DockPanel Class (System.Windows.Controls)

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

Other versions are also available for the following:

.NET Framework 3.0

.NET Framework Class Library

DockPanel Class

Defines an area where you can arrange child elements either horizontally or vertically, relative to each other.

Namespace: System.Windows.Controls
Assembly: PresentationFramework (in PresentationFramework.dll)
XMLNS for XAML: http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/xaml/presentation

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

Public Class DockPanel _
    Inherits Panel

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As DockPanel

public class DockPanel : Panel

Visual C++

public ref class DockPanel : public Panel

JScript

public class DockPanel extends Panel

XAML Object Element Usage

<DockPanel>
  Children
</DockPanel>

Remarks

Content Model: DockPanel enforces a strong content model for child content. See the Children property for more information about the Panel content model.

The SetDock method changes the position of an element relative to other elements within the same container. Alignment properties, such as HorizontalAlignment, change the position of an element relative to its parent element.

If you set the LastChildFill property to true, which is the default setting, the last child element of a DockPanel always fills the remaining space, regardless of any other dock value that you set on the last child element. To dock a child element in another direction, you must set the LastChildFill property to false and must also specify an explicit dock direction for the last child element.

Panel elements do not receive focus by default. To compel a panel element to receive focus, set the Focusable property to true.

Note: The position of child elements of a DockPanel on the screen is determined by the Dock property of the respective child elements and the relative order of those child elements under the DockPanel. Therefore, a set of child elements with the same Dock property values can be positioned differently on the screen depending on the order of these children under the DockPanel. Child ordering effects positioning because the DockPanel iterates through its child elements in order, setting the position of each element depending on remaining space.

Examples

The following example creates a simple user interface (UI) framework using a DockPanel element. The DockPanel partitions available space to its child elements.

This example uses the Dock property, which is an attached property, to dock two identical Border elements at the Top of the partitioned space. A third Border element is docked to the Left, with its width set to 200 pixels. A fourth Border is docked to the Bottom of the screen. The last Border element automatically fills the remaining space.

Visual Basic

WindowTitle = "DockPanel Sample"
'Create a DockPanel as the root Panel
Dim myDockPanel As New DockPanel()
myDockPanel.LastChildFill = True

' Define the child content
Dim myBorder1 As New Border()
myBorder1.Height = 25
myBorder1.Background = Brushes.SkyBlue
myBorder1.BorderBrush = Brushes.Black
myBorder1.BorderThickness = New Thickness(1)
DockPanel.SetDock(myBorder1, Dock.Top)
Dim myTextBlock1 As New TextBlock()
myTextBlock1.Foreground = Brushes.Black
myTextBlock1.Text = "Dock = Top"
myBorder1.Child = myTextBlock1

Dim myBorder2 As New Border()
myBorder2.Height = 25
myBorder2.Background = Brushes.SkyBlue
myBorder2.BorderBrush = Brushes.Black
myBorder2.BorderThickness = New Thickness(1)
DockPanel.SetDock(myBorder2, Dock.Top)
Dim myTextBlock2 As New TextBlock()
myTextBlock2.Foreground = Brushes.Black
myTextBlock2.Text = "Dock = Top"
myBorder2.Child = myTextBlock2

Dim myBorder3 As New Border()
myBorder3.Height = 25
myBorder3.Background = Brushes.LemonChiffon
myBorder3.BorderBrush = Brushes.Black
myBorder3.BorderThickness = New Thickness(1)
DockPanel.SetDock(myBorder3, Dock.Bottom)
Dim myTextBlock3 As New TextBlock()
myTextBlock3.Foreground = Brushes.Black
myTextBlock3.Text = "Dock = Bottom"
myBorder3.Child = myTextBlock3

Dim myBorder4 As New Border()
myBorder4.Width = 200
myBorder4.Background = Brushes.PaleGreen
myBorder4.BorderBrush = Brushes.Black
myBorder4.BorderThickness = New Thickness(1)
DockPanel.SetDock(myBorder4, Dock.Left)
Dim myTextBlock4 As New TextBlock()
myTextBlock4.Foreground = Brushes.Black
myTextBlock4.Text = "Dock = Left"
myBorder4.Child = myTextBlock4

Dim myBorder5 As New Border()
myBorder5.Background = Brushes.White
myBorder5.BorderBrush = Brushes.Black
myBorder5.BorderThickness = New Thickness(1)
Dim myTextBlock5 As New TextBlock()
myTextBlock5.Foreground = Brushes.Black
myTextBlock5.Text = "This content will Fill the remaining space"
myBorder5.Child = myTextBlock5

' Add child elements to the DockPanel Children collection
myDockPanel.Children.Add(myBorder1)
myDockPanel.Children.Add(myBorder2)
myDockPanel.Children.Add(myBorder3)
myDockPanel.Children.Add(myBorder4)
myDockPanel.Children.Add(myBorder5)
Me.Content = myDockPanel

// Create the application's main window
mainWindow = new Window ();
mainWindow.Title = "DockPanel Sample";

