ControlDesigner.AutoFormats Property
Gets the collection of predefined automatic formatting schemes to display in the Auto Format dialog box for the associated control at design time.
Assembly: System.Design (in System.Design.dll)
Property Value
Type: System.Web.UI.Design.DesignerAutoFormatCollectionA DesignerAutoFormatCollection object that contains the predefined schemes for the control.
A complete Web server control includes not only the control, but also, possibly, a corresponding control designer class that is derived from the ControlDesigner class and a formatting class that is derived from the DesignerAutoFormat class. The AutoFormats property is a collection of instances of the DesignerAutoFormat class. For a working example of automatic formatting in Visual Studio 2005, see Calendar.
Notes to Inheritors:
Controls that automatically expose AutoFormats get a task list and context commands for their formats. When you are using automatic formats, use the ViewControl property to set the properties in your callback function.
The following code example demonstrates how to implement the AutoFormats property in a custom control designer. The derived control designer implements the AutoFormats property by adding three instances of a custom automatic format that are derived from the DesignerAutoFormat class.
Imports System Imports System.Drawing Imports System.Collections Imports System.ComponentModel Imports System.Web.UI Imports System.Web.UI.Design Imports System.Web.UI.Design.WebControls Imports System.Web.UI.WebControls Namespace CustomControls.Design ' A custom Label control whose contents can be indented <Designer(GetType(IndentLabelDesigner)), _ ToolboxData("<{0}:IndentLabel Runat=""server""></{0}:IndentLabel>")> _ Public Class IndentLabel Inherits System.Web.UI.WebControls.Label Dim _indent As Integer = 0 <Category("Appearance"), DefaultValue(0), _ PersistenceMode(PersistenceMode.Attribute)> _ Property Indent() As Integer Get Return _indent End Get Set(ByVal Value As Integer) _indent = Value ' Get the number of pixels to indent Dim ind As Integer = _indent * 8 ' Add the indent style to the control If ind > 0 Then Me.Style.Add(HtmlTextWriterStyle.MarginLeft, ind.ToString() & "px") Else Me.Style.Remove(HtmlTextWriterStyle.MarginLeft) End If End Set End Property End Class ' A design-time ControlDesigner for the IndentLabel control Public Class IndentLabelDesigner Inherits LabelDesigner Private _autoFormats As DesignerAutoFormatCollection = Nothing ' The collection of AutoFormat objects for the IndentLabel object Public Overrides ReadOnly Property AutoFormats() As DesignerAutoFormatCollection Get If _autoFormats Is Nothing Then ' Create the collection _autoFormats = New DesignerAutoFormatCollection() ' Create and add each AutoFormat object _autoFormats.Add(New IndentLabelAutoFormat("MyClassic")) _autoFormats.Add(New IndentLabelAutoFormat("MyBright")) _autoFormats.Add(New IndentLabelAutoFormat("Default")) End If Return _autoFormats End Get End Property ' An AutoFormat object for the IndentLabel control Public Class IndentLabelAutoFormat Inherits DesignerAutoFormat Public Sub New(ByVal name As String) MyBase.New(name) End Sub ' Applies styles based on the Name of the AutoFormat Public Overrides Sub Apply(ByVal inLabel As Control) If TypeOf inLabel Is IndentLabel Then Dim ctl As IndentLabel = CType(inLabel, IndentLabel) ' Apply formatting according to the Name If Me.Name.Equals("MyClassic") Then ' For MyClassic, apply style elements directly to the control ctl.ForeColor = Color.Gray ctl.BackColor = Color.LightGray ctl.Font.Size = FontUnit.XSmall ctl.Font.Name = "Verdana,Geneva,Sans-Serif" ElseIf Me.Name.Equals("MyBright") Then ' For MyBright, apply style elements to the Style object Me.Style.ForeColor = Color.Maroon Me.Style.BackColor = Color.Yellow Me.Style.Font.Size = FontUnit.Medium ' Merge the AutoFormat style with the control's style ctl.MergeStyle(Me.Style) Else ' For the Default format, apply style elements to the control ctl.ForeColor = Color.Black ctl.BackColor = Color.Empty ctl.Font.Size = FontUnit.XSmall End If End If End Sub End Class End Class End Namespace
Available since 2.0