Positioning a control to another control on a form - c#

I have a form where user is supposed to put few 'ticks' here and there and when he finishes, I'd like to store locations of those ticks so I can restore them in exact alignment when the user opens the form again. No rocket science. I have a hard times with it, though. The form is a window of 788px x 574px and there's A4-size picturebox (pBox) on it (1035px x 1456px) - so the picturebox is a lot bigger and it scrolls when user is scrolling the form. The tick is other picturebox control (pb). I thought this code should store the locations:
calcX = pb.Left - pBox.Left;
calcY = pb.Top - pBox.Top;
And to restore the 'ticks' (check is object I keep tick data in):
pb.Left = pBox.Left + check.XPoint;
pb.Top = pBox.Top + check.YPoint;
It kind of work, but if user reopens the form in another window size, the tick is placed off the target. The same happens e.g. when user puts tick when pBox is scrolled all the way to the bottom. The problem is that pBox.Left/pBox.Top is 0/0 doesn't matter if the form is scrolled or not. I should take into account pBox alignment to the form, but I'm failing at it. Any help is appreciated. Take a look at attached pictures, the first is when pBox left/top is equeal to Form's beginning, the second is when pBox is scrolled to the right in the form, so it's Left/Top are probably negative to the form.

Related

Textbox Positioning Issues On Form Bigger Than Resolution

I have this form that works perfectly fine on resolution 1920 x 1080 (mainly cause I made it using that resolution). I read information about controls from a database (labels and textboxs). This information tells me where to place the controls. Like I said, on 1920 x 1080 everything is placed correctly. When I go down resolutions the form is now bigger than the resolution so I added scroll bars. Issue is that the controls are being placed as if the form that is visable on the screen is all that there is. So if I were to place a textbox at location (4, 90) on the form on lower resolution it might place it at (100,90). Y coord is fine, X coord is not.
Although TableLayoutPanels looks very nice in this case it would be a complete hassle and a waste of time to basically completely redo what I have done already. If I were to have started fresh I probably would have used TableLayoutPanels. Instead what I did was, since the Form was bigger than the resolution, I turned my forms AutoScroll to true (which I said in the question). I then set the AutoScrollPosition to (0,0) on form_shown which makes the horizontal one go to the left and the vertical one to the top using...
this.AutoScrollPosition = new Point(0,0);
Since the controls information is based off of where they are on the screen I just force the form's top left to be located in the top left of the screen and not off. I also had to have an override for the ScrollToControl. Every time a control was placed it would reset back to the center and would mess the placement up. So I added this...
protected override Point ScrollToControl(Control activeControl)
{
return this.AutoScrollPosition;
}

Form.Width incorrect on Form.FormClosing()

