How to dynamically show/hide a tool item based on the availability of an assembly

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Dynamically show/hide a tool item based on the availability of an assembly with LinsUIWPF Suite.

If a command is located inside an assembly which is optional, how to show/hide a tool item, which is associated to the command, based on the availability of the assembly. This page will show you the way to do it.

Prerequisite: Follow the link How to create a new project to create your application with LinsUIWPF Suite.

1.     Assume you have an assembly AdvanceOpertaion.dll,

First step, create a command inside the assembly AdvanceOpertaion.dll as follows,

namespace AdvanceOperation.Commands

{

class AdvanceOperationCommand : LinsUICommand

{

public AdvanceOperationCommand(long nCommandID, object data) : base(nCommandID, data)

{

}

public override void Execute(object parameter)

{

base.Execute(parameter);

///////////////////////////////////

// Execute your command here

///////////////////////////////////

}

public override bool CanExecute(object parameter)

{

return true;

}

}

}

Second step, create the following initialization class and method inside the assembly AdvanceOpertaion.dll as follows,

namespace AdvanceOperation

{

public static partial class InitializeAdvanceOperation

{

public static void Initialize()

{

CreateCommands();

}

private static void CreateCommands()

{

long nCommandID = 1002;

LinsUICommand command = new AdvanceOperationCommand(nCommandID, null);

}

}

}

Third step, inside your xaml file in your application, bind the tool item’s visibility as follows,

<src:SurfaceSlider

xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"

xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"

xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"

xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"

xmlns:src="clr-namespace:LinsUIWPF;assembly=LinsUIWPF" 

x:Class="Demo.SurfaceSliders.MainSurfaceSlider" 

xmlns:localConverters="clr-namespace:Demo.Converters"

mc:Ignorable="d" Height="435" Width="1130">

<src:SurfaceSlider.Resources>

<ResourceDictionary>

<localConverters:AdvanceOperationVisibilityConverter x:Key="advanceOperationVisibilityConverter"/>

</ResourceDictionary>

</src:SurfaceSlider.Resources>

<!--------------------------------------------->   

<src:SurfaceSliderTasksPanel>

<src:TaskGroup>

<src:TaskButton ButtonType="LARGE" CommandID="1002" Visibility="{Binding Path=CommandID, RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self},Converter={StaticResource advanceOperationVisibilityConverter}}">

<Grid HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch">

<TextBlock Grid.Row="0" Text="Advance Operation" FontWeight="Thin" FontSize="12" FontStyle="Italic" HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" Margin="10,10,0,0"/>

</Grid>

</src:TaskButton>

</src:TaskGroup>

</src:SurfaceSliderTasksPanel> 

</src:SurfaceSlider>

Fourth step, create a converter in your application as follows,

namespace Demo.Converters

{

public class AdvanceOperationVisibilityConverter : IValueConverter

{

public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)

{

// Check to see whether value is present or not.

long commandID = (long)value;

LinsUICommand command = null;

return LinsUICommandManager.TryGetCommand(commandID, out command) ? Visibility.Visible : Visibility.Hidden;

}

public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)

{

return null;

}

}

}

Finally add the following codes at the place where you want to load and initialize the specified assembly, AdvanceOpertaion.dll,

string csAdvanceOperationAssemblyFullName = “C:\\Users\\Projects\\Application\\Release\\AdvanceOpertaion.dll”;

LinsUIWPFUtil.InitializeAssembly(

csAdvanceOperationAssemblyFullName,

"AdvanceOpertaion.InitializeAdvanceOperation",

"Initialize",

null);

When you run your application, the taskbutton “Advance Operation” will be hidden until the assembly AdvanceOpertaion.dll is loaded.

   

References:
Command,  
Command Events,
Commands Manager,
Create a Command,
Features,
How To,
Index,
Instruction,
LinsUIWPFDockingManager,
LinsUIWPFUtil,
Tool Items Manager