// Create the DockPanel
DockPanel myDockPanel = new DockPanel();
myDockPanel.LastChildFill = true;

// Define the child content
Border myBorder1 = new Border();
myBorder1.Height = 25;
myBorder1.Background = Brushes.SkyBlue;
myBorder1.BorderBrush = Brushes.Black;
myBorder1.BorderThickness = new Thickness(1);
DockPanel.SetDock(myBorder1, Dock.Top);
TextBlock myTextBlock1 = new TextBlock();
myTextBlock1.Foreground = Brushes.Black;
myTextBlock1.Text = "Dock = Top";
myBorder1.Child = myTextBlock1;

Border myBorder2 = new Border();
myBorder2.Height = 25;
myBorder2.Background = Brushes.SkyBlue;
myBorder2.BorderBrush = Brushes.Black;
myBorder2.BorderThickness = new Thickness(1);
DockPanel.SetDock(myBorder2, Dock.Top);
TextBlock myTextBlock2 = new TextBlock();
myTextBlock2.Foreground = Brushes.Black;
myTextBlock2.Text = "Dock = Top";
myBorder2.Child = myTextBlock2;

Border myBorder3 = new Border();
myBorder3.Height = 25;
myBorder3.Background = Brushes.LemonChiffon;
myBorder3.BorderBrush = Brushes.Black;
myBorder3.BorderThickness = new Thickness(1);
DockPanel.SetDock(myBorder3, Dock.Bottom);
TextBlock myTextBlock3 = new TextBlock();
myTextBlock3.Foreground = Brushes.Black;
myTextBlock3.Text = "Dock = Bottom";
myBorder3.Child = myTextBlock3;

Border myBorder4 = new Border();
myBorder4.Width = 200;
myBorder4.Background = Brushes.PaleGreen;
myBorder4.BorderBrush = Brushes.Black;
myBorder4.BorderThickness = new Thickness(1);
DockPanel.SetDock(myBorder4, Dock.Left);
TextBlock myTextBlock4 = new TextBlock();
myTextBlock4.Foreground = Brushes.Black;
myTextBlock4.Text = "Dock = Left";
myBorder4.Child = myTextBlock4;

Border myBorder5 = new Border();
myBorder5.Background = Brushes.White;
myBorder5.BorderBrush = Brushes.Black;
myBorder5.BorderThickness = new Thickness(1);
TextBlock myTextBlock5 = new TextBlock();
myTextBlock5.Foreground = Brushes.Black;
myTextBlock5.Text = "This content will Fill the remaining space";
myBorder5.Child = myTextBlock5;


// Add child elements to the DockPanel Children collection
myDockPanel.Children.Add(myBorder1);
myDockPanel.Children.Add(myBorder2);
myDockPanel.Children.Add(myBorder3);
myDockPanel.Children.Add(myBorder4);
myDockPanel.Children.Add(myBorder5);

// Add the parent Canvas as the Content of the Window Object
mainWindow.Content = myDockPanel;
mainWindow.Show ();

XAML

<Page xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" WindowTitle="DockPanel Sample">
  <DockPanel LastChildFill="True">
    <Border Height="25" Background="SkyBlue" BorderBrush="Black" BorderThickness="1" DockPanel.Dock="Top">
      <TextBlock Foreground="Black">Dock = "Top"</TextBlock>
    </Border>
    <Border Height="25" Background="SkyBlue" BorderBrush="Black" BorderThickness="1" DockPanel.Dock="Top">
      <TextBlock Foreground="Black">Dock = "Top"</TextBlock>
    </Border>
    <Border Height="25" Background="LemonChiffon" BorderBrush="Black" BorderThickness="1" DockPanel.Dock="Bottom">
      <TextBlock Foreground="Black">Dock = "Bottom"</TextBlock>
    </Border>
    <Border Width="200" Background="PaleGreen" BorderBrush="Black" BorderThickness="1" DockPanel.Dock="Left">
      <TextBlock Foreground="Black">Dock = "Left"</TextBlock>
    </Border>
    <Border Background="White" BorderBrush="Black" BorderThickness="1">
      <TextBlock Foreground="Black">This content will "Fill" the remaining space</TextBlock>
    </Border>
  </DockPanel>
</Page>

Note:
By default, the last child of a DockPanel element fills the remaining unallocated space. If you do not want this behavior, set LastChildFill="False".

The compiled application yields a new UI that looks like this.

More Code

How to: Create a DockPanel

The following example creates and uses an instance of DockPanel by using code. The example shows you how to partition space by creating five Rectangle elements and positioning (docking) them inside a parent DockPanel. If you retain the default setting, the final rectangle fills all the remaining unallocated space.

Inheritance Hierarchy

System..::.Object
  System.Windows.Threading..::.DispatcherObject
    System.Windows..::.DependencyObject
      System.Windows.Media..::.Visual
        System.Windows..::.UIElement
          System.Windows..::.FrameworkElement
            System.Windows.Controls..::.Panel
              System.Windows.Controls..::.DockPanel

Thread Safety

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

Platforms

Windows Vista

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

Version Information