Ok, so before you ask why on earth would you bother let me explain

As part of my work over at ClarionAddins I am always looking for way to improve the user experience as well as stretching my knowledge of .Net programming. I thought it might be nice to use WPF but since the Clarion IDE is targeting v2.0 of the .Net framework this is not so easy. Hence this example!

Of course there are many resources out there related to this topic, see below, but nothing I could discover specific to v2.0 so for me it took a little work to get there. I learnt a lot about reflection along the way!

• Walkthrough: Hosting a WPF Composite Control in Windows Forms
• WPF Tutorial – Using WPF In WinForms
• A XAML graphics viewer and validator for Windows Forms

This code assumes that the v3.5 Framework is installed on the target machine. For production it would of course be necessary to test for this and react accordingly.

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using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Windows.Forms;
 
namespace ClarionAddins.WpfTest
{
    public partial class WpfTestForm : Form
    {
        public WpfTestForm ()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
            AddWpfControl();
        }
 
        private void AddWpfControl()
        {
            // You need a full AssemblyQualifiedName for the elementHost class
            string elementHostQualifiedName = "System.Windows.Forms.Integration.ElementHost, WindowsFormsIntegration, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35";
            // Using this it is possible to load the ElementHost class at runtime and create an instance we can use
            Type elemHostType = Type.GetType(elementHostQualifiedName, true);
            object ctrlHost = Activator.CreateInstance(elemHostType);
            // Dock this ElementHost into our WinForms control container
            MethodInfo info = elemHostType.GetMethod("Dock");
            elemHostType.GetProperty("Dock").SetValue(ctrlHost, DockStyle.Fill, null);
            // Finally, add the ElementHost to the WinForms list of controls
            this.Controls.Add((Control)ctrlHost);
 
            // Now, load the WPF UserControl to be displayed
            string currentPath = Path.GetDirectoryName((new System.Uri(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().CodeBase)).AbsolutePath);
            string userControlPath = Path.Combine(currentPath, "WpfControlLibrary.dll");
            Assembly assembly = Assembly.LoadFrom(userControlPath);
            Type userControlType = assembly.GetType("WpfControlLibrary.MyUserControl", true);
            // Create an instance of the UserControl and call the InitializeComponent method
            object userControl = Activator.CreateInstance(userControlType);
            info = userControlType.GetMethod("InitializeComponent");
            info.Invoke(userControl, null);
 
            // Last of all, attach the UserControl to the ElementHost !
            elemHostType.GetProperty("Child").SetValue(ctrlHost, userControl, null);
        }
    }
}

Here is a screenshot of this technique being used in an addin I am working on:

-brahn

This one came to my attention a while back because of something that happens in the “Make all toolbars the same size” feature of my MainToolbarExtras addin. When the addin first adjusts the toolbar sizes it would trigger the HtmlHelp2 template to refresh its indexes. While not much of an issue depending on your hardware, this takes at least a little time and is annoying. Also, having a gazillion Pads in the IDE for a help system that is of no use just seems silly.

Normally you can just go to the AddinManager, select “Show Pre Installed Addins” and disable the addin you don’t want.

However, the HtmlHelp2 addin is a little bit special. It contains a special property in the addin definition; addInManagerHidden = "true" so you cannot actually see it in the Addin Manager!

The way to get rid of it is to delete or rename the HtmlHelp2 addin files.

1. Close the IDE
2. Navigate to \Clarion8\Bin\Addins\Misc\HtmlHelp2
3. Delete or rename the two *.addin files (if you choose to rename them, rename the extension e.g. HtmlHelp2.addin.bak)
4. Next time you start the IDE the HtmlHelp2 Menu items and Pads will no longer be there!

Of course you will have to redo this each time you load a new release from SoftVelocity…

Interestingly it should be possible for SV to “register” their help file so that it displays in the HtmlHelp2 UI but for some reason they have not done this.

-brahn

NOTE: This is still a work in progress but I plan to have it ready for release next week.

