Docking Manager

The DockingManager is an advanced container control that automatically lays out it's children within docked panels just like Visual Studio .NET. Use this element easily in XAML, just like the Grid or Canvas elements and use attached properties to specify the dock state and position of the child elements. Your end-users can then fully customize the UI by dragging the dock panels to different locations within the container, float them, arrange them in tabs within a dock panel, hide the dock panel, etc., The dock panels can also operate in auto-hide mode.

Docked Mode The common option is to make the child dock to a side of the container. It can be docked Left, Right, Top or Bottom. Float Mode Docked elements can also be dragged around by the end-user to float at any location on the desktop. Floating can also be setup programmatically. Tabbed Mode Two or more Docked elements can be docked at the same location, one over the other. User can switch between these panels using the tabs that appear automatically in this tabbed mode. All this can be set programmatically also. AutoHide In AutoHide mode, the panels that don't have the focus, automatically collapse to the frames of the container (like the Toolbox in VS.NET) and expands when the user mouse hovers on the tabs representing these collapsed panels.

A Dock Panel can be dragged to any part of the parent window and can be docked/floated at any suitable position. While dragging, the drag cue can be provided in 3 different ways: Shadow, Normal or Border.

The latest state of the docked children is fully persistable when the application shuts down and reapplied when the application loads later, by simply turning on the PersistState property. The state can be persisted in Isolated storage, Registry, or any other custom location in XML or Binary format.

Auto hide animations can be customized between 3 different types: slide, scale or fade.

The Animation delay of the Auto hide window can be controlled for each individual dock windows. It can be changed to slow, normal or fast, as necessary.

Styles and skins can be applied to Docking Manager to add a good look and feel to the application. Docking Manager has built-in skin support like Office2007Blue, Office2007Silver, Office2007Black and Blend.

The Blend type of skin has limited docking options as it does not have a pin button. It contains only one button to switch between dock and float.

Context Menu

The default context menu that gets displayed in the Dock Panel can be customized. You can easily add custom context menu items into this default menu.

AutoHide tab items and its side bar

The side bar containing the tabs of the collapsed panels is also fully customizable using templates.

Buttons

The look and feel of the buttons in the Dock Panel such as hide/collapse, show/expand and close buttons can be fully customizable using templates to match your application's UI theme.

DockWindow Header

The header of a Dock Panel is completely customizable using custom templates.

Drag Provider

Drag provider guides the user while dragging the Dock Panel from one part to another part of the main window. It shows the positions where the Dock Panel can be docked. This drag provider look and feel is fully customizable.

ToolTips

Easily set custom tooltips for each DockPanel area with any custom tooltip content.