table layout panel.winform design and not familiar actually with the dockpanel suite reference. If there is a beginner tutorial that I can refer to, it would be much appreciated.
Current design:

There are two approach to your problem. First is dirty one and second elegant one. By dirty and elegant i mean way they display. Method they work are both same.
I will explain to you how to do it on empty form and you just implement that in your populated one.
First create new form.
Add 2 or more GroupBoxes to it
Add some items inside them (just to see if it works)
At the top of the each boxes add Button which will toggle visibility
Our form now looks like this and let's look of code behind it.
using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace Test
{
public partial class TestForm : Form
{
// This is property
bool ShowFirstGroupBox
{
get
{
// We let user get our property from private variable
return _ShowFirstGroupBox;
}
set
{
// When user change this property we do something based on that
switch(value)
{
case true:
groupBox1.Size = new Size(groupBox1.Width, FirstGroupBoxDefaultHeight);
break;
case false:
groupBox1.Size = new Size(groupBox1.Width, 55);
break;
}
_ShowFirstGroupBox = value;
}
}
bool ShowSecondGroupBox
{
get
{
return _ShowSecondGroupBox;
}
set
{
switch (value)
{
case true:
groupBox2.Size = new Size(groupBox1.Width, FirstGroupBoxDefaultHeight);
break;
case false:
groupBox2.Size = new Size(groupBox1.Width, 55);
break;
}
_ShowSecondGroupBox = value;
}
}
// We store our boxes current state ( TRUE = shown, FALSE = HIDDEN )
bool _ShowFirstGroupBox = true;
bool _ShowSecondGroupBox = true;
// We store our default height for groupboxes
int FirstGroupBoxDefaultHeight;
int SecondGroupBoxDefaultHeight;
public TestForm()
{
InitializeComponent();
// Assigning default height of our groupboxes
FirstGroupBoxDefaultHeight = groupBox1.Height;
SecondGroupBoxDefaultHeight = groupBox2.Height;
}
private void button1_Click_1(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
ShowFirstGroupBox = !(_ShowFirstGroupBox); // This sets our property value to opposite of this boolean
}
private void button1_Click_1(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
ShowSecondGroupBox = !(_ShowSecondGroupBox); // This sets our property value to opposite of this boolean
}
}
}
Now when we have code like this and press button it will collapse groupbox.
NOTE: Controls under groupbox are still on place but just hidden since they are child of groupbox and everything outside of bounds is not visible to user.
This is dirty way since i would like to display it much prettier with MINUS sign on the right side of the groupbox title so i do not have button inside it. To do this you would need to create custom control which inherits groupbox, add button to it and position it in title bar and create event for it. It is easy if you have ever tried creating custom controls but if you haven't and you think dirty approach is okay with you then do not try it.

Metro Framework and C#

can someone explain how can I fix it...
I use Metro Framework downloaded from GitHub and when I use two metro tile I get form like on image bellow.
But I want when click on "Theme" or "Color" to change like default. You can see on top not change color and window not change to dark theme but only metro text box, metro label but metro panel it's OK.
private void metroTileSwitch_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
var m = new Random();
int next = m.Next(0, 13);
metroStyleManager.Style = (MetroColorStyle)next;
}
private void metroTile1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
metroStyleManager.Theme = metroStyleManager.Theme == MetroThemeStyle.Light ? MetroThemeStyle.Dark : MetroThemeStyle.Light;
}
Thank you for help.

Be sure of that :
step 1- items that doesn't change theme , theme property is set to Default example:
this.Theme = MetroThemeStyle.Default;
step 2- set owner of metroStyleManager to this form :
metroStyleManager1.Owner = this;
step 3- if problem still you need to connect each item to metroStyleManager example :
this.StyleManager = metroStyleManager1;
metroTextBox1.StyleManager = metroStyleManager1;
//etc...

How do I display default text in EditControls?

What is the easiest way to recreate the effect where a text box displays a certain string (in italics and different font) until the user has clicked into the control and/or written his own text into the field? For an example, look at the "search" box at the top right of SO.
I have tried consuming the Paint event:
private void textEdit1_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
if (textEdit1.Text.Length == 0 && !textEdit1.Focused)
{
textEdit1.Font = new Font(textEdit1.Font, FontStyle.Italic);
textEdit1.Text = "123";
}
else
{
textEdit1.Font = new Font(textEdit1.Font, FontStyle.Regular);
textEdit1.Text = string.Empty;
}
}
However, that's not working. By default, it shows no text, and if I click into it, I seem to get an infinite loop of setting the text to "123" and string.empty, until I give another control focus.
So, is that approach even the best, and if yes, what's the correct 2nd condition instead of .Focused?

