User Controls

[Kate]

Hi:

Well, I finally jumped into User Controls and am immediately over my
head. I have gone through the Help file pages and tutorials
completely, getting a vague feeling what I want to do is possible but
either beyond my present skills or I just have the completely wrong
implementation idea:

I want to make a form where the user can design a structure using the
user controls (special block shapes) I created. The controls are units
in the structure--the user might need to make a 24-ft long structure
(3 controls placed end-to-end), or a 96-ft long structure (12 controls
end-to-end). There are additional controls that can be attached to
this main length in the horizontal direction.

Several problems, but I'll only set out this one for now:

*I need the user to be able to drag-and-drop parts of the structure,
not each individual control. They create their initial structure
components by specifying the length (24-ft to 96-ft), not by creating
3 or 5 or 12 controls. The program creates an array of the necessary
controls....but then I need user to be able to click one of those and
drag the whole thing, as if they just created an x-ft "thing". Is
there a way to (programmatical ly) "group" controls, as you would group
shapes in, for instance, MS Word? Alternatively, is there a way to
give my controls a runtime "length" property that does not simply
stretch it out, but repeats the graphic pattern of the (8-ft) base
control so it looks like multiple instances? Or am I committed to
create 50+ user controls that express the full range of structure
options?

Thanks for any advice on this problem, and anything else you want to
throw in regarding User Controls (including books, articles, and maybe
even a source for free code examples on how this sort of thing is done
in other applications).