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DXCore Components – ActionHint

November 22nd, 2010

The Action Hint component points to a location on screen with a large colored arrow, displaying a short text message. Action hints inform new users about IDE tools features, as they occur. Here is what it looks like:

DXCore action hint samples

You can drop the action hint onto your plug-in design surface from the “DXCore” category of Visual Studio Toolbox:

DXCore action hint Toolbox

Here’s the Properties window, containing available properties, their categories and default values:

DXCore action hint properties

and the Events list:

DXCore action hint events

The ActionHint component is located in the “DevExpress.CodeRush.PlugInCore” assembly. It is derived from the “ActionHintBase” base type from the “DevExpress.CodeRush.Core” assembly:

DXCore action hint hierarchy

Here’s a list of properties in alphabetical order:

Property name

Description

Color The color of the hint.
DisplayLimit The number of times hints for this feature should be displayed before they are suppressed. If you want your hint to be displayed this many times every VS session, then set ResetDisplayCountOnStartup to true.
Distance The distance from the target location (pointed to by this action hint) to the tip of the arrow. A negative value positions the action hint at a default distance.
Feature The name of the feature this hint is associated with. This name is displayed on the action hints options page where users can enable or disable hints for individual features.
OptionsPath A path to the options page where users can configure settings related to the action that triggered this hint.
ResetDisplayCountOnStartup Resets the display count for this hint each time DXCore/CodeRush loads. If true, this hint will be shown the first time the DisplayLimit feature is used in each IDE session.
Text The text displayed in the hint. Keep this text very short.

Events:

Event name

Description

DisableFeature Occurs when the user requests to disable the feature associated with this hint.
GetFeatureAssistance Occurs when the user requests assistance with the feature associated with this hint.

Here’s a list of methods for using of this control:

Name

Description

PointTo(Point) Displays the action hint pointing to the specified screen coordinates.
PointTo(Control) Displays the action hint pointing at the center of the specified Control.
PointTo(int, int) Displays the action hint pointing to the specified line and column in the active text view.
PointToCaret() Displays the action hint pointing to the editor caret in the code editor.

To make the action hint component working, do the following steps:

  1. Drop the ActionHint control on the PlugIn design surface
  2. Fill the Text property with a short message
  3. Call one of the PointTo() overloads inside your code.

Instead of using the ActionHint control, you may use the ActionHint service. This service gives you more control over action hints, allowing you to specify additional options for the hint appearance. Global action hints options can be set on the appropriate options page.

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Products: DXCore
Versions: 10.1 and up
VS IDEs: any
Updated: Nov/25/2010
ID: D037

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