Can anyone have work in saving a panel layouts? like there's a default view and there is a custom view of panel layout and it can saved, so if you open the application, the last view saved will be the panel layout view

[AronJake]

No description provided.

[pmrochen]

You can save your layout in your main Form's OnFormClosing this way:

protected override void OnFormClosing(FormClosingEventArgs e)
{
	base.OnFormClosing(e);

	if (!e.Cancel)
	{
		// Save to Windows registry -- you can also use file or any other Stream type
		using (MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream())
		{
			dockPanel_.SaveAsXml(stream, System.Text.Encoding.UTF8);

			using (RegistryKey key = Registry.CurrentUser.CreateSubKey(Program.RegistryPath))
			{
				if (key != null)
					key.SetValue("DockPanelConfig", stream.ToArray());
			}
		}
	}
}

...an then restore it in OnLoad:

protected override void OnLoad(EventArgs e)
{
	base.OnLoad(e);

	bool configLoaded = false;
	using (RegistryKey key = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(Program.RegistryPath))
	{
		if (key != null)
		{
			byte[] config = key.GetValue("DockPanelConfig", null) as byte[];
			if (config != null)
			{
				dockPanel_.SuspendLayout(true);

				try
				{
					using (MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream(config, false))
					{
						dockPanel_.LoadFromXml(stream, delegate (string persistString)
						{
							// Map serialized type name to actual instance
							if (persistString == typeof(OutputForm).ToString())
								return outputForm_;
							else if (persistString == typeof(ErrorListForm).ToString())
								return errorListForm_;
							// Add the rest of your docking items here...
							else
								return null;
						});

						configLoaded = true;
					}
				}
				catch (SystemException)
				{
					configLoaded = false;
				}
				finally
				{
					dockPanel_.ResumeLayout(true, true);
				}
			}
		}
	}

	if (!configLoaded)
	{
		// Set the default layout
		outputForm_.Show(dockPanel_);
		errorListForm_.Show(dockPanel_);
		//...
	}
}

[AronJake]

@pmprochen, Thank you for helping out. I will try this

[AronJake]

I have successfully save an xml file but when im trying to load the xml, it will show the layout in 0.1 seconds and close again, its like a white shadow but the layout from what i save is correct, I just need to load the dockcontent and controls inside it properly. Can anyone help me to fix this issue? Its a big help

private void SaveLayout(string fileName)
{
using (var stream = new FileStream(fileName, FileMode.Create))
{
dockPanel1.SaveAsXml(stream, Encoding.UTF8);
}
}

    private void LoadLayout(string fileName)
    {
        if (File.Exists(fileName))
        {
            // Check if the DockPanel is already initialized
            if (dockPanel1.DockWindows.Count > 0 || dockPanel1.Contents.Count > 0)
            {
                // Clear the existing layout
                dockPanel1.SuspendLayout();
                CloseAllPanels();
                dockPanel1.ResumeLayout(true);
            }

            // Load the new layout
            using (var stream = new FileStream(fileName, FileMode.Open))
            {

                dockPanel1.LoadFromXml(stream, DeserializeDockContent);
                
                //Debug.WriteLine("Read Me");
            }
        }
    }
    private IDockContent DeserializeDockContent(string persistString)
    {
        // Implement the deserialization logic for your specific dock content types
        // For example:
        if (persistString == typeof(Form4).ToString())
        {
            return new Form4();
        }
        else
        {
            // Handle other types if needed
            return null;
        }
    }
    
      private void CloseAllPanels()
    {
        List<DockContent> contentsToClose = new List<DockContent>();

        foreach (var panel in dockPanel1.Panes)
        {
            foreach (var content in panel.Contents)
            {
                contentsToClose.Add((DockContent)content);
            }
        }

        foreach (var content in contentsToClose)
        {
            content.DockHandler.Close();
        }
    }
    
    //this is how I create the dock contents panel.
    
     private void CreateDockablePanel7()
    {
        // Create a new dockable panel
        DockContent dockableContent = new DockContent();
        dockableContent.Text = "Pass Details";

      

        Panel passDetails = new Panel();
        passDetails.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;


       
        dockableContent.Controls.Add(passDetails);

        passDetails.BackgroundImage = Properties.Resources.pass_details; // Replace with the name of your image
        passDetails.BackgroundImageLayout = ImageLayout.Zoom;


        // Show the dockable panel inside the dockPanel

        dockableContent.Show(dockPanel1, WeifenLuo.WinFormsUI.Docking.DockState.DockTopAutoHide);

    }