Implementing the Settings UI

In this chapter you will learn how to expose file type plug-in configuration settings through a user interface.

Add an Option to Lock Product Codes

Start by adding a user control element to your WinUI project, which you can call, for example, SettingsUI.cs. Add a group box and a check box (named cb_LockPrdCodes) to the control, which should look as shown below:

LockPrdCodesOption

As product codes should be locked by default, set the Checked property to True.

Your SettingsUI class needs to use the following namespace:

Sdl.FileTypeSupport.Framework.Core.Settings

The Settings Bundle

Each plug-in uses a settings bundle to store and retrieve settings. The mechanism for doing that is provided in a separate class called UserSettings, which we will implement later (Loading and Saving the Settings). For now, we create an object based on the UserSettings class:

private UserSettings _userSettings;

So that we can obtain the correct user settings for this settings page from the Filter Framework, we need to tell the framework which settings we need. We can do this by implementing IFileTypeSettingsAware:

public partial class SettingsUI : UserControl, IFileTypeSettingsAware<UserSettings>

Initialize the Plug-in User Interface Settings When the user raises the plug-in user interface, the control element should be set according to what is stored in the settings bundle. This is handled by setting the _userSettings object (which we declared previously) and implementing the Settings property from IFileTypeSettingsAware.

public UserSettings Settings
{
    get
    {
        return _userSettings;
    }
    set
    {
        _userSettings = value;
        UpdateControl();
    }
}

During initialization the UpdateControl method is invoked, which sets the state of the check box (checked or unchecked) to the value of the LockPrdCodes member of the UserSettings class as shown below:

public void UpdateControl()
{
    cb_LockPrdCodes.Checked = _userSettings.LockPrdCodes;
}

Save the Settings to the Settings Bundle

Conversely, the user interface needs to save the check box setting to the settings bundle, e.g. when the user raises the plug-in UI, changes the check box setting, and then clicks OK to apply the changed setting to the settings bundle:

private void cb_LockPrdCodes_CheckedChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    _userSettings.LockPrdCodes = cb_LockPrdCodes.Checked;
}

Putting it All Together

The full code of your user control looks as shown below:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Data;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using Sdl.FileTypeSupport.Framework.Core.Settings;

namespace Sdk.FileTypeSupport.Samples.SimpleText.WinUI
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Implements the user interface for the file type definition.
    /// </summary>
    #region "ClassDeclaration"
    public partial class SettingsUI : UserControl, IFileTypeSettingsAware<UserSettings>
    #endregion
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Create a settings object based on the UserSettings class. 
        /// </summary>
        #region "SettingsObject"
        private UserSettings _userSettings;
        #endregion

        /// <summary>
        /// Initalize the user interface control by setting it to the
        /// setting value stored in the settings bundle.
        /// </summary>
        #region "Initialize"
        public SettingsUI()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }
        #endregion


        /// <summary>
        /// Reset the user interface control to its default value, which is
        /// checked, i.e. the product lock option should be enabled
        /// by default.
        /// </summary>
        #region "UpdateControl"
        public void UpdateControl()
        {
            cb_LockPrdCodes.Checked = _userSettings.LockPrdCodes;
        }
        #endregion

        /// <summary>
        /// Save the settings based on the value of the the check box.
        /// The setting is saved through the UserSettings class, which
        /// handles the plug-in settings bundle.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="sender"></param>
        /// <param name="e"></param>
        #region "SaveSetting"
        private void cb_LockPrdCodes_CheckedChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            _userSettings.LockPrdCodes = cb_LockPrdCodes.Checked;
        }
        #endregion

        /// <summary>
        /// Implementation of <code>IFileTypeSettingsAware</code> allowing the Filter Framework
        /// to pass through the user settings so that we can initialize the UI.
        /// </summary>
        #region "ApplySettings"
        public UserSettings Settings
        {
            get
            {
                return _userSettings;
            }
            set
            {
                _userSettings = value;
                UpdateControl();
            }
        }
        #endregion
    }
}

Implementing the Settings UI

Add an Option to Lock Product Codes

The Settings Bundle

Save the Settings to the Settings Bundle

Putting it All Together

See Also

Note