Add Control to UserControl

Question

I have a UserControl and use it on Window Form
the problem is when i add any control like "label" to my usercontrol the label goes out of my usercontrol not inside it

what can i do to let my usercontrol to accept any other control in side it?

Answer 1

You can add a Panel into the UserControl and dock it to fill in the UserControl;then create a custom ControlDesigner class to call the EnableDesignMode method to enable dragging controls to the panel at design time, the following sample demonstrates how to do this:

Code Block

    [Designer(typeof(myControlDesigner))]

    public partial class UserControl1 : UserControl

    {

        public UserControl1()

        {

            InitializeComponent();

 

            this.innerPanel = new Panel();

            this.innerPanel.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;

            this.Controls.Add(this.innerPanel);

        }

 

        private Panel innerPanel;

 

        public Panel InnerPanel

        {

            get { return innerPanel; }

            set { innerPanel = value; }

        }

    }

 

    class myControlDesigner : ControlDesigner

    {

        public override void Initialize(IComponent component)

        {

            base.Initialize(component);

 

            UserControl1 uc = component as UserControl1;

            this.EnableDesignMode(uc.InnerPanel, "Panel");

        }

    }

 

 

 

Answer 2

I found the solution, just add this in the top of the code (tested in vb.net 2005)

 

Imports System.ComponentModel

Imports System.ComponentModel.Design

<Designer("System.Windows.Forms.Design.ParentControlDesigner,System.Design", GetType(IDesigner))> _

Public Class .....

 

   your code .....

 

End Class

Answer 3

I heve tried the code posted above and shows that the controls are actually added to the panel container, but i cant see them at run time. Any idea of what could be happening.

Answer 4

I solved it this way....very similar to code shown above, just with a little modifications.

    [Designer(typeof(myControlDesigner))]

    public partial class UserControl1 : UserControl

    {

        public UserControl1()

        {

            InitializeComponent();

 

            this.innerPanel = new Panel();

            this.innerPanel.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;

            this.Controls.Add(this.innerPanel);

        }

 

        private Panel innerPanel;

 

        [DesignerSerializationVisibility(DesignerSerializationVisibility.Content)]

        public Panel InnerPanel

        {

            get { return innerPanel; }

            set { innerPanel = value; }

        }

    }

 

    class myControlDesigner : ParentControlDesigner

    {

        public override void Initialize(IComponent component)

        {

            base.Initialize(component);

 

            UserControl1 uc = component as UserControl1;

            this.EnableDesignMode(uc.InnerPanel, "InnerPanel");

        }

    }

Answer 5

I have tried the recommended solutions above.  I am able to drag controls onto the panel.  But, the panel seems to be painting over the controls.  If I select the custom panel and drag/move it, I can see the added controls.  But once I stop dragging, it goes behind the panel again.  At runtime, I cannot see the added controls.  What am I doing wrong?

Answer 6

I have tried the recommended solutions above.  I am able to drag controls onto the panel.  But, the panel seems to be painting over the controls.  If I select the custom panel and drag/move it, I can see the added controls.  But once I stop dragging, it goes behind the panel again.  At runtime, I cannot see the added controls.  What am I doing wrong?

Sorry, this answer comes with huge delay, but maybe some other poor soul has the same problem. Apparently, VS does not automatically add the " add your control to the panel " command in the generated code. So, in the ...Designer.cs you have to modify the following lines (examples):

this.myControlDesigner1.Name = "myControlDesigner";
this.myControlDesigner1.InnerPanel = this.myControlDesigner1.InnerPanel;
this.myControlDesigner1.InnerPanel.Controls.Add(this.myNewButton); // This line has to be added manually!

Cheers

- spitfire