DesignerSerializationVisibilityAttribute Class
Specifies the type of persistence to use when serializing a property on a component at design time.
Assembly: System (in System.dll)
'Declaration <AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets.Method Or AttributeTargets.Property Or AttributeTargets.Field Or AttributeTargets.Event)> _ Public NotInheritable Class DesignerSerializationVisibilityAttribute _ Inherits Attribute 'Usage Dim instance As DesignerSerializationVisibilityAttribute
When a serializer persists the persistable state of a design mode document, it often adds code to the initialization method of components to persist values of properties that have been set at design time. This happens by default for most basic types, if no attribute has been set to direct other behavior.
With the DesignerSerializationVisibilityAttribute, you can indicate whether the value for a property is Visible, and should be persisted in initialization code, Hidden, and should not be persisted in initialization code, or consists of Content, which should have initialization code generated for each public, not hidden property of the object assigned to the property.
Members that do not have a DesignerSerializationVisibilityAttribute will be treated as though they have a DesignerSerializationVisibilityAttribute with a value of Visible. The values of a property marked as Visible will be serialized, if possible, by a serializer for the type. To specify custom serialization for a particular type or property, use the DesignerSerializerAttribute.
For more information, see Attributes Overview and Extending Metadata Using Attributes.
The following code example demonstrates the use of a DesignerSerializationVisibilityAttribute set to Content. It persists the values of a public property of a user control, which can be configured at design time. To use the example, first compile the following code into a user control library. Next, add a reference to the compiled .dll file in a new Windows Application project. If you are using Visual Studio, the ContentSerializationExampleControl is automatically added to the Toolbox.
Drag the control from the Toolbox to a form, and set the properties of the DimensionData object listed in the Properties window. When you view the code for the form, code will have been added to the InitializeComponent method of the parent form. This code sets the values of the control's properties to those which you have set in design mode.
Imports System Imports System.Collections Imports System.ComponentModel Imports System.ComponentModel.Design Imports System.Drawing Imports System.Windows.Forms Namespace DesignerSerializationVisibilityTest _ ' The code for this user control declares a public property of type DimensionData with a DesignerSerializationVisibility ' attribute set to DesignerSerializationVisibility.Content, indicating that the properties of the object should be serialized. ' The public, not hidden properties of the object that are set at design time will be persisted in the initialization code ' for the class object. Content persistence will not work for structs without a custom TypeConverter. Public Class ContentSerializationExampleControl Inherits System.Windows.Forms.UserControl Private components As System.ComponentModel.Container = Nothing <DesignerSerializationVisibility(DesignerSerializationVisibility.Content)> _ Public ReadOnly Property Dimensions() As DimensionData Get Return New DimensionData(Me) End Get End Property Public Sub New() InitializeComponent() End Sub 'New Protected Overloads Sub Dispose(ByVal disposing As Boolean) If disposing Then If (components IsNot Nothing) Then components.Dispose() End If End If MyBase.Dispose(disposing) End Sub 'Dispose Private Sub InitializeComponent() End Sub 'InitializeComponent End Class 'ContentSerializationExampleControl ' This attribute indicates that the public properties of this object should be listed in the property grid. <TypeConverterAttribute(GetType(System.ComponentModel.ExpandableObjectConverter))> _ Public Class DimensionData Private owner As Control ' This class reads and writes the Location and Size properties from the Control which it is initialized to. Friend Sub New(ByVal owner As Control) Me.owner = owner End Sub 'New Public Property Location() As Point Get Return owner.Location End Get Set(ByVal Value As Point) owner.Location = Value End Set End Property Public Property FormSize() As Size Get Return owner.Size End Get Set(ByVal Value As Size) owner.Size = Value End Set End Property End Class 'DimensionData End Namespace 'DesignerSerializationVisibilityTest
Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98
The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.