CodeProject: XPanderControls. Free source code and programming help

The XPander library offers the option to store many user controls in one single document formula. They are optionally visible or non-visible, expanded or collapsed. The controls provide optically the Microsoft Outlook 2007 style with black, silver and blue color schemes. They also provide other styles. The included ToolStripRenderers offer some other opportunities. All the controls support visual designer, smart tag and RightToLeft features. It contains the following components.

BSE.Windows.Forms.Panel

The panel is a control that contains other controls. You can use a panel to group collections of controls such as the XPanderPanelList control. On top of the panel, there is the captionbar. This captionbar may contain an image and text. According to its dockstyle and properties, the panel is collapsible and/or closable.

BSE.Windows.Forms.XPanderPanelList

The XPanderPanelList contains XPanderPanels, which are represented by XPanderPanel objects that you can add through the XPanderPanels property. The order of XPanderPanel objects reflects the order in which the xpanderpanels appear in the XPanderPanelList control.

BSE.Windows.Forms.XPanderPanel

XPanderPanel controls represent the expandable and collapsible panels in XPanderPanelList. The XpanderPanel is a control that contains other controls. You can use an XPanderPanel to group collections of controls such as the XPanderPanelList. The order of xpanderpanels in the XPanderPanelList.XPanderPanels collection reflects the order of xpanderpanels controls. To change the order of tabs in the control, you must change their positions in the collection by removing them and inserting them at new indexes. You can change the xpanderpanel's appearance. For example, to make it appear flat, set the CaptionStyle property to CaptionStyle.Flat.

On top of the XPanderPanel, there is the captionbar. This captionbar may contain an image and text. According to its properties, the panel can be closed.

BSE.Windows.Forms.Splitter

This represents a splitter control that enables the user to resize docked controls. As different from the System.Windows.Forms.Splitter, the splitter supports a transparent background color.

A splitter can be attached to a panel. If the visibility of the panel changes, the visibility of the splitter changes too.

All the panelcolors and properties are customizable and changeable with the visual designer.

If you want to expand a XPanderPanel in the Visual Designer, please click the captionbar.

When the RightToLeft property value is set to RightToLeft.Yes, the horizontal alignment of the control's elements are reversed.

Using the Code

Right click on the toolbox and choose add/remove items..., there you browse for the BSE.Windows.Forms.dll and press OK. All the controls will be added in the ToolBox under "My User Controls". Set BSE.Windows.Test as StartUp Project.

Using the RightToLeft Feature in the Test Sample

Open the Program.cs file in the BSE.Windows.Test project and remove the following comments:

Class Diagrams

XPanderPanelList

Panel and XPanderPanel

Code Examples

Using the ToolstripProfessionalRenderer and the PanelsettingsManager at runtime:

Adaption of the Panel Colors

Create a colortable that derives from BSE.Windows.Forms.PanelColors and overwrite the protected method InitColors:

Or you may set the ColorScheme property to ColorScheme.Custom and fill the CustomColors properties with your colors.

Credits

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tabcontrol flickering when mouse moving

zhaow7

18:16 1 Sep '09

put a System.Windows.Forms.TabControl with X page in panel. then move mouse over the page title. it will flickering. I will appreciate any help on this.
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Re: tabcontrol flickering when mouse moving

Uwe Eichkorn

4:28 22 Sep '09

I can't reproduce this behaviour. What's a X page?
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Heavy flickering when resizing

AKDM

13:30 19 Aug '09

Hi I am hosting a TableLayoutPanel inside the two BSE.Windows.Forms.Panel Panels (not xPanel) docked top and bottom of mainform but when Panels are resized, there is heavy flickering of the table. The table contains about 10 rows. It is simple test application without any other controls. I will appreciate any help on this. Regards AKDM
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Re: Heavy flickering when resizing

