MDI Application Support
Tabbed MDI Interfaces
Do you prefer tabbed document interface like in Visual Studio or Microsoft Document Explorer over traditional cascading MDI interface? Simply drop the XtraTabbedMdiManager component onto the MDI container form. That's really it - you don't have to do anything else. MDI children will be automatically arranged into tabs, end-users will be able to switch between tabs using standard shortcuts, rearrange documents by dragging tabs, close and navigate documents using built-in buttons.
If you find that you require more capabilities than is offered by the standard tabbed MDI interface, you have full control via a comprehensive set of properties and events. They include:
- Customizable location and orientation of tab headers;
- The ability to display images within tab headers;
- Two built-in tab orders for documents and the ability to manually specify the next tab to be selected;
- Events that allow you to respond to the tab addition, removal and selection.
Ribbon Merging in MDI Applications
Similar to toolbars and menus, the RibbonControl supports MDI merging. This allows you to save working space by automatically moving bar commands from a child form to the main form when maximizing a child.
You don't have to write any code to enable this feature. Simply specify when merging should take place - when the main form is activated or when it's maximized.
Toolbars and Menus in MDI Applications
The XtraBars Suite was designed to fully support MDI Applications. The list below describes some of
the features available to those building MDI applications:
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Toolbars and menus can reside both on the parent and child MDI windows;
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The parent window's main menu displays buttons that control the layout of child windows when a child is maximized;
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You can specify if and when child and parent menus and toolbars should be merged using the parent BarManager's MdiMenuMergeStyle property;
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You can specify how menus are merged using each item's MergeType and MergeOrder properties.
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