Customize Dock Panels in End-User Report Designer

• Aug 10, 2018
• 3 minutes to read

This example illustrates how to access and customize the Report Designer’s dock panels.

Note

All the Report Designer’s dock panels inherit their settings from the DesignDockPanel class which is a DockPanel class descendant.

For this reason, you need to reference the DevExpress.XtraBars.v18.2 library in your application to be able to access the Report Designer’s dock panel settings.

C#

using DevExpress.XtraBars.Docking;
using DevExpress.XtraReports.UI;
using DevExpress.XtraReports.UserDesigner;
// ...

private void button1_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e) {
    // Create a Design Tool with an assigned report instance.
    ReportDesignTool designTool = new ReportDesignTool(new XtraReport1());

    // Access the standard or ribbon-based Designer form and its MDI Controller.
    // IDesignForm designForm = designTool.DesignForm;
    IDesignForm designForm = designTool.DesignRibbonForm;

    // Access and hide the Group and Sort panel.
    GroupAndSortDockPanel groupSort =
        (GroupAndSortDockPanel)designForm.DesignDockManager[DesignDockPanelType.GroupAndSort];
    groupSort.Visibility = DockVisibility.AutoHide;

    // Access and hide the Report Explorer.
    ReportExplorerDockPanel reportExplorer =
        (ReportExplorerDockPanel)designForm.DesignDockManager[DesignDockPanelType.ReportExplorer];
    reportExplorer.Visibility = DockVisibility.AutoHide;

    // Access and hide the Report Gallery.
    ReportGalleryDockPanel reportGallery =
        (ReportGalleryDockPanel)designForm.DesignDockManager[DesignDockPanelType.ReportGallery];
    reportGallery.Visibility = DockVisibility.AutoHide;

    // Access the Property Grid and customize some of its settings.
    PropertyGridDockPanel propertyGrid =
        (PropertyGridDockPanel)designForm.DesignDockManager[DesignDockPanelType.PropertyGrid];
    propertyGrid.ShowCategories = false;
    propertyGrid.ShowDescription = false;

    // Access the Field List and customize some of its settings.
    FieldListDockPanel fieldList =
        (FieldListDockPanel)designForm.DesignDockManager[DesignDockPanelType.FieldList];
    fieldList.ShowNodeToolTips = false;
    fieldList.ShowParametersNode = false;

    // Load a Report Designer in a dialog window.
    // designTool.ShowDesignerDialog();
    designTool.ShowRibbonDesignerDialog();
}

VB.NET

Imports DevExpress.XtraBars.Docking
Imports DevExpress.XtraReports.UI
Imports DevExpress.XtraReports.UserDesigner
' ...

Private Sub button1_Click(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs)
    ' Create a Design Tool with an assigned report instance.
    Dim designTool As New ReportDesignTool(New XtraReport1())

    ' Access the standard or ribbon-based Designer form and its MDI Controller.
    ' Dim designForm As IDesignForm = designTool.DesignForm
    Dim designForm As IDesignForm = designTool.DesignRibbonForm

    ' Access and hide the Group and Sort panel.
    Dim groupSort As GroupAndSortDockPanel = _ 
        DirectCast(designForm.DesignDockManager(DesignDockPanelType.GroupAndSort), _ 
        GroupAndSortDockPanel)
    groupSort.Visibility = DockVisibility.AutoHide

    ' Access and hide the Report Explorer.
    Dim reportExplorer As ReportExplorerDockPanel = _ 
        DirectCast(designForm.DesignDockManager(DesignDockPanelType.ReportExplorer), _ 
        ReportExplorerDockPanel)
    reportExplorer.Visibility = DockVisibility.AutoHide

    ' Access and hide the Report Gallery.
    Dim reportGallery As ReportGalleryDockPanel = _ 
        DirectCast(designForm.DesignDockManager(DesignDockPanelType.ReportGallery), _ 
        ReportGalleryDockPanel)
    reportGallery.Visibility = DockVisibility.AutoHide

    ' Access the Property Grid and customize some of its settings.
    Dim propertyGrid As PropertyGridDockPanel = _ 
        DirectCast(designForm.DesignDockManager(DesignDockPanelType.PropertyGrid), _ 
        PropertyGridDockPanel)
    propertyGrid.ShowCategories = False
    propertyGrid.ShowDescription = False

    ' Access the Field List and customize some of its settings.
    Dim fieldList As FieldListDockPanel = _ 
        DirectCast(designForm.DesignDockManager(DesignDockPanelType.FieldList), _ 
        FieldListDockPanel)
    fieldList.ShowNodeToolTips = False
    fieldList.ShowParametersNode = False

    ' Load a Report Designer in a dialog window.
    ' designTool.ShowDesignerDialog()
    designTool.ShowRibbonDesignerDialog()
End Sub

Setting the DockPanel.Visibility property does not prevent an end-user from gaining access to a dock panel and restoring its visibility via the Report Designer’s toolbar:

See Remove Dock Panels from End-User Report Designer to learn how to remove dock panels.