dotnet windows forms designtime: Hi there,

I have successfully created a custom forms designer in VB.NET 2005, and this
works very well.

However, I cannot seem to see how to load and save the designer's layout,
ie. where the controls are on the form, and their properties. I have tried
several ways, and researched all afternoon.

Can anyone please tell me how to go about this the best way.

Many thanks,

Hi David,

Thanks for your post.

For your statement of "I have successfully created a custom forms designer
in VB.NET 2005", do you mean that you have implemented all the design-time
services of VS.net designer, such as IDesignerHost, etc..? I assume so.

Normally, to load and store the components on the designer, we should
implement a class which inherited from
System.ComponentModel.Design.Serialization.DesignerLoader class. Also, we
should have a class implementing IDesignerSerializationManager interface.
Then we can just code DOM to serialize the components as code file.

Microsoft has released a KB for implementing a customized designer. In this
customized designer, it implemented the save and store function. Please
refer to it:
"HOW TO: Serialize Web Server Controls by Using Visual C# .NET"
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=328547

Note: the serialization code is in SampleDesignerLoader.cs file.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,
Jeffrey Tan
Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
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