Dock

Dock Code-Only Guide

This guide shows how to create a minimal Dock layout entirely in C#. It does not rely on MVVM helpers or XAML markup. The example uses the Dock.Model.Avalonia factory together with DockControl.

Step-by-step tutorial

1. Create a new Avalonia project

   dotnet new avalonia.app -o MinimalDockApp
   cd MinimalDockApp
   

2. Install the Dock packages

   dotnet add package Dock.Avalonia
   dotnet add package Dock.Model.Avalonia
   dotnet add package Dock.Serializer
   

3. Initialize Dock purely in code

   The program below builds a single document layout and assigns it to DockControl:

   using Avalonia;
   using Avalonia.Controls;
   using Avalonia.Controls.ApplicationLifetimes;
   using Dock.Avalonia.Controls;
   using Dock.Model.Avalonia;
   using Dock.Model.Avalonia.Controls;
   using Dock.Model.Core;
   
   namespace MinimalDockApp;
   
   internal class Program
   {
       [STAThread]
       static void Main(string[] args)
       {
           BuildAvaloniaApp().StartWithClassicDesktopLifetime(args);
       }
   
       static AppBuilder BuildAvaloniaApp()
           => AppBuilder.Configure<App>()
               .UsePlatformDetect()
               .LogToTrace();
   }
   
   public class App : Application
   {
       public override void OnFrameworkInitializationCompleted()
       {
           if (ApplicationLifetime is IClassicDesktopStyleApplicationLifetime desktop)
           {
               var dockControl = new DockControl();
   
               // Create a layout using the plain Avalonia factory
               var factory  = new Factory();
               var document = new Document { Id = "Doc1", Title = "Document" };
   
               var root = factory.CreateRootDock();
               root.VisibleDockables = factory.CreateList<IDockable>(
                   new DocumentDock
                   {
                       VisibleDockables = factory.CreateList<IDockable>(document),
                       ActiveDockable = document
                   });
   
               root.DefaultDockable = root.VisibleDockables[0];
   
               factory.InitLayout(root);
               dockControl.Factory = factory;
               dockControl.Layout  = root;
   
               desktop.MainWindow = new Window
               {
                   Width = 800,
                   Height = 600,
                   Content = dockControl
               };
           }
   
           base.OnFrameworkInitializationCompleted();
       }
   }
   

4. Run the application

   dotnet run
   

The window will show a single document hosted by DockControl without using XAML or MVVM helpers.

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