Collapse Container (like the one found in Outlook 2007)

<P>For those of you like myself that own and use Eyefinder, I built a collapsable container like the one found in Outlook 2007.</P>
<P>See the reply I posted to this thread for a snapshot of what the control looks like. </P>
<P>Custom Properties: </P>
<P>HeaderText (string) - The text displayed in the panels header. </P>
<P>Collapsable (boolean) - If true the control will highlight when the mouse rolls over it and will collapse when clicked. If false, it acts just like a panel. </P>
<P>PanelOpen (boolean) - This will set or return the Panels current state. If you set this to False it will close the panel as though the user clicked on the Header. This also works in Design mode. </P>
<P>I will be adding a number of additional UI properties for further customization - but that'll just be for my own personal use...the source code for this control is attached to this post. </P>
<P>Thanks again Tim for an outstanding collection of Controls! </P>
<P>-Elkay </P>
<P>*updates* I no longer use two horizontal gradients side by side to create the panel's background.  Instead I'm using a single gradient that makes use of ColorBlending along the x-axis to achieve the same effect.  It's smoother and faster - see the source code for a complete description of how I used the ColorBlend property of the LinearGradientBrush. </P>
<P>I also got rid of my very goofie method for drawing AntiAliased text lol - thanks for the most excellent tip, Tim! </P>
<P>Lastly, the hack I coded to get around the possible docking problem has been completely resolved.</P>
<P> </P>

This is a screenshot of my Collapse Container control.

A gift from me to the users of the DivElement controls.

Enjoy :)

-Elkay

Good work Elkay. Thanks.

Carl

Yeah, this is really great. Thanks Elkay!

I have replaced the .ZIP file attached at the top of this thread with the latest version with several nice updates - the biggest one being with the OLD control you *could* mess up your docking if you tried hard enough...with this new one, that bug should no longer be possible.

Enjoy folks!

-Elkay

Hi Elkay,

I would appreciate a C# version of this control, also if it could render in office 2007 blue/grey/black that would be ideal.

here is the c# version

Regards /// Angel

Forgive me sounding completely stupid...

But.......

How do I actually use this mod?

What steps do I need to take to actually implement the collapsible panel in a vb.net program?

 

Thanks

Rob

Good thing I'm replying nearly one full year later, huh?  lol sorry about that but I'm not much of a forums lurker!

Most developers already have a Custom Tab in the VS Designer toolbox and will already know how to add this (and other) control to it...so I'll proceed as though you do not and we'll create one.

1) Download the Zip found in the first message of this thread.

2) Extract the files in whatever folder you require (I put mine at s:\components\<dir name>)

3) Open any form in the Designer and display the Toolbox.

4) Right click and select 'Add Tab.'

5) Give that tab an appropriate name.

6) Make sure the new tab is "expanded" (it will be by default after you just create it)

7) Right click on the tab (either the tab header or the space...) and select 'Choose Items...'

8) When the "Choose Toolbox Items" dialog box appears, click the 'Browse...' button in the lower-right corner.

9) Navigate to the .DLL you extracted and click on the .DLL

10) Click 'Open' then click 'Ok'

 

This will add all controls found in the .DLL to the tab you just created.  Now you can click and drag them onto your forms like any other control found in the IDE.