IntializeComponent keeps getting overwritten

Question

I have some conditionals in my InitializeComponent which affect the layout based on some variables. Unfortunately, it seems like whenever I rebuild my application, this code is reverted back to its previous state. Is this code being regenerated based on the Designer interface? Is there a way to prevent it from doing this?

Answer 1

Yes, InitializeComponent is completely IDE-generated; don't even try to mess with it.

If you have conditional logic wherein you want to add/remove some controls, do it in your control's constructor after the auto-generated call to InitializeComponent.

Note that if the conditional stuff will depend on features enabled/disabled at design time (e.g., if someone else is using your control and you've provided properties to affect how that control behaves which you intend to be set at design time), using the constructor won't work since the constructor will have already run by the time the user makes his/her choices from the design view; in this case, override the OnLoad method and put your logic in there (or do some variation of this, e.g., handle the Load event itself—there are plenty of ways to skin this cat).