Toolbox (Visual Studio SDK)
The Visual Studio Toolbox provides a collection of .NET Framework objects, derived from Component, or ActiveX controls, derived from IDataObject, providing functionality to editors and designers through the IDE's drag-and-drop mechanism.
There are two basic ways in which a VSPackage works with the Visual Studio Toolbox:
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A VSPackage can add new data items and ActiveX controls to the Toolbox.
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A VSPackage can be a target or consumer of existing Toolbox functionality, supporting the drag-and-drop operations and configuring the Toolbox's appearance.
By default, controls provided by a VSPackage must support one or more of the following Clipboard formats:
| Clipboard format | Description |
|---|---|
| CF_Text | Specifies the standard American National Standards Institute (ANSI) text format. |
| CF_HTML | Specifies text that consists of HTML data. |
| CF_NDP_TYPENAME | Specifies .NET Framework-based controls. Under the Managed Package Framework, Toolbox controls provided as ToolboxItem automatically support this format. |
For information about providing items to the Visual Studio Toolbox, including items of non-standard format, see How to: Provide Custom Toolbox Items Using the Managed Package Framework and How to: Provide Custom Toolbox Items Using Interop Assemblies.
In This Section
- Managing the Toolbox
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Describes how a VSPackage can manage the content and appearance of the Toolbox.
- How to: Support Toolbox Drag-and-Drop Functionality
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Describes how to implement drag-and-drop support on a document view.
- How to: Provide Custom Toolbox Items Using the Managed Package Framework
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Describes adding .NET Framework controls, based on to the Visual Studio Toolbox. These new items can either have a standard Clipboard format or a custom format supported by the VSPackage.
- How to: Provide Custom Toolbox Items Using Interop Assemblies
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Describes adding new ActiveX controls and new items to the Visual Studio Toolbox. These new items can either have a standard Clipboard format or a custom format supported by the VSPackage.
- Tutorial: Installing Controls By Using the Toolbox Controls Installer
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Explains how to use the Toolbox Controls Installer (TCI) to create installers for Windows Forms and Web Forms controls.
- Registering Toolbox Support Features
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Describes how to register a VSPackage as a toolbox provider. Also talks about supporting or using other toolbox features.
- Toolbox Walkthroughs
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Contains examples that illustrate basic methods for adding and configuring Toolbox items.