Hi, I'm trying to create a visual representation of a vending machine layout so that the office can set up and change the product layout and the guy on the road can see the current layout as he's re-stocking it.It would have a fixed number or rows (shelves) but each row could have a different number of columns (product slots) depending on the size of the product.
My thought was for each slot be represented by a control with a picture of the current product and a combo box containing a list of products that we can stock it with, when we are setting up or changing the product in that slot.So in the app, if row 1 had eight squares representing 8 slots, row 2 might have 4 rectangles representing only 4 slots for larger products.
The WinDockManager looked like it might work for me, but before I really tunnel into that, I thought I'd ask if there was a more suitable control that I should try.
I would be grateful for any thoughts or opinions.
Do let me know if I've managed to post this in the wrong place.
Thanks
Pete
Hello Pete
Can you provide a mockup/illustrate demonstrating the behavior you desire?
From my understanding you are looking more for a grid-like control perhaps in CardView where each row is a card that lists fields with cell values.) If you want to suppress certain columns from appearing within a card you can collapse the field/cell's height manually. band.CardSettings.Style to VariableHeight
Thanks Michael,
Here is a very crude visualization of what I'm trying to do.The squares represent small products in the vending machine (single slots) and the rectangles represent larger products occupying double slots. I'd like to be able to show the product name, stock level and a small image, if possible and to be able to right click on a cell to access and change these properties.The vending machine configuration can change depending on product, so I want to be able to do things like merging / splitting the "cells", I suppose like a table in MS Word.Someone mentioned the GridBagLayout with regard to this project, but I haven't found any examples yet.Hope this image helps.Thanks again
Are the sizes of the items always integral? In other words... do you always have a small slot size and then a bigger slot size that is double (or some multiple) of that smallest size?
Are are the widths completely arbitrary? Could there be a slot that is 1.5 times the smallest slot?
Does the user need to be able to customize the slot sizes and configuration? Or just the contents of the slots?
Oh... the way you have it here in your example, the slots on each row are all the same size. Is that always the case that each row will always have a number of slots. Or could you have 2 small and 1 large item on the same row?
Hi Mike,
There is every possibility they may want to put one large item on the same row as some other small items. I'm not sure how flexible these vending machines are in terms of physical configuration, but he could well want to replace the cheese puffs and nuts with a single large item.That said, the widths of the boxes would be based on the maximum number of slots per shelf in the unit. so yes, they would always be multiples of the smallest size. In the example above, the smallest box would be 1/4 the width of the container and the width of merged boxes would be multiples of that.I so hope that made sense!