WpfDocking 0.9.7

WpfDocking

A lightweight WPF docking framework inspired by Visual Studio and VS Code.
Drop it into any WPF window — no IDE, no plugin host, zero external dependencies.

dotnet add package WpfDocking

Quick Start

1 — Add the namespace

<Window
    xmlns:dock="clr-namespace:WpfHexEditor.Shell;assembly=WpfHexEditor.Docking.Wpf">

2 — Place the dock host

<dock:DockControl x:Name="DockHost" />

3 — Register a content factory and load a layout

using WpfHexEditor.Shell;

DockWorkspace.ContentFactory = new MyContentFactory();
await DockWorkspace.LoadLayoutAsync("layout.json");

4 — Add panels and documents programmatically

// Add a tool panel (left side)
DockHost.AddPanel(new MyToolPanel(), DockSide.Left);

// Add a document tab
DockHost.AddDocument(new MyDocument());

// Save layout
await DockWorkspace.SaveLayoutAsync("layout.json");

Features

Layout

• Panel docking: Left / Right / Top / Bottom / Center (tabbed)
• Document host with tab groups and split view
• Floating windows — undock any panel to a standalone window
• Auto-hide panels — collapse to edge bar, expand on hover
• Rounded corners with 3-mode dropdown (Sharp / Soft / Round) and live refresh
• JSON layout persistence (DockLayoutSerializer)

Drag & Drop

• Drag-and-drop with VS-style overlay drop targets
• VS-like overlay gap and placement-aware tab styles
• StaysOpen=true on hover preview popup — Win32 mouse-capture no longer suppresses WPF MouseLeave

Theming

• Runtime theme switching (Dark / Light via DynamicResource)
• Light and Dark theme ContextMenu — drop shadow, MDL2 icons, accent band
• ScrollBar theming consistent across all panels
• ClipToBounds fix for docking panes inside custom layouts

Controls

• DockGroupBadge — numeric badge overlay on panel tab headers
• DockControl — main container
• DockWorkspace — layout/session manager

Accessibility

• Full UI Automation / MSAA support on all docking elements

Standalone Setup

No additional resource dictionary is required. The docking framework is self-contained.

For custom VS Code-style chrome (borderless window):

<Window WindowStyle="None">
    <WindowChrome.WindowChrome>
        <WindowChrome ResizeBorderThickness="4" CaptionHeight="32" />
    </WindowChrome.WindowChrome>
    <dock:DockControl x:Name="DockHost" />
</Window>

Included Assemblies

All bundled inside the package — zero external NuGet dependencies:

Localizations: ar-SA, de-DE, es-419, es-ES, fr-CA, fr-FR, hi-IN, it-IT, ja-JP, ko-KR, nl-NL, pl-PL, pt-BR, pt-PT, ru-RU, sv-SE, tr-TR, zh-CN

What's New in 0.9.7.0

• New: Horizontal reorder for docked tool-panel tabs — drag tabs left/right within the same edge to reorder panels without floating.
• Perf: Tab-switch triple-fire eliminated — redundant layout passes on tab activation reduced from 3 to 1; measurable improvement on complex layouts with many panels.
• Fix: Toolbar StaticResource labels — all Docking toolbar buttons now correctly resolve localized labels via StaticResource; pre-register output queue prevents race on first display.
• Feat: Full Phase 5+6 localization — all Docking UI strings (panel headers, context menus, options pages) translated into 17 languages and wired to the language selector.

What's New in 0.9.6.0

• New: Tab groups — split the document area horizontally or vertically (Ctrl+Alt+→ / Ctrl+Alt+↓); move tabs between groups; close groups. Full ITabGroupService SDK contract.
• New: 16 TG_* theme tokens (TG_ActiveTabBrush, TG_InactiveTabBrush, TG_SplitterBrush, TG_BadgeBrush…) across all built-in themes.
• New: Tab group badges — document count badge on group headers.
• New: Drag visual — IsDocumentDrag flag enables distinct drag-between-groups visual feedback.
• New: TabGroupsOptionsPage — tab group behavior settings.
• Fix: Tab drag semantics — document tabs and docked tabs share the same mouse-move logic (X=reorder, Y>40=float); no discriminator per tab type.
• Fix: Docking overlay — VS-like border with active-tab gap; placement-aware tab styles for document host match Visual Studio drop-target feedback.
• Fix: Satellite assemblies now correctly bundled — WpfHexEditor.Core.Localization marked PrivateAssets=all; all 17 language .resources.dll files are included in the NuGet package.

What's New in 0.9.5.2

• New: DockGroupBadge control — numeric badge overlay on panel tab headers.
• New: Rounded corners — 3-mode dropdown (Sharp / Soft / Round) with live refresh.
• Fix: StaysOpen=true on hover preview popup — Win32 mouse-capture no longer suppresses WPF MouseLeave events, fixing auto-hide panel flicker.
• Fix: ClipToBounds fix for docking panes inside custom layouts.
• Fix: ScrollBar theming consistent across all docked panels.
• New: Light theme ContextMenu — drop shadow, accent band, MDL2 icons.
• New: Empty editor tab placeholders — panels can be opened before content is loaded.

What's New in 0.9.5.1

• VS-like overlay gap and placement-aware tab styles for document host.
• Hover preview popup stability improvements.
• Initial NuGet release.

License

GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0)

Links

• Full documentation: WpfDocking-guide.md — Architecture, API reference, integration guides (Level 1–4), layout persistence, and settings reference.
• GitHub Repository
• Report Issues