Docking Panels

A generic docking panel.

Nevron Docking Panels are predefined controls meant to provide true WYSIWYG docking functionality. The rich yet easy to use interface-based object model makes it very simple to provide your custom functionality and extend appearance.

Nevron docking panels are fully programmable - all functionality can be achieved either visually or from code.

The following table describes available public methods regarding docking functionality:

Method	Description
Activate	Activates the panel and gives it keyboard focus.
Close	Closes the panel and removes it from the docking framework.
Display	Shows a previously hidden panel. Use this method instead of changing panel's visibility directly.
Float	Makes the panel floating.
Maximize	Maximizes the panel within its parent zone.
PerformDock	Docks the panel to the specified INDockZone using the specified DockStyle at the desired index.
Redock	Toggles the current state of the panel - if the DockState is Floating the method restores a previously saved docked state, else the panel is made floating.
RefreshCaption	Invalidates and updates the caption area of the panel.
Restore	Restores the panel's SizeState to Normal.
ShowContextMenu	Displays a context sensitive menu for the panel at the specified screen location.
UpdateCaption	Performs re-measure and repaint of the caption area.

Each docking panel fires lots of notifications which, if not handled, are bubbled up to the manager that the panel is attached to.

The following table describes available notifications fired by a NDockingPanel control:

Notification	Description
Activated	Notifies that the panel has been activated and received keyboard focus.
Activating	Notifies that a panel is about to be activated.
AfterFloat	Notifies that a panel has been floated.
AfterDock	Notifies that a panel has been docked.
BeforeDock	Notifies that a panel is about to be docked. Cancelable.
BeforeFloat	Notifies that a panel is about to be floated. Cancelable.
BeginDragging	Notifies of a drag operation start upon a panel.
CaptionButtonClicked	Notifies that a caption button has been clicked. The event arguments contain information about the button id.
Deactivated	Notifies that a panel has been deactivated.
Deactivating	Notifies that a panel is about to be deactivated.
Dragging	Notifies that a panel is being dragged. Cancelable.
EndDragging	Notifies for an end of a drag operation upon a panel.

All notifications are also available at the manager's level. Signature is the same except that all event names begin with "Panel" - for example Activated will be PanelActivated.

A NDockingPanel can be applied a set of permissions controlling its behaviour. Those permissions are exposed via panel's Permissions property.

The following table describes these permissions:

Permission	Description
AllowDrag	Specifies whether the panel can be dragged.
AllowFloat	Specifies whether the panel can be floated.
AllowHide	Specifies whether the panel can be hidden (closed).
AllowMaximize	Specifies whether the panel can be maximized using the Maximize method.

By default the context menu for a panel shows these permissions as commands. You can, however, specify whether Permissions are Editable to prevent any change.

Each NDockingPanel holds information about how it is visualized when displayed as a tab. This information is exposed by the NTabInfo property. Currently the tab info needed contains only ImageIndex and Text properties. You can, however, provide your own custom tab info and assign it to the panel.