AvalonDock: Can't add new LayoutDocuments to a LayoutDocumentPane after deserializing

[xceedsoftware]

theficus[CodePlex]
Being able to add new LayoutDocuments to a LayoutDocumentPane by using code behind (pane.Children.Add() stops working after you deserialize a layout.

Simple repro follows. Using the quotAdd new tabquot button will stop working after clicking the quotDeserializequot button. Even if re-serializing and deserializing, the new tabs are not visible.

Repro XAML:
ltWindow x:Class=quotAvalonDockTabsTest2.MainWindowquot
xmlns=quothttp://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentationquot
xmlns:x=quothttp://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xamlquot
xmlns:d=quothttp://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008quot
xmlns:mc=quothttp://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006quot
xmlns:local=quotclr-namespace:AvalonDockTabsTest2quot
xmlns:xcad=quothttp://schemas.xceed.com/wpf/xaml/avalondockquot
mc:Ignorable=quotdquot
Title=quotMainWindowquot Height=quot350quot Width=quot525quotgt
ltGridgt
ltGrid.RowDefinitionsgt
ltRowDefinition Height=quot30quot /gt
ltRowDefinition Height=quot*quot /gt
lt/Grid.RowDefinitionsgt
ltStackPanel Grid.Row=quot0quot
Orientation=quotHorizontalquotgt
ltButton Content=quotAdd new tabquot
VerticalAlignment=quotCenterquot
HorizontalAlignment=quotLeftquot
Margin=quot4quot
Click=quotOnAddTabClickquot /gt
ltButton Content=quotSerializequot
Margin=quot4quot
Click=quotOnSerializequot /gt
ltButton Content=quotDeserializequot
Margin=quot4quot
Click=quotOnDeserializequot /gt
lt/StackPanelgt
ltxcad:DockingManager Grid.Row=quot1quot x:Name=quotDockingManagerquotgt
ltxcad:LayoutRootgt
ltxcad:LayoutPanelgt
ltxcad:LayoutDocumentPaneGroupgt
ltxcad:LayoutDocumentPane x:Name=quotDocPanequotgt
ltxcad:LayoutDocument Title=quotDefaultquot CanClose=quotFalsequot /gt
lt/xcad:LayoutDocumentPanegt
lt/xcad:LayoutDocumentPaneGroupgt
lt/xcad:LayoutPanelgt
lt/xcad:LayoutRootgt
lt/xcad:DockingManagergt
lt/Gridgt
lt/Windowgt
Repro code-behind:
namespace AvalonDockTabsTest2
{
/// ltsummarygt
/// Interaction logic for MainWindow.xaml
/// lt/summarygt
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
private int count;
private string serializedLayout;

    public MainWindow()
    {
        this.InitializeComponent();
    }

    private void OnAddTabClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        LayoutDocument doc = new LayoutDocument();
        doc.Title = quottest quot + this.count;
        doc.ContentId = quottestquot + this.count;
        doc.Content = new Grid();
        ++this.count;
        this.DocPane.Children.Add(doc);
    }

    private void OnDeserialize(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(this.serializedLayout))
        {
            this.OnSerialize(null, null);
        }

        XmlLayoutSerializer serializer = new XmlLayoutSerializer(this.DockingManager);
        using (StringReader sr = new StringReader(this.serializedLayout))
        {
            XmlReader xr = XmlReader.Create(sr);
            serializer.Deserialize(xr);
        }
    }

    private void OnSerialize(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        XmlLayoutSerializer serializer = new XmlLayoutSerializer(this.DockingManager);
        using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream())
        {
            serializer.Serialize(ms);
            this.serializedLayout = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(ms.ToArray());
        }
    }
}

}

[xceedsoftware]

theficus[CodePlex]
Thank you! This was very helpful, and non-obvious. :)

[xceedsoftware]

BoucherS[CodePlex]
Hi,

First, your Default LayoutDocument is missing its ContentId. This means it will not be serialized/deserialized.

Second, in your OnTabClick handler, you do :
this.DocPane.Children.Add( doc );
but this will only add items into the DocPane, which will be a different instance upon deserialization. You should try to obtain this LayoutDocumentPane by scanning the DockingManager and adding the new item in it. Something like :
var layoutDocumentPaneGroup = ((LayoutDocumentPaneGroupControl)DockingManager.LayoutRootPanel.Children[ 0 ]).Model;
var layoutDocumentPane = layoutDocumentPaneGroup.Descendents().OfTypeLayoutDocumentPane().First();
layoutDocumentPane.Children.Add( doc );
Third, Please note v3.2 and v3.3 will not deserialize when using a StringReader. In those version, you will need to use a StreamReader. This will all be fixed in v3.4.
Here's an example of using StreamReader:
private void OnSerialize( object sender, RoutedEventArgs e )
{
var layoutSerializer = new XmlLayoutSerializer( DockingManager );
using( var writer = new StreamWriter( AvalonDockSavedFile.txt ) )
{
layoutSerializer.Serialize( writer );
}
}

private void OnDeserialize( object sender, RoutedEventArgs e )
{
var layoutSerializer = new XmlLayoutSerializer( DockingManager );
using( var reader = new StreamReader( AvalonDockSavedFile.txt ) )
{
layoutSerializer.Deserialize( reader );
}
}
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