ComponentModel documentation [solved]

[vtchris peterson]

I'm trying to create a Component that sits in the Forms designer component tray and contains additional subcomponents that can be selected and configured via the document outline view (or through a collection property of the main component). I've looked at numerous code project articles and even peeking at some MS components that behave kind of like this (e.g. ListView), but I can't seem to get my sub-components to show up in the Document Outline. The MSDN is non-helpful in this area, their "documentation" consists of is a 2 sentence blurb describing an esoteric example and then 10 pages of code that assumes an intimate understanding of the entire .NET component model. Anyone know of a good source of documentation on this area, or better yet any tips on what I might try? Thanks, -Chris [solved] I figured out how to do it. In my main component, add a custom designer:

[Designer(typeof(MyDesigner), typeof(IDesigner))]
public class MyComponent : Component

Then in MyDesigner, inherit from System.ComponentModel.Design.ComponentDesigner and override a couple methods, shown below:

  public override void Initialize(IComponent component)
  {
     base.Initialize(component);

     \_myComponent = (MyComponent) component;
  }

  public override System.Collections.ICollection AssociatedComponents
  {
     get
     {
        if (\_myComponent == null)
        {
           return base.AssociatedComponents;
        }
        return \_myComponent.Subcomponents;
     }
  }

Now my sub components are selectable via Document Outline, but suppressed in the component tray (so as to keep it tidy). :cool:

modified on Friday, December 4, 2009 11:57 AM