Bar Manager

• Aug 01, 2019
• 5 minutes to read

Bar Manager is an object of the BarManager class that manages its child Bars and menus.

To create the Bars UI using the Bar Manager component, do the following:

1. Create bars and add them to the BarManager.Bars collection.
2. Create bar items, representing various commands, editors, static text, etc., and add them to the BarManager.Items collection.
3. Add the required bar items to a bar’s BarItemLinkHolderBase.ItemLinks collection. When adding a bar item to this collection, a bar item link is created referring to this bar item, and it’s added to the collection instead. You can add a single bar item to multiple bars, sub-menus and menus.
4. To allow bars to be docked to the window, create a bar container(s) (a BarContainerControl object), which is a visual object. This can be performed either implicitly via the BarManager.CreateStandardLayout property, or manually.
5. To dock a bar to a bar container, bind the bar to the container via the Bar.DockInfo property. See the BarContainerControl topic to learn more.

6. To make a bar floating, set the bar’s Bar.DockInfo.ContainerType property to Floating.

   There is no need to create bar containers to allow bars to be floating. Bar containers are only required to dock a bar to the window.

Example

This example shows how to create three bars (File, Edit and StatusBar) using the BarManager component. Actions for bar elements are defined by commands implemented in the MyViewModel class.   The window’s DataContext is set to a MyViewModel class descendant, which is automatically generated by the DevExpress.Mvvm.POCO.ViewModelSource object. This descendant automatically generates commands for all public methods in the MyViewModel class (the OpenFileCommand, NewFileCommand and SetAlignmentCommand are generated).

The result is shown below:

Note

A complete sample project is available at https://github.com/DevExpress-Examples/how-to-create-bars-in-one-common-container-using-barmanager-e1537.

MainWindow.xaml

<Window x:Class="WpfApplication2.MainWindow"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        xmlns:dxb="http://schemas.devexpress.com/winfx/2008/xaml/bars" 
        xmlns:dx="http://schemas.devexpress.com/winfx/2008/xaml/core" 
        xmlns:dxmvvm="http://schemas.devexpress.com/winfx/2008/xaml/mvvm"
        xmlns:local="clr-namespace:WpfApplication2"        
        Title="MainWindow" UseLayoutRounding="True"
        Height="233" Width="525"
        dx:ThemeManager.ThemeName="Office2013"
        DataContext="{dxmvvm:ViewModelSource Type=local:MyViewModel}">
    <Grid>
        <dxb:BarManager ToolbarGlyphSize="Small">
            <dxb:BarManager.Bars>
                <dxb:Bar Caption="File" IsMainMenu="True">
                    <dxb:BarSubItem x:Name="biFile" Content="File">
                        <dxb:BarButtonItem x:Name="biFileOpen" Content="Open" Glyph="{dx:DXImage Image=Open_16x16.png}" LargeGlyph="{dx:DXImage Image=Open_32x32.png}" Command="{Binding OpenFileCommand}" />
                        <dxb:BarButtonItem x:Name="biFileNew" Content="New" Glyph="{dx:DXImage Image=New_16x16.png}" LargeGlyph="{dx:DXImage Image=New_32x32.png}" Command="{Binding NewFileCommand}" />
                    </dxb:BarSubItem>
                    <dxb:BarSubItem x:Name="biEdit" Content="Edit">
                        <dxb:BarButtonItemLink BarItemName="biCut"/>
                        <dxb:BarButtonItemLink BarItemName="biCopy"/>
                        <dxb:BarButtonItemLink BarItemName="biPaste"/>
                    </dxb:BarSubItem>
                </dxb:Bar>
                <dxb:Bar Caption="Edit">
                    <dxb:BarButtonItem x:Name="biCut" Content="Cut" Glyph="{dx:DXImage Image=Cut_16x16.png}" LargeGlyph="{dx:DXImage Image=Cut_32x32.png}" Command="Cut" />
                    <dxb:BarButtonItem x:Name="biCopy" Content="Copy" Glyph="{dx:DXImage Image=Copy_16x16.png}" LargeGlyph="{dx:DXImage Image=Copy_32x32.png}" Command="Copy" />
                    <dxb:BarButtonItem x:Name="biPaste" Content="Paste" Glyph="{dx:DXImage Image=Paste_16x16.png}" LargeGlyph="{dx:DXImage Image=Paste_32x32.png}" Command="Paste"/>
                    <dxb:BarItemSeparator/>
                    <dxb:BarCheckItem x:Name="biBold" Content="Bold" Glyph="{dx:DXImage Image=Bold_16x16.png}" LargeGlyph="{dx:DXImage Image=Bold_32x32.png}" IsChecked="{Binding IsBold, Mode=TwoWay}"/>
                    <dxb:BarCheckItem x:Name="biItalic" Content="Italic" Glyph="{dx:DXImage Image=Italic_16x16.png}" LargeGlyph="{dx:DXImage Image=Italic_32x32.png}" IsChecked="{Binding IsItalic, Mode=TwoWay}"/>
                    <dxb:BarCheckItem x:Name="biUnderline" Content="Underline" Glyph="{dx:DXImage Image=Underline_16x16.png}" LargeGlyph="{dx:DXImage Image=Underline_32x32.png}" IsChecked="{Binding IsUnderline, Mode=TwoWay}"/>
                </dxb:Bar>
                <dxb:Bar Caption="StatusBar" IsStatusBar="True" ShowSizeGrip="True">
                    <dxb:Bar.DockInfo>
                        <dxb:BarDockInfo ContainerType="Bottom"/>
                    </dxb:Bar.DockInfo>
                    <dxb:BarStaticItem x:Name="biRow" Content="Row:" ShowBorder="False"/>
                    <dxb:BarStaticItem x:Name="biRowValue" Content="1" ShowBorder="False"/>
                    <dxb:BarCheckItem x:Name="biLeft" Alignment="Far" Glyph="{dx:DXImage Image=AlignLeft_16x16.png}" GroupIndex="1" IsChecked="True" Command="{Binding SetAlignmentCommand}" CommandParameter="{x:Static TextAlignment.Left}" />
                    <dxb:BarCheckItem x:Name="biCenter" Alignment="Far" Glyph="{dx:DXImage Image=AlignCenter_16x16.png}" GroupIndex="1" Command="{Binding SetAlignmentCommand}" CommandParameter="{x:Static TextAlignment.Center}" />
                    <dxb:BarCheckItem x:Name="biRight" Alignment="Far" Glyph="{dx:DXImage Image=AlignRight_16x16.png}" GroupIndex="1" Command="{Binding SetAlignmentCommand}" CommandParameter="{x:Static TextAlignment.Right}" />
                </dxb:Bar>
            </dxb:BarManager.Bars>
            <TextBox Text="{Binding Text, Mode=TwoWay}" TextAlignment="{Binding Alignment}" TextDecorations="{Binding Decorations}" FontWeight="{Binding Weight}" FontStyle="{Binding Style}" />
        </dxb:BarManager>
    </Grid>
</Window>

