One of the (many) powerful features of XAF is the ability to extend. I recently had a client wanting to provide a simple dialog to let the user choose a folder. There is a file selection function already built into XAF, but since we only wanted a folder it would not suffice.
To achieve what was needed I had to create a CustomPropertyEditor and hook into the FolderBrowserDialog available in the System.Windows.Forms library.
Simply create a new class in your Windows module (if you have an existing folder for Editors, it’s a good place to store it), you can paste the code from below (just remember to update the namespace 
)
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using DevExpress.ExpressApp.Win.Editors;
using DevExpress.ExpressApp.Model;
using DevExpress.ExpressApp.Editors;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using DevExpress.XtraEditors;
using DevExpress.XtraEditors.Repository;
namespace MM.Module.Win.Editors {
[PropertyEditor(typeof(string), "FolderBrowseEditor", false)]
public class FolderBrowseEditor : DXPropertyEditor {
public FolderBrowseEditor(Type objectType, IModelMemberViewItem model)
: base(objectType, model) { }
private void buttonEdit_ButtonClick(object sender, DevExpress.XtraEditors.Controls.ButtonPressedEventArgs e) {
using (FolderBrowserDialog dialog = new FolderBrowserDialog()) {
dialog.Description = "Select folder...";
if (dialog.ShowDialog() != DialogResult.Cancel) {
((ButtonEdit)sender).Text = dialog.SelectedPath;
}
}
}
protected override object CreateControlCore() {
return new ButtonEdit();
}
protected override RepositoryItem CreateRepositoryItem() {
return new RepositoryItemButtonEdit();
}
protected override void SetupRepositoryItem(RepositoryItem item) {
base.SetupRepositoryItem(item);
((RepositoryItemButtonEdit)item).ButtonClick += buttonEdit_ButtonClick;
}
protected override void SetRepositoryItemReadOnly(RepositoryItem item, bool readOnly) {
base.SetRepositoryItemReadOnly(item, readOnly);
((RepositoryItemButtonEdit)item).Buttons[0].Enabled = !readOnly;
}
}
}
Build your project, and then inside the model you will be able to choose YourProject.Module.Win.Editors.FolderBrowserEditor as a property type. Run your application and you will see a nice XtraEditors.ButtonEdit control rendered with a […] button, clicking on the button will present you with a standard OS folder browser, if you select a folder, the result will be returned to the control and your data updated !
For more information on custom property editors please see http://documentation.devexpress.com/#Xaf/CustomDocument2679
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