How can I add a tab control to a RichTextBox? - c#

Project description:
Hi, on my project I have 64 client´s they communicate with my main station on a one wire asynchronous bus, now I want to monitor the communication between them. For that I have a RichTextBox , In that box I see the whole data traffic. Now I want to implement the possibility that when I select a client for example nr. 4 that opens a new RichTextBox on a tab control of my main RichTextBox.
My problem is that I work with C# since 4 weeks and I don't know how can I do that, I searched in the internet but I didn´t find any example. So I ask here for help.
Question:
How can I make the described requirement?, Is the requirement possible?
Picture for example:
Sorry for the bad picture, I have only Paint. That is my MainWindow at the red arrow´s I want my tabs.
I use Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 and WindowsFormsApplication

You need to do it the other way arround, add richtextbox to tabpages.
It can be more simple if you make a custom control that inherits from tabpage. The problem with it is that you will be unable to design it via the visual editor. But since you need just one control in it you can add it via code.
The class for the custom tab is as follows:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace WindowsFormsApplication1
{
class CustomTab:TabPage
{
public RichTextBox textbox;
public CustomTab()
{
textbox = new RichTextBox();
this.Controls.Add(textbox);
textbox.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
}
}
}
As you can see it just inherits from tabpage and on the constructor it adds a RichTextBox that is docked in fill so it will cover all the page.
The textbox is public, so you can acces it simply with tab.textbox.
To add the tabs to the tabcontrol you just need to add the tabcontrol to the form and when you want to add the page simply:
tabControl1.TabPages.Add(new CustomTab());
Having a custom tab allows you to have all the data and methods that you want (Wich client it is for example)
If you have any quaestion feel free to ask

Related

How to design a TabPage without TabControl?

I am trying to design some "standalone" tab-pages and later on, I want to add them dynamically to a tab-control in my main form. Visual Studio won't let me open the class extended with TabPage in the designer. Some idea?
using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace Test.View.Panels {
public class MainStatusTabPage : TabPage {
public MainStatusTabPage() {
}
}
}
When I right-click the class in the Solution Explorer and selecting "View Designer", I get the following message (the Designer doesn't show up):
To add components to your class, drag them from the Toolbox and use
the Properties window to set their properties. To create methods and
events for your class, switch to code view.
When I right-click the class in the Solution Explorer and selecting "View Designer", I get the following message (the Designer doesn't show up):
To add components to your class, drag them from the Toolbox and use the Properties window to set their properties. To create methods and events for your class, switch to code view.
This is normal behavior as a TabPage is just a container that holds other controls, nothing more. As #PanagiotisKanavos mentioned above:
A Tab Page is a container, not the actual content of the tab. In all examples that use complex content you'll see that the content is a custom component, eg a User control, that's added into the tab
With this in mind, you can just create a UserControl with all the other controls you would need and then add this new instance (UserControl) to the TabPage itself.

