How to Design a Windows Forms Application - How to add controls to a form
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Figure 2-4 shows how you can use the Toolbox to add controls to a form. The easiest way to do that is to click on the control in the Toolbox, then click the form at the location where you want to add the control. In this figure, for example, the button control is selected in the Toolbox, and the mouse pointer is positioned over the form.
Once you add a control to a form, you can resize the control by selecting it and dragging one of its handles, and you can move the control by dragging the control to a new location on the form. If you prefer, you can place and size the control in a single operation by clicking the control in the Toolbox, then clicking and dragging in the form.
A second way to add a control is to drag the control from the Toolbox to the form. The control is placed wherever you drop it. You can then resize the control.
A third method for adding controls is to double-click the control you want to add in the Toolbox. This places the control in the upper left corner of the form. You can then move and resize the control.
If the AutoHide feature is activated for the Toolbox and you move the mouse pointer over the Toolbox tab to display it, the display frequently obscures some or all of the form. This makes it difficult to add controls. As a result, it’s a good idea to turn off the AutoHide feature when you’re adding controls. To do that, just click the pushpin button in the upper right corner of the Toolbox.
After you have added controls to the form, you can work with several controls at once. For example, let’s say that you have four text box controls on your form and you want to make them all the same size with the same alignment. To do that, first select all four controls by holding down the Ctrl or Shift key as you click on them or by using the mouse pointer to drag a dotted rectangular line around the controls. Then, use the commands in the Format menu or the buttons in the Layout toolbar to move, size, and align the controls relative the primary control. If you select the controls one at a time, the primary control will be the first control you select. If you select the controls by dragging around them, the primary control will be the last control in the group. To change the primary control, just click on it. (The primary control will have different color handles so you can identify it.)
Although these techniques may be hard to visualize as you read about them, you’ll find that they’re relatively easy to use. All you need is a little practice, which you’ll get in the exercise for this chapter.
A Form after some controls have been added to it
Three ways to add a control to a form
Select the control in the Toolbox. Then, click in the form where you want to place the control. Or, drag the pointer on the form to place the control and size it at the same time.
Double-click the control in the Toolbox. Then, the control is placed in the upper left corner of the form.
Drag the control from the Toolbox and drop it on the form. Then, the control is placed wherever you drop it.
How to select and work with controls
To select a control on the form, click it. To move a control, drag it.
To size a selected control, drag one of its handles. Note, however, that a label is sized automatically based on the amount of text that it contains. As a result, you can’t size a label by dragging its handles unless you change its AutoSize property.
To select more than one control, hold down the Shift or Ctrl key as you click on each control. You can also select a group of controls by clicking on a blank spot in the form and then dragging around the controls.
To align, size, or space a group of selected controls, click on a control to make it the primary control. Then, use the commands in the Format menu or the buttons on the Layout toolbar to align, size, or space the controls relative to the primary control.
You can also size all of the controls in a group by sizing the primary control in the group. And you can drag any of the selected controls to move all the controls.
To change the size of a form, click the form and drag one of its sizing handles.
Figure 2-4. How to add controls to a form
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 This article is excerpted from chapter two of Murach's Visual Basic 2008, written by Anne Boehm (Murach, 2008; ISBN: 1890774456). Check it out today at your favorite bookstore. Buy this book now.
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