I haven't found an easy way to add an inherited control to the toolbox unless it
is in an assembly. If I don't want to do that, what I usually do is add a
regular ListBox (or whatever control I want to override) to the form so the
appropriate InitializeComponent code is created in the form. After you save the
form, go to the code and substitute your class for the generic ListBox class in
two places:
1) The control variable declaration
private System.Windows.Forms.ListBox listbox1;
to
private MyDerivedListBoxClass listbox1;
2) The place where the list box object is instantiated in InitializeComponent:
this.listbox1 = new System.Windows.Forms.ListBox();
to
this.listbox1 = new MyDerivedListBoxClass();
After you save and compile, the form will now use your derived ListBox class.
You can set properties/events and interact with the control in the designer just
as if you had added it from the Toolbox. You only need to do this once for that
particular form.
It's not as convenient as having your derived ListBox sitting in the Toolbox,
but if you don't have to do this very often it is an easy alternative.
Hope this helps.
--
Rodger Constandse
<http://www.SequenceDiagramEditor.com>
Sequence Diagram Editor - A quick and easy way to draw and edit sequence diagrams.
Paradox wrote:
[color=blue]
> I searched around on the internet and found this article:
>
>
http://www.akadia.com/services/dotne..._controls.html
>
> It answers some of my questions. However, is there no way to add an
> inherited control to the toolbox without creating a seperate assembly?
> The reason for adding to the toolbox is so I can use the designer to add
> it to the form.
>
> Maybe I should ask a different question. My goal is more about
> encapsulation rather than creating a resuable user control or tool. I
> can't see putting all the functions that deal with all the controls of a
> form in the form class. For example, say I have a form with a listbox
> that lists customer information from a database and a few buttons: 'Add
> Customer', 'Delete Customer', and 'Cancel'.
>
> I would like to have the listbox manage all of its own functions and the
> form call those functions. For example, the listbox needs to connect to
> the database and get the customers and then populate itself. If I
> created an inherited control I could do this easy by adding a new
> function called: GetCustomers(). Then the form just needs to call:
> myListBox.GetCustomers(). And when a user selects a row of the listbox
> and clicks the 'Delete Customer' button, it calls another function:
> myListBox.DeleteSelected(). Doesn't this make sense?
>
> Creating a user control and then adding a listbox control to it,
> encapsulates the listbox itself; meaning adding the user control to the
> form using the designer, and then viewing the properties shows the
> available properties for a UserControl object, not a ListBox. This is an
> undesired result.
>
> I don't want to have to compile an inherited control as a seperate
> assembly either. Again its not about creating a reusable control, its
> about encapsulation. I especially don't want to give someone else the
> ability to add this control to one of their forms.
>
> Are they're any books out there that discuss how to maintain the OOP
> pardigm when programming with windows forms and controls in C# and
> VS.NET? Thank you.
>
> -Paradox a.k.a. Aaron
>
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