Anchor Docking: what changed

Revision 2 to 3. Removed lines have a minus sign; added lines have a plus sign.

Old	New		Line
1	1		About docking in general see [[Docking]].
2	2
3	3		## Overview
4	4
5	5		Docking allows you to combine forms, or to treat controls as forms. You use the mouse to drag and dock forms together or undock (split) them. The basic dragging, docking and undocking functionality is provided by the LCL. But you need a docking manager to add splitters and grab zones, and to save and restore layouts.
6	6
7	7		Anchor docking has been implemented since version 0.9.29 in the package anchordocking.lpk for use in your own Lazarus applications, and AnchorDockingDsgn.lpk if you wish to make the Lazarus IDE windows dockable. It is easy to use, and provides many features and options not available in earlier docking packages.
8	8
9	9		You will find a code example at: components/anchordocking/miniide/miniide1.lpi
10	10
11	11		This means that the earlier TLazDockingManager and unit LDockCtrl are obsolete and now deprecated.
12	12
13	13		### Features
14	14
15	15		- Drag and dock: Headers are added that can be dragged to dock controls with the mouse. Preview rectangles will show where and how a control is docked.
16	16		- Any layout: By using the LCL's anchors almost any layout is possible. You can dock to left, right, top, bottom, inside or outside or as page like in a TPageControl. You can enlarge docked controls via the popup menu. No need to undock your whole layout.
17	17		- What you see is how it is structured: There are no hidden panels to align controls in rows and columns. Anchor docking makes sure forms do not overlap.
18	18		- Splitters are automatically inserted between docked forms to allow resizing.
19	19		- Page docking. Forms can be docked not only left/right/above/below, but in pages too. A TPageControl is automatically created for native look and feel. A page can contain arbitrary docked forms too, including paged docked forms, allowing nested pages and layouts. When a page is undocked the pagecontrol is automatically removed. You can drag and drop the tabs or use the popup menu to move pages.
20	20		- Easy use: With one line of code you can make a form or control dockable. Just give them unique names.
21	21		- Not only forms, but any TWinControl can be made dockable.
22	22		- Can save/load layouts. The layout information is stored for each dockable control and old layout files will still work even when the application gets more dockable controls or some are removed. The information is stored in the abstract class LCL TConfigStorage. So you can use for example TXMLConfigStorage to store layouts in xml files or you can write your own storage to store it wherever you want.
23	23		- Each docked form is put into a docksite providing an optional header. The header shows the caption of the docked form and contains a close button. You can drag the header to drag the form and undock it or to dock it at another position. The header can be at any of the four sides and moves by default automatically to the smaller side to save space. You can customize this. The header shows a customizable hint allowing to read long captions.
24	24		- When a docksite is resized the child sites are automatically scaled. You can turn this off.
25	25		- Preserve size of forms. For instance when docking a form to a left side of a site the width of the docked form is kept. The same for the other sides and the same for undocking.
26	26		- Flickerless: The restore tries to reuse existing sites and splitters to reduce creation and flickering of forms and to preserve the Z order of forms. This allows to quickly switch between layouts.
27	27		- Header popup menu:
28	28		- lock/unlock (disable dragging)
29	29		- header position (auto, left, top, right, bottom), this is saved/restored with the layout
30	30		- merge (for example after moving a dock page into a layout)
31	31		- undock (needed if no place to undock on screen)
32	32		- enlarge side to left, top, right, bottom
33	33		- close
34	34		- options
35	35		- Page popup menu:
36	36		- lock/unlock (disable dragging)
37	37		- undock (needed if no place to undock on screen)
38	38		- tab position for pagecontrol (top,bottom, left, right), this is saved/restored with the layout
39	39		- move page to the left, right, leftmost, rightmost
40	40		- close
41	41		- options
42	42		- Forms can be made dock sites. Then they can dock at one side. But they can not be docked itself.
