i know a Windows Combobox control is nothing but a Textbox and a ListBoxglued together.
i need to simulate the same thing in WinForms. i am trying to figure out Windows window options that must be set to achieve the proper effect.
the drop-down cannot be a child window - otherwise it is clipped to the parent's area
conceptually it must be a pop-up window - an overlapped window
it can be an owned window - An owned window is always above its owner in the z-order. The system automatically destroys an owned window when its owner is destroyed. An owned window is hidden when its owner is minimized.
The best i've managed so far is to create
a borderless (this.FormBorderStyle = System.Windows.Forms.FormBorderStyle.None)
topmost (this.TopMost = true)
form that doesn't show in the taskbar (this.ShowInTaskbar = false)
this borderless topmost form contains my "drop-down" control. i "hide" my dropdown when the dropdown form loses focus:
this.Deactivate += new EventHandler(TheDropDownForm_Deactivate);
void TheDropDownForm_Deactivate(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
...
this.Close();
}
This conglomeration of mess works well enough...
...except that "drop-down" takes focus away from the owner form.
And this is my question, what properties should my popup window have?
SW_SHOWNOACTIVATE?
But then how do i hide my drop-down form when it loses focus - when it cannot lose focus?
How do i simulate a combo-box drop-down in .NET?
Note: Don't confuse what you see in the example screenshot with something else. i am asking how to create "drop-down" form in Winforms - the contents can be different than the screenshot above:
Using a ToolStripControlHost and a ToolStripDropDown can achieve the same effect.
From this answer:
Private Sub ShowControl(ByVal fromControl As Control, ByVal whichControl As Control)
'\\ whichControl needs MinimumSize set:'
whichControl.MinimumSize = whichControl.Size
Dim toolDrop As New ToolStripDropDown()
Dim toolHost As New ToolStripControlHost(whichControl)
toolHost.Margin = New Padding(0)
toolDrop.Padding = New Padding(0)
toolDrop.Items.Add(toolHost)
toolDrop.Show(Me, New Point(fromControl.Left, fromControl.Bottom))
End Sub
Related
I used a wpf and set Topmost=true, this works for other applications but I want to put the form in taskbar, when the task bar get focus, the form is blocked.
I want to know if there is any method to make the form always on top?
enter image description here
enter image description here
Another question is that I want to add some buttons on taskbar so that I can click them easily, but I only found trayIcon which is limited in functions.
YourCustomWindow cw = new YourCustomWindow ();
cw.Owner = Application.Current.MainWindow;
cw.ShowInTaskbar = false;
cw.ShowDialog() ;
I am making a game using Windows Forms, and I feel that the easiest way to make different screens (Main Menu, Settings, Etc...) is using a separate form for each screen. I have looked up up many different ways to do this. Many people talk of using form2.Show(); this.Hide();, however, this creates a new popup window.
People have also suggested using this.IsMdiContainer = true; to create a new window inside of the current window, but this is also not the functionality I want.
EDIT: Another question, multiple-guis-one-window, explains slightly that this can be achieved using UserControls, but does not elaborate with any examples, or what I should do.
I want to completely replace the current form's functionality with that of a new form.
Is there a way to achieve this? If not, is there a good alternative?
As I understood, you want to keep the same form and change the data inside that form (to not get the effect that your form was closed and reopened again).
The problem is windows form does not support such thing directly (at least not in an optimal way), I would use another UI frameworks for that. However, if you want to stick though with windows forms, you may use GroupBox or Panel tools (available from windows form design tools in Visual studio). Here you can group your elements as required, and show/hide the group/panel as required.
That is one of the best available solution for windows form AFAIK.
You want to open child forms within main form then you should try this i have create it without any User Control.
