Integrated Control Designers

Design-time support for BeepBlock, BeepForms, and BeepForms sub-controls — configuration wizards, field editors, and policy management

Table of Contents

Overview

The integrated controls in TheTechIdea.Beep.Winform.Controls.Integrated have dedicated designers for their unique design-time needs:

  • BeepBlock — Data block configuration wizard, field definition editor
  • BeepForms — Form shell configuration
  • BeepForms sub-controls — Header, CommandBar, QueryShelf, PersistenceShelf, Toolbar, StatusStrip

BeepBlockDesigner

Provides design-time configuration of data blocks:

  • Setup Wizard — BeepBlockSetupWizardForm for step-by-step block configuration
  • Field Definition Editor — BeepBlockFieldEditorForm for managing field definitions
  • Policy Editor — BeepFieldControlTypePolicyEditorForm for field-to-control type mapping
  • Layout Mode — BeepBlockFieldControlsLayoutModeHelper for grid/list/card layout selection

BeepFormsDesigner

Provides design-time configuration of the BeepForms coordinator:

  • Form shell style selection
  • Sub-control positioning (header, toolbar, status strip)
  • Data connection binding

BeepFormsHostDesigner

Manages the BeepForms host control:

  • Bootstrapper configuration
  • Command routing setup
  • Notification service wiring

Shelf Designers

DesignerControlDescription
BeepFormsHeaderDesignerBeepFormsHeaderForm header with title, icon, navigation
BeepFormsCommandBarDesignerBeepFormsCommandBarCommand bar button configuration
BeepFormsQueryShelfDesignerBeepFormsQueryShelfQuery shelf with caption mode
BeepFormsPersistenceShelfDesignerBeepFormsPersistenceShelfPersistence shelf buttons
BeepFormsToolbarDesignerBeepFormsToolbarToolbar configuration
BeepFormsStatusStripDesignerBeepFormsStatusStripStatus strip with message severity

Integrated Editors

IntegratedFormsDefinitionEditors

Custom type editors for BeepForms and BeepBlock definition objects:

  • BeepFormsDefinition — Form configuration object editor
  • BeepBlockDefinition — Block configuration object editor
  • BeepBlockEntityDefinition — Entity definition editor

Converters

  • DataBlockConnectionNameConverter — Connection name in Properties window
  • DataBlockEntityConverter — Entity name picker
  • DataBlockConverter — Block reference converter
  • DataConnectionConverter — Connection picker

Examples

// At design time:
// 1. Drop BeepBlock on form
// 2. Smart-tag → "Setup Wizard" → configure data source, entity, layout
// 3. Smart-tag → "Edit Fields" → add/remove/reorder field definitions
// 4. Fields auto-generate as labeled input controls

// At runtime:
var block = new BeepBlock();
block.Definition = new BeepBlockDefinition
{
    EntityName = "Customer",
    LayoutMode = BlockLayoutMode.Grid,
    Fields = new List<BeepFieldDefinition>
    {
        new BeepFieldDefinition { FieldName = "Id", ControlType = "Numeric" },
        new BeepFieldDefinition { FieldName = "Name", ControlType = "Text" },
        new BeepFieldDefinition { FieldName = "Status", ControlType = "Combo" }
    }
};