4 panes WinForm   

I work with VS2005 and .NET FW ver. 3.0.
I need to implement 3 to 4 panes in my form application.
Is that possible?
Is there a way for the user to configure in real time (the pane number)?
Is there some reference or a sample anywhere in the Internet that is close 
to that?

Regards
Ronny

date: Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:49:26 +0200   author:   Ronny

Re: 4 panes WinForm   

On Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:49:26 -0700, Ronny  wrote:

> I work with VS2005 and .NET FW ver. 3.0.
> I need to implement 3 to 4 panes in my form application.
> Is that possible?
> Is there a way for the user to configure in real time (the pane number)?
> Is there some reference or a sample anywhere in the Internet that is  
> close
> to that?

You might want to look at the SplitContainer class.  You're not specific  
about how you want the panes to be laid out, but you should be able to  
combine SplitContainers (possibly nesting them) in order to do what you  
want.

Configuring at run-time is a little trickier, but then so is doing  
anything at run-time.  :)  It should be possible though...you just need to  
provide your own UI code to handle that.

Pete

date: Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:44:22 -0700   author:   Peter Duniho

Re: 4 panes WinForm   

Ronny,

    You are going to have to use a number of panels for this, and 
create/delete panels as the user changes the number that they want (how they 
choose to do that is up to you).

    You can also use a combination of splitters as well to allow the users 
to size the panels.


-- 
          - Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]
          - mvp@spam.guard.caspershouse.com

"Ronny"  wrote in message 
news:ej2GDKB7IHA.3260@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>I work with VS2005 and .NET FW ver. 3.0.
> I need to implement 3 to 4 panes in my form application.
> Is that possible?
> Is there a way for the user to configure in real time (the pane number)?
> Is there some reference or a sample anywhere in the Internet that is close 
> to that?
>
> Regards
> Ronny
>

date: Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:53:23 -0400   author:   Nicholas Paldino [.NET/C# MVP]

Re: 4 panes WinForm   

"Ronny" wrote :

"I need to implement 3 to 4 panes in my form application. Is that possible?"

Assuming you mean to manipulate 3 or 4 independent container controls within 
one form ?

Most helpful, I think, would be if you would specify your requirements a 
little more specifically : is it the case that that one of your "panes" is 
always displayed simultaneously with another "pane" or does the end-user 
have the choice of seeing only one pane; is one ... or more ... panes of the 
set of panes always visible ? Do you wish the user to have the capability to 
re-size, move, or dock the panes within the master container as well as 
control pane visibility ?

Yes, many different ways you could approach that. As "raw materials" you 
could use SplitContainers, as others have suggested, regular panels, even 
other Forms. You could go "retro" and trot out the old classic MDI 
windows-in-main-window facilities (bias : personally, I don't like MDI 
interfaces).

If you really want to "think outside the box" you can make each of your 
containers a separate window (Form) and show them independently on the 
screen (or move them to display inside another Form if you wish at 
run-time). Note that I am NOT saying you should do that :)

"Is there a way for the user to configure in real time (the pane number)?"

A lot depends on what you want the interface to present to the user at 
run-time in terms of pane management :  independent showing/hiding of your 
"panes" from a menu, control of individual "panes" by go-away hickeys like 
forms have, hiding of "panes" by dynamic resizing of a SplitContainer's 
split-control through the user clicking and dragging at run-time ... 
switching between pre-sets of fixed relations of panes ?

Yes, again many ways to approach this. Hiding panels within SplitContainers; 
using independent regular panels and adjusting their docking or anchoring at 
run-time depending on what's being shown, etc. You might want to check out 
FlowLayoutPanel and TableLayoutPanel briefly for some more ideas to round 
out your sense of what's possible with WinForms' container controls.

"Is there some reference or a sample anywhere in the Internet that is close 
to that?"

Check MSDN for documentation/examples/tutorials on SplitContainers. 
Experiment. You might look at Chris Sells' excellent book on WinForms. 
Search CodeProject for SplitContainer, perhaps filtering by .NET language of 
your choice.

best, Bill

date: Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:07:27 +0700   author:   Bill Woodruff