ControlDesigner.AutoFormats Property

Definition

Gets the collection of predefined automatic formatting schemes to display in the Auto Format dialog box for the associated control at design time.

public virtual System.Web.UI.Design.DesignerAutoFormatCollection AutoFormats { get; }

Property Value

A DesignerAutoFormatCollection object that contains the predefined schemes for the control.

Examples

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.

using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Collections;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.Design;
using System.Web.UI.Design.WebControls;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;

namespace CustomControls.Design.CS
{
    // A custom Label control whose contents can be indented
    [Designer(typeof(IndentLabelDesigner)), 
        ToolboxData("<{0}:IndentLabel Runat=\"server\"></{0}:IndentLabel>")]
    public class IndentLabel : Label
    {
        private int _indent = 0;

        // Property to indent all text within the label
        [Category("Appearance"), DefaultValue(0), 
            PersistenceMode(PersistenceMode.Attribute)]
        public int Indent
        {
            get { return _indent; }
            set
            {
                _indent = value;
                // Get the number of pixels to indent
                int ind = value * 8;

                //  Add the indent style to the control
                if (ind > 0)
                    this.Style.Add(HtmlTextWriterStyle.MarginLeft, ind.ToString() + "px");
                else
                    this.Style.Remove(HtmlTextWriterStyle.MarginLeft);
            }
        }
    }

    // A design-time ControlDesigner for the IndentLabel control
    [SupportsPreviewControl(true)]
    public class IndentLabelDesigner : LabelDesigner
    {
        private DesignerAutoFormatCollection _autoFormats = null;

        // The collection of AutoFormat objects for the IndentLabel object
        public override DesignerAutoFormatCollection AutoFormats
        {
            get
            {
                if (_autoFormats == null)
                {
                    // 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"));
                }
                return _autoFormats;
            }
        }

        // An AutoFormat object for the IndentLabel control
        private class IndentLabelAutoFormat : DesignerAutoFormat
        {
            public IndentLabelAutoFormat(string name) : base(name)
            { }

            // Applies styles based on the Name of the AutoFormat
            public override void Apply(Control inLabel)
            {
                if (inLabel is IndentLabel)
                {
                    IndentLabel ctl = (IndentLabel)inLabel;

                    // Apply formatting according to the Name
                    if (this.Name == "MyClassic")
                    {
                        // 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";
                    }
                    else if (this.Name == "MyBright")
                    {
                        // For MyBright, apply style elements to the Style property
                        this.Style.ForeColor = Color.Maroon;
                        this.Style.BackColor = Color.Yellow;
                        this.Style.Font.Size = FontUnit.Medium;

                        // Merge the AutoFormat style with the control's style
                        ctl.MergeStyle(this.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;
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Remarks

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.

Applies to

Product Versions
.NET Framework 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1

See also