How to create a Browse-able property for class with type dictionary

Question

I created a class that inherits button in win forms How can i create a Browsable property with type dictionary ?

here is my code but i didn't find it in properties menu vb.net

<Browsable(True)>
Property Set_ddn() As Dictionary(Of TextBox, String)
    Get
        Return ddn
    End Get
    Set(ByVal value As Dictionary(Of TextBox, String))
        ddn = value
    End Set
End Property

how can i make it browsable ? or what should i use instead of dictionary?

or another solution

Answer 1

i found the answer here (C#) https://stackoverflow.com/a/42829336/1543991

rewrite code for vb.net

You should write your own type descriptor by deriving from CustomTypeDescriptor or implementing ICustomTypeDescriptor. Here is an example:

MyPropertyDescriptor

Provide a custom description for a property. Here I override Attributes property to provide a new list of attributes for property. For example I check if the property has [Category("Extra")], I also added a [Browsable(false)] to its attribute collection.

Imports System
Imports System.ComponentModel
Imports System.Linq

Public Class MyPropertyDescriptor
Inherits PropertyDescriptor

Private o As PropertyDescriptor

Public Sub New(ByVal originalProperty As PropertyDescriptor)
    MyBase.New(originalProperty)
    o = originalProperty
End Sub

Public Overrides Function CanResetValue(ByVal component As Object) As Boolean
    Return o.CanResetValue(component)
End Function

Public Overrides Function GetValue(ByVal component As Object) As Object
    Return o.GetValue(component)
End Function

Public Overrides Sub ResetValue(ByVal component As Object)
    o.ResetValue(component)
End Sub

Public Overrides Sub SetValue(ByVal component As Object, ByVal value As Object)
    o.SetValue(component, value)
End Sub

Public Overrides Function ShouldSerializeValue(ByVal component As Object) As Boolean
    Return o.ShouldSerializeValue(component)
End Function

Public Overrides ReadOnly Property Attributes As AttributeCollection
    Get
        Dim attributes = MyBase.Attributes.Cast(Of Attribute)().ToList()
        Dim category = attributes.OfType(Of CategoryAttribute)().FirstOrDefault()
        If category IsNot Nothing AndAlso category.Category = "Extra" Then attributes.Add(New BrowsableAttribute(False))
        Return New AttributeCollection(attributes.ToArray())
    End Get
End Property

Public Overrides ReadOnly Property ComponentType As Type
    Get
        Return o.ComponentType
    End Get
End Property

Public Overrides ReadOnly Property IsReadOnly As Boolean
    Get
        Return o.IsReadOnly
    End Get
End Property

Public Overrides ReadOnly Property PropertyType As Type
    Get
        Return o.PropertyType
    End Get
End Property
End Class

MyTypeDescriptor

Used to provide a list of custom property descriptors for a type.

Imports System
Imports System.ComponentModel
Imports System.Linq

Public Class MyTypeDescriptor
    Inherits CustomTypeDescriptor

    Private original As ICustomTypeDescriptor

    Public Sub New(ByVal originalDescriptor As ICustomTypeDescriptor)
        MyBase.New(originalDescriptor)
        original = originalDescriptor
    End Sub

    Public Overrides Function GetProperties() As PropertyDescriptorCollection
        Return Me.GetProperties(New Attribute() {})
    End Function

    Public Overrides Function GetProperties(ByVal attributes As Attribute()) As PropertyDescriptorCollection
        Dim properties = MyBase.GetProperties(attributes).Cast(Of PropertyDescriptor)().[Select](Function(p) New MyPropertyDescriptor(p)).ToArray()
        Return New PropertyDescriptorCollection(properties)
    End Function
End Class

MyTypeDescriptionProvider

Used to connect MyTypeDescriptor to a class using TypeDescriptionProvider attribute.

Imports System
Imports System.ComponentModel

Public Class MyTypeDescriptionProvider
    Inherits TypeDescriptionProvider

    Public Sub New()
        MyBase.New(TypeDescriptor.GetProvider(GetType(Object)))
    End Sub

    Public Overrides Function GetTypeDescriptor(ByVal type As Type, ByVal o As Object) As ICustomTypeDescriptor
        Dim baseDescriptor As ICustomTypeDescriptor = MyBase.GetTypeDescriptor(type, o)
        Return New MyTypeDescriptor(baseDescriptor)
    End Function
End Class

MySampleClass

Contains a property decorated with [Category("Extra")]. So Property2 will not be visible in property grid. (In visual studio or collection editor or even run-time property grid)

<TypeDescriptionProvider(GetType(MyTypeDescriptionProvider))>
Public Class MySampleClass
    Public Property Property1 As Integer
    <Category("Extra")>
    Public Property Property2 As String
End Class

MyComplexComponent

Contains a collection of MySampleClass. So you can see behavior of MySampleClass in collection editor.

Imports System.Collections.ObjectModel
Imports System.ComponentModel

Public Class MyComplexComponent
    Inherits Component

    Public Sub New()
        MySampleClasses = New Collection(Of MySampleClass)()
    End Sub

    <DesignerSerializationVisibility(DesignerSerializationVisibility.Content)>
    Public Property MySampleClasses As Collection(Of MySampleClass)
End Class