Uwe Eichkorn

9:24 20 Aug '09

Hi

change the OnPaintBackground method in the panel class to

protected override void OnPaintBackground(PaintEventArgs pevent)
{
	//base.OnPaintBackground(pevent);
	if (this.ShowTransparentBackground == true)
	{
		base.OnPaintBackground(pevent);
		this.BackColor = Color.Transparent;
	}
	else
	{
		Rectangle rectangleBounds = this.ClientRectangle;
                if (this.m_bShowCaptionbar == true)
                {
                    this.BackColor = Color.Transparent;
                    rectangleBounds = new Rectangle(
                        this.ClientRectangle.Left,
                        this.ClientRectangle.Top + this.CaptionHeight,
                        this.ClientRectangle.Width,
                        this.ClientRectangle.Height - this.CaptionHeight);
                }
                RenderBackgroundGradient(
                    pevent.Graphics,
                    rectangleBounds,
                    this.PanelColors.PanelContentGradientBegin,
                    this.PanelColors.PanelContentGradientEnd,
                    this.LinearGradientMode);
            }
}

Then it should work

Regards Uwe

Re: Heavy flickering when resizing

AKDM

7:12 21 Aug '09

That worked. Thanks a lot!
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how to implement panel collapsing?

eug2007

4:13 26 Jul '09

Hi, I'd like implement panel collapsing when click on it (if it is expanded). This is my attempt: private void xPanderPanel2_ExpandClick(object sender, EventArgs e) { if (xPanderPanel2.Expand == true & xPanderPanel1.Expand==false) { xPanderPanel2.Expand = false; xPanderPanel1.Expand = true; } } ...not working.
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Re: how to implement panel collapsing?

Uwe Eichkorn

20:49 26 Jul '09

Hi,
there is an example for this in the demo form1.

private void btnExpandXPander_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
	if (xPanderPanel10 != null)
	{
		BSE.Windows.Forms.XPanderPanelList panelList = xPanderPanel10.Parent as BSE.Windows.Forms.XPanderPanelList;
                if (panelList != null)
                {
                    panelList.Expand(xPanderPanel10);
                }
	}
}

How to change Panel color using Office2007BlueColorTable

AKDM

10:55 19 Jul '09

It's a wonderful control. However, I am having hard time changing the panel color using Office2007BlueColorTable. Using the combox box under panel6 in test harness does not affect the color. I have tried following snippet in my sample app as well but again no effect.

public Form1()
{
     //the following code has no effect
            BSE.Windows.Forms.ProfessionalColorTable colorTable = new Office2007BlueColorTable();
     BSE.Windows.Forms.PanelSettingsManager.SetPanelProperties(
                                        this.Controls,
                                        colorTable.PanelColorTable);
     InitializeComponent();
}

Would appreciate if someone can provide a pointer in the right direction.

Regards
AKDM

Re: How to change Panel color using Office2007BlueColorTable

Uwe Eichkorn

22:01 19 Jul '09

Hi,
for the rendering of the controls there are two different color tables necessary.

One is located in the renderer directory. It inherits from System.Windows.Forms.ProfessionalColorTable and provides the colors used by the MS display elements.

The other color table is located in the XPander directory. It inherits from BSE.Windows.Forms.PanelColors and provides the colors used by the BSE.Windows.Forms elements.

The property PanelColorTable in class Office2007BlueColorTable does the mapping between the PanelColorTable and Office2007BlueColorTable.

public class Office2007BlueColorTable : BSE.Windows.Forms.OfficeColorTable
{
	/// <summary>
	/// Gets the associated ColorTable for the XPanderControls
	/// </summary>
	public override PanelColors PanelColorTable
	{
		get
        	{
                	if (this.m_panelColorTable == null)
                	{
                		this.m_panelColorTable = new PanelColorsOffice2007Blue();
                	}
                	return this.m_panelColorTable;
       		}
	}
}

For the use of the PanelColors table at runtime there is an example at Form2.cs in the demo app.

