Features

This page provides a feature summary for VLFormDesigner. We have covered significant features of the product to give you a feel of its capabilities.

• Runtime resizing and repositioning

  Let your application user move and reposition controls at runtime. The controls can be moved using mouse as well as keyboard.

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  Multi-select

  Often a user needs to select multiple controls on the form designer and move them as a group. VLFormDesigner has built-in support for multi-select and move.

• Snap-to-grid

  VLFormDesigner provides support for snap-to-grid facility. This facility will ensure that on the form designer surface, controls get aligned with minimal effort. You will have full control on the size and appearance of the grid.

• Relative alignment

  VLFormDesigner provides method which will help you incorporate relative alignment of controls with just a single line of code. For example, left aligning all selected controls on form designer can be achieved with a single line of code.

• Equi-sizing controls

  Adjust height or width for selected controls. Make them equal based on the selected controls, or specify height or width for all selected controls through a single line of code. For example, expanding selected controls to widest or shrinking them to shortest can be done with just a single line of code.

• Equi-spacing controls

  Set equal spacing between selected controls in vertical as well as horizontal direction with minimal code. Form designer can calculate the spacing automatically, or you can specify the spacing value. Also, the control can increase or decrease the spacing between selected controls with just a single line of code.

  Arranging controls on the form can't be easier than this.

• Support for dynamically created controls

  Controls that are added on the form designer at runtime can also be resized, moved etc, just like the controls that were added on form designer at design time.

  VLFormDesigner provides useful events to allow use of control arrays on the form designer surface.

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  Support for nested controls

  Controls that are contained within another control located on form designer also get resizing and repositioning support at runtime.

• Control Locking

  VLFormDesigner allows you to mark controls as locked. These controls cannot be moved or resized by the user using keyboard or mouse even when the form designer is in design mode.

• Events

  Form designer control has an extensive and useful set of events that keep your application updated about user actions.

• Save and Restore layouts

  VLFormDesigner provides methods to save and load control layout data. These methods together with a set of events provide an extensive framework for storing a retrieving control layout and properties (including custom properties that you may want to store). The layout can be saved in a binary or XML file.

  These events can also be used to store and reload form layout in a format of your choice (e.g. storing layout to in a database).

• Background Image

  You can display a bitmap in the background of the form designer. This could be your company logo or a watermark image of your choice. The image can be centered, tiled or stretched in the background.

• Integrated on-line help

  VLFormDesigner ships with a extensive integrated on-line help. So, while programming help on any property or method of the form designer is just F1 away.

• Sample

  VLFormDesigner setup ships with an extensive, mini form designer application as sample program demonstrating the usages of the control.

  The source code of the sample application is included in the setup, and can well be the starting point of your form designer application.