When I add an Xceed SmartToolBar , docked at the top , to your DockedExplorerCS Sample Application, DockLayoutManager does not take the space of the toolbar into account , and the ToolWindows are cutoff at the top.

I have tried using a combination of panels and splitter windows but it still does not work.

Is there anyway to get around this behavior, my app needs a toolbar?

When using "adorner" controls such as a MenuBar or a StatusBar, you need to use 2 different panels for DockHost and ClientHost.

For example, you might have :

FormMain <-- Used as the DockHost
smartMenuBar1 <-- DockStyle.Top
myDockedContainer1 <-- DockStyle.Fill, used as the ClientHost

You would need to add one panel as a child of myDockedContainer1 and designate the DockHost and ClientHost like this:

FormMain
myDockedContainer1 <-- DockStyle.Fill, used as the DockHost
myDockedContainer2 <-- Used as the ClientHost
smartMenuBar1 <-- DockStyle.Top

Also, note that you will need to do a "Bring to front" on myDockedContainer1 to have it positioned below the smartMenuBar1 instead of under it. (this is the way Windows Forms layouts controls according to their Dock property)

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Mathieu Drimonakos
-Technical Designer-

Hi,
I am having some related problems making the StatusStrip & Xceed.Chart.ChartToolbarControl &/or ToolStrip's be always visible in an SDI window. The ClientHost is set to Xceed.Chart.ChartControl and the DockHost is the main SDI form. Basically I can't seem to make the ClientHost or its ToolWindows's respect the ToolStrip or StatusBar: They always Hide all or part of each. I have tried the suggestions above (I think - its not 100% explanation to me, perhaps) and have also tried various Panel layouts with ClientHost/DockHost that appear to look good when in the designer but then fail at runtime.

The Docking examples do not seem to have a SDI with StatusStrip and ToolStrip and searching the Docking help does not turn up any comments.

Could some example code be posted of using docking with SDI + ToolStrip and StatusStrip? Any help appreciated, thanks!

We can't seem to reproduce your issue here, however, we may not use the same setup as you do.

Can you send a sample application to <a href="mailto:support@xceedsoft.com">support</a>, so we can investigate this further?

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André
Software Developer
Xceed Software Inc.

I'm not understanding what needs to be done here. Can you please clarify with a code example?

I think I see what you are showing, however this always leaves a gray area in some of the client area that I can't get rid of and looks quite unprofessional. Any idea how to get rid of this 'gray' area?

What do you mean by the gray area?  Can you provide a screenshot or more details? 

Here is a code sample showing what is needed for this to work.  Note however that this can all be done in the designer.

private void Form1_Load( object sender, EventArgs e )

{

    Panel panel1 = new Panel();

    this.Controls.Add( panel1 );

    panel1.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;

 

    Panel panel2 = new Panel();

    panel1.Controls.Add( panel2 );

 

    MenuStrip menu = new MenuStrip();

    menu.Items.Add( "Menu Item" );

    this.Controls.Add( menu );

 

    ToolWindow tool = new ToolWindow( "ButtonTool" );

    tool.Text = "Buttons";

    Button but = new Button();

    but.Text = "button";

    tool.Controls.Add( but );

 

    DockLayoutManager manager = new DockLayoutManager( panel1, panel2 );

    manager.ToolWindows.Add( tool );

    tool.DockTo( DockTargetHost.DockHost, DockPosition.Top );

} 

 

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André
Software Developer
Xceed Software Inc.