How can I add a button to the layout? - C# [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
How to add buttons dynamically to my form?
(8 answers)
Closed 2 years ago.
I cannot find any methods to add the button to the layout.
I am trying to add the child (button) to the layout, but I can't find any methods to do so.
Source Code:
using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace WinForms
{
internal static class Program
{
/// <summary>
/// The main entry point for the application.
/// </summary>
[STAThread]
private static void Main()
{
Application.SetHighDpiMode(HighDpiMode.SystemAware);
Application.EnableVisualStyles();
Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
Application.Run(new Form1());
Button button = new Button {Height = 100, Width = 100, Text = "Test"};
}
}
}
You open your project in Visual Studio 2019 (not Visual Studio Code, not JetBrains Rider) - free versions for which exist if your context qualifies for the license. If you don't qualify for a free license, you[r workplace] can easily afford a license of some form
You double click Form1 in the solution explorer and then you see something that looks like what the form will look like when you run the program, and you open the controls tool panel and drag a button out of it and drop it onto the form...
But if you want to get into hand-writing the volumes of boring repetitive code to build a UI then you add controls to the Controls collection of other controls, viz:
Form1 f = new Form1();
Button button = new Button {Height = 100, Width = 100, Text = "Test"};
f.Controls.Add(button);
Application.Run(f);
Every Control has a Controls collection to which other Controls can be added (not just things you think of as "things that have child controls, like Panel or GroupBox" - some controls are collections of other controls, like a NumericUpDown is a textbox and a couple of buttons)
For an example of how much code you'll need to write, lay out a reasonable looking UI in the design view and then open the Form1.Designer.cs - you'll see why we do it with the aid of a design tool! :)
Wouldn't it be faster to learn if I didn't use the Designer tool?
IMO, no. That's like saying "wouldn't it be faster to learn if I hand code an SVG in notepad rather than using Inkscape/Gimp to draw the image visually.. or create a PNG by typing the bytes out in a hex editor"
Getting so close to the raw low level means you end up "not being able to see the wood for the trees" and it hinders your learning. For a lengthy discourse on abstractions and why we use them/how they apply to every daily process including learning and operating in life, see the comment trail
You need to add the button to your Form, not to the Main method!
The issue with your code is that it's in the wrong place - actually, it only runs after the form is closed, because Application.Run will run your form in a message loop, allowing UI events to fire.
You can either use the Visual Studio WinForms Designer (if using Visual Studio), or manually add the code after the InitializeComponent() method - so, either right in the constructor, or in any of the Form startup events, such as Load or Shown.
It's likewise very important to add the Button (or any dynamically instantiated control, for that matter) to the Controls collection of the Form - otherwise, your Button won't be displayed:
Button button = new Button {Height = 100, Width = 100, Text = "Test"};
this.Controls.Add(button);
There are certainly use cases for dynamic generation of controls; however, it's very unusual to build out your controls manually before the form even runs - in most cases of dynamic control generation, the form is up and running - the dynamic generation is in response to some user action. I recommend using the designer for general UI layout.

Design a child control of a derived Control [duplicate]

I'll try to explain what I'm after. I don't know the technical term for it, so here goes:
Example 1:
If I place a ListView on a Form and add some columns I am able, in Design-Time, to click-and-drag the columns to resize them.
Example 2:
Now, I place a ListView in a UserControl and name it "MyCustomListView" (and perhaps add some method to enhance it somehow).
If I now place the "MyCustomListView" on a Form I am unable to click-and-drag the column headers to resize them in Design-Time.
Is there any way to easily make that happen? Some form of "pass the click-and-drag event to the underlying control and let that control do its magic". Im not really looking to recode, just pass on the mouseclick (or whatever it is) and let the, in this case, ListView react as it did in the first example above.
The Windows Forms designer has dedicated designer classes for most controls. The designer for a ListView is System.Windows.Forms.Design.ListViewDesigner, an internal class in the System.Design.dll assembly. This class gives you the ability to drag the column headers.
A UserControl uses the System.Windows.Forms.Design.ControlDesigner designer class. It doesn't do anything special, just puts a rectangle around the control with drag handles. You can see where this is heading: after you put your user control on a form, it is ControlDesigner that is used to design the class, ListViewDesigner is not in the picture. You thus lose the ability to drag the column headers. Also note that ControlDesigner doesn't give access to the controls inside the UC.
That's fixable however by creating your own designer. Start with Projects + Add Reference, select System.Design. You'll need to add a public property to the UC to expose the list view and apply the [DesignerSerializationVisibility] attribute to allow changed properties to be saved. And apply the [Designer] attribute to the UC class to replace the default designer. It all should resemble this (using the default names and a ListView that displays "employees"):
using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Windows.Forms.Design; // Note: add reference required: System.Design.dll
namespace WindowsFormsApplication1 {
[Designer(typeof(MyDesigner))] // Note: custom designer
public partial class UserControl1 : UserControl {
public UserControl1() {
InitializeComponent();
}
// Note: property added
[DesignerSerializationVisibility(DesignerSerializationVisibility.Content)]
public ListView Employees { get { return listView1; } }
}
// Note: custom designer class added
class MyDesigner : ControlDesigner {
public override void Initialize(IComponent comp) {
base.Initialize(comp);
var uc = (UserControl1)comp;
EnableDesignMode(uc.Employees, "Employees");
}
}
}
The list view in the user control can now be clicked and designed as normal.