Regards Uwe

2.00/5

Thanks ! Great Work !

igetorix

4:07 31 May '09

Thanks ! I worked this days just for an, what you already done, xpanderpanel But yours work is done, much better and complete than mine ! So Thanks very ... !
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Simply awesome !!!

Tamal Saha

20:01 13 May '09

Awesome !!!
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Thanks

stevesupervillain

6:08 9 Mar '09

Great work, thanks. You've just got an "5" vote from me. Dalibor Savanovic
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Panel with Autoscroll

WayneSchou

14:29 24 Feb '09

If set Autoscroll=true in your derived panel the redrawing is not quite right. Actually I guess its not quite right in general as the vertical scroll bar is next to the caption and is still showing even when collapsed. No biggie you can put a regular panel inside the panel and it behaves nicely. Other than that its looking good. Thanks
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USE FREE

Member 3233816

4:12 29 Dec '08

FOR THE AUTHOR OF CONTROL XPANDER, ED ASKED POSSIBLE USE FREE XPANDER CONTROL IN BUSINESS PROGRAMS(A FREE) THANK YOU.
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Saving and restoring positions

Tom Holt

6:05 2 Dec '08

First of all, great job on this control.

I am saving the panel positions on close and restoring the values on open for my app, and ran into (I think) a bug in the code, that was causing OnClose to be fired when only OnExpand should have been fired.

Line 494 of BasePanel.cs should be ELSE IF instead of IF (I believe). These 2 rectangles shouldn't be on top of each other, but they appear to be if you programmatically set Expand = true on startup.

Re: Saving and restoring positions

Uwe Eichkorn

11:15 2 Dec '08

Hi Tom,

in the Panel.OnCreateControl Method, I save the RestoreBounds values.
These RestoreBounds values are necessary for the panel if it's state changes from collapse to expand.

If you sets the Panel.Expand property in the form constructor, the Panel.OnCreateControl event is not yet raised.
You have to set the Panel.Expand property in the Form.Load event. Then it should work

Example


public partial class Form1 : Form
{
    private FormSettings m_formSettings;

    public Form1()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
    }

    private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        this.m_formSettings = new FormSettings();

        bool bPanel1Expand = this.m_formSettings.Panel1Expand;
        if (bPanel1Expand == false)
        {
            panel1.Width = this.m_formSettings.Panel1Bounds.Width;
            panel1.Expand = bPanel1Expand;
        }
        else
        {
            if (this.m_formSettings.Panel1Bounds != Rectangle.Empty)
            {
                panel1.Width = this.m_formSettings.Panel1Bounds.Width;
            }
        }
        panel1.Visible = this.m_formSettings.Panel1Visible;
    }

    private void Form1_FormClosing(object sender, FormClosingEventArgs e)
    {
        if (this.m_formSettings != null)
        {
            bool bExpandPanel1 = panel1.Expand;
            this.m_formSettings.Panel1Expand = panel1.Expand;
            this.m_formSettings.Panel1Visible = panel1.Visible;
            if (bExpandPanel1 == false)
            {
                this.m_formSettings.Panel1Bounds = panel1.RestoreBounds;
            }
            else
            {
                this.m_formSettings.Panel1Bounds = panel1.ClientRectangle;
            }
            this.m_formSettings.Save();
        }
    }
}


//Application settings wrapper class
public class FormSettings : ApplicationSettingsBase
{
    [UserScopedSetting()]
    [DefaultSettingValue("true")]
    public bool Panel1Expand
    {
        get { return ((bool)this["Panel1Expand"]); }
        set { this["Panel1Expand"] = (bool)value; }
    }
    [UserScopedSetting()]
    [DefaultSettingValue("true")]
    public bool Panel1Visible
    {
        get { return ((bool)this["Panel1Visible"]); }
        set { this["Panel1Visible"] = (bool)value; }
    }
    [UserScopedSetting()]
    public Rectangle Panel1Bounds
    {
        get
        {
            if (this["Panel1Bounds"] == null)
            {
                return Rectangle.Empty;
            }
            else
            {
                return ((Rectangle)this["Panel1Bounds"]);
            }
        }
        set { this["Panel1Bounds"] = (Rectangle)value; }
    }
}

Regards Uwe

How about supportting docking and drag-drop?

jeasonzhao

17:23 1 Dec '08

I have found some commercial production which supports docking and drag-drop, how about this toolkit support those features? Please pardon my weak English!
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Re: How about supportting docking and drag-drop?

