Trying to add a ToolStrip to a ToolStripPanel side-by-side with an existing ToolStrip

Question

I\'m using .net 2.0 with Visual Studio 2005 and I am trying to add two different toolstrips to the top of the form such that they show up side-by-side. I want it to be like

Answer 1

System.Windows.Forms.FlowLayoutPanel can do the job.

Just put the ToolStrip controls in it with correct order.

Answer 2

I created a custom ToolStripPanel so that I could overload the LayoutEngine;

using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Windows.Forms.Layout;

namespace CustomGUI
{
  class CustomToolStripPanel : ToolStripPanel
  {
    private LayoutEngine _layoutEngine;

    public override LayoutEngine LayoutEngine
    {
      get
      {
        if (_layoutEngine == null) _layoutEngine = new CustomLayoutEngine();
        return _layoutEngine;
      }
    }

    public override Size GetPreferredSize(Size proposedSize)
    {
      Size size = base.GetPreferredSize(proposedSize);

      foreach(Control control in Controls)
      {
        int newHeight = control.Height + control.Margin.Vertical + Padding.Vertical;
        if (newHeight > size.Height) size.Height = newHeight;
      }

      return size;
    }
  }
}

Then the custom LayoutEngine lays out the ToolStrips;

using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Windows.Forms.Layout;

namespace CustomGUI
{
  class CustomLayoutEngine : LayoutEngine
  {
    public override bool Layout(object container, LayoutEventArgs layoutEventArgs)
    {
      Control parent = container as Control;

      Rectangle parentDisplayRectangle = parent.DisplayRectangle;

      Control [] source = new Control[parent.Controls.Count];
      parent.Controls.CopyTo(source, 0);

      Point nextControlLocation = parentDisplayRectangle.Location;

      foreach (Control c in source)
      {
        if (!c.Visible) continue;

        nextControlLocation.Offset(c.Margin.Left, c.Margin.Top);
        c.Location = nextControlLocation;

        if (c.AutoSize)
        {
          c.Size = c.GetPreferredSize(parentDisplayRectangle.Size);
        }

        nextControlLocation.Y = parentDisplayRectangle.Y;
        nextControlLocation.X += c.Width + c.Margin.Right + parent.Padding.Horizontal;
      }

      return false;
    }
  }
}

One thing that took a while is that changing the location / size of one ToolStrip item will cause the layout to re-fire, with the controls reordered. So I take a copy of the controls before the layout loop. And you cant use AddRange(...) to add items to the Custom Panel for some reason - need to Add(...) them one at a time.

hope that helps (it's based on MSDN LayoutEngine Example, fixed for ToolStripPanels)

Wyzfen

Answer 3

I think in your case you can get away with just setting the LayoutStyle on your ToolStrip to ToolStripLayoutStyle.HorizontalStackWithOverflow rather than need your own custom LayoutEngine.

I asked a different question on a similar topic on how to handle layout with dynamic items to have better control of the overflow.