I am trying to get an accurate Form.Width on FormClosing().
I have a zoom() method I use to scale a picture in the Form. The form's width is then manually re-sized by me to fit. I then, set the MaximumSize's Width limit to the new width of the form. For our purpose, let's say the width and maxwidth are now 1386.
If I re-size the form in the Windows interface by dragging its edge to the left, the width is being reduced just fine. FormClosing reports the re-sized width accurately. Let's say 1107.
However, if go through the zoom() method I wrote, even though I drag to the left to the same position, FormClosing is reporting the ORIGINAL 1386 width. The only things I do to form size in the zoom() method are set width and maxwidth.
I am at a loss to handle this behavior. I need FormClosing to report the correct size. I think FormClosing is setting the Width to MaximumWidth when it fires. I think I read something about how the Form is set to Hidden by the time the FormClosing event is fired. Maybe being Hidden reverts its size to MaxWidth.
Any help would be much appreciated. I have been struggling with this for a few hours and can't find anything.
Thanks.
Here is the relevant code:
private void zoom()
{
// Re-size form width to slightly more than page width.
// This is percentage-based, meaning 100 = default size.
Size picSize = new Size
{
Width = (int)(originalRenderingSize.Width * integerUpDownZoom.Value / 100),
Height = (int)(originalRenderingSize.Height * integerUpDownZoom.Value / 100),
};
// some code here which I commented-out, and still, the problem exists.
// Set maximum to prevent ugly sizing.
this.MaximumSize = new Size(picSize.Width + 40, Screen.FromControl(this).WorkingArea.Height);
// The problem is this: When this method processes, as shown, a page is rendered and sized according to
// a user-provided zoom level represented by an integerUpDown control. Once rendered, the form should
// re-size its width to match the newly-scaled page's width. This works, too. So far, so good.
//
// But!!! If the user grabs the right side of the form and drags it to the left to reduce the width
// of the form (mind you, this is Windows OS doing this), upon Form.Form_Closing(), you can see a
// quick flash of the form fully-open and unscrolled. Then, in the FIRST line of Form_Closing(),
// the debugger reports the form's width as the fully-open and UNSCROLLED width.
//
// The goal is to set the width upon the conclusion of this zoom, but then, on closing
// get the width of the Form in order to persist it for use the next time the app is run.
//
// 2 options have been tried. Both cause Form_Closing to erroneously report the fully-open width.
// But if BOTH are commented-out, the re-sizing occurs and Form_Closing() reports properly the
// form's scrolled width.
// Bear in mind that Form_Closing is one of those things that can happen anytime or never. This means
// the bug is triggered by EITHER and ONLY the two options below.
// Option 1: Tried first. It sets the width fine.
//
// this.Width = picSize.Width + 40;
// Option 2: It also sets the width fine.
// I think this option causes width to change (it invokes width change, and somewhere in the
// OS's width change, the error occurs.
//this.MinimumSize = new Size(MaximumSize.Width - 1, this.Height);
//this.MinimumSize = new Size(0, 0);
}
Edit: I have new information which should help. The culprit is FormClosing(). Here's what I did: I re-sized the form in Windows until it occupied maybe 500 pixels in width. The horizontal scrollbar on my panel was showing. Then, in the FormClosing event, I added the line: Form.Show(). After that, I put a MessageBox.Show("Hi."). Sure enough, the Show() caused the form to repaint in its full, unscrolled width. It did not maintain its scroll state.
I think I have the solution and will post back after trying. Namely, I need to check Scroll values and operate on those values as well.
Edit 2: FormClosing() also re-sets HorizontalScroll.Value and VerticalScroll.Value to 0. This is a bummer! I wonder how to work around this. I also looked at e.Cancel, but there seems to be no way to take advantage of it, either. It seems e.Cancel just re-shows() the form in its unhidden state.
Sorry I cannot post the code. It would be pointless anyway. Think about it. The Windows OS handles the resizing. Not me. When the user re-sizes the form, it's all on Windows. If user re-sizes the form to 500 pixels wide, but FormClosing() reports it is 1386 pixels wide, no amount of my coding will show us anything new. This is a behavior issue. There is no code to show you how the Windows OS handles form re-sizing.
On FormClosing Event Use:
MessageBox.Show(this.Width.ToString());
You're using another Instance of your form's class, Form.Show() should not work in this event cause Dispose function is called and if you have referenced the same instance it will be disposed as well.

Resizing User Control - anchor controls to center of form

I have a user control which consists of two controls and four buttons, arranged on a Form: the two controls are on the sides and the buttons in the middle in a vertical row.
When using the control in an app, I place it on a form.
Now, when re-sizing the form horizontally, the two controls just move left or right w/o changing their size.
What I need is that the controls stay anchored to the middle of the form and grow to the sides (sorry about the lack of clarity, I prepared screenshots but the site wouldn't let me attach them).
Is there a way to accomplish this without overriding the Resize event?
Use a TableLayoutPanel as base for your user control.
You need 3 columns and one row. The middle column needs to have a fixed size, and the other 2 you set to 50%. Not to worry, .Net is smart enough to calculate the percent they actually take.
Inside the right and left columns you put your controls and set the Dock property of both to fill. In the middle column you put a panel and set it's Dock property to fill as wall, and In that panel you put the buttons in the middle.
Set your table layout panel Dock to fill as well, and when adding the user control to the form use Dock top, bottom or fill as well.
Erratum:
The above code works most of the time, but it fails for certain Move-Resize sequences. The solution is to respond to the Move and Resize events of the parent form (the consumer of the control), not of the control itself.
One more thing: due to the event firing order (Move first followed by Resize, had to move the working code from Resize() to Move(), which seems counterintuitive but it seems the right way nevertheless.
It seems indeed that it cannot be done in the Designer, but here is the solution using overrides.
It works ok, except for some control flickering which I haven't been able to overcome.
public partial class SB : UserControl
{
//variables to remember sizes and locations
Size parentSize = new Size(0,0);
Point parentLocation = new Point (0,0);
......
// we care only for horizontal changes by dragging the left border;
// all others take care of themselves by Designer code
public void SB_Resize(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (this.Parent == null)
return;//we are still in the load process
// get former values
int fcsw = this.parentSize.Width;//former width
int fclx = this.parentLocation.X;//former location
Control control = (Control)sender;//this is our custom control
// get present values
int csw = control.Parent.Size.Width;//present width
int clx = control.Parent.Location.X;//present location
// both parent width and parent location have changed: it means we
// dragged the left border or one of the left corners
if (csw != fcsw && clx != fclx)
{
int delta = clx - fclx;
int lw = (int)this.tableLayoutPanel1.ColumnStyles[0].Width;
int nlw = lw - delta;
if (nlw > 0)
{
this.tableLayoutPanel1.ColumnStyles[0].Width -= delta;
}
}
this.parentSize = control.Parent.Size;//always update it
this.parentLocation = control.Parent.Location;
}
//contrary to documentation, the Resize event is not raised by moving
//the form, so we have to override the Move event too, to update the
//saved location
private void SB_Move(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (this.Parent == null)
return;//we are still in the load process
this.parentSize = this.Parent.Size;//always update it
this.parentLocation = this.Parent.Location;
}
}
The above code works most of the time, but it fails for certain Move-Resize sequences. The solution is to respond to the Move and Resize events of the parent form (the consumer of the control), not of the control itself.
One more thing: due to the event firing order (Move first followed by Resize, had to move the working code from Resize() to Move(), which seems counterintuitive but it seems the right way nevertheless.

