LayoutControl.Items Property

Provides access to all the layout items owned by the LayoutControl.

Namespace: DevExpress.XtraLayout

Assembly: DevExpress.XtraLayout.v19.1.dll

Declaration

C#

[XtraSerializableProperty(false, true, false)]
[Browsable(false)]
public ReadOnlyItemCollection Items { get; set; }

VB.NET

<XtraSerializableProperty(False, True, False)>
<Browsable(False)>
Public Property Items As ReadOnlyItemCollection

Property Value

Type	Description
DevExpress.XtraLayout.Utils.ReadOnlyItemCollection	A DevExpress.XtraLayout.Utils.ReadOnlyItemCollection object which represents the collection of layout items.

Remarks

The Items collection contains visible and hidden layout items. To access only hidden layout items, use the LayoutControl.HiddenItems property.

Example

The following code shows how to use layout item labels (BaseLayoutItem.Text) as accessible names (Control.AccessibleName) for embedded controls. When you focus an embedded editor, an accessibility client application (for instance, Microsoft Narrator) reads the specified accessible name along with the editor’s value.

C#

using DevExpress.XtraLayout;

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {
    DevExpress.XtraLayout.Utils.ReadOnlyItemCollection items = layoutControl1.Items;
    foreach(BaseLayoutItem item in items) {
        LayoutControlItem lci = item as LayoutControlItem;
        if(lci != null) {
            if (lci.TextVisible)
                lci.Control.AccessibleName = lci.Text;
        }
    }
}

VB.NET

Imports DevExpress.XtraLayout

Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
    Dim items As DevExpress.XtraLayout.Utils.ReadOnlyItemCollection = LayoutControl1.Items
    For Each item As BaseLayoutItem In items
        Dim lci As LayoutControlItem = TryCast(item, LayoutControlItem)
        If Not lci Is Nothing Then
            If (lci.TextVisible) Then
                lci.Control.AccessibleName = lci.Text
            End If
        End If
    Next item
End Sub

Example

The following example shows how to change a layout item’s control in code.

Assume that a DataLayoutControl is bound to a data source containing a Description field. The DataLayoutControl.RetrieveFields method retrieves information on available fields in the data source, and automatically creates layout items with controls for these fields. By default, for a field of the string type, a layout item with a TextEdit control inside it is created. The example shows how to locate a layout item with a control bound to the Description field, and replace its TextEdit control with a MemoEdit control. To change a layout item’s control, the new control must be assigned to the LayoutControlItem.Control property within the LayoutControl.BeginUpdate and LayoutControl.EndUpdate method pair.

C#

using DevExpress.XtraLayout;
using DevExpress.XtraEditors;

dataLayoutControl1.RetrieveFields();

foreach (BaseLayoutItem baseItem in dataLayoutControl1.Items) {
    LayoutControlItem item = baseItem as LayoutControlItem;
    if(item !=null && item.Control.DataBindings.Count > 0)
        if (item.Control.DataBindings[0].BindingMemberInfo.BindingField == "Description") {
            dataLayoutControl1.BeginUpdate();
            Control prevControl = item.Control;
            Binding binding = prevControl.DataBindings[0];
            prevControl.DataBindings.Clear();
            dataLayoutControl1.Controls.Remove(prevControl);
            Control newControl = new MemoEdit();
            newControl.Name = "myMemoEdit";
            // Bind the new control to the same field as the previous control.
            newControl.DataBindings.Add(new Binding(binding.PropertyName, binding.DataSource,
                binding.BindingMemberInfo.BindingField, binding.FormattingEnabled));
            dataLayoutControl1.Controls.Add(newControl);
            item.Control = newControl;                        
            prevControl.Dispose();
            dataLayoutControl1.EndUpdate();
            // Change the item's size after the EndUpdate method.
            item.Size = new Size(100, 50);
            break;
        }
}

VB.NET

Imports DevExpress.XtraLayout
Imports DevExpress.XtraEditors

dataLayoutControl1.RetrieveFields()

For Each baseItem As BaseLayoutItem In dataLayoutControl1.Items
    Dim item As LayoutControlItem = TryCast(baseItem, LayoutControlItem)
    If Not item Is Nothing AndAlso item.Control.DataBindings.Count > 0 Then
        If item.Control.DataBindings(0).BindingMemberInfo.BindingField = "Description" Then
            dataLayoutControl1.BeginUpdate()
            Dim prevControl As Control = item.Control
            Dim binding As Binding = prevControl.DataBindings(0)
            prevControl.DataBindings.Clear()
            dataLayoutControl1.Controls.Remove(prevControl)
            Dim newControl As Control = New MemoEdit()
            newControl.Name = "myMemoEdit"
            ' Bind the new control to the same field as the previous control.
            newControl.DataBindings.Add(New Binding(binding.PropertyName, binding.DataSource, _
                binding.BindingMemberInfo.BindingField, binding.FormattingEnabled))
            dataLayoutControl1.Controls.Add(newControl)
            item.Control = newControl
            prevControl.Dispose()
            dataLayoutControl1.EndUpdate()
            ' Change the item's size after the EndUpdate method.
            item.Size = New Size(100, 50)
            Exit For
        End If
    End If
Next baseItem

Related GitHub Examples

The following code snippets (auto-collected from DevExpress Examples) contain references to the Items property.

Note

The algorithm used to collect these code examples remains a work in progress. Accordingly, the links and snippets below may produce inaccurate results. If you encounter an issue with code examples below, please use the feedback form on this page to report the issue.

C#

how-to-customize-popup-window-appearance-in-searchlookupedit-e3534/CS/E3534/Form1.cs#L26

LayoutControl lc = SearchForLayout(window);
LayoutControlGroup lcgroup = lc.Items[0] as LayoutControlGroup;
lcgroup.AppearanceGroup.BackColor = Color.CadetBlue;

how-to-override-default-editor-mapping-when-calling-the-retrievefields-method-e1955/CS/WindowsApplication12/Form1.cs#L49

creator.CreateLayout(info);
foreach (BaseLayoutItem item in lc.Items) {
    if (item is LayoutControlItem) {

VB.NET

how-to-customize-popup-window-appearance-in-searchlookupedit-e3534/VB/E3534/Form1.vb#L24

Dim lc As LayoutControl = SearchForLayout(window)
Dim lcgroup As LayoutControlGroup = TryCast(lc.Items(0), LayoutControlGroup)
lcgroup.AppearanceGroup.BackColor = Color.CadetBlue

how-to-override-default-editor-mapping-when-calling-the-retrievefields-method-e1955/VB/WindowsApplication12/Form1.vb#L45

creator.CreateLayout(info)
For Each item As BaseLayoutItem In lc.Items
    If TypeOf item Is LayoutControlItem Then