Can't edit Point[] or List at design time

Question

I\'m creating custom control that will draw shape from list (or array) of points. I have basic drawing functionality done, but now I\'m struggling with design-time support i

Answer 1

You can create a custom collection editor deriving CollectionEditor and set typeof(List) as collection type, also register a new TypeConverterAttribute for Point:

// Add reference to System.Design
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Drawing;
using System.ComponentModel.Design;

public class MyPointCollectionEditor : CollectionEditor
{
    public MyPointCollectionEditor() : base(typeof(List)) { }
    public override object EditValue(ITypeDescriptorContext context,
        IServiceProvider provider, object value)
    {
        TypeDescriptor.AddAttributes(typeof(Point), 
            new Attribute[] { new TypeConverterAttribute() });
        var result = base.EditValue(context, provider, value);
        TypeDescriptor.AddAttributes(typeof(Point), 
            new Attribute[] { new TypeConverterAttribute(typeof(PointConverter)) });
        return result;
    }
}

Then it's enough to register it as editor of your List:

using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Drawing.Design;

public class MyClass : Component
{
    public MyClass() { Points = new List(); }

    [Editor(typeof(MyPointCollectionEditor), typeof(UITypeEditor))]
    [DesignerSerializationVisibility(DesignerSerializationVisibility.Content)]
    public List Points { get; private set; }
}