How to: Customize the WinForms Report Designer Form

• Aug 20, 2024

This example demonstrates how to access the Report Designer form by handling the WinReportServiceController.DesignFormCreated event.

In this topic, it is assumed that you have an XAF application that uses the Reports V2 Module, and you have created one or more reports (see Reports V2 Module Overview).

Create a View Controller in the WinForms WinForms application project. Override the Controller’s OnActivated method, access the WinReportServiceController using the Frame.GetController<ControllerType> method and subscribe to the WinReportServiceController.DesignFormCreated event.

C#

using System.Drawing.Design;
using DevExpress.XtraReports.UserDesigner;
using DevExpress.ExpressApp;
using DevExpress.ExpressApp.ReportsV2.Win;
// ...
public class CustomDesignerController : ViewController {
    private WinReportServiceController winReportServiceController;
    protected override void OnActivated() {
        base.OnActivated();
        winReportServiceController = Frame.GetController<WinReportServiceController>();
        if (winReportServiceController != null) {
            winReportServiceController.DesignFormCreated += winReportServiceController_DesignFormCreated;
        }
    }
    void winReportServiceController_DesignFormCreated(object sender, DesignFormEventArgs e) {
        e.DesignForm.DesignMdiController.DesignPanelLoaded += DesignMdiController_DesignPanelLoaded;
    }
    void DesignMdiController_DesignPanelLoaded(object sender, DesignerLoadedEventArgs e) {
        IToolboxService ts = (IToolboxService)e.DesignerHost.GetService(typeof(IToolboxService));
        ts.AddToolboxItem(new ToolboxItem(typeof(MyControl)), "New Category");
    }
}

In this code, a custom component is added to the Report Designer toolbar for demonstration purposes. To learn about other possible customizations, refer to the Report Designer topic.