MainWindow.xaml.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Data;
using System.Windows.Documents;
using System.Windows.Input;
using System.Windows.Media;
using System.Windows.Media.Imaging;
using System.Windows.Navigation;
using System.Windows.Shapes;
using DevExpress.Mvvm;
using DevExpress.Mvvm.UI;
using DevExpress.Mvvm.DataAnnotations;

namespace WpfApplication2 {
    /// <summary>
    /// Interaction logic for MainWindow.xaml
    /// </summary>
    public partial class MainWindow : Window {
        public MainWindow() {
            InitializeComponent();
        }
    }


    public class MyViewModel {
        public virtual bool IsBold { get; set; }
        public virtual bool IsItalic { get; set; }
        public virtual bool IsUnderline { get; set; }
        public virtual FontWeight Weight { get; set; }
        public virtual TextDecorationCollection Decorations { get; set; }
        public virtual FontStyle Style { get; set; }                
        public virtual TextAlignment Alignment { get; set; }
        public virtual string Text { get; set; }

        public void OnIsBoldChanged() {
            Weight = IsBold ? FontWeights.Bold : FontWeights.Normal;
        }
        public void OnIsItalicChanged() {
            Style = IsItalic ? FontStyles.Italic : FontStyles.Normal;
        }
        public void OnIsUnderlineChanged() {
            Decorations = IsUnderline ? TextDecorations.Underline : new TextDecorationCollection();
        }        

        public MyViewModel() {
            Alignment = TextAlignment.Left;
            SetDefaultText();
        }

        void SetDefaultText() {
            Text = "Text";
        }

        // An OpenFileCommand will be generated from the following method by POCO.
        public void OpenFile() {
            SetDefaultText();
        }
        // A NewFileCommand will be generated from the following methods by POCO.
        public bool CanNewFile() {
            return true;
        }
        public void NewFile() {
            Text = null;
        }
        // A SetAlignmentCommand will be generated from the following method by POCO.
        public void SetAlignment(object parameter) {
            Alignment = ((TextAlignment)parameter);
        }

    }    
}

MainWindow.xaml.vb

Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Linq
Imports System.Text
Imports System.Threading.Tasks
Imports System.Windows
Imports System.Windows.Controls
Imports System.Windows.Data
Imports System.Windows.Documents
Imports System.Windows.Input
Imports System.Windows.Media
Imports System.Windows.Media.Imaging
Imports System.Windows.Navigation
Imports System.Windows.Shapes
Imports DevExpress.Mvvm
Imports DevExpress.Mvvm.UI
Imports DevExpress.Mvvm.DataAnnotations

Namespace WpfApplication2
    ''' <summary>
    ''' Interaction logic for MainWindow.xaml
    ''' </summary>
    Partial Public Class MainWindow
        Inherits Window

        Public Sub New()
            InitializeComponent()
        End Sub
    End Class


    Public Class MyViewModel
        Public Overridable Property IsBold() As Boolean
        Public Overridable Property IsItalic() As Boolean
        Public Overridable Property IsUnderline() As Boolean
        Public Overridable Property Weight() As FontWeight
        Public Overridable Property Decorations() As TextDecorationCollection
        Public Overridable Property Style() As FontStyle
        Public Overridable Property Alignment() As TextAlignment
        Public Overridable Property Text() As String

        Public Sub OnIsBoldChanged()
            Weight = If(IsBold, FontWeights.Bold, FontWeights.Normal)
        End Sub
        Public Sub OnIsItalicChanged()
            Style = If(IsItalic, FontStyles.Italic, FontStyles.Normal)
        End Sub
        Public Sub OnIsUnderlineChanged()
            Decorations = If(IsUnderline, TextDecorations.Underline, New TextDecorationCollection())
        End Sub

        Public Sub New()
            Alignment = TextAlignment.Left
            SetDefaultText()
        End Sub

        Private Sub SetDefaultText()
            Text = "Text"
        End Sub

        ' An OpenFileCommand will be generated from the following method by POCO.
        Public Sub OpenFile()
            SetDefaultText()
        End Sub
        ' A NewFileCommand will be generated from the following methods by POCO.
        Public Function CanNewFile() As Boolean
            Return True
        End Function
        Public Sub NewFile()
            Text = Nothing
        End Sub
        ' A SetAlignmentCommand will be generated from the following method by POCO.
        Public Sub SetAlignment(ByVal parameter As Object)
            Alignment = (DirectCast(parameter, TextAlignment))
        End Sub

    End Class
End Namespace