Adapter Classes

Dock exposes a small set of helper classes that adapt the core interfaces to different host environments or provide additional runtime services. The built-in model base classes (DockWindow, DockBase, DockableBase) wire these adapters in, so most applications interact with them through IDock, IDockable, and IDockWindow. You can use the adapters directly when implementing custom base types or host integrations.

HostAdapter

HostAdapter implements IHostAdapter and bridges a dock window (IDockWindow) with a platform-specific host window (IHostWindow). It resolves the host window via IFactory.GetHostWindow when needed, pushes layout, title, size, and position into the host when presenting, and reads the current size and position back when saving.

Typical usage looks like the following:

var hostAdapter = new HostAdapter(dockWindow);
hostAdapter.Present(isDialog: false);

The adapter fetches the host window instance from IFactory.GetHostWindow if it has not already been assigned. Calling Save stores the last known position and dimensions so they can be restored later. Exit closes the host and clears the reference, and SetActive forwards the activation request to the host window.

NavigateAdapter

NavigateAdapter implements INavigateAdapter and provides history-based navigation for docks. It maintains two stacks for back and forward navigation and exposes methods such as GoBack, GoForward, and Navigate. Navigate accepts an IDockable, a dockable ID (string), or null to reset navigation.

Create an instance for a given IDock and use it to issue navigation commands:

var adapter = new NavigateAdapter(rootDock);
adapter.Navigate(document, bSnapshot: true);

The adapter cooperates with the factory to activate dockables and can also show or close floating windows via ShowWindows and ExitWindows. The built-in DockBase types already use this adapter to implement GoBack, GoForward, Navigate, and Close.

TrackingAdapter

TrackingAdapter stores bounds and pointer positions used when dockables are visible, pinned, or displayed as tabs. It tracks both control-local and screen pointer positions. The docking logic reads these values when calculating drop targets or restoring the layout after a drag operation.

A new adapter contains NaN values for all coordinates until you call the various Set* methods. DockableBase uses it to implement the IDockable tracking methods, so most applications interact with TrackingAdapter indirectly through the built-in docking controls.

When to use adapters

The provided adapters give you a ready-made implementation for common behaviors such as window hosting and dock navigation. You can derive from them or implement the corresponding interfaces yourself if your application has special requirements.

For an overview of other Dock concepts see the documentation index.