Building a Custom ToolStrip Control

[=?Utf-8?B?UmljaGFyZCBCeXNvdXRo?=]

Hi

I'm trying to create a composite control to be used on a ToolStrip,
consisting of a ToolStripComboB ox and a ToolStripButton . It's going to be a
control used to search for text in a grid control on a WinForm.
I've got it working fine on a single form but now want to reuse this
functionality on other forms. Usually this would be a simple matter of
creating a UserControl, however a ToolStripComboB ox cannot be placed on a
UserControl.

I've looked into the ToolStripContro lHost however this only accepts a single
control in its constructor.

I need to make sure that I can handle the Enter and Leave events for the
composite control so that I can display / hide text "Type text to find".

What is the best way to create this control? Ideally I'd like to avoid
having to do my own Paint code etc.

thanks

Richard

-----------
Please provide code examples in VB if possible...than ks!
-----------

[Linda Liu [MSFT]]

Hi Richard,

You're in the right direction to implement a derived ToolStripContro lHost
to solve your problem.

You're right that a derived ToolStripContro lHost only accepts a single
control. You may create a UserControl, which consists of a ComboBox and a
Button, and then add the user control to the derived ToolStripContro lHost.

The following is a sample. It requires that you have created a UserControl
named UserControl1, which contains a ComboBox and a Button.

Public Class ToolStripCompos ite
Inherits ToolStripContro lHost

Public Sub New()
MyBase.New(New UserControl1())
End Sub

Public ReadOnly Property InnerControl() As UserControl1
Get
Return CType(Control, UserControl1)
End Get
End Property

End Class
The ToolStripContro lHost is derived from ToolStripItem, which provides the
MouseEnter and MouseLeave events, so the derived ToolStripContro lHost has
the two events as well.

Hope this helps.
If you have any question, please feel free to let me know.
Sincerely,
Linda Liu
Microsoft Online Community Support

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[=?Utf-8?B?UmljaGFyZCBCeXNvdXRo?=]

Thanks Linda - that's perfect!

By setting the following properties on the UserControl, it sits just right
in the ToolStrip too:
AutoSize = true
AutoSizeMode = GrowAndShrink
BackColor=Trans parent
Margin-All = 0 for combobox and button

How would I go about getting the ToolStripCompos ite control to be available
at design time and in the toolbox? Not sure whether this would be possible as
the ToolStripContro lHost has no empty constructor so cannot be viewed in the
designer.

Out of interest, is there an (easy) way to get the ComboBox to render the
same way as the ToolStripComboB ox?

thanks again for your quick reply

Richard

[Linda Liu [MSFT]]

Hi Richard,

Thank you for your feedback.

The ToolStripItem does not appear in the Toolbox by default. If you'd like
the derived ToolStripContro lHost to appear in the Toolbox, you could add
ToolboxItemAttr ibute to it. The following is a sample.

Imports system.Componen tModel

<ToolboxItemAtt ribute(True)_
Public Class ToolStripCompos ite
Inherits ToolStripContro lHost
...
End Class

Note that even after you add the ToolboxItemAttr ibute and build the
project, the derived ToolStripContro lHost won't appear automatically in the
Toolbox. You should add it to the Toolbox manually. To do this, right-click
on the Toolbox and select 'Choose Items..' and then browse to the assembly
that contains the derived ToolStripContro lHost.

If you drag&drop the derived ToolStripContro lHost onto a ToolStrip control
on a form, you will find that it could not be added to the ToolStrip
control at all. It is because the designer of ToolStrip does not support
such a design-time function.

In fact, a common usage is to add
ToolStripItemDe signerAvailabil ityAttribute to the derived
ToolStripContro lHost, which makes the custom component available on the Add
ToolStripButton drop down menu of a ToolStrip.

The following is a sample.

Imports System.Windows. Forms.Design

<ToolStripItemD esignerAvailabi lityAttribute(T oolStripItemDes ignerAvailabili t
y.All)_
Public Class ToolStripCompos ite
Inherits ToolStripContro lHost
...
End Class

is there an (easy) way to get the ComboBox to render the same way as the

ToolStripComboB ox?

I think an easy way is to set the FlatStyle property of the ComboBox within
the UserControl to Flat. This will make the ComboBox appears almost the
same as the ToolStripComboB ox.

Hope this helps.
If you have any question, please feel free to let me know.
Sincerely,
Linda Liu
Microsoft Online Community Support

[=?Utf-8?B?UmljaGFyZCBCeXNvdXRo?=]

thanks Linda!

That answers all of my questions and I've now got a great control I can use
throughout my apps. Have also applied the ToolboxBitmapAt tribute using an
image embedded in the control's assembly.

Very impressed! thanks again for your help

Richard