TabControl ItemSize with TabPage ImageKey - c#

I have a TabControl where I want to keep the tabs to a fixed size and I want icons in the tabs. I have set TabControl.SizeMode = Fixed and TabControl.ItemSize = 100, 18. I have also set TabControl.ImageList and am assigning images to the tabs via TabPage.ImageKey.
Here is what it looks like if I comment-out assigning the ImageKey:
And here is what it looks like if I am assigning the ImageKey:
Is there some sort of "alignment" for the icons? I want them to be on the far left in the blank space, but instead they are starting where the text starts. Any suggestions?
(BTW - if I set TabControl.SizeMode = Normal, I get the tab content the way I want it, but the tabs aren't a fixed size):

I can verify the issue that you are seeing with TabControl.SizeMode = Fixed (on Windows 10). I initially seen it in the designer when configuring a TabPage with an icon. However the irritating thing is that the issue corrected itself if the designer is closed and reopened. This suggests a window style setting of some sort and there are some Tab Control Styles set in the CreateParams Property based on the SizeMode Property. However, I found no solution in attempting to apply the TCS_FORCEICONLEFT style. If the ImageIndex property is set prior to the control being shown, then the alignment is as desired. So I figured that there must be something being configured on handle creation.
If you call the form's RecreateHandle method after setting the TabPage.ImageIndex property, the form redraws and all looks good. However this cause the form to blink. Calling the Control.RecreateHandle method on the TabControl also works. This is a protected method and would necessitate using a derived TabControl to expose the method or you could use Reflection to invoke the method.
public class MyTC : TabControl
{
public void FixIcon()
{
RecreateHandle();
}
}

Related

IconPadding property on an ErrorProvider doesn't work

So I am trying to make a space between an icon used for validation of a form and a textbox. Right now, I in Properties Window, I am setting ErrorProvider's IconPadding property (under ContainerControl section) to something like 5 but it doesn't make a difference. If matters, the icon I use is 48x48, so it doesn't have a preferred size, but I will change that later (to 16x16).
try this:
this.errorProvider.SetIconPadding(this.textBox, 5);

How to prevent usercontrol fill option from extending too far

I have a usercontrol that I'm adding as a control of a main form dynamically. The Mainform is basically empty, except it has a large status bar on bottom.
Problem is, when I set the Dockstyle.Fill option on my usercontrol, the size of the loaded usercontrol extends beyond the statusbar (It fills the entire main form as if the status bar wasn't there).
How do I prevent this behavior? This is an example of how I dynamically load my form
logicForm = new LogicForm();
this.Controls.Add(logicForm);
logicForm.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
I think you need to set the DockStyle to None and use the Anchor property instead.
Set the anchor to Top,Bottom,Left,Right and size your control to fill all the space up to the status bar.
You should find when you run that the user control will then resize with the form.
I just found the solution
I need to bring the form to front in order to properly dock it if I already have some other controls on the main form:
logicForm.BringToFront();
Found here: http://dotnetref.blogspot.kr/2008/08/using-dock-fill-on-control-when-you.html
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How to refresh a winform custom control at design time after changing a property

Let's say I create a custom control which embed a trackbar. I also create an orientation property for my custom control.
When I drop the custom control on a form by default it will be horizontal. Then I set it to vertical, the trackbar should refresh to be vertical at design time.
How to do so ?
I think you should call Refresh() after changing the value:
public OrientationProperty Direction
{
get
{
return _direction;
}
set
{
_direction = value;
if (DesignMode)
{
Parent.Refresh(); // Refreshes the client area of the parent control
}
}
}
private OrientationProperty _direction;
Here's my solution to this issue:
1. Whenever you set something property, call Invalidate() in the setter.
2. After correspondent properties and refreshing method (for eg. overridden OnPaint) are implemented, rebuild!!! then you'll see the modifications taken effect in design time
3. During design, always check whether compilation errors are present, as this might stop VS performing all his tasks.
With this, when I put my control on a form, and adjust its own properties, refreshing happens immediately as expected.
PS.: old post, but at least verified the behavior in VS2015 too :)

