Ribbon Runtime Customization

• Oct 27, 2023
• 4 minutes to read

Overview

Users can use the Customization Form to customize commands in the Ribbon UI. To invoke the Customization Form, right-click the Ribbon control and select Customize Ribbon in the pop-up menu.

The Customization Form displays available items and the original layout on the left. On the right, the form displays the actual layout and items in the ribbon. Users can reorder, remove, and rename items in the ribbon, and create custom groups, tabs, etc.

Note

The Customize the Ribbon... command is not displayed in the context menu when the Ribbon controls are merged.

How to Enable the Customization Form

Enable the RibbonControl.AllowCustomization option to allow users to invoke the Customization Form. To show the form in code, call the RibbonControl.ShowCustomizationForm method.

End-User Capabilities

Users can complete the following tasks via the Customization Form:

Task	Actions
Add a new page	Click New and select New Tab in the drop-down menu.
Add a new group	Select a page on the right, click New and select New Group in the drop-down menu.
Hide a page or page group	Select a page or page group on the right and click the left arrow button.
Rename a page or page group	Select a page or page group on the right and click Rename.
Add a command to a custom group (users cannot add commands to original groups)	Select a command on the left and a custom group on the right. Click the right arrow button. Drag a command on the left to a custom group on the right.
Re-arrange pages and groups	Select a page or group. Use the up and down arrow buttons to change its position. Drag a page or group to a new position.
Import or export a custom layout	Click Import/Export and select an option in the drop-down menu: import or export the layout.
Restore the original layout	Click Reset and select an option in the drop-down menu: reset the selected page or the entire ribbon. In the latter case, the layout is restored instantly. For more information, see RibbonControl.SetCurrentLayoutAsDefault.

Options

The RibbonControl.OptionsCustomizationForm property provides access to settings that affect the form’s appearance and behavior:

• AllowBarSubItems - Gets or sets whether users can customize a sub-menu’s items via the Customization Form.

• AllowEditBarItemPopups - Gets or sets whether users can edit a pop-up menu’s items via the Customization Form.

• AllowLinkCustomization - Gets or sets whether users can hide bar items via the Customization Form‘s context menu.

• AllowToolbarCustomization - Gets or sets whether the Ribbon Customization Window should display items from the Quick Access Toolbar.

• FormIcon - Gets or sets the Customization Form‘s icon.

Auto-Save Layout

The ribbon can automatically save the layout to an XML file when the form closes. The layout will be automatically restored at the next application startup.

Enable the RibbonControl.AutoSaveLayoutToXml option to save the layout to an XML file when the user closes the form. The RibbonControl.AutoSaveLayoutToXmlPath property specifies the file’s location.

Important

A saved layout cannot be restored if the Items count in the saved layout does not match the number of Items in the Ribbon control.

How to Customize the Form

The RibbonControl.CustomizationFormShowing event fires when the form is about to be displayed and allows you to customize the form. The CustomizatoinForm event argument provides access to a RibbonCustomizationForm object that specifies the form.

The code below shows how to change the form’s caption.

C#

using DevExpress.XtraBars.Ribbon;

private void ribbonControl1_CustomizationFormShowing(object sender, CustomizationFormShowingEventArgs e) {
    // Specify the form's caption.
    e.CustomizationForm.Text = "Customization Form";
}

VB.NET

Imports DevExpress.XtraBars.Ribbon

Private Sub ribbonControl1_CustomizationFormShowing(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As CustomizationFormShowingEventArgs) _
    Handles ribbonControl1.CustomizationFormShowing

    ' Specify the form's caption.
    e.CustomizationForm.Text = "Customization Form"
End Sub

The code below shows how to customize the form’s buttons.

C#

using DevExpress.XtraBars.Ribbon;

private void ribbonControl1_CustomizationFormShowing(object sender, CustomizationFormShowingEventArgs e) {
    e.CustomizationForm = new MyCustomizationForm(sender as RibbonControl);
}

class MyCustomizationForm : RibbonCustomizationForm {
    public MyCustomizationForm() : base(null) {
    }
    public MyCustomizationForm(RibbonControl ribbonControl) : base(ribbonControl) {
    }

    protected override void InitDialogBase() {
        base.InitDialogBase();

        // Hide the Import/Export button.
        ImportButton.Visible = false;

        // Change the Rename button's caption and width.
        RenameButton.Text = "Umbenennen...";
        RenameButton.Width += 10;
    }
}

VB.NET

Imports DevExpress.XtraBars.Ribbon

Private Sub ribbonControl1_CustomizationFormShowing(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As CustomizationFormShowingEventArgs) _
    Handles ribbonControl1.CustomizationFormShowing
    e.CustomizationForm = New MyCustomizationForm(TryCast(sender, RibbonControl))
End Sub

Friend Class MyCustomizationForm
    Inherits RibbonCustomizationForm

    Public Sub New()
        MyBase.New(Nothing)
    End Sub
    Public Sub New(ByVal ribbonControl As RibbonControl)
        MyBase.New(ribbonControl)
    End Sub

    Protected Overrides Sub InitDialogBase()
        MyBase.InitDialogBase()

        ' Hide the Import/Export button.
        ImportButton.Visible = False

        ' Change the Rename button's caption and width.
        RenameButton.Text = "Umbenennen..."
        RenameButton.Width += 10

    End Sub

End Class