How to: Provide a Toolbox Bitmap for a Control
If you want to have a special icon for your control appear in the Toolbox, you can specify a particular image by using the ToolboxBitmapAttribute. This class is an attribute, a special kind of class you can attach to other classes. For more information about attributes, see Attributes Overview in Visual Basic for Visual Basic and Attributes (C# Programming Guide) for Visual C#.
Using the ToolboxBitmapAttribute, you can specify a string that indicates the path and file name for a 16 by 16 pixel bitmap. This bitmap then appears next to your control when added to the Toolbox. You can also specify a Type, in which case the bitmap associated with that type is loaded. If you specify both a Type and a string, the control searches for an image resource with the name specified by the string parameter in the assembly containing the type specified by the Type parameter.
To specify a Toolbox bitmap for your control
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Add the ToolboxBitmapAttribute to the class declaration of your control before the Class keyword for Visual Basic, and above the class declaration for Visual C#.
' Specifies the bitmap associated with the Button type. <ToolboxBitmap(GetType(Button))> Class MyControl1 ' Specifies a bitmap file. End Class <ToolboxBitmap("C:\Documents and Settings\Joe\MyPics\myImage.bmp")> _ Class MyControl2 End Class ' Specifies a type that indicates the assembly to search, and the name ' of an image resource to look for. <ToolboxBitmap(GetType(MyControl), "MyControlBitmap")> Class MyControl End Class
// Specifies the bitmap associated with the Button type. [ToolboxBitmap(typeof(Button))] class MyControl1 : UserControl { } // Specifies a bitmap file. [ToolboxBitmap(@"C:\Documents and Settings\Joe\MyPics\myImage.bmp")] class MyControl2 : UserControl { } // Specifies a type that indicates the assembly to search, and the name // of an image resource to look for. [ToolboxBitmap(typeof(MyControl), "MyControlBitmap")] class MyControl : UserControl { }
// Specifies the bitmap associated with the Button type. /** @attribute ToolboxBitmap(Button.class) */ class MyControl1 extends UserControl { } // Specifies a bitmap file. /** @attribute ToolboxBitmap("C:\\Documents and Settings\\Joe\\MyPics\\myImage.bmp")*/ class MyControl2 extends UserControl { } // Specifies a type that indicates the assembly to search, and the name // of an image resource to look for. /* @attribute ToolboxBitmap(MyControl.class, "MyControlBitmap") */ class MyControl extends UserControl { }
See Also
Reference
ToolboxBitmapAttributeConcepts
Attributes (C# Programming Guide)Other Resources
Developing Windows Forms Controls at Design TimeVisual Basic Attributes