How to add smart tags to my .NET component?

Question

Look at the following picture, which is showing a smart tag for DataGridView.

DataGridView Smart Tags http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/5871/post517531249536112.jpg

Now I'm creating a new component, and I want it to support showing some properties in smart tags. How do I add the properties to the smart tag?

Answer 1

I used http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/default.aspx?q=smart+tag+windows+forms+designer.

As a result, I found Walkthrough: Adding Smart Tags to a Windows Forms Component.

Anyone who does the same search will find the same article.

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Update: That link no longer works. I just tried a search for "smart tag windows forms designer", and found "Walkthrough: Adding Smart Tags to a Windows Forms Component" as the first search hit. The same search in Google shows "How to: Attach Smart Tags to a Windows Forms Component" as the first hit, but shows the same Walkthrough as the second hit.

Answer 2

You can use the following code to view a sample tag in a custom control.

And you can get a video about that from www.windowsclient.com.

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using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Data;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.ComponentModel.Design;
namespace MakeSmartTag
{
    public enum Languages
    {
        English,
        Arabic,
        Japanese
    }

    [Designer(typeof(UserControlDesigner))]
    public partial class UserControl2 : UserControl
    {
        public UserControl2()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private Languages _language;

        public Languages Language
        {
            get { return _language; }
            set
            {
                switch (value)
                {
                    case Languages.Arabic:
                        {
                            label1.Text = "مرحباً";
                            _language = value;
                        }
                        break;
                    case Languages.English:
                        {
                            label1.Text = "Hello";
                            _language = value;
                        }
                        break;
                    case Languages.Japanese:
                        {
                            label1.Text = "Conechoa";
                            _language = value;
                        }
                        break;
                }
            }
        }
    }

    public class UserControlDesigner : System.Windows.Forms.Design.ControlDesigner
    {
        private DesignerActionListCollection lists;
        public override DesignerActionListCollection ActionLists
        {
            get
            {
                if (lists == null)
                {

                    lists = new DesignerActionListCollection();
                    lists.Add(new UserControlActioonList(this.Component));
                }
                return lists;
            }
        }
    }

    public class UserControlActioonList : DesignerActionList
    {
        private UserControl2 myUserControl;
        private DesignerActionUIService designerActionSvc = null;

        public UserControlActioonList(IComponent component)
            : base(component)
        {
            this.myUserControl = (UserControl2)component;

            this.designerActionSvc =
              (DesignerActionUIService)GetService(typeof(DesignerActionUIService));
        }

        private PropertyDescriptor GetPropertyByName(string propName)
        {
            PropertyDescriptor prop = default(PropertyDescriptor);
            prop = TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(myUserControl)[propName];
            if (prop == null)
            {
                throw new ArgumentException("Invalid Property", propName);
            }
            else
            {
                return prop;
            }
        }

        public override System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionItemCollection GetSortedActionItems()
        {
            DesignerActionItemCollection item = new DesignerActionItemCollection();
            item.Add(new DesignerActionHeaderItem(
                       "المظهر"));
            item.Add(new DesignerActionPropertyItem(
                       "BackColor", "لون الخلفية", "Appearance", "Set background Color of the control"));
            item.Add(new DesignerActionHeaderItem("تحديد اللغة"));
            item.Add(new DesignerActionPropertyItem(
                       "Language", "اللغة", "Functions", "Set the language of the control"));
            return item;
        }

        public Color BackColor
        {
            get { return this.myUserControl.BackColor; }
            set { GetPropertyByName("BackColor").SetValue(myUserControl, value); }
        }

        public Languages Language
        {
            get { return this.myUserControl.Language; }
            set { GetPropertyByName("Language").SetValue(myUserControl, value); }
        }
    }
}