A VS.Net-like ToolBox

• Download demo project - 70,6 Kb
• Download library source code- 38,3 Kb

Introduction

This is a Visual Studio .NET like ToolBox control. It has all the animations of the original plus some more. It is very customizable as you can see in the snapshot. I copied the icons and tabs from the real ToolBox so it looks just like the original.

The public methods

ToolBox(Size sz,int Button_Height,ContextMenu Menu)

• sz -Needed Specifies the size of the ToolBox.
 
• Button_Height -Optional Specifies the Height of the Buttons. If it is negative the default value is used
 
• Menu -Optional Specifies the ListView`s context menu.

void AddTab(string Caption,int ImgIndex,ImageList ImgList)
void AddTab(ToolBoxTab Tab) 

• AddTab adds another category to the ToolBox.

void AddItem(string Caption,int ImageIndex,int TabIndex)
void AddItem(ToolBoxItem Item, int TabIndex)

• AddItem adds an item to the specified Tab in TabIndex

ToolBoxTab GetTab(int Index)

• GetTab retrievs the ToolBoxTab object at the given index

int GetTabCount()

• Returns the number of Tabs.

bool RemoveTab(int Index)

• Removes the Tab specified in Index

bool RemoveItem(int TabIndex, int ItemIndex)

• Removes the Item specified at the given indexes.

void Compress()

• Makes the ToolBox to retreat.

void Expand()

• Makes the ToolBox to Expand.

void EndAllMovement()

• Stops all Tab movement.

bool ScrollUp()

• Scrolls the visible ListView up one item if possible

bool ScrollDown()

• Scrolls the visible ListView down one item if possible.

bool SetSize(Size sz)

• Modifies the size of the ToolBox.

 

These are the main methods except three that I will explain here:

public delegate void OnToolBoxClick(int TabIndex,int ItemIndex);
public delegate void OnToolBoxTabChanged(int TabIndex);
public delegate void OnToolBoxStateChanged(int State);

These delegate types are events that the ToolBox sends. For example if you want to know when the current Tab is changed you do the following:

1. Implement a method in your application like this:

   void OnTBTabChanged(int TabIndex)

2. In when you init the ToolBox you need to let the ToolBox know what function to call when the event triggers:

   tb.SetTabChangedDelegate(new ToolBox.OnToolBoxTabChanged(OnTBTabChanged));

   Now your method will be called every time a new Tab is selected and receives the Tab`s index that you can use with the GetTab method.

    

The SetDelegate methods are:

void SetClickDelegate(OnToolBoxClick OnTBxClick)

• This method sets the delegate method that is called when an item of the ListView is clicked.

void SetTabChangedDelegate(OnToolBoxTabChanged OnTBTabChange)

• This method sets the delegate method that is called when a new Tab is selected

void SetStateChangedDelegate(OnToolBoxStateChanged OnTBStateChange)

• This method sets the delegate method that is called when the state of the ToolBox changes. For example see the status Label in the Demo application.

 

The state of the ToolBox can be one of the following:

1. ToolBox.States.Compressed = 1
2. ToolBox.States.Compressing = 2
3. ToolBox.States.Extended = 3
4. ToolBox.States.Extending =4

enum States {Compressed=1,Compressing,Extended,Extending};

These are all the public methods.

The Properties

int DelayBeforeRetreat

• This gets/sets the amount of time in miliseconds before the ToolBox starts to retreat when the mouse is no longer over it.

string DragDropSeparatorText

• This gets/sets the Separator text between the Tab text and the Item text when Drag&Drop is performed
The default is ".".

SelectedTab

• Tihs gets/sets the selected Tab. If a new tab is specified it will act like it was clicked by the user

int State

• This gets the state of the ToolBox. if you want to change it's state call the Extend and Compress methods.

int TabAcceleration

• This gets/sets the Tab movement acceleration
Default it is 2.

int TabTime

• This gets/sets the time of the Tab movement in miliseconds.

int TimerInterval

• This gets/sets the refresh timer interval.

string TitleText

• This gets/sets the Title of the ToolBox.

Image ToolBoxImage

• This gets/sets the Image used on the left of the ToolBox.

Adding a ToolBox to your application

This is very simple. Just do the following:

1. Add a reference of the ToolBoxLib.dll.
2. Add the following line of code at the beginning of your application:

using ToolBoxLib

3. Declare a variable of type ToolBox.
4. In the constructor, after the InitializeComponent(); set the Toolbox's parameters.

