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V24.2

CustomControlProviderBase Class

A base class that contains configuration settings for a custom control.

Namespace: DevExpress.DashboardWin

Assembly: DevExpress.Dashboard.v24.2.Win.dll

Declaration

public abstract class CustomControlProviderBase :
    ICustomControlProvider,
    ICustomExportControlProvider

Remarks

A custom control displays a custom item in a dashboard. To configure the custom control, derive a class from CustomControlProviderBase. The class creates and updates the control based on data that a dashboard transfers to it.

The sections below illustrate how to implement a custom control:

Create a Custom Control

The CustomControlProviderBase.Control property gets the control displayed in a custom item.

The following code snippet derives a CustomFunnelControlProvider class from CustomControlProviderBase:

using System.Windows.Forms;
using DevExpress.DashboardCommon;
using DevExpress.DashboardWin;
using DevExpress.XtraCharts;
//...
public class CustomFunnelControlProvider : CustomControlProviderBase{
    CustomDashboardItem<CustomFunnelMetadata> dashboardItem;
    ChartControl chart;
    protected override Control Control { get { return chart; } }

    public CustomFunnelControlProvider(CustomDashboardItem<CustomFunnelMetadata> dashboardItem) {
        this.dashboardItem = dashboardItem;
        chart = new ChartControl();
    }
}

Update a Custom Control

The CustomControlProviderBase.UpdateControl(CustomItemData) method is called each time a custom item’s data or settings change. The method supplies data for a custom item based on measures and dimensions that are specified in metadata.

You can use one of the following ways to bind a control to data:

MultiDimensionalData
Use MultiDimensionalData if a custom control does not support data sources that implement IList. You can create a data source based on MultiDimensionalData for the control. Call the CustomItemData.GetMultiDimensionalData() method to get MultiDimensionalData.
DashboardFlatDataSource
Use DashboardFlatDataSource if a custom control supports a data source that implements IList. Call the CustomItemData.GetFlatData(DashboardFlatDataSourceOptions) method to get custom item data and bind it to a control.

The following code snippet binds data to a custom control:

using System.Windows.Forms;
using DevExpress.DashboardCommon;
using DevExpress.DashboardWin;
using DevExpress.XtraCharts;

public class CustomFunnelControlProvider : CustomControlProviderBase {
  CustomDashboardItem<CustomFunnelMetadata> dashboardItem;
  //...
  protected override void UpdateControl(CustomItemData customItemData){
    chart.Series.Clear();
    if(dashboardItem.Metadata.Value != null && dashboardItem.Metadata.Arguments.Count > 0) {
      Series series = new Series("A Funnel Series", ViewType.Funnel);
      flatData = customItemData.GetFlatData(new DashboardFlatDataSourceOptions() {
          AddColoringColumns = true });
      series.DataSource = flatData;
      series.ValueDataMembers.AddRange(dashboardItem.Metadata.Value.UniqueId);
      series.ArgumentDataMember = dashboardItem.Metadata.Arguments.Last().UniqueId;
      series.ColorDataMember = flatData.GetColoringColumn(dashboardItem.Metadata.Value.UniqueId).Name;
      chart.Series.Add(series);
    }
  }
}

Once you have configured a custom control and bound it to data, you need to visualize the control. To accomplish this, assign a CustomControlProviderBase derived class to the CustomDashboardItemControlCreatingEventArgs.CustomControlProvider property.

Inheritance

Object
CustomControlProviderBase
See Also