Hi Gregg,

Firstly, to set a default value for a property of a class, we set the value
of this property in the class's constructor first and then use the
DefaultValueAttribute on the property to specify the default value. In the
Properties window, any values other than the default value of the property
will shown in a bold font.

Secondly, if a property is overriable, we can derive from the class and
override the property. Change the initial value of the property in the
derived class's constructor and adorn the DefaultAttribute on the override
property to specify the new default value so as to change the default value
of the property.

To your question, if the Calendar property is overriable in the VC class,
you can add a new property in the MyVC class to hide the Calendar property.
The following is a sample to do this.

public partial class VC : UserControl
   {
       public VC()
       {
           InitializeComponent();
           calendar = new MonthCalendar();          
       }
       private MonthCalendar calendar;

       [TypeConverter(typeof(ExpandableObjectConverter)),
DesignerSerializationVisibility(DesignerSerializationVisibility.Content)]
       public virtual MonthCalendar Calendar
       {
           get { return calendar; }
           set { calendar = value; }
       }        
   }

public class DerivedType:MonthCalendar
   {
       public DerivedType()
       {
           BackColor = Color.Red;
       }
       [DefaultValue(typeof(Color),"Red")]
       public override Color BackColor
       {
           get
           {
               return base.BackColor;
           }
           set
           {
               base.BackColor = value;
           }
       }
   }

public partial class MyVC : VC
{
       public MyVC()
       {
           InitializeComponent();
           calendar = new DerivedType();
       }
       private DerivedType calendar;

       
[TypeConverter(typeof(ExpandableObjectConverter)),DesignerSerializationVisib
ility(DesignerSerializationVisibility.Content)]
       public new DerivedType Calendar
       {
           get { return calendar; }
           set { calendar = value; }
       }
}

At last, the ShouldSerialize*** method is used by designer to determine
whether the specified property should be serialized in the
InitializeComponent method. The Reset*** method is used by the designer to
reset the property to the default value in the Properties window. The
DefaultValueAttribute does the all the work these two methods do.

Hope this helps.
If you have any question, please feel free to let me know.

Sincerely,
Linda Liu
Microsoft Online Community Support

Delighting our customers is our #1 priority. We welcome your comments and
suggestions about how we can improve the support we provide to you. Please
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