Few questions about custom controls

Yonatann — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:26:48 GMT

Hi,
I'm developing a custom control using C# to provide drop down list with auto-complete (type-ahead) functionality. My control is working fine expect that it is taking the values list directly from a WS, my customer want it to take the values from a secondary data-source inside the form.

1. Is there a way for a custom control (.net code, deployed as an Active-X) to access the form assets (i.e. the secondary data-source)? this.container and this.partent are null, how can I access the form object?
2. Is there a way for a custom control to add a property to the designer? I mean that when the user will right click on the control and select "properties" he will see custom properties that he can change.
3. The built-in controls (Text Box, Combo Box, etc.) have a set of standard designer fields: Data Validation, Rules, etc… Is there a way for an Active-X control (developed with C#, VB6 or whatever) to implement this designer fields? If no, why? Doesn't Microsoft provide a way to build control with the same rich functionality as the built-in controls?

Thanks.

Controls

Few questions about custom controls