Using WeifenLuo DockPanel Suite

Question

I have just downloaded the WeifenLuo(Dock Panel Suite) and trying to work with that but I couldn't find a specific documentation on how to use it.

And I have gone through some of the SO questions and finally got something to get started.

Here is what I have done: I have created a ToolboxWindow class like shown below:

Public Class ToolboxWindow
    Inherits WeifenLuo.WinFormsUI.Docking.DockContent

    Public Sub New()

    End Sub
End Class

And trying to create an instance of this toolbox in this way:

Public Class Form1
    Private toolboxWindow As ToolboxWindow

    Public Sub New()
        Me.InitializeComponent()

        'Create new ToolboxWindow
        toolboxWindow = New ToolboxWindow()
    End Sub

    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        'Show it
        toolboxWindow.Show(DockPanel1, DockState.DockLeft)
    End Sub
End Class

And the final result it shows me this way?

enter image description here

1.How to adjust the size of the toolbox.

2.If I have form2 with the dock panel how do I show in the form1

Thanks in Advance!

score 7 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 04 '12 at 10:16

Q1 How to adjust the size of the toolbox.

The DockPanel container has a DockLeftPortion property (Right, Bottom and Top too). This specifies the width of the left area as either pixels or a proportion of the available area. I haven't seen anything that allows it to take on the size of the docked controls.

Q2 If I have form2 with the dock panel how do I show in the form1

If you have two top level application forms each with a dock panel, you pass the appropriate dockpanel control as the first parameter to the Show() method.

Is this what you meant by Q2?

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 18 '12 at 22:36

This is an old post, but whilst looking for something else, I see that I have, just today, found the answer.

How To Resize DockForms

To resize the forms, here is a way that will let you modify them. Look here. Just paste this into the namespace of your main sub (I put mine at the bottom):

public class CustomFloatWindow : FloatWindow {
    public CustomFloatWindow(DockPanel dockPanel, DockPane pane)
        : base(dockPanel, pane) {
            FormBorderStyle = FormBorderStyle.Sizable;
            MaximizeBox = false;
            MinimizeBox = false;
                            Width = 50;
    }

    public CustomFloatWindow(DockPanel dockPanel, DockPane pane, Rectangle bounds)
        : base(dockPanel, pane, bounds) {
        FormBorderStyle = FormBorderStyle.Sizable;
        MaximizeBox = false;
        MinimizeBox = false;
                    Width = 50;
    }
}

public class CustomFloatWindowFactory : DockPanelExtender.IFloatWindowFactory {
    public FloatWindow CreateFloatWindow(DockPanel dockPanel, DockPane pane, Rectangle bounds) {
        return new CustomFloatWindow(dockPanel, pane, bounds);
    }

    public FloatWindow CreateFloatWindow(DockPanel dockPanel, DockPane pane) {
        return new CustomFloatWindow(dockPanel, pane);
    }
}

And then, to make it work, paste this into the main form:

dockPanel.Extender.FloatWindowFactory = new CustomFloatWindowFactory();

How To Show the Docked Panel

To show the panel docked in the dock-form, you have to create a sort of form-template, and in its code, where it says Form, change it to DockContent, like this:

Now, in a form which you want to use in the docking panel, modify the code to look like this (notice the DockContent as the type, rather than Form):

namespace mynamespace{
public partial class MyForm: DockContent {
    public dockform_MyForm() {
        InitializeComponent();
    }

    private void MyForm_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {
    }
}
}

Then, to dock it, we first declare the new form, then create it. I like this:

//in your form main sub:
private dockform_MyForm dform_MyForm = new MyForm();

//now, somewhere in your form's class, put this:
public void showMyFormDocked() {
    dform_MyForm = new MyForm();
    dform_MyForm.Show(dockPanel);
}

Finally, to show the form, you just call this from anywhere:

showMyFormDocked();

I learned all this from studying the source docs and trying to reproduce them.

Using WeifenLuo DockPanel Suite

2 Answers2

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