Try the TextEdit.Properties.NullValuePrompt property. This property provides the text displayed grayed out when the editor doesn't have focus, and its edit value is not set to a valid value.

First of all, you shouldn't use the paint event, you should use the FocusChanged event if you want to do it by modifying the text property. However, the simplest method is not to modify the text property, but draw a string on top, like this:
private void textEdit1_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
if (textEdit1.Text.Length == 0 && !textEdit1.Focused)
{
Font some_font = new Font(...parameters go here...);
Brush some_brush = Brushes.Gray; // Or whatever color you want
PointF some_location = new PointF(5,5); // Where to write the string
e.Graphics.WriteString("some text", some_font, some_brush, some_location);
}
}
So, if there is no text, and text box is not focused, draw this string. There are many overloads of the WriteString function, so you can pick which one you want.

You can use the Enter event. Set Text property to "search" for example. Use your font like others reported. Then catch the Enter event and set the Text property to string.empty.
textedit1.Text = "search";
private void textEdit1_Enter(object sender, EnterEventArgs e)
{
textedit1.text = string.empty;
}
But i think the best practice is the NullValuePrompt.

Links inside rich textbox?

I know that richtextboxes can detect links (like http://www.yahoo.com) but is there a way for me to add links to it that looks like text but its a link? Like where you can choose the label of the link? For example instead of it appearing as http://www.yahoo.com it appears as Click here to go to yahoo
edit: forgot, im using windows forms
edit: is there something thats better to use (as in easier to format)?

Of course it is possible by invoking some WIN32 functionality into your control, but if you are looking for some standard ways, check this post out:
Create hyperlink in TextBox control
There are some discussions about different ways of integration.
greetings
Update 1:
The best thing is to follow this method:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/f591a55w.aspx
because the RichText box controls provides some functionality to "DetectUrls". Then you can handle the clicked links very easy:
this.richTextBox1.LinkClicked += new System.Windows.Forms.LinkClickedEventHandler(this.richTextBox1_LinkClicked);
and you can simple create your own RichTextBox contorl by extending the base class - there you can override the methods you need, for example the DetectUrls.

Here you can find an example of adding a link in rich Textbox by linkLabel:
LinkLabel link = new LinkLabel();
link.Text = "something";
link.LinkClicked += new LinkLabelLinkClickedEventHandler(this.link_LinkClicked);
LinkLabel.Link data = new LinkLabel.Link();
data.LinkData = #"C:\";
link.Links.Add(data);
link.AutoSize = true;
link.Location =
this.richTextBox1.GetPositionFromCharIndex(this.richTextBox1.TextLength);
this.richTextBox1.Controls.Add(link);
this.richTextBox1.AppendText(link.Text + " ");
this.richTextBox1.SelectionStart = this.richTextBox1.TextLength;
And here is the handler:
private void link_LinkClicked(object sender, LinkLabelLinkClickedEventArgs e)
{
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(e.Link.LinkData.ToString());
}