43	43		- close button automatically saves a layout
44	44		- Powerful functions to alter the layout. You can use D&D to move a form and you can undock and dock in one move. There are functions to enlarge forms and shrinking others. These functions are available via the header popup menu as well. See below.
45	45		- There is an IDE package which makes the Lazarus IDE dockable. It is called anchordockingdsgn.lpk. Make sure you only install one docking package. Do not install the easydockmgr at the same time!
46	46
47	47		### ToDos
48	48
49	49		- Design time package: Add all layout files to menu
50	50		- simple way to make forms dockable at designtime (that means without writing any code)
51	51		- minimize button and Hide
52	52		- on show again: restore a default layout
53	53		- close button for pages
54	54		- Implement automatic menu merging in the LCL (when two forms with main menus are docked).
55	55
56	56		## Usage I. (Add docking support to the Lazarus IDE)
57	57
58	58		If you don't like the default "separate windows" look of the Lazarus IDE and prefer a single window (e.g., like RAD Studio™), you can install a package called [[AnchorDockingDsgn]] (lazarus/components/anchordocking/design/anchordockingdsgn.lpk). This package makes the IDE windows dockable.
59	59
60	60		### Important to macOS users
61	61
62	62		Before Lazarus 3.0, there are many bugs related to docking.
63	63
64	64		If "anchordockingdsgn" has been installed before Lazarus 3.0, the wrong configuration may be saved and needs to be reset first.
65	65
66	66		The configuration is saved in environmentoptions.xml, which usually located in ~/.lazarus
67	67
68	68		Close the IDE, locate environmentoptions.xml, delete the content between \<AnchorDocking\> and \</AnchorDocking\>, and the initial setting of anchordockingdsgn will be automatically set when the IDE is started again.
69	69
70	70		### Installation
71	71
72	72		Uninstall any other docking managers (e.g., easydockmgrdsgn). From the Lazarus menu bar pick "Package" - "Install/Uninstall Packages" and install the "anchordockingdsgn" package.
73	73
74	74		After you have successfully installed the package and restarted the IDE, the IDE starts with a default docked layout like shown below. Note that AnchorDocking headers and splitters have been added to all dockable windows of the IDE. In case the headers don't get visible, see the section "Options" below on how to enable/disable them.
75	75
76		-	~~<img src="2021-12-02_10_21_07-Debian_10.8_Buster_-_VMware_Workstation.png" title="2021-12-02_10_21_07-Debian_10.8_Buster_-_VMware_Workstation.png" width="1333" />~~
	76	+	![](/wiki-images/a/ac/2021-12-02_10_21_07-Debian_10.8_Buster_-_VMware_Workstation.png)
77	77
78	78		You can change the layout by grabbing a dockable window by the Anchordocking header and drag and dock it anywhere else, or resize docked windows via splitters added to the window borders. You can right-click on the headers too for other options, for example, to change the look of the headers, as shown farther down below.
79	79
80	80		You can save the layout via the menu item Tools / Save window layout as default. This saves to ~/.lazarus/anchordocklayout.xml and restores it when the IDE starts up.
81	81
82	82		You can also save the layout to a file and load them later.
83	83
84	84		Since Lazarus 1.1 you can pass a command line parameter
85	85
86	86		`./lazarus --anchordocklayout=<filename>`
87	87
88	88		The look (like the headers) can be further tweaked by right-clicking on them.
89	89
90	90		![](/wiki-images/8/8a/Docking_headers.gif)
91	91
92	92		### Options
93	93
94	94		After the successful installation of the AnchorDockingDsgn package, an additional configuration menu is added to the Lazarus options dialog ("Tools" - "Options" - "Environment")
95	95
96	96		![](/wiki-images/3/3a/Anchordocking_options.png)
97	97
98	98		#### Scale on resize
99	99
100	100		When resizing a window, all docked forms inside are scaled by the same percentage.
