DesignerOptionService Class

Definition

Provides a base class for getting and setting option values for a designer.

C#
public abstract class DesignerOptionService : System.ComponentModel.Design.IDesignerOptionService
Inheritance
DesignerOptionService
Derived
Implements

Examples

The following code example demonstrates accessing the DesignerOptionService to display the current values of the standard options.

C#
using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.ComponentModel.Design;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Data;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Windows.Forms.Design;

namespace DesignerOptionServiceExample
{
    // This control demonstrates retrieving the standard 
    // designer option service values in design mode.
    public class DesignerOptionServiceControl : System.Windows.Forms.UserControl
    {		
        private DesignerOptionService designerOptionSvc;

        public DesignerOptionServiceControl()
        {
            this.BackColor = Color.Beige;
                    this.Size = new Size(404, 135);
        }
        
        public override System.ComponentModel.ISite Site
        {
            get
            {
                return base.Site;
            }
            set
            {
                base.Site = value;

                // If siting component, attempt to obtain an DesignerOptionService.
                if( base.Site != null )                            
                    designerOptionSvc = (DesignerOptionService)this.GetService(typeof(DesignerOptionService));                                   
            }
        }

        // Displays control information and current DesignerOptionService 
        // values, if available.
        protected override void OnPaint(System.Windows.Forms.PaintEventArgs e)
        {
            e.Graphics.DrawString("DesignerOptionServiceControl", 
                new Font("Arial", 9), 
                new SolidBrush(Color.Blue), 4, 4);

            if( this.DesignMode )
                e.Graphics.DrawString("Currently in design mode", 
                    new Font("Arial", 8), 
                    new SolidBrush(Color.Black), 4, 18);
            else
                e.Graphics.DrawString("Not in design mode. Cannot access DesignerOptionService.", 
                    new Font("Arial", 8), 
                    new SolidBrush(Color.Red), 4, 18);
            
            if( base.Site != null && designerOptionSvc != null )
            {
                e.Graphics.DrawString("DesignerOptionService provides access to the table of option values listed when", 
                    new Font("Arial", 8), 
                    new SolidBrush(Color.Black), 4, 38);

                e.Graphics.DrawString("the Windows Forms Designer\\General tab of the Tools\\Options menu is selected.", 
                    new Font("Arial", 8), 
                    new SolidBrush(Color.Black), 4, 50);                
                
                e.Graphics.DrawString("Table of standard value names and current values", 
                    new Font("Arial", 8), 
                    new SolidBrush(Color.Red), 4, 76);
                
                // Displays a table of the standard value names and current values.
                int ypos = 90;

                // Obtains and shows the size of the standard design-mode grid square.
                PropertyDescriptor pd;
                pd = designerOptionSvc.Options.Properties["GridSize"];
                e.Graphics.DrawString("GridSize", 
                    new Font("Arial", 8), 
                    new SolidBrush(Color.Black), 4, ypos);
                e.Graphics.DrawString(pd.GetValue(null).ToString(), 
                    new Font("Arial", 8), 
                    new SolidBrush(Color.Black), 200, ypos);
                ypos += 12;

                // Uncomment the following code to demonstrate that this
                // alternate syntax works the same as the previous syntax.

                //pd = designerOptionSvc.Options["WindowsFormsDesigner"].Properties["GridSize"];
                //e.Graphics.DrawString("GridSize",
                //    new Font("Arial", 8),
                //    new SolidBrush(Color.Black), 4, ypos);
                //e.Graphics.DrawString(pd.GetValue(null).ToString(),
                //    new Font("Arial", 8),
                //    new SolidBrush(Color.Black), 200, ypos);
                //ypos += 12;

                //pd = designerOptionSvc.Options["WindowsFormsDesigner"]["General"].Properties["GridSize"];
                //e.Graphics.DrawString("GridSize",
                //    new Font("Arial", 8),
                //    new SolidBrush(Color.Black), 4, ypos);
                //e.Graphics.DrawString(pd.GetValue(null).ToString(),
                //    new Font("Arial", 8),
                //    new SolidBrush(Color.Black), 200, ypos);
                //ypos += 12;
                
                // Obtains and shows whether the design mode surface grid is enabled.
                pd = designerOptionSvc.Options.Properties["ShowGrid"];
                e.Graphics.DrawString("ShowGrid", 
                    new Font("Arial", 8), 
                    new SolidBrush(Color.Black), 4, ypos);
                e.Graphics.DrawString(pd.GetValue(null).ToString(), 
                    new Font("Arial", 8), 
                    new SolidBrush(Color.Black), 200, ypos);
                ypos+=12;
                
