Change a Toolbox for new component - c#

ALL,
I have created a new component in Visual Studio inside the solution I'm working on my application.
Now I want that component to appear in the Toolbox of Visual Studio.
How can I do that?
I tried to close and re-open the solution and its not there.
Thank you.

When you rebuild your solution after creating the control, Visual Studio automatically adds the control by creating a new category named after your application. If for some reason, VS doesn't adds it, you can manually do it by right clicking in the toolbox and choosing Customize. A dialog box will appear listing assemblies to be added to the toolbox. Since you have a custom control, you need to browse for your control's DLL (You have it under Bin folder of your application). This will add the control to the toolbox.

You right click on the toolbox and choose "Customize" , you will have a dialog that lets you browse to the assembly of your control .

Related

c# how to use custom button in another project

I'm using Visual Studio 2015 and created a new class project where I inherited a button and modified some it features. I now want to use this button in another project. In this project, I've added a reference to it but when I try adding it to the toolbox I'm told that there are no components in the dll for it to be added to toolbox.
Is it possible to add this button without going down the route of the windows form control library?
The reason I don't want to go down this route is that I don't really need a container and want full access to all the buttons properties in any project I use it.
In the blank space at the bottom of the toolbox (you may have to collapse everything first) you can right-click to bring up the toolbox context menu. Select "Choose Items" and browse to your button you created.
In case you haven't already I would create the new button class in a new class library project. Make sure that it is public or it will default to internal which means it can't be used outside that assembly. change to release mode and compile it. Use that dll

My custom user control is grayed out in toolbox

I have a solution that includes two projects. My main project is a windows form and the other project includes two user controls that I created. I have a test form in the second project, and there I have no problem using the user controls from the toolbox. However, in my main project I cannot use the user controls.
I've found various 'solutions' online and tried them all with no success.
The problem is, the controls ARE in the toolbox, they are just grayed out.
I have:
Checked that both projects use the same .NET framework
Checked that autopopulate setting for the toolbox is true
Referenced the user control project
Have them both in the same solution
Rebuilt my project and solutions and restarted VS multiple times
Reset my toolbox
Clicked "choose items" and made sure the controls were checked
NOTE: If I create the user control programmatically, it compiles, shows up and works perfectly fine on run! I want it to show up in the designer though and not be gray in the toolbox.
Problem solved by going to the project (with the user controls) and changing the Output type to "Class Library" this builds a dll instead of an exe.
Rebuild the solution and controls were in the toolbox.
Make sure the control you want to add is a Public class.

Can I use a UserControl from the same project without making a DLL?

I made a User Control and already was able to use it by adding it to a form in the C# code. The User Control is in the same VS2005 Project as the main form.
The problem is that I can't see the User Control in the gui editor ([Design] window) with this implementation. I tried many things but I wasn't able to add the user control to the real form desing.
I read some things about making a control lib dll and then add this dll to the toolbox but I don't want to have an additional project and an additional binary file.
How can I use a User Control in an form Design, if both are in the same VS Project? I think somehow this should be possible?
Edit 1:
Sorry I have Visual Studio 2005 not 2010
It's certainly possible to use a UserControl in design mode when it's part of the same project.
Do note, however, that it will only show up in your toolbox if you have enabled the "AutoToolboxPopulate" setting. Go to the "Tools" menu and select "Options". Expand "Windows Forms Designer", and click on "General". Make sure that the "AutoToolboxPopulate" property is set to True. When you rebuild your solution, your UserControl should show up at the top of your toolbox, ready to add to your form.
Alternatively, you can add the UserControl to your toolbox manually. To do that, right-click on your toolbox and select "Choose Items" from the context menu. Navigate to your control, ensure that it is checked in the list, and click "OK".
In the event that an exception is thrown (like MacX mentioned), you will still be notified by the designer. The control will still show up in the toolbox, and you'll still be able to attempt to add it to your form.
As APShredder already mentioned the control should automatically appear in the toolbox. If it doesn't check your Visual Studio Settings:
Tools - Options - Windows Forms Designer - General - AutoToolboxPopulate - True
For further informations just read the Walkthrough in the MSDN.
You should be able to use a custom User Control in the Winforms designer. You have to build your project first however. You can do this by going to Build --> Build Solution or by pressing F6. Then your control should appear in the Toolbox.
Yes, in the toolbox, right-click and choose "Choose items...". Then navigate to the ".NET Framework Components" - your controls should be listed in there. Just choose to add them.
There should be no Problem with the Control, except you have an exception which is thrown within the constructor or the Load-Event. The the Designer is not able to display the control correctly.
In VS2010 after you create a User Control and compiled it, VS add automatically your component and make it visibile in his namespace on ToolBar.
This can be done in Both WPF and old style code/Components...

C# Custom Control doesn't show up in the toolbox

I have created the custom control which is just a panel that I will be using to render my DirectX code. However, I am unable to see the control in my toolbox for when I try to add it into the designer. I right clicked on my project then clicked on add new item. From there I clicked on custom control, renamed it to CustomPanel, and placed my code in it. I tried everything from restarting VS to deleting and creating a new custom control. Is there anything that I am missing? This is being done in Visual Studio 2005.
Right click the Toolbox, then Choose items and browse for the .dll file that contains your control. The Toolbox will add all the components found in that dll. Also check in Tools -> Options -> Windows Forms Designer if the AutoToolboxPopulate setting is set to true.
Is the control class public ? The default template creates an internal class.
Is there a public parameterless constructor ? The designer needs it.
Did you right click on the toolbox and click "Choose Items", and then browse to the built assembly that contains your custom control?
That's what I always have to do, and then my custom controls show up in the "General" section of the toolbox.
C# custom control will automatically populate once you build the project in which it is created & add reference of that project to the project having Form which needs that custom control.
Faced the same problem myself. Once dll is made for that project and included using add references in the project you want its use, It is sure to see it in Toolbox.
and check that you mustn't stay in the custom control's designer window.

How to put my component in a new group in Visual Studio toolbox?

I have created a component and it is automatically shown in toolbox when I open the solution. It can be placed on form, I can change properties etc.
When I close the solution and install it in toolbox (choose toolbox item menu), I want this component to be shown in a different group (other than "All Windows Forms" group). How can I do it?
EDIT: I want my components to be shown in a custom group such as "My Components".
If you want to install the finished component, you can copy the assembly to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE\PublicAssemblies and then use the context menu of the component palette to add a new group and insert the component into that group.
If you want to create a "setup" that does that automatically if you distribute the component, there's a tool called Visual Studio Toolbox Manager that you can use to install the component on any development machine without the manual copy process described above.
Not sure if that is what you're looking for, however...
You can simply drag it to the desired group by using the mouse. If you want to add a new group, right click the toolbox window and select "Add Tab".

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