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?

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!

Answer 1

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?

Answer 2

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

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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();

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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();

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