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ITypeDescriptorContext Interface

Provides contextual information about a component, such as its container and property descriptor.

Namespace:  System.ComponentModel
Assembly:  System (in System.dll)

[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
public interface class ITypeDescriptorContext : IServiceProvider

The ITypeDescriptorContext type exposes the following members.

  NameDescription
Public propertyContainerGets the container representing this TypeDescriptor request.
Public propertyInstanceGets the object that is connected with this type descriptor request.
Public propertyPropertyDescriptorGets the PropertyDescriptor that is associated with the given context item.
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  NameDescription
Public methodGetServiceGets the service object of the specified type. (Inherited from IServiceProvider.)
Public methodOnComponentChangedRaises the ComponentChanged event.
Public methodOnComponentChangingRaises the ComponentChanging event.
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The ITypeDescriptorContext interface provides contextual information about a component. ITypeDescriptorContext is typically used at design time to provide information about a design-time container. This interface is commonly used in type conversion. For details, see TypeConverter.

NoteNote

Do not rely on the presence of this interface when you design a type converter. If a particular interface, property, or service is necessary but not available, the type converter should return nullptr rather than throw an exception. This interface's properties can return nullptr at any time, and you should plan for this.

The following code example demonstrates how to use the ITypeDescriptorContext interface to support type conversion.


#using <system.dll>
#using <system.drawing.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::ComponentModel;
using namespace System::ComponentModel::Design::Serialization;
using namespace System::Drawing;
using namespace System::Globalization;
using namespace System::Collections;
using namespace System::Reflection;

/*   This sample shows how to support code generation for a custom type of object 
         using a type converter and InstanceDescriptor objects.

         To use this code, copy it to a file and add the file to a project. Then add
         a component to the project and declare a Triangle field and a public property 
         with accessors for the Triangle field on the component.

         The Triangle property will be persisted using code generation.
    */
ref class TriangleConverter;

[TypeConverter(TriangleConverter::typeid)]
public ref class Triangle
{
private:

   // Triangle members
   Point P1;
   Point P2;
   Point P3;

public:

   property Point Point1 
   {
      Point get()
      {
         return P1;
      }

      void set( Point value )
      {
         P1 = value;
      }
   }

   property Point Point2 
   {
      Point get()
      {
         return P2;
      }

      void set( Point value )
      {
         P2 = value;
      }
   }

   property Point Point3 
   {
      Point get()
      {
         return P3;
      }

      void set( Point value )
      {
         P3 = value;
      }

   }
   Triangle( Point point1, Point point2, Point point3 )
   {
      P1 = point1;
      P2 = point2;
      P3 = point3;
   }


   /* A TypeConverter for the Triangle object.  Note that you can make it internal,
      private, or any scope you want and the designers will still be able to use
      it through the TypeDescriptor object.  This type converter provides the
      capability to convert to an InstanceDescriptor.  This object can be used by 
      the .NET Framework to generate source code that creates an instance of a 
      Triangle object. */
   [System::Security::Permissions::PermissionSet(System::Security::
      Permissions::SecurityAction::Demand, Name = "FullTrust")]
   ref class TriangleConverter: public TypeConverter
   {
   public:

      /* This method overrides CanConvertTo from TypeConverter. This is called when someone
            wants to convert an instance of Triangle to another type.  Here,
            only conversion to an InstanceDescriptor is supported. */
      virtual bool CanConvertTo( ITypeDescriptorContext^ context, Type^ destinationType ) override
      {
         if ( destinationType == InstanceDescriptor::typeid )
         {
            return true;
         }


         // Always call the base to see if it can perform the conversion.
         return TypeConverter::CanConvertTo( context, destinationType );
      }

      /* This code performs the actual conversion from a Triangle to an InstanceDescriptor. */
      virtual Object^ ConvertTo( ITypeDescriptorContext^ context, CultureInfo^ culture, Object^ value, Type^ destinationType ) override
      {
         if ( destinationType == InstanceDescriptor::typeid )
         {
            array<Type^>^type1 = {Point::typeid,Point::typeid,Point::typeid};
            ConstructorInfo^ ci = Triangle::typeid->GetConstructor( type1 );
            Triangle^ t = safe_cast<Triangle^>(value);
            array<Object^>^obj1 = {t->Point1,t->Point2,t->Point3};
            return gcnew InstanceDescriptor( ci,safe_cast<ICollection^>(obj1) );
         }

         // Always call base, even if you can't convert.
         return TypeConverter::ConvertTo( context, culture, value, destinationType );
      }
   };
};

public ref class TestComponent: public System::ComponentModel::Component
{
private:
   Triangle^ myTriangle;

public:
   TestComponent()
   {
      myTriangle = gcnew Triangle( Point(5,5),Point(10,10),Point(1,8) );
   }

   property Triangle^ MyTriangle 
   {
      Triangle^ get()
      {
         return myTriangle;
      }

      void set( Triangle^ value )
      {
         myTriangle = value;
      }
   }
};


.NET Framework

Supported in: 4, 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

.NET Framework Client Profile

Supported in: 4, 3.5 SP1

Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or later, Windows XP SP3, Windows XP SP2 x64 Edition, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core supported with SP1 or later), Windows Server 2003 SP2

The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.
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