How to: Control the Toolbox

The ToolBox object is represented in the Visual Studio automation model by the following objects and collections:

By using these objects and collections, you can:

• Add a tab to the Toolbox (Add method).

• Activate a tab in the Toolbox (Activate method).

• Delete a tab from the Toolbox (Delete method).

• Add an item to the Toolbox (Add method).

• Select an item in the Toolbox (Select method).

• Delete an item from a tab in the Toolbox (Delete method).

• Change the Task List presentation to Icon view or List view (ListView property).

In addition to controlling the contents of the Toolbox, you can also control its characteristics, such as width and height. For more information, see How to: Change Window Characteristics.

Example

This example demonstrates how to reference and use the various members of the Toolbox automation model. This example creates a new Toolbox tab, adds a few items to it (including a .NET component), then deletes one of them. Optionally, you can delete the new tab as well. For more information about how to run the example, see How to: Compile and Run the Automation Object Model Code Examples.

' VSMacro
Sub ToolboxExample()
    Dim tlBox As ToolBox
    Dim tbxTabs As ToolBoxTabs
    Dim tbxTab As ToolBoxTab
    Dim tbxItems As ToolBoxItems
    Dim tbxItem As ToolBoxItem

    Try
        ' Create an object reference to the IDE's ToolBox object and
        ' its tabs.
        tlBox = DTE.Windows.Item(Constants.vsWindowKindToolbox).Object
        tbxTabs = tlBox.ToolBoxTabs

        ' Add a new tab to the Toolbox and select it.
        tbxTab = tbxTabs.Add("New ToolBox Tab")
        tbxTab.Activate()

        ' Add new items to the new Toolbox tab. This shows two
        ' different ways to index the Toolbox tabs. The third item
        ' added is a .NET component that contains a number of 
        ' Web-related controls.
        tbxTab.ToolBoxItems.Add("Text Item", "Hello world")
        tbxTab.ToolBoxItems.Add("HTML Item", "Hello world", _
        vsToolBoxItemFormat.vsToolBoxItemFormatHTML)
        ' Replace the <Path and name of a .NET dll>
        ' with a path to a .NET dll file.
        tbxTabs.Item("New Toolbox Tab").ToolBoxItems.Add _
        ("DotNET Component", "< Path and name of a .NET dll >", _
 vsToolBoxItemFormat. _
        vsToolBoxItemFormatDotNETComponent)
        
        ' Use the ToolboxItems collection to access all the items under 
        ' a ToolBox tab.
        tbxItems = tbxTab.ToolBoxItems

        ' List the number of ToolboxItems in a ToolBoxTab.
        MsgBox _
("Number of items in " & tbxTabs.Item(1).Name & " tab: "  _
& tbxItems.Count)

        ' Select the second item in the ToolboxItems collection and 
        ' delete it.
        tbxItems.Item(2).Select()
        If (MsgBox("Delete the second ToolBox item?", vbYesNo) = vbYes) _
        Then
            tbxItems.SelectedItem.Delete()
            MsgBox("Number of items in " & tbxTabs.Item(1).Name & " _
            tab: " & tbxItems.Count)
        End If
        If (MsgBox("Delete the new tab?", vbYesNo) = vbYes) Then
            tbxTabs.Item("New ToolBox Tab").Delete()
            MsgBox("Tab deleted.")
        End If
    Catch ex As System.Exception
        MsgBox("ERROR: " & ex.Message)
    End Try
End Sub

Using System.Windows.Forms;
public void OnConnection(object application,
 Extensibility.ext_ConnectMode connectMode, object addInInst, ref
 System.Array custom)
{
    _applicationObject = (DTE2)application;
    _addInInstance = (AddIn)addInInst;
    // Pass the applicationObject member variable to the code example.
    ToolboxExample(_applicationObject); 
}

public void ToolboxExample( DTE2 dte ) 
{ 
    ToolBox tlBox = null; 
    ToolBoxTabs tbxTabs = null; 
    ToolBoxTab3 tbxTab = null; 
    ToolBoxItems tbxItems = null; 
    ToolBoxItem2 tbxItem = null; 

    try 
    { 
        // Create an object reference to the IDE's ToolBox object and
        // its tabs.
        tlBox = (ToolBox )( dte.Windows.Item(
 Constants.vsWindowKindToolbox ).Object ); 
        tbxTabs = tlBox.ToolBoxTabs; 

        // Add a new tab to the Toolbox and select it.
        tbxTab = (ToolBoxTab3)tbxTabs.Add( "New ToolBox Tab" ); 
        tbxTab.Activate(); 

        // Add new items to the new Toolbox tab. This shows two
        // different ways to index the Toolbox tabs. The third item
        // added is a .NET component that contains a number of 
        // Web-related controls.
        tbxTab.ToolBoxItems.Add( "Text Item", "Hello world",
 (EnvDTE.vsToolBoxItemFormat.vsToolBoxItemFormatText)); 
        tbxTab.ToolBoxItems.Add( "HTML Item", "Hello world"
, vsToolBoxItemFormat.vsToolBoxItemFormatHTML ); 
        // Replace the <Path and name of a .NET dll>
        // with a path to a .NET dll file.
        tbxTabs.Item( "New Toolbox Tab" ).ToolBoxItems.Add
( "DotNET Component",
 "<Path and name of a .NET dll>",
 vsToolBoxItemFormat.vsToolBoxItemFormatDotNETComponent ); 

        // Use the ToolboxItems collection to access all the 
        // items under a ToolBox tab.
        tbxItems = tbxTab.ToolBoxItems; 

        // List the number of ToolboxItems in a ToolBoxTab.
        MessageBox.Show( "Number of items in " +
 tbxTabs.Item( 1 ).Name + " tab: " + tbxItems.Count); 
          
        // Select the second item in the ToolboxItems collection and 
        // delete it.
        // Comment the following lines out, if you do not want to
        // delete the controls.
        tbxItems.Item( 2 ).Select(); 
        
        tbxItems.SelectedItem.Delete(); 
        MessageBox.Show( "Number of items in " 
+ tbxTabs.Item( 1 ).Name + " tab: " + tbxItems.Count); 
        tbxTabs.Item( "New ToolBox Tab" ).Delete(); 
        MessageBox.Show( "Tab deleted."); 
        
    } 
    catch ( System.Exception ex ) 
    { 
        MessageBox.Show( "ERROR: " + ex.Message); 
    } 
}

Security

Adding a COM object that must be registered to the Toolbox attempts to register the COM component. The registration fails if you are not logged in as an administrator (or a member of the Administrators group), and the COM object is not added to the Toolbox.

You cannot browse for and add unregistered COM components to the Toolbox regardless of your level of permissions.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Change Window Characteristics

How to: Create an Add-In

Walkthrough: Creating a Wizard

Concepts

Automation Object Model Chart

Other Resources

Creating and Controlling Environment Windows

Creating Add-ins and Wizards

Automation and Extensibility Reference