Here is an example:

tb = new ToolBox(new Size(200,ClientRectangle.Height-28),18,ToolBoxContextMenu);
tb.Location = new Point(0,28);

tb.SetClickDelegate(new ToolBox.OnToolBoxClick(OnTBClick));
tb.SetTabChangedDelegate(new ToolBox.OnToolBoxTabChanged(OnTBTabChanged));
tb.SetStateChangedDelegate(new ToolBox.OnToolBoxStateChanged(OnTBStateChanged));
tb.Show();
this.Controls.Add(tb);
tb.BringToFront();

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Need VB.NET Version kolag 23:10 18 Nov '07   Hi Iulian Serban, I wanted to utilize your application in my project. But for that preferable language is VB.NET. Can I get the same application coding in VB.NET language? Please specify me, if there is any chance. I will wait for your reply. Thanks in Advance. kolags@hotmail.com Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Really Excellent kolag 1:58 31 Oct '07   Hi Iulian Serban, Thank you very much. Really Excellent Job you have done in this project. I have been search for this kind of toolbox, but I couldn't expect this much great response from you with in the short period. Also thanks to Code Project Team for providing the great opportunity. Thanks Alot..... kolags@hotmail.com Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink How can i move toolbar in the form? sangram1 2:55 20 Oct '06   Hi, I want to move same toolbar in the form. Regards Sangram Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 2.00/5 (1 vote) Menu patshiva 23:52 15 Sep '05   Hi i am devloping a winform application I want to Locate the menu in different location of the form not the default .net Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 2.00/5 (1 vote) toolbox docking vrushaliD 19:37 10 Jan '05   Hi, Thanks a lot for giving us such a nice control ! But I have one problem, I want to dock this toolbox with the main window. Same like the VS .NET toolbox docking when we click the Pioneza Button. Is it possible? I tried to change source code for the same but didnt get it. Regards, Vrush. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink RightToLeft perspolis 23:32 29 Oct '04   how can i implement rightToleft property. i need it Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Problem with XP Home Version CodingNDallas 7:27 18 Feb '04   I would like to also say, great tool. My application which uses the toolbox was recently put on a machine with XP home version and it is having a weird problem. The user must click on the item 3 times before they are able to drag and drop. I thought this was just a weird situation but to make sure I installed an another XP Home version machine and it had the same problem. The weird thing is it works fine on the XP Pro version. Has anyone else run into this problem? Thanks Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Panels instead of TreeList Vitolini 21:19 13 Dec '03   Hi, I need a similar component but abit different, I want panels inside each ToolTab instead of a treelist, so I can place different controls under each tab, i ran an eye over your code, changed couple of things but could not manage to do so, can you give me some hints on to do so ? thanks, Vito Andolini Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: Panels instead of TreeList funvill 19:27 1 Aug '04   This would be a neat feature, especially if implemented like a table control --- www.funvill.com Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Selected Item Anonymous 5:53 16 Jul '03   Hi, Really wonderfull toolbox you built there! Anyway, this is my question: I would like to use this toolbox as a menu in my application, so it doesn't need to drag & drop items to my form, just by clicking an item, another form has to open according to the choice I have made in the menu. Problem is: How can I retrieve the text (Caption) of the selected item, once I have clicked it? Thanx in advance! Regards, Jan Belgium Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 3.00/5 (1 vote) What happens if I resize the Toolbox? MikeI 0:58 12 Jun '03   This is, surely an excellent control! One remark, however. If I reduce the control height at run-time, either by Height property, or by SetSize method, all the tabs at the bottom disapper and cannot be recovered; then the control complains about non-existent tabs. I made a workaround: remove and re-instata all tabs at resize event, but this is ugly Mike Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: What happens if I resize the Toolbox? Iulian Serban 5:15 12 Jun '03   Hi Mike, I`m sorry but I have a lot of exams comming up now and I really don`t have time to look at this. I remember that I had this support implemented and it resized fine. The sources are free to view and you could look at what might be causing this if you have time. Best regards, Iulian Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Comments Mr.FB 7:24 20 Mar '03   Here are my thoughts on this control hoping they will have some constructive effects: Good points: - Very nice initiative, this is one of the few (if not only) control that mimics VS.NET's toolbox. - Open source for customization. Bad points: - Code layout needs minimum standardization : prefixes for member variables, regions for member variables, variable declaration, public functions, etc. { and } for 1 statement "IF"'s. - The control is very dependant on its graphic representation and lacks abstraction on managing tabs and items (i.e. index of a tab is based off graphics computation). - The compressing and expanding features as well as the title, close button, pinnachea (sp) makes it an even less multi-purpose control that can be used in any context. Summary and suggestions : The demo provided with the open source shows exactly the limits of the control. Customizing the open source will generally result in more problems as the control suffer from graphical