I have manage one parent form and two child forms. child forms should be open within parent form.
frmMain(Parent Form)
Set frmMain Property as Following
WindowState = System.Windows.Forms.FormWindowState.Maximized
I have take 3 panel in frmMain window.
pnlMenu (For Display Menu)
Set pnlMenu.Dock = System.Windows.Forms.DockStyle.Top property
Set height of this panel as you require.
pnlMain (For Display Child Forms)
Set pnlMain.Dock = System.Windows.Forms.DockStyle.Fill property
pnlFooter (For Footer Section)
Set pnlFooter.Dock = System.Windows.Forms.DockStyle.Bottom; property
Set height of this panel as you require.
I have set menubar in pnlMenu(Click on that menu for display child form in pnlMain)
frmMain.cs
public void BindFormIntoMainForm(Form Main)
{
Main.TopLevel = false;
Main.WindowState = FormWindowState.Maximized;
Main.AutoScroll = true;
pnlMain.Controls.Clear();
pnlMain.Controls.Add(Main);
pnlMain.Refresh();
Main.Show();
}
private void childToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
frmChildForm1 ChildForm1 = new frmChildForm1();
BindFormIntoMainForm(ChildForm1);
}
private void childForm2ToolStripMenuItem1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
frmChildForm2 ChildForm2 = new frmChildForm2();
BindFormIntoMainForm(ChildForm2);
}
BindFormIntoMainForm method responsible for display child form in main window.
frmChildForm1 & frmChildForm2(ChildForm)
Set both form Property as Following
FormBorderStyle = System.Windows.Forms.FormBorderStyle.None
Now when you click on Child Form 1 Menu then display following output:
when you click on Child Form 2 Menu then display following output:
I think it can be helpful for you.
How can I have a black form as a background and some modal forms opened one at a time whose owner is the black form? I need these two to retain their order together (when minimized and maximized) that's why I have chosen the modal form.
I have made a simple main form with black background, and opened a form in dialog (modal) form. The main form provides a black background for me and the modal form stays in front of the black background. But when opening new forms, I can't set the owner of new modal form to the aforementioned black form. I have tried passing the black form object and also registering events to no avail.
Do you know any mechanism to implement the following scenario:
A black form as a background and a series of modal forms opened one at a time in front of the black one in a way that the black form is the owner of every modal form.
Thanks
Edit
Please consider this scenario: I have 3 forms named frmBlack, Form1 and Form2. I use frmBlack as the main blacked form. After placing a button on this form I call the Form1Object.ShowDialog(this). Now suppose that I want to navigate to the third form (Form2), [this means that I must close the Form1Object] I put a button on the second form (Form1) and when this button is pressed I must close the Form1 object and navigate to the Form2Object while its owner in the ShowDialog() function must be set to frmBlack.
This is done using MDI Forms.
Your application will look like this: http://www.datadynamics.com/Help/AB3/Images/MDI%20Child%20menu.gif
This works in winform projects, not in WPF project (at least not by default).
Parent or Owner? That's a difference. Parent is only used in MDI-Applications (see Luigi's post). The owner can be set in the call to ShowDialog( owningForm ).
What is it that you want to achieve?
hth
Mario
To achieve what you want from the window with the second button post pack to the frmBlack and let it do the work.
Or more specifically set a flag within the frmBlack, since in frm1.btnShowNextForm you need to close frm1...
And also take a look at Form.Owner
so something along these lines in frm1.buttonShowNextFormClicked()
{
if ( null != Owner )
{
FrmBlack frmBlackLocal = Owner as FrmBlack;
if ( null != frmBlackLocal )
{
frmBlackLocal.NextAction = FrmBLack.NextActions.ShowForm2; //an enum
}
}
Close();
}
and in frmBlack
{
frm1.ShowDialog(this);
if ( NextAction == NextActions.ShowForm2)
{
frm2.ShowDialog(this);
}
}
Well, of course it needs some brush-up (like extracting the next handler in a function of it's own, but you should get the idea.
hth
Mario
Can I create a control that has 2 menu's characteristic:
Do not take form's focus on clicking.
Automically disappear when clicking outside.
I intend to draw it manually, but I realise I can't draw outside of form's border like system menu.
