how can I make a user-defined type (class) appear in property grid of a custom control?

thanx. It worked like a champ...

for other people that need to know...

the phone # class & converter code looks like this:

namespace AFIGclasses{
    [Serializable]
    public class PhoneNumber
    {
        private string _CountryCode = string.Empty;
        private string _AreaCode = string.Empty;
        private string _Prefix = string.Empty;
        private string _Suffix = string.Empty;

        public PhoneNumber() { }

        public PhoneNumber(string AreaCode, string Prefix, string Suffix)
        {
            _AreaCode = AreaCode;
            _Prefix = Prefix;
            _Suffix = Suffix;
        }

        public PhoneNumber(int AreaCode, int Prefix, int Suffix)
        {
            _AreaCode = AreaCode.ToString();
            _Prefix = Prefix.ToString();
            _Suffix = Suffix.ToString();
        }
       
        public PhoneNumber(string TenDigitNumber)
        {
            _AreaCode = TenDigitNumber.Substring(0, 3);
            _Prefix = TenDigitNumber.Substring(3, 3);
            _Suffix = TenDigitNumber.Substring(5, 4);
        }

        public PhoneNumber(string CountryCode, string AreaCode, string Prefix, string Suffix)
        {
            _CountryCode = "+" + CountryCode;
            _AreaCode = AreaCode;
            _Prefix = Prefix;
            _Suffix = Suffix;
        }

        public PhoneNumber(int CountryCode, int AreaCode, int Prefix, int Suffix)
        {
            _CountryCode = "+" + CountryCode.ToString();
            _AreaCode = AreaCode.ToString();
            _Prefix = Prefix.ToString();
            _Suffix = Suffix.ToString();
        }

        public PhoneNumber(string CountryCode, string TenDigitNumber)
        {
            _CountryCode = "+" + CountryCode;
            _AreaCode = TenDigitNumber.Substring(0, 3);
            _Prefix = TenDigitNumber.Substring(3, 3);
            _Suffix = TenDigitNumber.Substring(6, 4);
        }

        public override string ToString()
        {

            string output = string.Empty;
            if (_CountryCode != string.Empty)
            {
                output = _CountryCode + " ";
            }

            output += "(" + _AreaCode + ")" + " " + _Prefix + "-" + _Suffix;

            return output;

        }
       
        public string CountryCode
        {
            get { return _CountryCode; }
            set { _CountryCode = value; }
        }

        public string AreaCode
        {
            get { return _AreaCode; }
            set { _AreaCode = value; }
        }

        public string Prefix
        {
            get { return _Prefix; }
            set { _Prefix = value; }
        }

        public string Suffix
        {
            get { return _Suffix; }
            set { _Suffix = value; }
        }
    }

    public class PhoneNumberConverter : ExpandableObjectConverter
    {
        public override bool GetCreateInstanceSupported(ITypeDescriptorContext context)
        {
            return true;
        }

        public override object CreateInstance(ITypeDescriptorContext context, IDictionary propertyValues)
        {
            PhoneNumber phonenumber = new PhoneNumber();
            phonenumber.CountryCode = propertyValues[(object)"CountryCode"].ToString();
            phonenumber.AreaCode = propertyValues[(object)"AreaCode"].ToString();
            phonenumber.Prefix = propertyValues[(object)"Prefix"].ToString();
            phonenumber.Suffix = propertyValues[(object)"Suffix"].ToString();
            return (object)phonenumber;
        }
    }

}

 

the code on the control looks like this:

private AFIGclasses.PhoneNumber _Number = new AFIGclasses.PhoneNumber("1", "999", "555", "1212");
        [Description("A Telephone Number"),TypeConverter(typeof(PhoneNumberConverter))]
        public AFIGclasses.PhoneNumber Number
        {
            get { return _Number; }
            set { _Number = value; }
        }

        private string _Text;
        public string LabelText
        {
            get { return _Text; }
            set
            {
                _Text = value;
                lblTag.Text = value;
            }
        }

Hi,

this (http://www.codeproject.com/csharp/PropertyEditor.asp) shows an example for your problem.

Hope it helps,

Louis