[RESOLVED] Using properties of a hosted control in the Designer

[Mark@SF]

I have created a custom TextProgressBar that is an item in the StatusStrip drop-down list and is hosted via the ToolStripControlHost. I would like to expose the TextProgressBar properties Minimum, Maximum, and Step in the Designer.

Here are the 2 classes (ToolStripTextProgressBar and TextProgressBar):

Imports System.Windows.Forms.Design '...required for ToolStripItemDesignerAvailability
<ToolStripItemDesignerAvailability(ToolStripItemDesignerAvailability.ToolStrip Or ToolStripItemDesignerAvailability.StatusStrip)>
Public Class ToolStripTextProgressBar

    Inherits ToolStripControlHost

    '...call the base constructor passing in a TextProgressBar instance
    Public Sub New()
        MyBase.New(New TextProgressBar)
        CType(Control, TextProgressBar).Style = ProgressBarStyle.Continuous
    End Sub

    Public ReadOnly Property ProgressBarControl As TextProgressBar
        Get
            Return CType(Control, TextProgressBar)
        End Get
    End Property

    '...expose the ToolStripTextProgressBar.Value as a property (IDE Designer)
    Public Property Value As Integer
        Get
            Return Me.ProgressBarControl.Value
        End Get
        Set
            Me.ProgressBarControl.Value = Value
        End Set
    End Property

End Class

Public Class TextProgressBar

    Inherits ProgressBar

    Public Overrides Property Text As String
    '...http://www.pinvoke.net/default.aspx/Constants/WM.html
    '   WM_PAINT = x0F (decimal value = 15...CDec("&H0F") = 15)
    Private Const WmPaint = 15  '...occurs when the control needs repainting

    '...WndProc receives all messages directed to the current window. In order to
    '   avoid overwriting your text, make sure the default code executes first,
    '   then call the custom routine to display the overlaid text

    Protected Overrides Sub WndProc(ByRef m As System.Windows.Forms.Message)
        MyBase.WndProc(m)
        If m.Msg = WmPaint Then
            PaintText()
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Sub PaintText()

        Dim s As String = Text  '...this is the TextProgressBar.Text property
        Dim percent As Integer
        Dim textSize As SizeF

        '...display either a percentage or custom text
        If s = "" AndAlso Maximum - Minimum <> 0 Then
            '...display a percentage
            percent = CInt(100 * (Value - Minimum) / (Maximum - Minimum))
            s = percent.ToString & "%"
        Else
            '...display custom text
        End If

        '...get the graphics object and calculate drawing parameters based on the current Font specs
        Using g As Graphics = Me.CreateGraphics()
            textSize = g.MeasureString(s, Me.Font)
            Using b = New SolidBrush(ForeColor)
                g.DrawString(s, Me.Font, Brushes.Black, CSng(Me.Width / 2 - textSize.Width / 2), CSng(Me.Height / 2 - textSize.Height / 2))
            End Using
        End Using

        textSize = Nothing

    End Sub

End Class

I've successfully exposed the ToolStripTextProgressBar property Value as shown above in the ToolStripTextProgressBar class.

When I try to do the same for the Minimum or Maximum properties, they appear in the Designer as properties of the hosted ToolStripTextProgressBar, but the Designer will not accept a manual edit of the property.

    '...expose the ToolStripTextProgressBar.Minimum as a property (IDE Designer)
    Public Property Minimum As Integer
        Get
            Return Me.ProgressBarControl.Minimum
        End Get
        Set
            Me.ProgressBarControl.Minimum = Minimum
        End Set
    End Property

For example, when manually setting Minimum property to "1", the Designer immediately resets it to "0".

Note that I can set the Minimum property at runtime via the ProgressBarControl property of a ToolStripTextProgressBar:

tspbMainCountdown.ProgressBarControl.Minimum = 1

I need some help to figure this out. Thanks.