101	101
102	102		#### Show headers
103	103
104	104		To dock/undock a window, you need to enable this option.
105	105
106	106		#### Flatten headers
107	107
108	108		No 3d frame in headers.
109	109
110	110		#### Header align top/left
111	111
112	112		Headers are automatically put at top or left depending on these two values:
113	113
114	114		- Move header to top, when (width/height)*100\<=HeaderAlignTop, default 80
115	115		- Move header to left, when (width/height)*100\>=HeaderAlignLeft, default 120
116	116		- Otherwise keep the header at the current position.
117	117
118	118		Which means the header is by default put at the smaller side of a docked control. When the control is resized, the header switches to the smaller side.
119	119
120	120		#### Allow dock sites to be minimized
121	121
122	122		A extra minimize button is added, so a site can be minimized. Then sites next to it get more space. If needed, the minimized site then can easy be opened.
123	123
124	124		#### Multine Tabs
125	125
126	126		Feature added in Lazarus 2.2. If a OS support multiline tabs (like Windows), if there are no many tabs, they are shown in multiple lines.
127	127
128	128		#### Floating windows on top
129	129
130	130		Feature added in Lazarus 2.2. If there are undocked windows shown, show these on top of main window. In a own application, there can be set DockMaster.MainDockForm, then all floating windows are shown on top of it. If MainDockForm is not set, Application.MainForm is used.
131	131
132	132		## Usage II. (Add docking support to your own applications)
133	133
134	134		### Quick start
135	135
136	136		Add the package AnchorDocking to the required packages in the project inspector.
137	137
138	138		Then add the unit AnchorDocking to the uses section of your main unit (the unit with your main form).
139	139
140	140		Add to the FormCreate of your main form:
141	141
142	142		``` pascal
143	143		DockMaster.MakeDockSite(Self,[akBottom],admrpChild);
144	144		```
145	145
146	146		For the other dockable forms replace all calls of Show and ShowOnTop with
147	147
148	148		``` pascal
149	149		DockMaster.MakeDockable(Form1,true,true);
150	150		```
151	151
152	152		For the other dockable forms replace all calls of Visible:=true with
153	153
154	154		``` pascal
155	155		DockMaster.MakeDockable(Form1,true);
156	156		```
157	157
158	158		Remove or comment all Hide, Visible:=false, WindowState:= calls.
159	159
160	160		### Prerequisites
161	161
162	162		- Your project must use the package AnchorDocking.
163	163		- All dockable forms must be shown with MakeDockable or MakeDockSite. Do not use Show, BringToFront, ShowOnTop, Visible:=true. Of course you can have some non dockable forms, like hints or splashscreens.
164	164		- All dockable forms must be free resizable, that means no constraints, no BorderStyle bsDialog.
165	165		- No other docking system. AnchorDocking is incompatible with EasyDockMgr.
166	166
167	167		### Making forms dockable
168	168
169	169		There are two ways to make a form dockable. You can use DockMaster.MakeDockable to wrap a form into a dock site. Then your form can dock and be docked completely free. You will use that for the biggest part of your forms, except for the MainForm, because this is only supported for the MainForm on gtk2 and qt. The second way is to use DockMaster.MakeDockSite. The form can dock other sites, but can not be docked itself. You might want to use MakeDockSite for the MainForm. For most other forms you probably want to use this:
170	170
171	171		``` pascal
172	172		// shows YourForm
173	173		// if not already done, wrap the form into a dock site
174	174		DockMaster.MakeDockable(YourForm);
175	175		```
176	176
177	177		Here are some examples how a form looks like that was made dockable with DockMaster.MakeDockable:
178	178
179	179		![](/wiki-images/b/bc/Docksite1.png) ![](/wiki-images/c/c6/Docksite2.png)
180	180
181	181		The header position is normally done automatically and the user can with a right click put it to any of the four sides.