Limit resizable dimensions of a custom control (c# .net)

I am making a user control in MS Visual C#, and there is one thing that I just can't find an answer to:
How do I limit which dimensions a control can be resized in during design view?
For a clear example of what I'm asking, the built in TrackBar control can only only be made wider, not taller, and only displays the resizing squares on the left and right in design mode. Is there a way to replicate this for a user control?
I have tried setting MinimumSize and MaximumSize values in the designer for my control, but this doesn't give ideal results.
To get the full behavior you're talking about (no adorners on top/bottom or left/right) and custom functionality inside the design time environment, you'll probably have to resort to building a custom control designer for your control.
This is a huge topic, as there are a lot of things you can do. Effectively what you'd do is create a class that inherits from ControlDesigner, override whatever functionality you need, then register it on your user control with the DesignerAttribute, specifying typeof(IDesigner) for the 2nd parameter (and your custom ControlDesigner-derived type for the first).
Enhancing Design-time Support
Custom Designers
ControlDesigner class example
Custom Design-time Control Features in Visual Studio .NET
Now, in the case of TrackBar, it has its own designer that overrides the ControlDesigner.SelectionRules property. This property simply lets you return an enumeration value (it's a Flags enum, so you can OR them together) indicating how your design-time selection adorners appear (or not appear). Once you've restricted design-time resizing via a designer, it's simply up to your control itself to constrain its own size vai SetBoundsCore.
I'm fairly sure you can do this with Control.SetBoundsCore, as described here.link text
I am not sure for the resizing square but MaximunSize and MinimumSize are the right values for you.
But it's not enough to set them in the constructor of your class because everytime you drop an instance of your control from the designer to a form these values get set after the constructor.
You should:
override MinumumSize and MaximumSize, and do net set the base value from your value but your value.
private Size maxSize = new Size(100, 5);
public override Size MaximumSize
{
get { return base.MaximumSize; }
set { base.MaximumSize = maxSize; }
}
create a public method in your class:
public bool ShouldSerializeMaximumSize()
{
return false;
}
and
private void ResetMaximumSize()
{
me.MaximumSize = maxSize;
}
These methods are a convention from the Windows Forms Desinger: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/53b8022e.aspx

How can I write a BringToFront method for a WPF UserControl?

I am developing a UserControl, call it CoolControl, that is meant to act somewhat like a window, with a few special features. So far, it can be resized and dragged all around the screen. If I add multiple CoolControl objects to my application window using XAML, the last one that was declared is always in front. This is fine, but I want to make it so that if I click on one of my CoolControl objects during run-time, that control will put itself in front of all the other controls.
I've tried using Canvas.SetZIndex, but unless I'm simply unable to come up with a clever enough solution, I don't see how that can help me. Because once I set one control's Z-Index to 9999, over time every other control I click will have the same value of 9999. And then, once again, the control declared last ends up in front.
If you were given the task of writing a BringToFront() method for someone's UserControl, how would you do it in the simplest way possible? I'd prefer a better solution than getting the parent window, looping through all the controls, finding the maximum Z-Index, and then setting the Z-Index of the CoolControl accordingly, if THAT is even a valid solution.
I'm not familiar with the Canvas.SetZIndex method. It looks like some sort of attached property or behaviour.
If you can provide the logic to set the z-index, I've outlined a way to keep track of the instances and manage the z-indexes, keeping them in the order in which they have been selected/created.
public class CoolControl : UserControl
{
public CoolControl()
{
InitializeComponent();
Instances.Add(this);
}
static IList<CoolControl> Instances = new List<CoolControl>();
void SelectThisInstance()
{
foreach(var instance in Instances)
{
// decrement z-index instance
}
// set z-index of this instance to show at top
}
}

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