[RESOLVED] What's the best solution for overlapping multiple working areas?
Hello,
I need a solution for overlapping working areas. I have a menu strip with many options and when I click on a certain menu then I will have the corresponding options in one certain area of the form.
There are many menus so I will have many displays. I was thinking of designing lots of panels overlapping each other but then it will be extremely difficult to switch between them for design and so on...
I don't think it is a very good idea to do it like this.
I need something to be able to show \ hide at runtime but design them separately.
Please give me some ideas about the best way to do this. Maybe there are some controls that I haven't heard of...
C++ programmers will dismiss you as a cretinous simpleton for your inability to keep track of pointers chained 6 levels deep and Java programmers will pillory you for buying into the evils of Microsoft. Meanwhile C# programmers will get paid just a little bit more than you for writing exactly the same code and VB6 programmers will continue to whitter on about "footprints". - FunkyDexter
There's just no reason to use garbage like InputBox. - jmcilhinney
The threads I start are Niya and Olaf free zones. No arguing about the benefits of VB6 over .NET here please. Happiness must reign. - yereverluvinuncleber
Re: What's the best solution for overlapping multiple working areas?
Tab Control? Very difficult to work out quite what you mean, to be honest.
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Re: What's the best solution for overlapping multiple working areas?
Tab control will end up with a lot of tabs that won't look good at all. I want to keep it as simple as possible so the user will not find this too difficult to work with.
Re: What's the best solution for overlapping multiple working areas?
Well you could use a TreeView in combination with composite UserControls. When you select and option in the TreeView you instantiate the relevant UserControl.
C++ programmers will dismiss you as a cretinous simpleton for your inability to keep track of pointers chained 6 levels deep and Java programmers will pillory you for buying into the evils of Microsoft. Meanwhile C# programmers will get paid just a little bit more than you for writing exactly the same code and VB6 programmers will continue to whitter on about "footprints". - FunkyDexter
There's just no reason to use garbage like InputBox. - jmcilhinney
The threads I start are Niya and Olaf free zones. No arguing about the benefits of VB6 over .NET here please. Happiness must reign. - yereverluvinuncleber
Re: What's the best solution for overlapping multiple working areas?
Originally Posted by ovi_gm
Tab control will end up with a lot of tabs that won't look good at all. I want to keep it as simple as possible so the user will not find this too difficult to work with.
That somewhat contradicts the many menus, many displays and overlapping work areas scenario, doesn't it? Simple as possible appears to be the direct opposite of that.
As the 6-dimensional mathematics professor said to the brain surgeon, "It ain't Rocket Science!"
Reviews: "dunfiddlin likes his DataTables" - jmcilhinney
Please be aware that whilst I will read private messages (one day!) I am unlikely to reply to anything that does not contain offers of cash, fame or marriage!
Re: What's the best solution for overlapping multiple working areas?
I did an app a while ago that used GROUPBOXES that would hide and display as needed. Each GB did a certain part of the business logic and they would appear and disappear as needed as the case moved through the office and also based on the permissions of the user. Seemed to work well.
How many areas are you going to put up and take down?
Overall container for the screen in general were a couple of split panel's - I've had really good luck with these (also with nesting them).
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Re: What's the best solution for overlapping multiple working areas?
Well, there's no contradiction. I don't know yet how many menus there will be but... basically, I have 4 menus in a MenuStrip. These are categories of my app.
Then, clicking each menu brings up some big buttons with pictures in them. Then each of these button bring up another area. This area might be the last one or it might contain some other buttons, and so on...
I want to make the app to somehow guide the user through the entire process. So, as you can see, there is no contradiction. There are just very many menus and it will be really difficult working with panels.
Re: What's the best solution for overlapping multiple working areas?
Originally Posted by ovi_gm
Ok, I made a preliminary calculation. There will be approximate 30 working areas.
They landed on the moon using a 12 button calculator!
As the 6-dimensional mathematics professor said to the brain surgeon, "It ain't Rocket Science!"
Reviews: "dunfiddlin likes his DataTables" - jmcilhinney
Please be aware that whilst I will read private messages (one day!) I am unlikely to reply to anything that does not contain offers of cash, fame or marriage!
C++ programmers will dismiss you as a cretinous simpleton for your inability to keep track of pointers chained 6 levels deep and Java programmers will pillory you for buying into the evils of Microsoft. Meanwhile C# programmers will get paid just a little bit more than you for writing exactly the same code and VB6 programmers will continue to whitter on about "footprints". - FunkyDexter
There's just no reason to use garbage like InputBox. - jmcilhinney
The threads I start are Niya and Olaf free zones. No arguing about the benefits of VB6 over .NET here please. Happiness must reign. - yereverluvinuncleber
Re: What's the best solution for overlapping multiple working areas?
Here is an example of the UserControl approach I was talking about. You can tend each pane separately and unobstructed in design mode and have your code give them a tab-like relationship to one another at runtime.
C++ programmers will dismiss you as a cretinous simpleton for your inability to keep track of pointers chained 6 levels deep and Java programmers will pillory you for buying into the evils of Microsoft. Meanwhile C# programmers will get paid just a little bit more than you for writing exactly the same code and VB6 programmers will continue to whitter on about "footprints". - FunkyDexter
There's just no reason to use garbage like InputBox. - jmcilhinney
The threads I start are Niya and Olaf free zones. No arguing about the benefits of VB6 over .NET here please. Happiness must reign. - yereverluvinuncleber
Re: What's the best solution for overlapping multiple working areas?
I would second Niya's idea: it works well for a lot of applications. You can design your selector any way you like (tree view, icons, etc.) this approach has been used for over a decade, now. The treeview is nice because it will allow users to navigate to exactly where they want to go with as few clicks as possible.
Putting all your 'work' into user controls does allow you to encapsulate all the functionality from a practical, design and philosophical point.
"Ok, my response to that is pending a Google search" - Bucky Katt. "There are two types of people in the world: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data sets." - Unk. "Before you can 'think outside the box' you need to understand where the box is."
Re: [RESOLVED] What's the best solution for overlapping multiple working areas?
Glad I could help.
Please note that in my example the state of each option pane is not preserved between switches. Eg. If you selected a CheckBox in the second one and switch it to another pane and then switch back, the previous state would not be preserved. Its a simple matter of instantiating the panes only once and switching between these instances instead of creating new instances of them as I did. That would preserve the state in between switches.
C++ programmers will dismiss you as a cretinous simpleton for your inability to keep track of pointers chained 6 levels deep and Java programmers will pillory you for buying into the evils of Microsoft. Meanwhile C# programmers will get paid just a little bit more than you for writing exactly the same code and VB6 programmers will continue to whitter on about "footprints". - FunkyDexter
There's just no reason to use garbage like InputBox. - jmcilhinney
The threads I start are Niya and Olaf free zones. No arguing about the benefits of VB6 over .NET here please. Happiness must reign. - yereverluvinuncleber
[RESOLVED] What's the best solution for overlapping multiple working areas?
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Originally Posted by ovi_gm
They landed on the moon using a 12 button calculator!