182	182
183	183		### Example: miniide1
184	184
185	185		The example can be found in lazarus/components/anchordocking/miniide/miniide1.lpi. It has a mainform in unit unit1.pas with a main menu which works as a docksite and several forms that are dockable.
186	186
187	187		![](/wiki-images/a/a5/Anchordocking_miniide1.png)
188	188
189	189		### Making the main form a dock site
190	190
191	191		In the TMainIDE.FormCreate the main form MainIDE is turned into a docksite:
192	192
193	193		``` pascal
194	194		DockMaster.MakeDockSite(Self,[akBottom],admrpChild);
195	195		```
196	196
197	197		The parameter \[akBottom\] allows to dock other sites at the bottom of MainIDE. The parameter admrpChild tells the DockMaster that when the MainIDE is enlarged the extra space is distributed to the docked sites.
198	198
199	199		When the user docks a site to the bottom of MainIDE the site is put onto MainIDE (Site.Parent:=MainIDE) with Site.Align=alBottom. The other controls on MainIDE must be compatible to this. MainIDE for example has a BtnPanel with Align=alLeft and a TNoteBook with Align=alClient. See [[Autosize / Layout\|here]] how Align works.
200	200
201	201		The DockMaster adds automatically a splitter:
202	202
203	203		![](/wiki-images/c/ca/Anchordocking_miniide_dockedse1.png)
204	204
205	205		As soon as a dockable form is docked its caption is shown in the dock header.
206	206
207	207		#### Requirements for a custom dock site
208	208
209	209		As long as nothing is docked into a custom dock site, your form can do everything as a normal form. But when a site is docked to it, some properties and methods need special care:
210	210
211	211		- AutoSize=true may result in an endless loop. Disable it or override DoAutoSize/CalculatePreferredSize and take special care.
212	212		- Constraints: The DockMaster clears the maximum Constraints and will restore them on undock.
213	213		- Child controls anchored to the aligned site may overlap. See [[Autosize / Layout\|here]] how Align works.
214	214		- ChildSizing: The spacing properties like LeftRightSpacing, TopBottomSpacing may interfere with the docking layout.
215	215
216	216		### Procedure to create all other forms by name
217	217
218	218		The MainIDE sets the DockMaster.OnCreateControl event, to enable the DockMaster to create forms by name. This is needed to restore layouts.
219	219
220	220		``` pascal
221	221		DockMaster.OnCreateControl:=@DockMasterCreateControl;
222	222		```
223	223
224	224		``` pascal
225	225		procedure TMainIDE.DockMasterCreateControl(Sender: TObject; aName: string; var
226	226		AControl: TControl; DoDisableAutoSizing: boolean);
227	227
228	228		procedure CreateForm(Caption: string; NewBounds: TRect);
229	229		begin
230	230		AControl:=CreateSimpleForm(aName,Caption,NewBounds,DoDisableAutoSizing);
231	231		end;
232	232
233	233		begin
234	234		// first check if the form already exists
235	235		// the LCL Screen has a list of all existing forms.
236	236		// Note: Remember that the LCL allows as form names only standard
237	237		// pascal identifiers and compares them case insensitive
238	238		AControl:=Screen.FindForm(aName);
239	239		if AControl<>nil then begin
240	240		// if it already exists, just disable autosizing if requested
241	241		if DoDisableAutoSizing then
242	242		AControl.DisableAutoSizing;
243	243		exit;
244	244		end;
245	245		// if the form does not yet exist, create it
246	246		if aName='CodeExplorer' then
247	247		CreateForm('Code Explorer',Bounds(700,230,100,250))
248	248		...
249	249		else if aName='DebugOutput' then
250	250		CreateForm('Debug Output',Bounds(400,400,350,150));
251	251		end;
252	252		```
253	253
254	254		Creating a form can be as simple as this:
255	255
256	256		``` pascal
257	257		MyForm:=TMyForm.Create(Self);
258	258		if DoDisableAutoSizing then
259	259		MyForm.DisableAutoSizing;
260	260		```
261	261
262	262		But of course you can put there all kind of initialization code.