Is there a way to get the bounds of a TabPage in a Winforms TabControl?

I have a Form with only a single TabControl, with many tabs, where each tab has only square buttons side by side. I am trying to make it so that when the user clicks on a tab, the form resizes itself to a size where you can see all the buttons in a particular tab or a size where you can see all the tabs, whichever is greater.
I am just curious if there is a way to query where the last control in a tab page is? So I can just do something like:
tabForm.Width = currentTabPage.UsedContentBorder + 10;
Or do I have to do this by adding all the controls and the sizes between them, etc?
You want to find out the maximum coordinates of all controls in a specific tab? Easy with LINQ:
int right = tab.Controls.Cast<Control>().Max(c => c.Right);
int bottom = tab.Controls.Cast<Control>().Max(c => c.Bottom);
Now, to properly choose the size of the form, I imagine you just have to figure out how much larger the Form is than its TabPages... I would guess something like this:
int extraWidth = form.Width - tabControl.SelectedTab.Width;
int extraHeight = form.Height - tabControl.SelectedTab.Height;
Then you just do
form.Size = new Size(right + extraWidth, bottom + extraHeight);
(the TabControl will resize automatically if its Anchor property is set to all four sides.) It occurs to me that this may malfunction if the user resizes the form very small... you may be able to compensate by calculating extraWidth and extraHeight in the Form.Load event and then saving those values for when you need them later.

How to dock a windows form in C#?

I just would like to know if it is possible to dock a windows form on top of the user screen? I have been trying to do this by manually setting the position of my form to the coordinates I want. But using this method, however, allows the user to change the position of the form just by dragging it. I want to make the form docked to the upper portion of the screen since this window form will server as a menu for the project I am making.
Thanks a lot. :)
I would consider using the Control.Dock property along with one of the DockStyle enumeration values.
You might need to play with the Layout too, so that you may layout your form's controls differently depending on the DockStyle selected.
You will need, in my point of view, to consider the Control.Location property so that you get to know which DockStyle value to dock your form with.
EDIT #1
Your Windows Form has a Dock property as it inherits from Control.
Let's consider the following :
Each time your form comes closer to your right-side of the screen, for example, or of the MDI container, you want to dock right, right ? (Little word play here... =P) So, you have to subscribe to the Control.LocationChanged event.
private void myForm_LocationChanged(object sender, EventArgs e) {
if (this.Location.X > 900) then
this.Dock = DockStyle.Right;
else if (this.Location.X < 150) then
this.Dock = DockStyle.Left;
else if (this.Location.Y > 600) then
this.Dock = DockStyle.Bottom;
else if (this.Location.Y < 150) then
this.Dock = DockStyle.Top;
else
this.Dock = DockStyle.None;
}
Indeed, instead of constant values, you should use the current desktop resolution and calculate a ratio from it where you want your docking to occur.
***Disclaimer:****This code is provided as-is and has not been tested. This algorithm is hopefully enough to guide you through the docking process as you need it. Further assistance may be brought upon request.* =)
It seems the Form.DesktopLocation property is the righter tool for the job as for your main window, meaning your MDI container, for instance. As for the other windows, I would go along with something that looks like the code sample provided.
Does this help?
EDIT #2
If you want to prevent Form's overlapping, perhaps the Control.BringToFront() method could do it before or after your call to the Control.Show() method, depending on what works best for you.
So after some tweaks I finally was able to get this code working.
this.DesktopLocation = new Point((Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds.Width / 2 - 420), 0);
I placed that line below the InitializeComponent() and it docks my form to the center of the screen with whatever resolution values.
By setting the FormBorderStyle of your form to None, you take the drag handle away from the user so they cannot move it via the mouse.
Then you just need to place it where you want.
If you really want to take away the users options you can also set the ShowInTaskbar property to false

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