Uwe Eichkorn

21:43 1 Dec '08

Sooner or later, someone had to ask this question. I want to think about it. Regards Uwe
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So beautyful those controls,I need another version!

topmvp

20:24 17 Nov '08

Sir,I need a lower version for my vs 2003 Applications ,Can u help me ? send me please! 13714008282@139.com
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Keeping panels open while expanding others

xJorDyx

12:44 24 Aug '08

Is there anyway i can expand multiple panels in one list at the same time (instead of only allowing one panel open at a time). I tried modifying the Expand function and it semi worked, that is, in the designer i could see that the panels had expanded beyond the size of the List control but the headers weren't drawn in the right place and i couldn't scroll down to view it or make the first panel any smaller to view the others.

Re: Keeping panels open while expanding others

Uwe Eichkorn

4:53 8 Sep '08

Hi, there is no way to expand multiple xpanderpanels in the same xpanderpanellist. But you can expand more than one panel in its parent control. One panel must have the dockstyle DockStyle.Fill and all the others have the dockstyles top, bottom, right or left. In the demoproject the panels panel4, panel6 and panel5 hosted on an System.Windows.Forms panel use this feature. Regards Uwe
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Couldn't find the dll in the download file

Member 1482620

3:34 31 Jul '08

Couldn't find the dll in the download file
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Re: Couldn't find the dll in the download file

Uwe Eichkorn

3:49 31 Jul '08

Hi, Build the solution in visual studio. Then you will have the dll. Regards Uwe
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Xpander Controls ported to VB.net [modified]

BartSystems Software Components Engineering

3:10 16 Jun '08

First, thank you Uwe Eichkorn for some great work. I have a great base model to learn component control design.

I converted The C# code to VB code. Although there should be great symetry between the C# and VB code in most of the classes, some areas of code required either a slightly differnt approach or a full re-write to work correctly.

I have the code working, however there may still need to be a bug or two to be resolved.

Anyone who wants it is welcomed to it.

If anyone is interested in the conversion of these controls in a VB source format, please respond to this message. I'll check back to see if people are interested; I'll upload it and post a link to the source.

Thank's Again Uwe Eichkorn,
Bill
BartSystems

-----------------------------------------------------------------

My goal is to modify the code in a way that allows the panels to temporarily popup to show their contents when they have been collapsed and the mouse hovers over the caption bar.

Also,I plan to add additional controls to handle the tabcontrol & tabpages to achieve a tab docking effect.

revised 7/8/08 Zipfile link below
http://home.comcast.net/~bartsystems1/htmldocs/Expander Controls in VB Download Page.htm

BartSystems Software Components Engineering

modified on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 8:09 AM

Re: Xpander Controls ported to VB.net

Coreo

11:12 3 Jul '08

would love to see a vb.net control of this code. Great job and very nice explanation!
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Last Visit: 13:56 23 Nov '09 Last Update: 13:56 23 Nov '09

12 3 Next »

Introduction

BSE.Windows.Forms.Panel

BSE.Windows.Forms.XPanderPanelList

BSE.Windows.Forms.XPanderPanel

BSE.Windows.Forms.Splitter

Using the Code

Using the RightToLeft Feature in the Test Sample

Class Diagrams

XPanderPanelList

Panel and XPanderPanel

Code Examples

Adaption of the Panel Colors

Credits