set RadRibbonBarGroup width in code

[William Higgins]

Hello,

I am in need of setting the width of a RadRibbonBarGroup in my code and when I assign an integer value to it I get the following error.
Expression is a value and therefore cannot be the target of an assignment.

Here is the code I am using to assign the width value.
Me.RadRibbonBarGroup1.Size.Width = 1000

I am using the latest winforms controls.  Q1 2011

Any help would be appreciated greatly.
Thanks in advance.

[Ivan Todorov]

Hi William Higgins,

You are getting this error because Size is a value type (not a reference one) and therefore setting its width won't have any effect.

In order to change the width of the ribbon group you can change its MinSize property:

Me.RadRibbonBarGroup1.MinSize = New Size(1000,0)

If you want to use the Size property, you must also set the AutoSize property to false. When AutoSize is set to true, the size of the element is determined by the control that contains it, depending on the available space and its layout.

Me.RadRibbonBarGroup1.AutoSize = False
Me.RadRibbonBarGroup1.Size = New Size(100, Me.RadRibbonBarGroup1.Size.Height)

In this approach you might have problems with determining the height, so I suggest using the MinSize property as a clearer way.

I hope you find this useful. If you have any additional questions, feel free to ask.

Greetings,
Ivan Todorov
the Telerik team

[Nino]

Is there any way to make a group fill the remaining space in the bar ? Usually a Spring Property?

[Ivan Todorov]

Hi Nino,

Thank you for writing.

There is no Spring property for the ribbon groups but you can achieve this by adjusting their MinSize property when form changes its size. Note that in order for this to work you would need to disable collapsing the groups by setting their AllowCollapsed property. The following code snippet demonstrates this:

public Form1()
{
    InitializeComponent();
    this.SizeChanged += Form1_SizeChanged;

    foreach(RibbonTab tab in this.radRibbonBar1.CommandTabs)
    {
        foreach(RadRibbonBarGroup group in tab.Items)
        {
            group.AllowCollapsed = false;
        }
    }
}

protected override void OnShown(EventArgs e)
{
    base.OnShown(e);
    AdjustLastGroupMinSize();
}

void Form1_SizeChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    AdjustLastGroupMinSize();
}

void AdjustLastGroupMinSize()
{
    RadRibbonBarGroup lastGroup = this.radRibbonBar1.SelectedCommandTab.Items[this.radRibbonBar1.SelectedCommandTab.Items.Count - 1] as RadRibbonBarGroup;
    lastGroup.MinSize = new Size(this.radRibbonBar1.Width - lastGroup.ControlBoundingRectangle.Left - 10, lastGroup.MinSize.Height);
}

Hope this will help.

Regards,
Ivan Todorov
Telerik