The virtual DesignerActionList.GetSortedActionItems method is implemented to return, in the expected display order, a collection of objects derived from the System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionItem class. These items can be of the following specific types.

System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionHeaderItem	The group label, displayed in bold.
System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionTextItem	A label, displayed in a plain font.
System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionPropertyItem	A panel item associated with a property. May also display a check mark or property editor associated with the underlying property.
System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionMethodItem	A panel item displayed as a hyperlink and associated with a method.

For every System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionMethodItem and System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionPropertyItem, a corresponding method or property must be added to the programmer-supplied class derived from the System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionList class. Each method and property item is displayed as an active entry; interacting with it through the user interface (UI) invokes the corresponding method or property, respectively.

Property items have a special panel-item interface that enables display and manipulation of their corresponding property values. For more information, see the System.ComponentModel.Design.DesignerActionPropertyItem class.

The order of the items in the returned array reflects the order that they will appear in the panel. The items are grouped according to the DesignerActionItem.Category property, using the following rules:

• The category of the first item encountered signifies the start of the first group. That group continues as long as each succeeding item is of the same category. When an item of a different, new category is encountered, a new group is created and the item is placed in it.

• If an item has a type different than the current group, but that category has already been used, the item is placed in the matching existing category.

• If an item does not have a category, it is placed in a miscellaneous group at the end of the panel. This group also contains items whose DesignerActionItem.AllowAssociate property is set to false.

The DesignerActionList.GetSortedActionItems method is called when the panel is first created. You must call the DesignerActionUIService.Refresh(System.ComponentModel.IComponent) method to update the list of items displayed in the panel.

Namespace: System.ComponentModel.Design
Assembly: System.Design (in System.Design.dll)
Assembly Versions: 2.0.0.0