263	263
264	264		The DisableAutoSizing reduces flickering. Make sure your forms Visible property is set to false.
265	265
266	266		Remember to call DisableAutoSizing for the form if the parameter DoDisableAutoSizing is set to true, because Disable- and EnableAutosizing calls must be balanced. If you miss the DisableAutosizing, the LCL will raise an exception later:
267	267
268	268		`TControl.EnableAutoSizing SourceEditor1:TSimpleForm: missing DisableAutoSizing`
269	269
270	270		![](/wiki-images/8/8e/MissingDisableAutoSizing.png)
271	271
272	272		If you call DisableAutoSizing too much, your forms will not appear and/or not resize properly as the LCL is waiting for the EnableAutoSizing call that never comes.
273	273
274	274		### Showing forms
275	275
276	276		When a form should be shown, you have probably used something like 'MyForm.Show. Instead you should now use
277	277
278	278		``` pascal
279	279		DockMaster.MakeDockable(MyForm);
280	280		```
281	281
282	282		This will wrap MyForm in a dock site and show it. It is clever enough to figure out if the form is already wrapped in a dock site.
283	283
284	284		If you set the DockMaster.OnCreateControl event you can use this:
285	285
286	286		``` pascal
287	287		DockMaster.ShowControl('MyForm',true);
288	288		```
289	289
290	290		### Docking manually, via code
291	291
292	292		Use the procedure DockMaster.ManualDock to dock a site to or into another.
293	293
294	294		``` pascal
295	295		procedure ManualDock(SrcSite, TargetSite: TAnchorDockHostSite; Align: TAlign; TargetControl: TControl = nil);
296	296		```
297	297
298	298		- SrcSite is the site to be docked. If SrcSite was docked it will be undocked first.
299	299		- TargetSite is the site where SrcSite will be docked into or docked as neighbor.
300	300		- TargetControl specifies if docking as neighbor (=nil), as inside neighbor (=TargetSide) or in front of a page (=a TAnchorDockPage).
301	301
302	302		### Undocking manually, via code
303	303
304	304		Use the procedure DockMaster.ManualFloat to undock a site from its neighbors and create a flotaing top level form. The embedded control stays embedded into a TAnchorDockHostSite.
305	305
306	306		``` pascal
307	307		procedure ManualFloat(AControl: TControl);
308	308		```
309	309
310	310		You can give as parameter a TAnchorDockHostSite or a control embedded into a TAnchorDockHostSite (for example a form made dockable with MakeDockable). The site will be put at the same screen location.
311	311
312	312		### Save layout
313	313
314	314		The DockMaster allows to save the current layout to a TConfigStorage. The miniide example uses the xml version:
315	315
316	316		``` pascal
317	317		procedure TMainIDE.SaveLayout(Filename: string);
318	318		var
319	319		XMLConfig: TXMLConfigStorage;
320	320		begin
321	321		try
322	322		// create a new xml config file
323	323		XMLConfig:=TXMLConfigStorage.Create(Filename,false);
324	324		try
325	325		// save the current layout of all forms
326	326		DockMaster.SaveLayoutToConfig(XMLConfig);
327	327		XMLConfig.WriteToDisk;
328	328		finally
329	329		XMLConfig.Free;
330	330		end;
331	331		except
332	332		on E: Exception do begin
333	333		MessageDlg('Error',
334	334		'Error saving layout to file '+Filename+':'#13+E.Message,mtError,
335	335		[mbCancel],0);
336	336		end;
337	337		end;
338	338		end;
339	339		```
340	340
341	341		### Load layout
342	342
343	343		``` pascal
344	344		procedure TMainIDE.LoadLayout(Filename: string);
345	345		var
346	346		XMLConfig: TXMLConfigStorage;
347	347		begin
348	348		try
349	349		// load the xml config file
350	350		XMLConfig:=TXMLConfigStorage.Create(Filename,True);
351	351		try
352	352		// restore the layout
