Step 1 - Document Manager

• Jul 02, 2024
• 2 minutes to read

In this lesson, you will learn how to use the Document Manager component.

1. Start the Visual Studio IDE and create a new .NET Framework Windows Forms Application. You can use predefined app templates from the DevExpress WinForms App Template Gallery:

   

2. Locate the DocumentManager component in the Visual Studio Toolbox and drop it onto your form:

   

3. Right-click your project in Solution Explorer to invoke the context menu, and then select Add DevExpress Item | User Control…. Add two User Controls to the project (XtraUserControl1, XtraUserControl2):

   

   Add UI controls to User Controls and customize their properties as needed.

4. Build the solution.

   

5. Switch to Form1. Select the DocumentManager component and invoke its smart tag menu. Although DocumentManager uses the Tabbed View, you can use the ‘Convert to…’ links to change the view.

6. In the same context menu, click Run Designer to run the Document Manager’s Designer:

   

7. Switch to Documents and add two documents:

   

8. For each document, use the ControlTypeName property’s drop-down menu to assign a User Control to the document:

   

   Note

   In v24.1+, you can add User Controls and Forms to documents at design time (in Visual Studio). In previous versions, handle the QueryControl event to assign content to documents:

   C#

   void tabbedView1_QueryControl(object sender, DevExpress.XtraBars.Docking2010.Views.QueryControlEventArgs e) {
       if (e.Document.ControlName == "UserControl1") e.Control = new UserControl1();
       else e.Control = new UserControl2();
   }
   

The image below shows the result:

In the next lesson, you will learn how to combine the Document Manager with the Dock Manager in your Windows Forms application.