Hi VS,
#1 Setting the AutoHideOnLoad extended property on the docked control to true in the designer should cause the control to load auto-hidden.
#2 I''m not aware of a way to prevent a docked control from taking the full vertical height. You may want to look into replacing any panels you''re using with our
FlowLayout control, as FlowLayout will allow your controls to fill the space they''re given, rather than having to be aligned horizontally or vertically.
Please feel free to ask any more questions about docking you might have.
Regards,
Gregory Austin
Syncfusion Inc.