                // Obtains and shows whether components should be aligned with the surface grid.
                pd = designerOptionSvc.Options.Properties["SnapToGrid"];
                e.Graphics.DrawString("SnapToGrid", 
                    new Font("Arial", 8), 
                    new SolidBrush(Color.Black), 4, ypos);
                e.Graphics.DrawString(pd.GetValue(null).ToString(), 
                    new Font("Arial", 8), 
                    new SolidBrush(Color.Black), 200, ypos);
                ypos += 12;

                // Obtains and shows which layout mode is selected.
                pd = designerOptionSvc.Options.Properties["LayoutMode"];
                e.Graphics.DrawString("LayoutMode",
                    new Font("Arial", 8),
                    new SolidBrush(Color.Black), 4, ypos);
                e.Graphics.DrawString(pd.GetValue(null).ToString(),
                    new Font("Arial", 8),
                    new SolidBrush(Color.Black), 200, ypos);
                ypos += 12;

                // Obtains and shows whether the Toolbox is automatoically
                // populated with custom controls and components.
                pd = designerOptionSvc.Options.Properties["AutoToolboxPopulate"];
                e.Graphics.DrawString("AutoToolboxPopulate",
                    new Font("Arial", 8),
                    new SolidBrush(Color.Black), 4, ypos);
                e.Graphics.DrawString(pd.GetValue(null).ToString(),
                    new Font("Arial", 8),
                    new SolidBrush(Color.Black), 200, ypos);
                ypos += 12;

                // Obtains and shows whether the component cache is used.
                pd = designerOptionSvc.Options.Properties["UseOptimizedCodeGeneration"];
                e.Graphics.DrawString("Optimized Code Generation",
                    new Font("Arial", 8),
                    new SolidBrush(Color.Black), 4, ypos);
                e.Graphics.DrawString(pd.GetValue(null).ToString(),
                    new Font("Arial", 8),
                    new SolidBrush(Color.Black), 200, ypos);
                ypos += 12;

                // Obtains and shows whether designer actions are automatically opened.
                pd = designerOptionSvc.Options.Properties["ObjectBoundSmartTagAutoShow"];
                e.Graphics.DrawString("Automatically Open Designer Actions",
                    new Font("Arial", 8),
                    new SolidBrush(Color.Black), 4, ypos);
                e.Graphics.DrawString(pd.GetValue(null).ToString(),
                    new Font("Arial", 8),
                    new SolidBrush(Color.Black), 200, ypos);
            }
        }
    }
}

Remarks

The DesignerOptionService class provides a collection of options. Each of these option collections has an indexer that enables it to be further filtered. Each option collection contains its own set of options, as well as a rollup of all of its child options. In the event of a naming conflict between properties, the outermost options object takes precedence. The following Tools | Options user interface (UI) structure shows how the outermost options object takes on greater importance:

WindowsFormsDesigner | General

  • SnapToGrid

  • ShowGrid

  • GridSize

Given a IDesignerOptionService named service, to get to the value of the GridSize property, you would make the following call:

C#
// Obtains and shows the size of the standard design-mode grid square.
Size size = (Size)designerOptionService.GetOptionValue("WindowsFormsDesigner\\General", "GridSize");

This works, until you want to move GridSize to another page. Also, IDesignerOptionService provides no discovery mechanism. If you do not know what string to pass in, the service cannot find the property value.

The DesignerOptionService class addresses these issues. You can query collections, and there is a type converter defined on the DesignerOptionService.DesignerOptionCollection object that marks the collection as expandable. With this type converter, you can pass the entire designer option service to a property window and visually inspect the service.

Constructors

DesignerOptionService()

Initializes a new instance of the DesignerOptionService class.

Properties

Options

Gets the options collection for this service.

Methods

CreateOptionCollection(DesignerOptionService+DesignerOptionCollection, String, Object)

Creates a new DesignerOptionService.DesignerOptionCollection with the given name and adds it to the given parent.

Equals(Object)

Determines whether the specified object is equal to the current object.

(Inherited from Object)
GetHashCode()

Serves as the default hash function.

(Inherited from Object)
GetType()

Gets the Type of the current instance.

(Inherited from Object)
MemberwiseClone()

Creates a shallow copy of the current Object.

(Inherited from Object)
PopulateOptionCollection(DesignerOptionService+DesignerOptionCollection)

Populates a DesignerOptionService.DesignerOptionCollection.

ShowDialog(DesignerOptionService+DesignerOptionCollection, Object)

Shows the options dialog box for the given object.

ToString()

Returns a string that represents the current object.

(Inherited from Object)

Explicit Interface Implementations

IDesignerOptionService.GetOptionValue(String, String)

Gets the value of an option defined in this package.

IDesignerOptionService.SetOptionValue(String, String, Object)

Sets the value of an option defined in this package.

Applies to

Product Versions
.NET Core 2.0, Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
.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
.NET Standard 2.0, 2.1

See also