Making a Control a Dockable Child
Go Up to Implementing Drag and Dock in Controls
To make a control a dockable child
- Set its DragKind property to dkDock. When DragKind is dkDock, dragging the control moves the control to a new docking site or undocks the control so that it becomes a floating window. When DragKind is dkDrag (the default), dragging the control starts a drag-and-drop operation which must be implemented using using the OnDragOver, OnEndDrag, and OnDragDrop events.
- Set its DragMode to dmAutomatic. When DragMode is dmAutomatic, dragging (for drag-and-drop or docking, depending on DragKind) is initiated automatically when the user starts dragging the control with the mouse. When DragMode is dmManual, you can still begin a drag-and-dock (or drag-and-drop) operation by calling the BeginDrag method.
- Set its FloatingDockSiteClass property to indicate the TWinControl descendant that should host the control when it is undocked and left as a floating window. When the control is released and not over a docking site, a windowed control of this class is created dynamically, and becomes the parent of the dockable child. If the dockable child control is a descendant of TWinControl, it is not necessary to create a separate floating dock site to host the control, although you may want to specify a form in order to get a border and title bar. To omit a dynamic container window, set FloatingDockSiteClass to the same class as the control, and it will become a floating window with no parent.