How to: Create a UI Type Editor

The following code examples contain two different user interface (UI) type editors for two properties of the FlashTrackBar control described in How to: Create a Windows Forms Control That Shows Progress.

In the first example, the FlashTrackBarValueEditor is applied to the Value property and demonstrates the following points:

• How the FlashTrackBarValueEditor extends the UITypeEditor class.

• How to override the EditValue method to set the properties of the editor.

• How to override the GetEditStyle method to specify the style for the editor.

In the second example, the FlashTrackBarDarkenByEditor extends the FlashTrackBarValueEditor and overrides a helper method to set properties. The FlashTrackBarDarkenByEditor is applied to the DarkenBy property of the FlashTrackBar.

Note
You must compile these examples along with the FlashTrackBar control, as described in How to: Create a Windows Forms Control That Shows Progress.

FlashTrackBarValueEditor

Imports System
Imports System.ComponentModel
Imports System.ComponentModel.Design
Imports System.Drawing
Imports System.Drawing.Drawing2D
Imports System.Drawing.Design
Imports System.Windows.Forms
Imports System.Diagnostics
Imports System.Windows.Forms.ComponentModel
Imports System.Windows.Forms.Design

Namespace Microsoft.Samples.WinForms.VB.FlashTrackBar

    <System.Security.Permissions.PermissionSetAttribute(System.Security.Permissions.SecurityAction.Demand, Name:="FullTrust")> _
    Public Class FlashTrackBarValueEditor
        Inherits UITypeEditor

        Private edSvc As IWindowsFormsEditorService


        Overridable Protected Sub SetEditorProps(editingInstance As FlashTrackBar, editor As FlashTrackBar)
            editor.ShowValue = true
            editor.StartColor = Color.Navy
            editor.EndColor = Color.White
            editor.ForeColor = Color.White
            editor.Min = editingInstance.Min
            editor.Max = editingInstance.Max
        End Sub

        Overrides OverLoads Public Function EditValue(context As ITypeDescriptorContext, provider As IServiceProvider, value As object) As Object

            If ((context IsNot Nothing) And (context.Instance IsNot Nothing) And (provider IsNot Nothing)) Then

                edSvc = CType(provider.GetService(GetType(IWindowsFormsEditorService)), IWindowsFormsEditorService)

                If (edSvc IsNot Nothing) Then

                    Dim trackBar As FlashTrackBar = New FlashTrackBar()
                    AddHandler trackBar.ValueChanged, AddressOf Me.ValueChanged
                    SetEditorProps(CType(context.Instance, FlashTrackBar), TrackBar)

                    Dim asInt As Boolean = True

                    If (TypeOf value Is Integer) Then
                        trackBar.Value = CInt(value)
                    ElseIf (TypeOf value Is System.Byte) Then
                        asInt = False
                        trackBar.Value = CType(value, Byte)
                    End If

                    edSvc.DropDownControl(trackBar)

                    If (asInt) Then
                        value = trackBar.Value
                    Else
                        value = CType(trackBar.Value, Byte)
                    End If

                End If

            End If

            Return value

         End Function

        Overrides OverLoads Public Function GetEditStyle(context As ITypeDescriptorContext) As UITypeEditorEditStyle
            If ((context IsNot Nothing) And (context.Instance IsNot Nothing)) Then
                Return UITypeEditorEditStyle.DropDown
            End If
            Return MyBase.GetEditStyle(context)
        End Function

        private Sub ValueChanged(sender As object, e As EventArgs)
            If (edSvc IsNot Nothing) Then
                edSvc.CloseDropDown()
            End If
        End Sub

    End Class

End Namespace

namespace Microsoft.Samples.WinForms.Cs.FlashTrackBar {
    using System;
    using System.ComponentModel;
    using System.ComponentModel.Design;
    using System.Diagnostics;
    using System.Drawing;
    using System.Drawing.Drawing2D;
    using System.Drawing.Design;
    using System.Windows.Forms;
    using System.Windows.Forms.ComponentModel;
    using System.Windows.Forms.Design;

    [System.Security.Permissions.PermissionSet(System.Security.Permissions.SecurityAction.Demand, Name = "FullTrust")] 
    public class FlashTrackBarValueEditor : System.Drawing.Design.UITypeEditor {

        private IWindowsFormsEditorService edSvc = null;

        protected virtual void SetEditorProps(FlashTrackBar editingInstance, FlashTrackBar editor) {
            editor.ShowValue = true;
            editor.StartColor = Color.Navy;
            editor.EndColor = Color.White;
            editor.ForeColor = Color.White;
            editor.Min = editingInstance.Min;
            editor.Max = editingInstance.Max;
        }

        public override object EditValue(ITypeDescriptorContext context, IServiceProvider provider, object value) {

            if (context != null
                && context.Instance != null
                && provider != null) {

                edSvc = (IWindowsFormsEditorService)provider.GetService(typeof(IWindowsFormsEditorService));

                if (edSvc != null) {
                    FlashTrackBar trackBar = new FlashTrackBar();
                    trackBar.ValueChanged += new EventHandler(this.ValueChanged);
                    SetEditorProps((FlashTrackBar)context.Instance, trackBar);
                    bool asInt = true;
                    if (value is int) {
                        trackBar.Value = (int)value;
                    }
                    else if (value is byte) {
                        asInt = false;
                        trackBar.Value = (byte)value;
                    }
                    edSvc.DropDownControl(trackBar);
                    if (asInt) {
                        value = trackBar.Value;
                    }
                    else {
                        value = (byte)trackBar.Value;
                    }
                }
            }

            return value;
        }

        public override UITypeEditorEditStyle GetEditStyle(ITypeDescriptorContext context) {
            if (context != null && context.Instance != null) {
                return UITypeEditorEditStyle.DropDown;
            }
            return base.GetEditStyle(context);
        }

        private void ValueChanged(object sender, EventArgs e) {
            if (edSvc != null) {
                edSvc.CloseDropDown();
            }
        }
    }
}

FlashTrackBarDarkenByEditor

Imports System
Imports System.ComponentModel
Imports System.ComponentModel.Design
Imports System.Drawing
Imports System.Drawing.Drawing2D
Imports System.Drawing.Design
Imports System.Windows.Forms
Imports System.Diagnostics

Namespace Microsoft.Samples.WinForms.VB.FlashTrackBar 

   Public Class FlashTrackBarDarkenByEditor 
        Inherits FlashTrackBarValueEditor 
   
       Overrides Protected Sub SetEditorProps(editingInstance As FlashTrackBar, editor As FlashTrackBar) 
           MyBase.SetEditorProps(editingInstance, editor)
           editor.Min = 0
           editor.Max = System.Byte.MaxValue
       End Sub
   
   End Class
   
End Namespace

namespace Microsoft.Samples.WinForms.Cs.FlashTrackBar {
   using System;
   using System.ComponentModel;
   using System.ComponentModel.Design;
   using System.Diagnostics;
   using System.Drawing;
   using System.Drawing.Drawing2D;
   using System.Drawing.Design;
   using System.Windows.Forms;
   using System.Windows.Forms.ComponentModel;
   using System.Windows.Forms.Design;

   public class FlashTrackBarDarkenByEditor : FlashTrackBarValueEditor {
       protected override void SetEditorProps(FlashTrackBar editingInstance, FlashTrackBar editor) {
           base.SetEditorProps(editingInstance, editor);
           editor.Min = 0;
           editor.Max = byte.MaxValue;
       }
   }
}

See Also

Tasks

How to: Implement a UI Type Editor

Other Resources

Extending Design-Time Support