353	353		// this will close unneeded forms and call OnCreateControl for all needed
354	354		DockMaster.LoadLayoutFromConfig(XMLConfig);
355	355		finally
356	356		XMLConfig.Free;
357	357		end;
358	358		except
359	359		on E: Exception do begin
360	360		MessageDlg('Error',
361	361		'Error loading layout from file '+Filename+':'#13+E.Message,mtError,
362	362		[mbCancel],0);
363	363		end;
364	364		end;
365	365		end;
366	366		```
367	367
368	368		### Enlarge/Shrink
369	369
370	370		The anchor docking manager can enlarge/shrink docked neighbors. This is done via the popup menu of the dock header or in code with the function DockMaster.ManualEnlarge:
371	371
372	372		``` pascal
373	373		function ManualEnlarge(Site: TAnchorDockHostSite; Side: TAnchorKind; OnlyCheckIfPossible: boolean): boolean;
374	374		```
375	375
376	376		Site is a child site, Side the side of Site to expand. If you only want to test if enlarge is possible set OnlyCheckIfPossible to true.
377	377
378	378		### Enlarge one, shrink another
379	379
380	380		Shrink neighbor Object Inspector, enlarge Messages: Right click on the header of Messages and click on Enlarge right side. Two splitters are resized.
381	381
382	382		![](/wiki-images/1/15/Anchordocking_before_enlarge1.png) enlarging Messages to the right side: ![](/wiki-images/f/f8/Anchordocking_after_enlarge1.png)
383	383
384	384		### Enlarge one, shrink many
385	385
386	386		Shrink splitter at one side, enlarge both neighbor splitters, rotate the splitter behind, enlarge Control, shrink controls at rotate splitter. Right click on header of Source Editor 1 then click on Enlarge bottom side.
387	387
388	388		![](/wiki-images/c/cb/Anchordocking_before_enlarge2.png) becomes ![](/wiki-images/4/42/Anchordocking_after_enlarge2.png)
389	389
390	390		### General docking options
391	391
392	392		The AnchorDocking package provides a dialog to setup some of the properties of the DockMaster. The dialog is in the unit AnchorDockOptionsDlg and you can use it simply:
393	393
394	394		``` pascal
395	395		uses ... AnchorDockOptionsDlg;
396	396		...
397	397		procedure TMainIDE.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
398	398		...
399	399		begin
400	400		...
401	401		DockMaster.OnShowOptions:=@ShowAnchorDockOptions;
402	402		...
403	403		end;
404	404		```
405	405
406	406		This will add a new menu item to the popup menus of the dock headers and pages called Docking options.
407	407
408	408		## Why use Anchors instead of Align?
409	409
410	410		Anchors allow to create any possible rectangular layout. Align is limited. Align with Panels can theoretically create a lot of layouts, but still not all. And some operations like enlarge/shrink are more complicated using Align/Panels than using Anchors. Align works good for a few forms, but the more forms are docked, the more the disadvantages of Align become visible.
411	411
412	412		### Layouts that can be created with Align
413	413
414	414		Align can only create the following layouts:
415	415
416	416		![](/wiki-images/1/13/Anchordocking_align_layout1.png)
417	417
418	418		The alTop controls are always at the top, filling the whole horizontal width. That's because the LCL first aligns all controls with alTop, then all alBottom, then alLeft, then alRight and finally alClient.
419	419
420	420		### Layouts that can be created with Align and Panels
421	421
422	422		It is possible to nest Align layouts by using hidden panels. Then any layout that can be recursively splitted in halves can be created. Then you can create for example:
423	423
424	424		![](/wiki-images/0/0e/Anchordocking_align_panels_layout1.png)
425	425
426	426		This requires only one hidden panel.
