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Quick Runtime Customization

  • 3 minutes to read

The LayoutControl supports two customization modes: default and quick. In default mode, customization commands are provided using context menus; while in quick mode, these commands are available in the touch-friendly Customization Form. You can select the appropriate mode by setting the LayoutControl.CustomizationMode property to Default or Quick.

For general information on runtime customization, how to disable this feature and how to save and restore layouts, see Runtime Customization Overview. To learn the specifics of the default customization mode, see Default Runtime Customization.

Quick Customization Mode Activation

To activate quick customization mode, an end-user has to press and hold a finger (on touch devices) or press and hold a right-click with a mouse within the LayoutControl’s bounds until an animated load indicator is filled.

LayoutControlActivateQuickMode

After that, all elements residing within the LayoutControl will be disabled and the touch-oriented Customization Form will be displayed showing customization options for the clicked item.

LayoutControlCustomizationFormQuickMode

You can regulate various aspects of quick mode initialization using options provided by the LayoutControl.OptionsCustomizationForm:

Note

Layout item context menus are not available in quick customization mode.

Customization Form

The Customization Form provides various control elements (buttons encapsulating customization actions, a text box specifying a selected element caption, Properties grid, etc.). Its appearance depends on the type of selected element. The following image demonstrates the Customization Form invoked for a LayoutControl’s root group.

LayoutControlCustomizationFormQuickModeRootGroup

To access the Customization Form’s extended capabilities, click the Show more/fewer options button LayoutControlCFShowMoreOptions. This displays additional elements: Hidden Items and Layout Tree View tabbed pages and Properties grid.

LayoutControlExtendedCustomizationFormQuickMode

The LayoutControl.OptionsCustomizationForm property contains the settings that determine the availability of the specific elements of a Customization Form.

LayoutControlOptionsCustomizationFormProperty

Layout Customization

In customization mode, an end-user is able to modify a layout using the drag-and-drop functionality, resizing operations and actions provided by the Customization Form.

An end-user can rename a layout item by selecting it and typing the required text in the Customization Form dedicated field. This field is synchronized with the item’s Text property.

LayoutControQuickCustomizationFormText

The Customization Form displays buttons that provide various customization capabilities.

  • General Customization Buttons

    LayoutControlCFSaveButton

    Saves the current layout to an XML file.

    LayoutControlCFLoadButton

    Loads one of the previously saved layouts from an XML file.

    LayoutControlCFUndoRedoButtons

    Perform undo and redo customization operations.

    LayoutControlCFBestFitButton

    Automatically calculates and applies optimal element sizes.

    LayoutControlCFShowMoreOptionsButton

    Extends/shrinks the Customization Form to show more/fewer options.

    LayoutControlCFSelectParentButton

    Chooses the selected element’s parent group.

  • Item Customization Buttons

    LayoutControlCFCreateEmptySpaceButton

    Adds a new item representing an empty region (an Empty Space Item).

    LayoutControlCFHideItemButton

    Hides the currently selected items and groups.

    LayoutControlCFSizeConstraitsButtons

    Apply custom or default size constraints. See Size and Alignment to learn more.

    LayoutControlCFTextAlignmentButtons

    Specify the vertical (Top, Middle or Bottom) and horizontal (Left, Center or Right) label alignment.

    LayoutControlCFTextPositionButtons

    Specify the label position, group caption position or tabbed group page header position (Top, Bottom, Left or Right).

    LayoutControlCFTextVisibleButton

    Shows/hides the selected item’s label.

    LayoutControlCFControlAlignmentButtons

    Specify the control alignment.

  • Grouping Buttons

    LayoutControlCFGroupButton

    Groups the currently selected items (creates a new group and adds the selected items to it).

    LayoutControlCFUngroupButton

    Ungroups the currently selected group (destroys the currently selected group and moves its items to the parent group.).

    LayoutControlCFTabbedGroupButton

    Creates a new tabbed group from the selected group or adds a new tabbed page to the selected tabbed group.

    LayoutControlCFTabbedUngroupButton

    Ungroups the currently selected tabbed group (destroys the selected tabbed group and moves its tabbed pages to the parent group).

See Also