Dock

Floating Windows

Dock can detach dockables into separate floating windows. These windows are represented by the IDockWindow interface and hosted using IHostWindow implementations.

Creating windows

FactoryBase exposes a CreateWindowFrom method which returns an IHostWindow. Override this method on your factory to customize the platform window used for floating docks:

public override IHostWindow CreateWindowFrom(IDockWindow source)
{
    var window = base.CreateWindowFrom(source);
    window.Title = $"Dock - {source.Id}";
    return window;
}

Calling FloatDockable on the factory opens a dockable in a new window. The returned IDockWindow stores its bounds and title and can be serialized together with the layout.

Window chrome options

HostWindow provides two boolean properties that control how its chrome behaves:

• ToolChromeControlsWholeWindow
• DocumentChromeControlsWholeWindow

When enabled these toggle the :toolchromecontrolswindow or :documentchromecontrolswindow pseudo class respectively. Styles can use these states to remove the standard system chrome and let the Dock chrome occupy the entire window.

Presenting and closing

IDockWindow exposes Present(bool isDialog) to show the window and Exit() to close it programmatically. The default implementation uses HostAdapter to bridge between the interface and the underlying Avalonia Window.

Use the WindowOpened and WindowClosed events on the factory to track when floating windows appear or disappear.

factory.WindowClosed += (_, e) =>
    Console.WriteLine($"Closed {e.Window?.Title}");

Window magnetism

Floating windows can optionally snap to the edges of other floating windows while being dragged. This behaviour is controlled by two settings on DockSettings:

• EnableWindowMagnetism enables or disables the feature.
• WindowMagnetDistance specifies how close windows must be before they snap together.

When magnetism is enabled, HostWindow compares its position against other tracked windows during a drag and adjusts the position if it falls within the snap distance. This makes it easy to align multiple floating windows.

Bringing windows to front

If DockSettings.BringWindowsToFrontOnDrag is enabled, initiating a drag will activate all floating windows and any main window hosting a DockControl so they stay above other applications until the drag completes.

For more advanced scenarios see Adapter Classes and the Advanced Guide.

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