427	427
428	428		### Changing Layouts
429	429
430	430		Now the user wants to enlarge the FPDocEditor horizontally (and shrink CodeExplorer). With the AnchorDocking you can simply right click on the FPDocEditor header and click Enlarge right side.
431	431
432	432		![](/wiki-images/8/88/Anchordocking_align_panels_layout2.png)
433	433
434	434		Other docking engines need at least 2 panels. One for SrcEditor,Messages,FPDocEdit,CodeExpl and one for SrcEdit and Messages. Most docking layouters do not even provide a simple way to change the layout in this way. An algorithm to allow this layout change, must analyze the whole structure as if there were no panels and must reparent a lot of things. Basically the algorithm must do the same as the anchor docking algorithm, but with the extra work of translating the layout into Align plus hidden panels.
435	435
436	436		### Layouts that are impossible with Align and Panels
437	437
438	438		Now the user wants to enlarge SourceEditor1 horizontally (and shrink ObjectInspector):
439	439
440	440		![](/wiki-images/e/e9/Anchordocking_impossible_with_align_panels1.png)
441	441
442	442		This layout is impossible with Align and panels, because you can not cut it in two halves. The same with
443	443
444	444		![](/wiki-images/1/1e/Anchordocking_impossible_with_align_panels2.png)
445	445
446	446		### Conclusion
447	447
448	448		Align with hidden panels allows you to easily create a simple docking manager that works well for a few forms, but it will always limit the user. Align is useful for row and column layouts, not for tables. Anchor docking works even for complex forms.
449	449
450	450		## Old/deprecated anchor docking
451	451
452	452		### Create a TLazDockingManager
453	453
454	454		``` pascal
455	455		DockingManager:=TLazDockingManager.Create(Self);
456	456		```
457	457
458	458		The Self as parameter is only used as Owner. That means, when the mainform is freed, the DockingManager is freed too. You can use nil and free the DockingManager yourself.
459	459
460	460		### Optional: Loading a configuration
461	461
462	462		You can load the user configuration from disk.
463	463
464	464		``` pascal
465	465		Config:=TXMLConfigStorage.Create('config.xml',true);
466	466		DockingManager.LoadFromConfig(Config);
467	467		Config.Free;
468	468		```
469	469
470	470		This loads the file config.xml. The config can be created by the SaveToConfig function. See below.
471	471
472	472		### Make a form/control dockable
473	473
474	474		Create a TLazControlDocker for each form/control that should be dockable
475	475
476	476		``` pascal
477	477		ControlDocker1:=TLazControlDocker.Create(Self);
478	478		ControlDocker1.Name:='DockerForm1';
479	479		ControlDocker1.Manager:=DockingManager;
480	480		```
481	481
482	482		### Optional: Saving the user configuration to disk
483	483
484	484		When the program is closed you can save the user configuration to disk
485	485
486	486		``` pascal
487	487		Config:=TXMLConfigStorage.Create('config.xml',true);
488	488		DockingManager.SaveToConfig(Config);
489	489		Config.WriteToDisk;
490	490		Config.Free;
491	491		```
492	492
493	493		## See also
494	494
495	495		- [[AnchorDockingDsgn]] AnchorDocking in the Lazarus IDE
496	496		- [[Anchor Docking Step by step example\|Anchor Docking: A Step by step example]]
497	497		- [[Docking]] in general
498	498		- [[EasyDockingManager]] - an alternative docking implementation with a simpler layout engine and fewer options.
499	499
500	500		---
501	501		From the Free Pascal wiki, page "Anchor Docking", as it stood on 2024-01-27 after a change by Rich2014, out of the wiki's dump of 2024-05-26. Copyright stays with the author who wrote it, according to the old wiki's [[Licensing]] page. If you have concerns about this material, [message the admin](/wiki-contact).
502	502		Category: Docking
503	503		Category: Lazarus IDE plugins

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