How to get IDesignerHost from VS 2003 Add-In

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Song - 27 Oct 2005 01:26 GMT

I tried with the following C# code:

Window winObject = applicationObject.ActiveDocument.ActiveWindow;
Object activeObject = winObject.Object;
IDesignerHost designerHost = (IDesignerHost)activeObject;
if ( designerHost == null )
return;

But it does not work. The variable designerHost is always null. Anything
wrong?

I read the following article:
HOWTO: Getting IDesignerHost and IHTMLDocument of WebForms from a Visual
Studio .NET add-in
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;555327

It said that VSIP SDK 2003 Extras is needed to get IDesignerHost interface
of a Web form.

My question is:
Does this apply to Window form too? I have only MSDN professional
subscrption. Does it include VSIP SDK?

Reply to this Message

Carlos J. Quintero [VB MVP] - 27 Oct 2005 09:33 GMT

Hi Song,

I wrote the article, the article is right and your code seems to be fine.
You don´t need the VSIP SDK (which, by the way, is downloadable for
everybody, not just MSDN subscribers) to get the IDesignerHost of a Windows
Forms designer, only for Web forms. Also, form designers for Smart Device
forms always return a null IDesignerHost.

So, the question is: which kind of window is active when you invoke the
feature of the add-in? Is winObject.Object null for that window? If that
property is null, you will not be able to get a IDesignerHost, by any means
(VSIP Extras or not), from it....

Signature

Best regards,

Carlos J. Quintero

MZ-Tools: Productivity add-ins for Visual Studio .NET, VB6, VB5 and VBA
You can code, design and document much faster.
Free resources for add-in developers:
http://www.mztools.com

>I tried with the following C# code:
>
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> Does this apply to Window form too? I have only MSDN professional
> subscrption. Does it include VSIP SDK?

Reply to this Message

Song - 27 Oct 2005 18:58 GMT

Carlos,
Thanks. I see what the problem is now. I am using the designer for smart
device. Is there a way to get IDesignerHost from the designer for smart
device now?

> Hi Song,
>
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
> > Does this apply to Window form too? I have only MSDN professional
> > subscrption. Does it include VSIP SDK?

Reply to this Message

Carlos J. Quintero [VB MVP] - 28 Oct 2005 09:13 GMT

AFAIK, no using VS.NET 2003, I don´t know why. Maybe it is a bug or maybe MS
could not make it work until VS 2005.

Signature

> Carlos,
> Thanks. I see what the problem is now. I am using the designer for smart
> device. Is there a way to get IDesignerHost from the designer for smart
> device now?

Reply to this Message

How to get IDesignerHost from VS 2003 Add-In

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