I found a way which may not be the most elegant, but it's just a few lines of code and does the job. Namely, the idea is to simulate hyperlink appearance by means of font changes, and simulate hyperlink behavior by detecting what the mouse pointer is on.
The code:
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
private Cursor defaultRichTextBoxCursor = Cursors.Default;
private const string HOT_TEXT = "click here";
private bool mouseOnHotText = false;
// ... Lines skipped (constructor, etc.)
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// save the right cursor for later
this.defaultRichTextBoxCursor = richTextBox1.Cursor;
// Output some sample text, some of which contains
// the trigger string (HOT_TEXT)
richTextBox1.SelectionFont = new Font("Calibri", 11, FontStyle.Underline);
richTextBox1.SelectionColor = Color.Blue;
// output "click here" with blue underlined font
richTextBox1.SelectedText = HOT_TEXT + "\n";
richTextBox1.SelectionFont = new Font("Calibri", 11, FontStyle.Regular);
richTextBox1.SelectionColor = Color.Black;
richTextBox1.SelectedText = "Some regular text";
}
private void richTextBox1_MouseMove(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
int mousePointerCharIndex = richTextBox1.GetCharIndexFromPosition(e.Location);
int mousePointerLine = richTextBox1.GetLineFromCharIndex(mousePointerCharIndex);
int firstCharIndexInMousePointerLine = richTextBox1.GetFirstCharIndexFromLine(mousePointerLine);
int firstCharIndexInNextLine = richTextBox1.GetFirstCharIndexFromLine(mousePointerLine + 1);
if (firstCharIndexInNextLine < 0)
{
firstCharIndexInNextLine = richTextBox1.Text.Length;
}
// See where the hyperlink starts, as long as it's on the same line
// over which the mouse is
int hotTextStartIndex = richTextBox1.Find(
HOT_TEXT, firstCharIndexInMousePointerLine, firstCharIndexInNextLine, RichTextBoxFinds.NoHighlight);
if (hotTextStartIndex >= 0 &&
mousePointerCharIndex >= hotTextStartIndex && mousePointerCharIndex < hotTextStartIndex + HOT_TEXT.Length)
{
// Simulate hyperlink behavior
richTextBox1.Cursor = Cursors.Hand;
mouseOnHotText = true;
}
else
{
richTextBox1.Cursor = defaultRichTextBoxCursor;
mouseOnHotText = false;
}
toolStripStatusLabel1.Text = mousePointerCharIndex.ToString();
}
private void richTextBox1_MouseClick(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Button == MouseButtons.Left && mouseOnHotText)
{
// Insert your own URL here, to navigate to when "hot text" is clicked
Process.Start("http://www.google.com");
}
}
}
To improve on the code, one could create an elegant way to map multiple "hot text" strings to their own linked URLs (a Dictionary<K, V> maybe). An additional improvement would be to subclass RichTextBox to encapsulate the functionality that's in the code above.

Many moons later there is a solution for .NET (Core), as of at least .NET 6.0 (possibly earlier) - for .NET Framework (whose latest and last version is 4.8) you'll still need one of the other solutions here:
The .Rtf property now recognizes RTF-format hyperlinks; e.g., the following renders as:
This is a true RTF hyperlink: Example Link
this.richTextBox1.Rtf = #"{\rtf1 This is a true RTF hyperlink:\line {\field{\*\fldinst HYPERLINK ""https://example.org""}{\fldrslt Example Link}}} }";

The standard RichTextBox control (assuming you are using Windows Forms) exposes a rather limited set of features, so unfortunately you will need to do some Win32 interop to achieve that (along the lines of SendMessage(), CFM_LINK, EM_SETCHARFORMAT etc.).
You can find more information on how to do that in this answer here on SO.

display image on mouseover in windows form?

I am working on a project in c# using windows forms.
me and the group I am in want to make it so that when the user hovers their mouse over an image, in our case a card, that a larger image of that card appears next to the mouse arrow, much in the same way a tool tip would work.
I don't think you can use a tool tip to do this i have tried looking everywhere,
any advice or examples would be great thank you very much

You may want to look at this Code Project Article
It shows you how to create an OwnerDrawn ToolTip with an Image.

Thanks for the responses I got everything figured out.
What I wanted to do was that when I moused over a certain area a different image for that area would popup in the same way that a tool tip did. So after some research I figured out how to create my own tool tip class.
here's an example.
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
CustomToolTip tip = new CustomToolTip();
tip.SetToolTip(button1, "text");
tip.SetToolTip(button2, "writing");
button1.Tag = Properties.Resources.pelican; // pull image from the resources file
button2.Tag = Properties.Resources.pelican2;
}
}
class CustomToolTip : ToolTip
{
public CustomToolTip()
{
this.OwnerDraw = true;
this.Popup += new PopupEventHandler(this.OnPopup);
this.Draw +=new DrawToolTipEventHandler(this.OnDraw);
}
private void OnPopup(object sender, PopupEventArgs e) // use this event to set the size of the tool tip
{
e.ToolTipSize = new Size(600, 1000);
}
private void OnDraw(object sender, DrawToolTipEventArgs e) // use this to customzie the tool tip
{
Graphics g = e.Graphics;
// to set the tag for each button or object
Control parent = e.AssociatedControl;
Image pelican = parent.Tag as Image;
//create your own custom brush to fill the background with the image
TextureBrush b = new TextureBrush(new Bitmap(pelican));// get the image from Tag
g.FillRectangle(b, e.Bounds);
b.Dispose();
}
}
}

A simple way to do is to hide/show a picture box at specified location. Another method is to load & draw (paint) an image using GDI API.