You are describing the ToolStripControlHost, which can contain any control you want. Paired with the ToolStripDropDown, and you have a very effective custom drop down control that will not take focus from the main form, and will close when clicked outside of it:
Dim toolDrop As New ToolStripDropDown()
Dim toolHost As New ToolStripControlHost(myControl)
toolHost.Margin = New Padding(0)
toolDrop.Padding = New Padding(0)
toolDrop.Items.Add(toolHost)
toolDrop.Show(Me, New Point(0, 0))
Whatever myControl is, sometimes you have to set the MinimumSize of it equal to the size of the control. There are events you can handle for the ToolStripDropDown such as, Opening and Closing.
what kind of control? is it a CommandButton? if so, you can set Allow Focus Property to False.
I have a Windows Forms application that opens MDI child forms. When I select those forms, I need to set or render its windowstate to Maximized. The problem is, when I navigate between the open forms, it reverts back to the normal window state, and when I set the window state to maximized again, it shows the transition from normal to maximized state and it doesn't look nice.
How can a Windows application be created that have an MDI parent form that opens many MDI childs in maximized window state?
Here's an answer based on using the MDI "Parent Form and Child Form paradigm," with the following assumptions :
you have a MenuStrip control 'Dock = 'Top on your MDIParentForm, and you've implemented the automatic MDI &Window menu handler as described in : How to: Create an MDI Window List with MenuStrip
you are creating new child forms that :
a. do not have a MaximizeBox, MinimizeBox, etc., but may have ControlBox (for closing them)
b. these child forms may be resizable or not : we won't consider the implications of that here.
You want these MDIChildForms to display maximized in the MDIParent Form, but not to obscure the MDIParentForm's menu.
Okay : assuming you have all your child Forms fully designed, "waiting in the wings" : we might see some code like this in your MDIParentForm code :
// create instances of your child forms
Form2 f2 = new Form2();
Form3 f3 = new Form3();
Form4 f4 = new Form4();
Form5 f5 = new Form5();
private void MDIParentForm1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
f2.Text = "subForm1";
f3.Text = "subForm2";
f4.Text = "subForm3";
f5.Text = "subForm4";
f2.MdiParent = this;
f3.MdiParent = this;
f4.MdiParent = this;
f5.MdiParent = this;
f2.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
f3.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
f4.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
f5.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
f2.Show();
f3.Show();
f4.Show();
f5.Show();
}
At this point, the dock style 'Fill applied to the child forms will make them full-screen, and keep them from obscuring the MDIParentForm menu : and the menu will allow you to auto-select which one is frontmost.
Now, if you want to do fancier stuff : like resizing the child Forms, tiling them, cascading them. You are going to have to change the 'Dock property of these child windows : and then you can make use of the built-in MDI paradigm window arranging facilities as described here : How to: Arrange MDI Child Forms
And if you want to create multiple instances of one type of pre-defined child form : How to Create MDI Child Forms ... see the example on how to use a 'New menu entry : may prove useful.
If you want the window state to always be maximized, I'd recommend switching away from an MDI Form. A TabControl may work better, in that case.
MDI forms have quite a few usability issues, which is why they are not commonly used anymore, and tend to be replaced with other controls/options.
After reading Reeds answer and especially your comment:
problem with tabcontrol is, i have a
lot of controls used per child form
Maybe this will help:
Don't put your controls into a Winform. Instead encapsulate them into a UserControl (maybe it already works by changing your inheritance from Form to UserControl).
Now put every UserControl on it's own TabPage and set its Dock property to Fill. Now you are able to change each UserControl on it's own, without any interference to another control on another TabPage (as far as you don't built in any connection).
If you intend to give up on MDI, you could have a look at docking frameworks like WeifenLuo or DigitalRune. These are free, for other options you can have a look here: http://windowsclient.net/downloads/folders/controlgallery/tags/Windows+Forms+Docking+Windows/default.aspx
EDIT:
If I remember well, DigitalRune allows the usage of windows forms as containers for docked content so the migration effort would be smaller.