Multi-Page WPF Application

I am new to desktop application development and have a pretty basic question. I have a WPF form named MainWindow, how should I go about having multiple pages on this, such as "User Management", "Manage Content" etc..
I think I have the following options:
Use multiple forms
Tabs
Group Box?
Any clarification would be great!
Well in my most recent application I started by using a TabControl, that's a safe and rather easy way to go.
Recently switched the tabcontrol with a StackPanel with a series of Expanders inside. I styled the expanders to have them display the header vertically and expand horizontally... somewhat similar to the first xbox dashboard. And it looks and works great! =)
Another alternative would be to use a Page instead of a window... Then you would just have to Navigate to each different page.
EDIT:
Here's an example of a multi-page application... might be close to what you need.
The solution I went with that suited what I was looking for was using WPF Pages but thanks for your answers.
There are many ways to do that, such as creating UserControl and show them in the run time.But using TabControl is fast and safe.
Just Use TabControl and place your pages in tab items .Then hide the header of TabControl by setting the value Visibility="Collapsed" to each TabItem.
The result is as below:
As you see the headers are hide and you can switch to each page you want.
Create
usercontrol(wpf): UserManagement
usercontrol2(wpf) : ManageContent
place control "ContentControl" in the main window
Run the code on click of button:
//Displays usercontrol1
contentControl.content = new UserManagement();
//Displays usercontrol2
contentControl.content = new ManageContent();
Hope this helps you.
I'd like to give you an example of something I have in one of my applications.
The app has two windows: the main window and another one (also derived from Window and equipped with the appropriate buttons and event handlers) that is used as a start dialog. The start dialog is called in the constructor of the main window like this:
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
startdlg m_dlg;
// ...
public MainWindow()
{
m_dlg = new startdlg();
if ((bool)m_dlg.ShowDialog())
{
// ...
}
else
{
Close();
}
// ...

How to enable design support in a custom control?

I'll try to explain what I'm after. I don't know the technical term for it, so here goes:
Example 1:
If I place a ListView on a Form and add some columns I am able, in Design-Time, to click-and-drag the columns to resize them.
Example 2:
Now, I place a ListView in a UserControl and name it "MyCustomListView" (and perhaps add some method to enhance it somehow).
If I now place the "MyCustomListView" on a Form I am unable to click-and-drag the column headers to resize them in Design-Time.
Is there any way to easily make that happen? Some form of "pass the click-and-drag event to the underlying control and let that control do its magic". Im not really looking to recode, just pass on the mouseclick (or whatever it is) and let the, in this case, ListView react as it did in the first example above.
The Windows Forms designer has dedicated designer classes for most controls. The designer for a ListView is System.Windows.Forms.Design.ListViewDesigner, an internal class in the System.Design.dll assembly. This class gives you the ability to drag the column headers.
A UserControl uses the System.Windows.Forms.Design.ControlDesigner designer class. It doesn't do anything special, just puts a rectangle around the control with drag handles. You can see where this is heading: after you put your user control on a form, it is ControlDesigner that is used to design the class, ListViewDesigner is not in the picture. You thus lose the ability to drag the column headers. Also note that ControlDesigner doesn't give access to the controls inside the UC.
That's fixable however by creating your own designer. Start with Projects + Add Reference, select System.Design. You'll need to add a public property to the UC to expose the list view and apply the [DesignerSerializationVisibility] attribute to allow changed properties to be saved. And apply the [Designer] attribute to the UC class to replace the default designer. It all should resemble this (using the default names and a ListView that displays "employees"):
using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Windows.Forms.Design; // Note: add reference required: System.Design.dll
namespace WindowsFormsApplication1 {
[Designer(typeof(MyDesigner))] // Note: custom designer
public partial class UserControl1 : UserControl {
public UserControl1() {
InitializeComponent();
}
// Note: property added
[DesignerSerializationVisibility(DesignerSerializationVisibility.Content)]
public ListView Employees { get { return listView1; } }
}
// Note: custom designer class added
class MyDesigner : ControlDesigner {
public override void Initialize(IComponent comp) {
base.Initialize(comp);
var uc = (UserControl1)comp;
EnableDesignMode(uc.Employees, "Employees");
}
}
}
The list view in the user control can now be clicked and designed as normal.

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