Siticone Content Panel

The SiticoneContentPanel is an advanced container designed to act as the main viewport for your application. It automatically pairs with a SiticoneNavbar to handle view switching, title management, and navigation history without writing boilerplate code.

Integration & Navbar

The core functionality relies on connecting this panel to a Navbar control. Once connected, it listens for navigation changes automatically.

Property	Type	Description & Usage Example
`TargetNavbar`	SiticoneNavbar	contentPanel.TargetNavbar = siticoneNavbar1; The essential link. Setting this property automatically subscribes the content panel to the navbar's selection events.
`AutoCreateViews`	bool	contentPanel.AutoCreateViews = true; If true, clicking a navbar item that hasn't been defined yet will automatically generate a blank view with a title.
`AutoManageContent`	bool	contentPanel.AutoManageContent = true; Determines if the panel automatically clears old content and loads new content on navigation. Set to false if you want to handle content switching manually.
`TrackHistory`	bool	contentPanel.TrackHistory = true; Enables an internal stack to track navigation history, allowing for "Back" button functionality.

Sections & Appearance

The panel is divided into a Title Section (top) and a Content Section (fill).

Property	Type	Description & Usage Example
`ShowTitle`	bool	contentPanel.ShowTitle = true;
`TitleHeight`	int	contentPanel.TitleHeight = 60; Height of the top title bar area in pixels.
`TitleBackColor`	Color	contentPanel.TitleBackColor = Color.White;
`ContentBackColor`	Color	contentPanel.ContentBackColor = Color.WhiteSmoke;
`ShowTitleSeparator`	bool	contentPanel.ShowTitleSeparator = true; Draws a thin line between the title and content areas.
`TitleSeparatorColor`	Color	contentPanel.TitleSeparatorColor = Color.LightGray;
`DefaultTitleFont`	Font	contentPanel.DefaultTitleFont = new Font("Segoe UI", 12f); Font used when auto-generating view titles.

Empty State Handling

Visual feedback when a view has been created but contains no controls.

Property	Type	Description & Usage Example
`ShowEmptyContentMessage`	bool	contentPanel.ShowEmptyContentMessage = true;
`EmptyContentMessage`	string	contentPanel.EmptyContentMessage = "No content loaded."; Text displayed in the center of the panel when no child controls are detected.
`ConsiderBackColorAsContent`	bool	contentPanel.ConsiderBackColorAsContent = true; If true, a panel with a non-default background color is considered "content" even if it has no children.

Public Methods

Methods to manually control navigation, inject content, and manage state.

NavigateToView(string viewName)

// Manually navigates to a specific view by name.
// This triggers the same logic as clicking a navbar item.
contentPanel.NavigateToView("Dashboard");

RegisterView(string, Control, Control)

// Defines a specific layout for a view name.
// viewName: Matches the Navbar item text.
// titleControl: A custom panel/label for the top section.
// contentControl: The main user control or panel for the body.
contentPanel.RegisterView("Settings", myTitlePanel, mySettingsUserControl);

AddContentToView(string, Control)

// Injects a control into an existing view's content area.
// Useful for dynamically building views at runtime.
contentPanel.AddContentToView("Reports", new ReportGridControl());

NavigateBack()

// Navigates to the previous view in the internal history stack.
// Returns true if navigation was successful, false if history is empty.
if (contentPanel.NavigateBack()) {
                Console.WriteLine("Went back successfully");
}

Events

Hooks to intercept or respond to navigation lifecycles.

Event	Description
`BeforeNavigate`	Fires before the view changes. Includes `NavigationEventArgs`. Set `e.Cancel = true` to prevent navigation (e.g., if there are unsaved changes).
`AfterNavigate`	Fires immediately after the view has successfully changed.
`ViewCreating`	Fires when the panel creates a view for the first time. Allows you to inject custom controls before display.
`ViewCreated`	Fires after the view panel and its containers have been initialized.

Detailed Usage Examples

Example 1: Basic Setup

The simplest way to use the control: Connect it to a Navbar and let it auto-create views.

C# - Initialization

public MainForm()
{
                InitializeComponent();

                // Link the Navbar to the ContentPanel
                // Assuming siticoneNavbar1 has items: "Home", "Users", "Settings"
    siticoneContentPanel1.TargetNavbar = siticoneNavbar1;
    
                // Optional: Styling
    siticoneContentPanel1.TitleBackColor = Color.White;
    siticoneContentPanel1.ContentBackColor = Color.FromArgb(245, 247, 250);
}

Example 2: Manual View Registration

Using RegisterView to assign specific UserControls to specific Navbar items.

C# - Custom Views

private void SetupViews()
{
                // Create your UserControls
                var dashboardView = new DashboardUserControl { Dock = DockStyle.Fill };
                var settingsView = new SettingsUserControl { Dock = DockStyle.Fill };

                // Create custom title headers (optional)
                var dashTitle = new Label 
    { 
        Text = "Main Dashboard", 
        Font = new Font("Segoe UI", 14, FontStyle.Bold),
        TextAlign = ContentAlignment.MiddleLeft,
        Dock = DockStyle.Fill
    };

                // Register them to the ContentPanel
                // "Dashboard" and "Settings" must match the text on your Navbar buttons
    siticoneContentPanel1.RegisterView("Dashboard", dashTitle, dashboardView);
    
                // Registering with default title behavior (passing null for title)
    siticoneContentPanel1.RegisterView("Settings", null, settingsView);
}

Example 3: Handling Navigation History

Implementing a "Back" button functionality using the internal history stack.

C# - Navigation History

private void btnBack_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
                // Attempt to go back
                bool success = siticoneContentPanel1.NavigateBack();
    
                if (!success)
    {
                MessageBox.Show("No previous views in history.");
    }
}

// Update Back Button availability
private void siticoneContentPanel1_AfterNavigate(object sender, NavigationEventArgs e)
{
                // Check if there are items in the history stack
    btnBack.Enabled = siticoneContentPanel1.NavigationHistory.Count > 0;
}

Example 4: Persistence (Import/Export)

Saving the view configuration to XML allows you to restore state or layouts.

C# - Save/Load Config

private void SaveLayout()
{
                // Exports settings, colors, and current navigation state
    siticoneContentPanel1.ExportConfiguration("app_layout.xml");
}

private void LoadLayout()
{
                if (File.Exists("app_layout.xml"))
    {
        siticoneContentPanel1.ImportConfiguration("app_layout.xml");
    }
}