dependency (maximum ammount of tabs for a given size, unable to resize for a given ammount of tabs - no such thing with VS.NET's toolbox). The control should be able to manage as many tabs and items as created by the user and be able to display / react independently of the control's size. MR.FB Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: Comments Iulian Serban 7:38 20 Mar '03   Hi, This was my second project in c#. The first project I ever made in c# was the "How to build a clock control" also at CP. This was my second thing so you might observe some coding flaws in it. I didn`t know at the time the full capabilities of c#. I now have much more experience programming in c# and I realise now that I could have made it a lot easyer and much more "reader friendly". Thanks for your comments. Iulian Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: Comments Mr.FB 10:00 21 Mar '03   I have rewritten the entire control under VB.NET with the added abstraction mentioned above. The control is now completly independant of its graphic representation and is always in a valid state. The control/open source are not ready for publication for now but expect it to be up on CP soon. MR.FB Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink A Few Things Damage_Inc 0:46 11 Mar '03   First up, fantastic looking toolbox you have there. It behaves almost exactly like the one in VS .NET Anyways I have a few questions (possibly bug reports) 1. How do I get the text of a Selected Item? I can get the text for the selected tab using the GetTab method but I don't see a similiar method for Item. 2. If there are too many items, sometimes the last one in the list seems to be obscured by the next category 3. When you "pin" something to the form, i.e. it doesn't expand or compress, is there a way to specify the way it starts up? 4. At the moment, when I want to remove a tab, I first call the GetTabCount method, then do a for loop to remove each tab. This appears to buggy because with my program it seems to stop after 4? Is there a clear command that I can use? 5. There seems to be a default picture down the side of the control with a Hammer & Wrench picture. Can I change that? Anyways if you could offer any help that would be most appreciated. Cheers Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: A Few Things Damage_Inc 4:36 11 Mar '03   Damage_Inc wrote: 4. At the moment, when I want to remove a tab, I first call the GetTabCount method, then do a for loop to remove each tab. This appears to buggy because with my program it seems to stop after 4? Is there a clear command that I can use? Okay, I figured out it was my code that was doing that. :P It's clearing all the tabs properly now Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Excellent example, comment about European programmer's BJavierto 6:07 8 Jan '03   Hello, this is just a general comment about programmer's from Europe. I've read a lot of great articles on Code Project, and some of the really good ones (not to exclude other parts of the world) come from programmer's in East European countries. I'd like to say kudos to all the great programmer's out there, and I think it's great that most of them are relatively young yet have such a great handle on the .NET language. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: Excellent example, comment about European programmer's Iulian Serban 11:52 10 Jan '03   Thanks for the nice words Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink How to keep an item selected? Jeffrey Ganping Chen 19:52 14 Dec '02   I'd like to keep the previously selected item still selected if the user selects a null item (clicks the empty space). How to achieve this? Thank you for sharing your great work with us . Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: How to keep an item selected? Iulian Serban 11:22 18 Dec '02   Hi, Sorry for the delay in responding to this post. I`ve tryed to find a quick solution without modifying the ToolBox but I haven`t found it. It seems like the only thing is to modify the code. I`m very busy in this period but when I have time I`ll update the source. Best regards, Iulian Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: How to keep an item selected? Jeffrey Ganping Chen 13:22 18 Dec '02   Hi Iulian, Thank you for responding to my post. I appreciate your effort of making the source code changes. Have a great holiday season. Jeff Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Licensing and Distribution flipdoubt 6:20 11 Dec '02   Firstly, like everyone else, I would like to say congratulations on a great job and thank you. Secondly, would like to ask whether you're placing any restrictions on whether your components can be used in commercial software? Again, great job. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: Licensing and Distribution Iulian Serban 11:39 11 Dec '02   I don`t place any restrictions on this issue. This control has full source code and was intended as a CP article so I think you can use it where you like as long as you send me a license of your application using the ToolBox.;P Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink SelectedTab Anonymous 10:02 11 Nov '02   Hi!! ive tried to add function for using the wheel to scroll between tabs, but sometimes SelectedTab return -23 or something. when i debug i se that VisibleLV.Location.Y = -9. All i do is : private void Form_Wheel(object sender, System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventArgs e) int a = e.Delta; int curr = SelectedTab; if (a>0) { curr--; if (curr<0) return; else SelectedTab = curr; } else { curr++; if (curr>=arrTabs.Count) return; else SelectedTab = curr; } Whats wrong ? Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 2.00/5 (1 vote)

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