TcxCustomShellListView Class

Serves as the base class for the TcxShellListView class.

Declaration

TcxCustomShellListView = class(
    TcxListViewContainer,
    IcxShellDependedControls,
    IcxShellRoot
)

Remarks

The TcxCustomShellListView class implements the basic functionality of shell list view controls. Shell list view controls are used to display shell items in list view format. The Shell namespace is the more comprehensive version of the file system and incorporates both file and folder objects residing on the hard disk along with virtual objects, which have no physical analog. Examples of virtual shell objects are: network printers, networked computers, Control Panel applications, Recycle Bin, My Computer, etc.

The Shell namespace provides unique identifiers for each included object and stores these identifiers in a tree structure. Shell item identifiers can be of two types:

Fully-qualified identifiers containing the entire identifier sequence required for reaching a specific shell item.
Relative identifier, which designates the path to a specific item within its parent folder.

The shell list view control supports two ways of accessing a specific shell item:

By specifying the physical path to a shell item via the AbsolutePath property.
By specifying the required item’s identifier via the AbsolutePIDL property.

You can handle the OnCurrentFolderChanged event to respond to changing the active shell item.

To access the items that are displayed within the shell list view and the corresponding shell items, use the InnerListView.Items and Folders properties, respectively.

You can sort shell items within the shell list view via the Sort method call. To enable sorting capabilities for end-users, use the Sorting property. Handle the OnCompare event to customize the order in which the items are displayed within the shell list view.

The TcxCustomShellListView class provides properties that affect the control’s look and feel. These properties specify:

Drag-and-drop functionality of the shell list view (DragDropSettings).
End-user capability to rename shell items (ReadOnly).
Shell options, including the ability to access shell items via the keyboard and mouse, displaying folder, non-folder and hidden items, etc. (Options).
Starting folder options (Root).
Display style for the control (ViewStyle).