How to put extended WinForms Control on ToolBox - c#

I plan to add functionalities to TextBox with the following:
public class TextBoxExt : TextBox
{
protected override void OnKeyPress(KeyPressEventArgs e)
{
base.OnKeyPress(e);
}
}
The question is how can we use this TextBoxExt? Is there anyway to get this class onto the ToolBox so that we can just drag and drop it onto the form? If not, what is the best way to use the TextBoxExt?

I believe there are a couple of ways to get your control to appear in the toolbox:
The project it's in must be included in your open solution and the project must have been compiled/built into an assembly. This is the route to go if you're working on the control and a project that uses the control at the same time (e.g., building the solution will also re-build the control's project).
You can right-click the toolbox to add new items... in the resulting dialog, you can browse to the assembly containing the control and add it that way (or add it to the GAC, in which case you can pick it right from the list without browsing). This is the route to go if the project containing your control won't be a part of your solution and you're dealing only with the compiled DLL (e.g., building the solution doesn't re-build the control's project).

There is an another simple option to add a control into Toolbox is,
Create a new toolbox tab in the VS Toolbox. Say for e.g. "My Own Control".
Drag the assembly which has your control into the newly created tab and drop it.
You can see your control added in your Toolbox.
Main advantage of this method is, if you have more than a control in your single assembly, you do not need to search in the Add Components dialog and choose them. VS will do it for you and will add all those automatically in Toolbox.
Hope this helps.

Just compile your application - TextBoxExt should then show up in your Toolbox (you'll see it at the top, whenever you have a form designer open), and you can drag it onto your form.
The key here is probably to have a form designer open - otherwise, you won't see your custom user control in the toolbox.

Related

Custom TabControl - Adding Controls with Designer

Long story short, I created a custom winform TabControl:
public sealed class MyTabControl : TabControl
And I can't find a way to add other controls to its TabPages. When I drag and drop any kind of Control (a Button, for example, or a Panel) on the top of a TabPage display area, it's added to the Form instead of being added to the page itself. Anyone can explain me why and how to implement Designer interaction to my custom Control?
First you have to add your "MyTabcontrol" to tool box.
How to do that:
On the Tools menu, click Choose Toolbox Items.
On the .NET Framework Components tab, click Browse.
In the Open File box, locate the DLL that was built when you created the UserControl control.
Then Drag UserControl from the toolbox to Form.
Then it works.
Here is the KB link from Microsoft.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/813450

ToolBox, Windows Form Application

I've created Windows Form Application for Visual Studio 2010 with C# so that I can make the form execute SQL statements from my Database. I've looked through several tutorials and examples and many of them include a toolbox for adding options to the form. I do not have this form about creating or resetting Visual Studio, and I have no Idea where it can be found. At this point my only options are coding each "thing" i want on the form one by one but for time constraints I can't really do this. Can anyone tell me how I can get or find this toolbox of controls?
To open the toolbox, go to View -> Toolbox. Or you can use the Ctrl-W, X shortcut.
You must have a Form to place your controls on. Make sure you add a new Form to your project, then double click on it to view the blank form. Using the toolbox, you can drag and drop new controls onto your form.
Try Ctrl+Alt+X to bring up the Toolbox.
Or go to View menu and select "Toolbox".

Controls on WinForm not modifiable in Designer

I've inherited a project that has been modified in a way that is beyond me to undo. Every single control on the form is not modifiable in the designer except through the Properties window and each control has an icon in the area below (see image) in the section usually reserved for non-visible items (e.g. DataSource). How do I undo this and return the designer to a usable version without wiping it all out and starting over?
Could the controls be locked? I have run into legacy code in which the programmers have locked every single control, meaning you cannot move or resize them in the designer. If so, select them all and change the Locked property to false (you should also see a padlock in the designer when you select them, if they are locked.
If not, well maybe you can create a new dialog/form and copy the controls unto it and see if that clears things up. Another trick could be to add a second instance of the user control(s) to see if the newly added control works as expected. If so, go through the code and point all events/logic to the new control (tedious yes, but may work).
Also, you can never edit individual sub-controls of a user control in the designer for the form/control where you instantiated the user control. You must go to the designer of the user control to edit individual (sub)controls of a user control.
If the Infragistics controls are shown in the Component Tray, than there might be version differences. What you could try is to open the licenses.licx file and remove the content from there. Do you have an Infragistics controls installed on your machine? Are there any difference after setting the "Specific Version" property of the Infragistics assemblies to "false"?
Is this happening only in your existing project or the same behavior is reproducible in a new project as well?
You have to load the dll that contains the controls you can't modify in the designer.
the steps are:
right click in the ToolBox in visual studio designer (on General for example).
select Choose Items...
after a while vs load items press browse and select the dll
interested than the componet should appear in the grid. Do this for
all the dll that contains the controls you are interested.
-Make sure you have checked the component (use filter text box if you
have a lot of component loaded).
press ok.
Now you should be able to move controls in designer.
I have also seen behavior this when a user control or form is incorrectly flagged as a 'Component'.
Some manual hacking of the .csproj file may be the answer then. Open the project file in a text editor, and find the references to your control. If you find a subtype defined as:
<Compile Include="MyControl.cs">
<SubType>Component</SubType>
</Compile>
The forms designer will interpret it as such. You can change the 'SubType' to 'UserControl' to fix it.

Adding a user control from solution explorer to a winform

I am having trouble drag-dropping user controls into the design view on a winform. I am able to go through the toolbox, create a new tab, and choose items drag drop my control.
I am unable to go in through the design view and drag the control onto the design view. Is design view from solution explorer drag-drop supported? Going through the toolbox is a lot of steps which makes it hard to test. Is the toolbox the only option?
The ToolBox is the only option to drag-drop (custom) controls onto a winform. When you create a seperate assembly for custom controls and reference it in the project where you need the controls VS2010 should automatically add your custom controls (from the referenced project) to the ToolBox. Although the ToolBox behaves "weird" sometimes for unknown reasons.
I don't believe that it is supported.
The control needs to be compiled before it can be used in the form. So dragging from the solution explorer would not be possible.

Left Menu Tabs Control in Windows Forms Application How can i get it? Its available in current controls?

i am building a C# application, i have explored its all controls but i cant find the left menu style which i usually see in software applications for example visual studio, i am attaching the image of what i need.
Please let me know how can i use it in my forms. I have used a tab menu control in visual studio, but it is not what i required, its tabs are vertical, but i want the exact like i shown in attachment. I think it requires some reference to add.
I don't think that control is available, which means you would have to make one yourself. Here is a link from someone that made one. I haven't tried it: Visual Studios "My Project" Tab Control
There is no such a control in the ToolBox by default. But you could create one for you.
Creat a user controller.
Added a SplitContainer and set Dock.Fill.
Add a FlowLayoutPanel to the Left panel. Add buttons or labels as you wish and implement the click event.

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