[RESOLVED] Looking for a similar control (description inside)

[sciguyryan]

Hi guys!

Does anyone know of a specific control that will work something like this. It collapsible sections with headers and can display various items under the sections with an images and a clickable elements in the section.

Something like what Sandra has. See the screenshot I found below.

If anyone knows of a control that can act in a similar way, even if not identical please post and let me know!

[jmcilhinney]

WPF has such a control built in. I believe that it's called an Expander.

[sciguyryan]

Interesting. I was interested in learning WPF as part of my next project. Can it be integrated into an existing C# project or must it be created as a new project from scratch?

[jmcilhinney]

Interesting. I was interested in learning WPF as part of my next project. Can it be integrated into an existing C# project or must it be created as a new project from scratch?

You can't just mix and match unfortunately. There is some interop between WinForms and WPF in that each provides a host control inside which you can host controls of the other type. That's only intended as an interim solution though. You'd be far better served creating a new WPF project from scratch.

[sciguyryan]

Very well then. I have on further question for you, though it would be in regards to WPF rather than the the topic here.

Are there any specific advantages to using WPF over regular Windows forms? I understand MS is pushing the new direction more but does it have any specific advantages?

[jmcilhinney]

I've only just started dabbling in WPF myself so I don't know all the details. It feels hard when you're used to WinForms but that's just because it works differently. Once you're used to it I'm sure it's no big deal. WPF makes many layout and styling related things much easier than WinForms, which has many limitations in those areas. WPF has been built from the ground up with the goal of creating easily customisable UIs.

[NickThissen]

I am not sure on this, but there is also the ExplorerBar in the Windows 7 API Codepack (I think it also works in Vista though). The ExplorerBar is basically just the windows explorer control. It behaves in just the same way, so I can imagine that it also supports those dividers, though I haven't seen them before.
The windows explorer (the real one) has those same dividers, but I think those from your screenshot are in Vista. In Windows 7 they look slightly different (larger).

If you don't want to go WPF this might be a good option (just google it). That said, if you do want to go WPF, the control is also available for WPF so you can still use it.

[sciguyryan]

I have some work to do in order to get the WPF control to behave like the one in my image but that's nothing I can't handle.

Thanks for the information all. WPF certainly seems interesting and worth exploring further.