Linked Manager in WPF Docking Control

18 Nov 20186 minutes to read

Linked Manager

The windows from one WPF Docking Control cannot be dragged and dropped to another WPF Docking Control by default. But Linked Manager support allows to drag and drop the windows from one WPF Docking Control to another by setting TargetDockingManager list.

Source WPF Docking Control

XAML

<syncfusion:DockingManager x:Name="DockingManager1" UseDocumentContainer="True">

<ContentControl syncfusion:DockingManager.State="Document" syncfusion:DockingManager.Header="Window1" />

<ContentControl syncfusion:DockingManager.State="Dock" syncfusion:DockingManager.Header="Window2" />

<ContentControl syncfusion:DockingManager.State="AutoHidden" syncfusion:DockingManager.Header="Window3" />

</syncfusion:DockingManager>

Target Docking Manager

XAML

<syncfusion:DockingManager x:Name="DockingManager2" UseDocumentContainer="True">

<ContentControl syncfusion:DockingManager.State="Dock" syncfusion:DockingManager.Header="Window1"></ContentControl>

<ContentControl syncfusion:DockingManager.State="Dock" syncfusion:DockingManager.Header="Window2"></ContentControl>

<ContentControl syncfusion:DockingManager.State="AutoHidden" syncfusion:DockingManager.Header="Window3"></ContentControl>

</syncfusion:DockingManager>

C#

public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
    public MainWindow()
	{
		InitializeComponent();

		count++;      

		MainWindow1 MainWindow = new MainWindow1();

		MainWindow.Title = "Docking Manager 1";

		MainWindow.Show();

		this.DockingManager1.AddToTargetManagersList(MainWindow.DockingManager2);

		MainWindow.DockingManager2.AddToTargetManagersList(this.DockingManager1);
	}
}

VB.NET

Partial Public Class MainWindow
	Inherits Window

	Public Sub New()
		InitializeComponent()

		count += 1

		Dim MainWindow As New MainWindow1()

		MainWindow.Title = "Docking Manager 1"

		MainWindow.Show()

		Me.DockingManager1.AddToTargetManagersList(MainWindow.DockingManager2)

		MainWindow.DockingManager2.AddToTargetManagersList(Me.DockingManager1)
	End Sub
End Class

Adding TargetManager list of WPF Docking Control

To add TargetManager list in the WPF Docking Control, call AddToTargetManagersList method of the WPF Docking Control with the valid WPF Docking Control instance as argument.

When only one WPF Docking Control has TargetManagerList, the window drop to TargetManager cannot drag back to Owner DockingManger. For example WPF Docking Control1 and WPF Docking Control2 are the WPF Docking Control instance and the WPF Docking Control2 is added to TargetManagerList of WPF Docking Control1, but the WPF Docking Control2 is not aware of its TargetManager.

Here, the windows from DockingManager1 are only allowed to be dragged and dropped in DockingManager2,

C#

this.DockingManager1.AddToTargetManagersList(MainWindow.DockingManager2);

VB.NET

Me.DockingManager1.AddToTargetManagersList(MainWindow.DockingManager2)

To drag and drop the window from DockingManager2 to DockingManager1, DockingManager1 must be added to TargetManagerList of DockingManager2.

C#

this.DockingManager1.AddToTargetManagersList(MainWindow.DockingManager2);

MainWindow.DockingManager2.AddToTargetManagersList(this.DockingManager1);

VB.NET

Me.DockingManager1.AddToTargetManagersList(MainWindow.DockingManager2)

MainWindow.DockingManager2.AddToTargetManagersList(Me.DockingManager1)

Removing Target Manager list

To remove WPF Docking Control from the TargetManagerList, call RemoveFromTargetManagerList of WPF Docking Control with the valid WPF Docking Control instance argument. For example, to remove the DockingManager1 from the TargetManagersList of DockingManager2, follow the below code snippets:

C#

MainWindow.DockingManager2.RemoveFromTargetManagersList(this.DockingManager1);

VB.NET

MainWindow.DockingManager2.RemoveFromTargetManagersList(Me.DockingManager1)

Nested Docking

The WPF Docking Control supports nested docking layouts, allowing one WPF Docking Control to be added as a child window of another.

In a nested layout, the whole WPF Docking Control can be dragged and dropped within its parent WPF Docking Control. However, dock windows contained within the nested control cannot be dragged and dropped onto the parent WPF Docking Control.

Adding WPF Docking Control as Child in WPF Docking Control

XAML

<syncfusion:DockingManager x:Name="DockingManager1" UseDocumentContainer="True" syncfusion:DockingManager.Header="Dock1">

<ContentControl x:Name="Content1" syncfusion:DockingManager.Header="Dock1"/>

<syncfusion:DockingManager x:Name="DockingManager2" UseDocumentContainer="True"
                           syncfusion:DockingManager.SideInDockedMode="Left" syncfusion:DockingManager.Header="Dock2"  >

<ContentControl syncfusion:DockingManager.Header="Dock2" syncfusion:DockingManager.DesiredWidthInDockedMode="600" />

</syncfusion:DockingManager>

<syncfusion:DockingManager x:Name="DockingManager3" UseDocumentContainer="True"
                           syncfusion:DockingManager.SideInDockedMode="Bottom"  syncfusion:DockingManager.Header="Dock3">

<ContentControl syncfusion:DockingManager.Header="Dock3" syncfusion:DockingManager.DesiredWidthInDockedMode="600"/>

</syncfusion:DockingManager>

</syncfusion:DockingManager>

C#

DockingManager DockingManager1 = new DockingManager() { UseDocumentContainer = true};            

ContentControl content1 = new ContentControl() { Name = "Content1" };

DockingManager.SetHeader(content1, "Dock1");

DockingManager DockingManager2 = new DockingManager() { UseDocumentContainer = true };

DockingManager.SetHeader(DockingManager2, "Dock2");

DockingManager.SetSideInDockedMode(DockingManager2, DockSide.Left);

ContentControl content2 = new ContentControl() { Name = "Content2" };

DockingManager.SetHeader(content2, "Dock2");

DockingManager.SetDesiredWidthInDockedMode(content2, 600);

DockingManager2.Children.Add(content2);

DockingManager DockingManager3 = new DockingManager() { UseDocumentContainer = true };

DockingManager.SetHeader(DockingManager3, "Dock3");

DockingManager.SetSideInDockedMode(DockingManager3, DockSide.Bottom);

ContentControl content3 = new ContentControl() { Name = "Content3" };

DockingManager.SetHeader(content3, "Dock3");

DockingManager.SetDesiredWidthInDockedMode(content3, 600);

DockingManager3.Children.Add(content3);

DockingManager1.Children.Add(content1);

DockingManager1.Children.Add(DockingManager2);

DockingManager1.Children.Add(DockingManager3);