Restoring Document Windows in Docking

OK. I see that if I do something like:

private void OnSaveLayout(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) {
   DockSiteLayoutSerializer serializer = new DockSiteLayoutSerializer() {
      SerializationBehavior =  DockSiteSerializationBehavior.All
   };
   string layout = serializer.SaveToString(dockSite);
   File.WriteAllText("C:\\Temp\\Layout.txt", layout);
}

private void OnRestoreLayout(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) {
   string layout = File.ReadAllText("C:\\Temp\\Layout.txt");
   DockSiteLayoutSerializer serializer = new DockSiteLayoutSerializer() {
      SerializationBehavior = DockSiteSerializationBehavior.All,
      DocumentWindowDeserializationBehavior = DockingWindowDeserializationBehavior.AutoCreate
   };
   serializer.LoadFromString(layout, dockSite);
}

AND ensure that the document windows exist that they are restored correctly.  However, if I do not create the document windows by using File/New three times, they are still created in the layout but the tabs have no names (save for the originally loaded About.txt) and they do not have content.

Then I moved on to

private void OnRestoreLayout(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) {
   string layout = File.ReadAllText("C:\\Temp\\Layout.txt");
   DockSiteLayoutSerializer serializer = new DockSiteLayoutSerializer() {
      SerializationBehavior = DockSiteSerializationBehavior.All
   };
   serializer.DockingWindowDeserializing += (o, args) => {
      if (args.Window == null) {
         var data = new DocumentData();
         data.FileName = String.Format("Document{0}{1}", ++documentIndex, "txt");
         data.NotifyDocumentOutlineUpdated = this.NotifyDocumentOutlineUpdated;
         data.NotifySearchAction = this.NotifyEditorViewSearch;

         // Create the document
         args.Window = new EditorDocumentWindow(data, null) {
            SerializationId = args.Node.SerializationId
         };
      }
   };
   serializer.LoadFromString(layout, dockSite);
}

which works better, but still does not capture all the type of the file created manually.  Is this a reasonable solution? Have I gone off the deep end with hackery? How do I serialize the meaningful state of the document window during the SaveToString call?





Best Regards
Mark Mazurik

Hi Mark,

Correct, the layout serialization just saves tool windows by default and you need to use that extra DockSiteSerializationBehavior.All option to enable the MDI layout to be saved as well.

The DocumentWindowDeserializationBehavior enum has several options, which are described in this documentation topic.  The default value is to not restore anything about the document window if no match is found in the DockSite.  AutoCreate will generate a stub document window (only if no match is found on the DockSite) and you can initialize it in the DockingWindowDeserializing event, but you will need to set all the aspects of the document window like the FileName and its content.  LazyLoad is kind of a mix of the two where the layout location is saved for unmatched document windows, and if a document window is eventually opened with the same SerializationId, it will be placed in the serialized location.  The option you choose to use depends on your scenario.

We recommend that you use the SerializationId property to uniquely identify the document.  SerializationId is a string, so it could be a filename, URL string, or GUID string, or whatever else helps you identify the document.

Regardless which of the three DocumentWindowDeserializationBehavior options above you choose to go with, the DockingWindowDeserializing event fires for each document window that is being deserialized in the layout.  If an e.Window is available after the event is called (whether we found a match, one was auto-created, or you created one in the event handler), the e.Window will be opened in the DockSite layout in the location as specified by the serialization data.  You can use the SerializationId in your DockingWindowDeserializing event handler to know what document the document window represents, and initialize e.Window and its properties and content appropriately.

I hope that helps!