Dock-Based UX for WinForms
Visual Studio inspired Docking and MDI
The DevExpress Docking Library includes dozens of UI/UX options, which allow you to create Microsoft Visual Studio inspired Dock Window interfaces with absolute ease. Dock hints and built-in context menus make docking operations straightforward and transparent.
All panel arrangement tasks you can imagine are easily accomplished via simple drag and drop operations. Our WinForms Docking Library includes built-in support for auto-hide windows, splitters, tab containers, and dock hints.
We've used DevExpress Controls for a few years now and are more than happy with it. There's never been a problem we can't solve with DevExpress. It saves us a lot of time and helps us make a good impression on our customers.
Fredy Wenger / CEO and founder MATRIX Solutions AG
Auto-Hide & Floating Panels
Pin a panel or make it stay on top.
Dock panels replicate the auto-hide functionality introduced by Visual Studio. In this mode, an auto-hide panel is automatically minimized when the mouse pointer leaves its region.
Using drag-and-drop, you can dock any panel to any edge of a parent container or to other dock panels, or you can make any panel float over other controls. A floating panel is always on top of all other panels.
And yes, our Docking Library includes tab and split panel containers so that you can efficiently ogranize dock windows.
Save/Restore Layouts
Save and load runtime customizations made by users.
You can save layout information to a XML file, stream or system registry, and then restore it. This information may include the visibility, position, state, size of dock panels, etc.
Been a customer a long time and have never been disappointed with the quality of work or service we've gotten from DevExpress. Their support team is amazing and usually answer our questions in less than a day.
Robert Fahey / .NET Developer, Adacel
Layout Assistant
Faster and easier way to create forms
The DevExpress WinForms installer automatically adds our Layout Assistant Extension to Visual Studio. When enabled, the extension provides smart tags and links for forms and user controls. It also allows you to add DevExpress UI controls to your form areas with a simple mouse click.
Since I've been using DevExpress, developing has become a lot easier and more important--a lot more fun. And, whenever you have a question, just contact DevExpress Support and you know a solution is near.
David De Kegel