Re: Scale form with it controls - C# Discussion Boards

17-Nov-06 3:18

My program has different "modes". Each mode has its own control which inherits a base control. The base control has the base code which each control uses. The mode controls have different functionnality.

What i want to be able to do is change the mode, which means changing the control but without loosing the data/view which the control is using.

E.g: If your in Edit mode, you can switch to View mode but not have to re-create the data.

Im abit stuck on how i'd do this, as once you dispose of the control, you loose the data.
Any ideas are appreciated.

Regards,
Gareth.

Re: Changing a Control at run time [modified]

Rey999917-Nov-06 4:23

Rey9999

17-Nov-06 4:23

Why disposing it? simply make it hidden. it will keep the data.

~~~ From Milano to The Hague, easy as it goes ~~~

Martin#17-Nov-06 10:37

17-Nov-06 10:37

Hello,

Hope I understand everything write.

You have a base Control (I name it ControlA) and two Controls (I name them ControlA1 and ControlA2) which inherit from ControlA.
You have for example a ControlA1 (I name it myControlA1) in your program(on your form) and at runtime it has to be changed to a ControlA2.

I think what you have to do in, this very special case, is to make a new instance of your ControlA2.

ControlA2 newControl = new ControlA2();

Then you have to, lets say downgrade, your ControlA1 to a ControlA Control.

ControlA oldControl = myControlA1 as ControlA;

Now you should copy (clone) the property values from oldControl to newControl.
Therefore the namespace "System.ComponentModel" is required.

			PropertyDescriptorCollection pdcoldControl = TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(oldControl);<br />
			PropertyDescriptorCollection pdcnewControl = TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(newControl);<br />
<br />
			foreach(PropertyDescriptor pdoldControl in pdcoldControl)<br />
			{        //Here you should define some rules like this:<br />
				if((pdoldControl.Attributes.Contains(CategoryAttribute.Appearance) && pdoldControl.IsBrowsable)<br />
					|| (pdoldControl.Attributes.Contains(CategoryAttribute.Behavior) && pdoldControl.IsBrowsable && pdoldControl.IsReadOnly==false))<br />
				{<br />
					PropertyDescriptor pdnewControl = pdcnewControl[pdoldControl.Name];<br />
					pdnewControl.SetValue(newControl,pdoldControl.GetValue(oldControl));<br />
				}<br />
			}<br />
			TypeDescriptor.Refresh(oldControl);<br />
			TypeDescriptor.Refresh(newControl);<br />
<br />
                        //set some additional properties, like this:<br />
			newControl.Size = oldControl.Size;<br />
			newControl.Text = oldControl.Text;

This code would of course look nicer in a method.

Now you can place the newControl, and remove and dispose the myControlA1.

This only works (if it works Unsure | :~

) as long as your Form or parent control is in memory.

Hope that helped you.

All the best,

Martin

-- modified at 16:43 Friday 17th November, 2006

Gareth H21-Nov-06 3:34

21-Nov-06 3:34

Martin, your code example doesnt work. It creates the control but doesnt show it. I've tried adding it to the Controls class, as well as Docking and BringToFront.

Martin#21-Nov-06 9:20

21-Nov-06 9:20

Hello,

I think I have to see the code to say more about that.

All the best,

Martin

Gareth H21-Nov-06 22:46

21-Nov-06 22:46

SimulationModel newControl = new SimulationModel(session, true);<br />
                    EditModel oldControl = this as EditModel;<br />
<br />
                    PropertyDescriptorCollection pdcoldControl = TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(oldControl);<br />
                    PropertyDescriptorCollection pdcnewControl = TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(newControl);<br />
<br />
                    foreach (PropertyDescriptor pdoldControl in pdcoldControl)<br />
                    {<br />
                        if ((pdoldControl.Attributes.Contains(CategoryAttribute.Appearance) && pdoldControl.IsBrowsable)<br />
                        || (pdoldControl.Attributes.Contains(CategoryAttribute.Behavior) && pdoldControl.IsBrowsable && pdoldControl.IsReadOnly == false))<br />
                        {<br />
                            PropertyDescriptor pdnewControl = pdcnewControl[pdoldControl.Name];<br />
                            pdnewControl.SetValue(newControl, pdoldControl.GetValue(oldControl));<br />
                        }<br />
                    }<br />
<br />
                    TypeDescriptor.Refresh(oldControl);<br />
                    TypeDescriptor.Refresh(newControl);<br />
<br />
                    newControl.Size = oldControl.Size;<br />
                    newControl.Text = oldControl.Text;<br />
<br />
                    oldControl.Dispose();<br />
                    Controls.Add(newControl);<br />
                    newControl.BringToFront();

Martin#22-Nov-06 2:12

22-Nov-06 2:12

Hello Gareth,

gareth111 wrote:
this as EditModel

Ohhhhhh,

You are inside of one derived class.
You have to be carefull there.

gareth111 wrote:
oldControl.Dispose();
Controls.Add(newControl);
newControl.BringToFront();

//You have to place the new Control in the Parent Container(Controls) not in the oldControls Container(Controls).
if(Parent!=null)
{
Parent.Controls.Remove(this); //Remove oldControls(this)
Parent.Controls.Add(newControl); //Add newControl
Dispose(); //frees the memory
}

Hope it works! (please let me know)

All the best,

Martin

Martin#12-Dec-06 0:55

12-Dec-06 0:55

Hello Gareth,

Just saw you in the forum, whanted to know if this worked for you?

Martin

Gareth H12-Dec-06 6:25