System.Design 2.0.0.0 System.Object

The DesignerAction feature enables components and controls to display context-sensitive information and commands. The DesignerAction feature can be thought of as a replacement for designer verbs, because a can be displayed in the smart tag panel and also in the shortcut menu associated with a component or control. The class represents the main point of interaction for developers who want to add smart tag support to their custom components and controls.

is the base class, derived from by component developers in order to populate a smart tag panel. A smart tag panel represents the menu-like user interface (UI) for smart tags.

This derived class may implement the virtual method to return a collection of objects derived from . These objects represent the smart tag panel items. Each item is displayed in the panel according to its type. For example, a is displayed as a static text label. Active panel items, represented by the and types, have a corresponding publicly accessible property or method, respectively, that implements the functionality for that item.

For more information about how to add items to the smart tag panel, see the method.

Forms and dialog boxes can be displayed by members of the class derived from . By default, the parent of these windows will be the container window for the smart tag panel. Explicitly parenting these child windows to another service or window may cause smart tags to display improperly.

Smart-tag panels do not support scrolling or paging, so be careful not to populate your panels with many smart-tag items. Too many items may result in the smart-tag panel extending beyond the screen boundary.

Provides the base class for types that define a list of items used to create a smart tag panel.

- Constructor
  2.0.0.0

  The constructor sets the property to false.

  Initializes a new instance of the class.

  A component related to the .
- Property
  2.0.0.0
  System.Boolean To be added.

  If the property value is set to true, the component with which this is associated will automatically expand and display the smart tag panel when the component is created.

  You can opt out of this behavior by setting the property to false.

  Gets or sets a value indicating whether the smart tag panel should automatically be displayed when it is created.

- Property
  2.0.0.0
  System.ComponentModel.IComponent To be added. To be added.

  Gets the component related to .

- Method
  2.0.0.0
  System.Object `` To be added.

  Returns an object that represents a service provided by the component associated with the .

  An that represents a service provided by the . This value is null if the does not provide the specified service.

  A service provided by the .
- Method
  2.0.0.0
  System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionItemCollection

  The virtual method is implemented to return, in the expected display order, a collection of objects derived from the class. These items can be of the following specific types.

  Type

  Description

  The group label, displayed in bold.

  A label, displayed in a plain font.

  A panel item associated with a property. May also display a check mark or property editor associated with the underlying property.

  A panel item displayed as a hyperlink and associated with a method.

  For every and , a corresponding method or property must be added to the programmer-supplied class derived from the class. Each method and property item is displayed as an active entry; interacting with it through the user interface (UI) invokes the corresponding method or property, respectively.

  Property items have a special panel-item interface that enables display and manipulation of their corresponding property values. For more information, see the class.

  The order of the items in the returned array reflects the order that they will appear in the panel. The items are grouped according to the property, using the following rules:

  The category of the first item encountered signifies the start of the first group. That group continues as long as each succeeding item is of the same category. When an item of a different, new category is encountered, a new group is created and the item is placed in it.

  If an item has a type different than the current group, but that category has already been used, the item is placed in the matching existing category.

  If an item does not have a category, it is placed in a miscellaneous group at the end of the panel. This group also contains items whose property is set to false.

  The method is called when the panel is first created. You must call the method to update the list of items displayed in the panel.

  Returns the collection of objects contained in the list.

  A array that contains the items in this list.