System.Drawing.Design.ToolboxItem is a base class for toolbox items that can be displayed in the toolbox of a design-time environment. A toolbox item typically represents a component to create when invoked on a design mode document. The System.Drawing.Design.ToolboxItem class provides the methods and properties needed to provide the toolbox with the display properties for the toolbox item, to create a component or components when used, and to serialize and deserialize itself for persistence within the toolbox database.

An instance of the System.Drawing.Design.ToolboxItem class can be configured with a name, bitmap, and type to create, without creating a class that derives from System.Drawing.Design.ToolboxItem. The System.Drawing.Design.ToolboxItem class also provides a base class for custom toolbox item implementations. A custom System.Drawing.Design.ToolboxItem can create multiple components. To implement a custom toolbox item, you must derive from System.Drawing.Design.ToolboxItem and override the ToolboxItem.CreateComponentsCore(System.ComponentModel.Design.IDesignerHost), ToolboxItem.Serialize(System.Runtime.Serialization.SerializationInfo, System.Runtime.Serialization.StreamingContext), and ToolboxItem.Deserialize(System.Runtime.Serialization.SerializationInfo, System.Runtime.Serialization.StreamingContext) methods.

The following properties and methods must be configured for a System.Drawing.Design.ToolboxItem to function correctly:

• The ToolboxItem.DisplayName property specifies the label for the toolbox item when displayed in a toolbox.

• The ToolboxItem.TypeName property specifies the fully qualified name of the type of the component that the item creates. If a derived class creates multiple components, the ToolboxItem.TypeName property may or may not be used, contingent on whether a ToolboxItem.CreateComponentsCore(System.ComponentModel.Design.IDesignerHost) method override depends on the value of this property.

• The ToolboxItem.AssemblyName property specifies the assembly that contains the type of a component that the item creates.

• The ToolboxItem.Bitmap property optionally specifies a bitmap image to display next to the display name for the toolbox item in the toolbox.

• The ToolboxItem.Filter property optionally contains any System.ComponentModel.ToolboxItemFilterAttribute objects that determine whether the toolbox item can be used on a particular component.

• The ToolboxItem.CreateComponentsCore(System.ComponentModel.Design.IDesignerHost) method returns the component instance or instances to insert where this tool is used.

• The ToolboxItem.Serialize(System.Runtime.Serialization.SerializationInfo, System.Runtime.Serialization.StreamingContext) method saves the toolbox item to a specified System.Runtime.Serialization.SerializationInfo.

• The ToolboxItem.Deserialize(System.Runtime.Serialization.SerializationInfo, System.Runtime.Serialization.StreamingContext) method configures the toolbox item from the state information contained in the specified System.Runtime.Serialization.SerializationInfo.

• The ToolboxItem.Initialize(Type) method configures the toolbox item to create the specified type of component, if the ToolboxItem.CreateComponentsCore(System.ComponentModel.Design.IDesignerHost) method has not been overridden to behave differently.

• The ToolboxItem.Locked property indicates whether the properties of the toolbox item can be changed. A toolbox item is typically locked after it is added to a toolbox.

• The ToolboxItem.Lock method locks a toolbox item.

• The ToolboxItem.CheckUnlocked method throws an exception if the ToolboxItem.Locked property is true.

Namespace: System.Drawing.Design
Assembly: System.Drawing (in System.Drawing.dll)
Assembly Versions: 1.0.3300.0, 1.0.5000.0, 2.0.0.0