So far it is working for all the main property grids except those in reports. I am very excited to have got this code working and I think it will be a huge productivity boost.

The property grid state is saved on a per "context" basis. This means that, for example, all buttons in the window designer will have the same expanded/contracted categories in their property grid. Same with lists, prompts, etc.

This week I will be concentrating on stabilising and testing this new feature as well as making sure it also works in all areas of the IDE! If I get a chance some other ideas are: expand/contract all buttons, filter grid items, hide grid items.

Here is a short video showing how it works.

-brahn

http://clarionaddins.com

I plan to continue to blog here, the new site is more about making the addins easier to find and support.

Enjoy!

I am really sorry about this, I thought I had it fixed a few months back but it seems to have returned. Thanks to Alan or helping me track down the problem. It could be IE or it could be the plugin I am using for downloads. I will have another look into it tomorrow and hopefully find the cause.

In the meantime, Firefox seems to be fine and I guess other browsers too.

Oh, and I am still working like mad to get the new website up… this one is specifically for the addins and I am very excited about it. It is surprising how long the little details take though!

-brahn

At the moment there are two known exceptions:
1. The “Application Editor” is not available for manipulation by addins at this time
2. The ”Entity Browser” for individual tables in the DCT Explorer does not refresh correctly. This means that when you double click on table for editing the toolbar of the new tab will not resize until a focus change event occurs.

How To:

1. Download the latest version of MainToolbarExtras.sdaddin
2. Install or update using the addin manager
3. Restart the IDE
4. Right click on the Main Toolbar (anywhere) to get a context menu like this:

Download:	MainToolbarExtras.sdaddin
Version:	0.3
Updated:	May 10, 2011
Size:	11.82 KB
Downloads:	407

As well as the feature included in v0.1 of this addin you can now define the size of the main toolbar and icons!

This, and all addins found on this site, work fine in both Clarion 7 and Clarion 8.

How To:

1. Download the latest version of MainToolbarExtras.sdaddin
2. Install or update using the addin manager
3. Restart the IDE
4. Right click on the Main Toolbar (anywhere) to get a context menu like this:

   

    
    
    

Download:	MainToolbarExtras.sdaddin
Version:	0.3
Updated:	May 10, 2011
Size:	11.82 KB
Downloads:	407

However, since Clarion 8 creates a new config directory you will have to reinstall your addins.

There are two ways to do this:

1. Download and install addins again using the Clarion 8 Addin Manager

   OR

2. Copy the Addin folder from %appdata%\SoftVelocity\Clarion\7.0\ to %appdata%\SoftVelocity\Clarion\8.0\

Some of the changes in C8 make some addins redundant (such as the fixed F1 context sensitive help, yay!) and others duplicate parts of ClarionEdge addins, such as the Clear All button on the errors pad and the AutoSave addin for options (yay again!).

Over the next few weeks I will try to update the features where necessary to make them fit into the new IDE a little better.

-brahn

This is a very basic addin which shows you how you can add additional items in the Quick Starts section of the New Solution, Project or Application dialog. It is based on the shipping quick starts found in the ClarionWin backend binding and hacked together to give you an idea of what is possible.

Disclaimer: I have not actually tested the code generated by this example project template but it should give you an idea of how it works!

There are a few things that are done incorrectly in this example, such as not using string resources for the prompts but you should get the idea. You can inspect the code once you have installed the addin by looking in the %appdata%\SoftVelocity\Clarion\7.0\AddIns\ folder or just extract the contents of the sdaddin package (it is just a zip file). There is no DLL associated with this, all you need is a .addin file which defines the search path for the XPT files which define the quick starts.

Download:	QuickStartTemplates.sdaddin
Version:	0.1
Updated:	June 3, 2011
Size:	1.49 KB
Downloads:	95

-brahn

Check it out, download the addin and play with the source and get cracking writing your own addins

Thanks for the opportunity Dave!

-brahn