Inherited Control Visible/Enabled Property Value Always True: PropertyGrid

Question

I have created a custom WinForms hosting environment. Which has a toolbox and a PropertyGrid.

The controls displayed in the Toolbox are inherited from existing WinForm controls.

DropDownList Source:

public interface IPropertyFilter : ICustomTypeDescriptor
{
    PropertyDescriptorCollection FilterProperties(PropertyDescriptorCollection pdc);
    List<string> GetPropertiesToShow();
}

[Serializable]
public class DropDownList : System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox, IPropertyFilter
{
    public DropDownList()
    {
    }

    #region IPropertyFilter Members

    public TypeConverter GetConverter()
    {
        return TypeDescriptor.GetConverter(this, true);
    }

    public EventDescriptorCollection GetEvents(Attribute[] attributes)
    {
        return TypeDescriptor.GetEvents(this, attributes, true);
    }

    EventDescriptorCollection System.ComponentModel.ICustomTypeDescriptor.GetEvents()
    {
        return TypeDescriptor.GetEvents(this, true);
    }

    public string GetComponentName()
    {
        return TypeDescriptor.GetComponentName(this, true);
    }

    public object GetPropertyOwner(PropertyDescriptor pd)
    {
        return this;
    }

    public AttributeCollection GetAttributes()
    {
        return TypeDescriptor.GetAttributes(this, true);
    }

    public PropertyDescriptorCollection GetProperties(Attribute[] attributes)
    {
        PropertyDescriptorCollection pdc = TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(this, attributes, true);
        return FilterProperties(pdc);
    }

    PropertyDescriptorCollection System.ComponentModel.ICustomTypeDescriptor.GetProperties()
    {
        PropertyDescriptorCollection pdc = TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(this, true);
        return FilterProperties(pdc);
    }

    public object GetEditor(Type editorBaseType)
    {
        return TypeDescriptor.GetEditor(this, editorBaseType, true);
    }

    public PropertyDescriptor GetDefaultProperty()
    {
        return TypeDescriptor.GetDefaultProperty(this, true);
    }

    public EventDescriptor GetDefaultEvent()
    {
        return TypeDescriptor.GetDefaultEvent(this, true);
    }

    public string GetClassName()
    {
        return TypeDescriptor.GetClassName(this, true);
    }

    public PropertyDescriptorCollection FilterProperties(PropertyDescriptorCollection pdc)
    {
        // Filter out properties that we do not want to display in PropertyGrid
        return ControlDesignerHelper.GetBrowsableProperties(pdc, GetPropertiesToShow());
    }

    // Determines what properties of this control has to be shown in PropertyGrid
    public List<string> GetPropertiesToShow()
    {
        // get a list of common properties that we want to show for all controls
        List<string> browsableProps = ControlDesignerHelper.GetBasePropertiesToShow();
        // add properties that are specific to this controls
        browsableProps.Add("Items");
        browsableProps.Add("AutoPostBack");
        browsableProps.Add("AppendDataBoundItems");
        browsableProps.Add("DataTextField");
        browsableProps.Add("DataValueField");
        return browsableProps;
    }

    #endregion
}

I have implemented ICustomTypeDescriptor to filter out properties that I do not want to show in the PropertyGrid.

Problem:

I am facing problem while serializing values of Enabled & Visible properties that are inherited from System.Windows.Forms.Control class.

WriteProperties Method (BasicDesignerLoader):

private void WriteProperties(XmlDocument document, PropertyDescriptorCollection properties, object value, XmlNode parent, string elementName)
{
    foreach (PropertyDescriptor prop in properties)
    {
        System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine(prop.Name);

        if (prop.ShouldSerializeValue(value))
        {
            string compName = parent.Name;
            XmlNode node = document.CreateElement(elementName);
            XmlAttribute attr = document.CreateAttribute("name");

            attr.Value = prop.Name;
            node.Attributes.Append(attr);

            DesignerSerializationVisibilityAttribute visibility = (DesignerSerializationVisibilityAttribute)prop.Attributes[typeof(DesignerSerializationVisibilityAttribute)];

            switch (visibility.Visibility)
            {
                case DesignerSerializationVisibility.Visible:
                    if (!prop.IsReadOnly && WriteValue(document, prop.GetValue(value), node))
                    {
                        parent.AppendChild(node);
                    }

                    break;

                case DesignerSerializationVisibility.Content:
                    object propValue = prop.GetValue(value);

                    if (typeof(IList).IsAssignableFrom(prop.PropertyType))
                    {
                        WriteCollection(document, (IList)propValue, node);
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        PropertyDescriptorCollection props = TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(propValue, propertyAttributes);

                        WriteProperties(document, props, propValue, node, elementName);
                    }

                    if (node.ChildNodes.Count > 0)
                    {
                        parent.AppendChild(node);
                    }

                    break;

                default:
                    break;
            }
        }
    }
}

Problem # 1: The ShouldSerializeValue method for the Enabled & Visible property always returns false.

Problem # 2: Even if I skip the ShouldSerializeValue method check the GetValue method of the PropertyDescriptor always returns True.

Current Workaround: As a workaround I have currently made the Enabled & Visible properties hidden using the BrowsableAttribute, and created two other boolean properties and used the DisplayNameAttribute to change their display name to be Enable & Visible.

But for this workaround I have to write these snippets in every control.

Am I missing something or doing anything wrong? Why are the Enabled & Visible property do not change?

Answer 1

You will find a long discussion about this issue here.

This MSDN page aldo makes this remark:

The InheritedPropertyDescriptor class modifies the default value of a property, so that the default value is the current value at object instantiation. This is because the property is inherited from another instance. The designer defines resetting the property value as setting it to the value that was set by the inherited class. This value may differ from the default value stored in metadata.

ShouldSerializeValue's return value is based on the difference between the current value and the default value so I think this is directly related to your problem.

I hope this will help you figure out what happens in your own context.