Display different menus or pages within an application [modified]
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Hi All, I am quite new to C# programming and have been reading lots of documents and books trying to get a handle on how to work with it. I am using Visual Studio 2005. I am wondering what the best way is to make an application that has one main "page" and different "sub pages" within it. I guess the best way to describe it would be to say I would like it to function like a tab control but without the tabs. The user would click on certain buttons/icons and a different "sub page" would show up on the application window. Kind of like if you have ever used Outlook or Outlook Express. There are links on the left hand side, such as Inbox, or Calendar, and when you click on these links, the "sub page" on the right changes to display whatever it is you've selected (exactly what would happen if it was a tab control and the user clicked on the appropriate tab, but without the tabs and without the tab pages). I would like to design the entire interface in the Form Designer, and in last sample projects that I have done I have used the tab control (Then I could click on individual tabs and design that page accordingly .. I don't want to have to create buttons and everything programatically). I'm looking for a way to be able to do this without the tab control. (ie, create multiple "sub pages" and make them visible or not in code depending on which button/icon has been clicked). I have searched and searched but I think my problem is I do not know what this is called so that is why I am getting no where. Any help pointing me in the correct direction would be appreciated! TIA -- modified at 15:52 Tuesday 15th May, 2007
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Hi All, I am quite new to C# programming and have been reading lots of documents and books trying to get a handle on how to work with it. I am using Visual Studio 2005. I am wondering what the best way is to make an application that has one main "page" and different "sub pages" within it. I guess the best way to describe it would be to say I would like it to function like a tab control but without the tabs. The user would click on certain buttons/icons and a different "sub page" would show up on the application window. Kind of like if you have ever used Outlook or Outlook Express. There are links on the left hand side, such as Inbox, or Calendar, and when you click on these links, the "sub page" on the right changes to display whatever it is you've selected (exactly what would happen if it was a tab control and the user clicked on the appropriate tab, but without the tabs and without the tab pages). I would like to design the entire interface in the Form Designer, and in last sample projects that I have done I have used the tab control (Then I could click on individual tabs and design that page accordingly .. I don't want to have to create buttons and everything programatically). I'm looking for a way to be able to do this without the tab control. (ie, create multiple "sub pages" and make them visible or not in code depending on which button/icon has been clicked). I have searched and searched but I think my problem is I do not know what this is called so that is why I am getting no where. Any help pointing me in the correct direction would be appreciated! TIA -- modified at 15:52 Tuesday 15th May, 2007
Maybe you want to take a look at some 3rd party UI library. We do use DotNetBar [^]. Usually these libraries provide much richer functionality than just pure Windows Forms.
-- • Zeta Producer Desktop CMS Intuitive, completely easy-to-use CMS for Windows. • Zeta Helpdesk Open Source ticket software for Windows and web. • Zeta Uploader Easily send large files by e-mail. Windows and web client. • Desargues Innovative, lean and neat calculator for Windows.
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Maybe you want to take a look at some 3rd party UI library. We do use DotNetBar [^]. Usually these libraries provide much richer functionality than just pure Windows Forms.
-- • Zeta Producer Desktop CMS Intuitive, completely easy-to-use CMS for Windows. • Zeta Helpdesk Open Source ticket software for Windows and web. • Zeta Uploader Easily send large files by e-mail. Windows and web client. • Desargues Innovative, lean and neat calculator for Windows.
Hi, Thank you for the reply. The problem is that I am just learning C# and am writing code for various sample projects just getting a feel for it, so I do not really want to spend the $200 on a 3rd party library just because I'm not really building anything that is enterprise. I was just looking for a way to do this using forms designers with maybe group boxes or panels or some other element that I just have not come across yet. Thanks!
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Hi, Thank you for the reply. The problem is that I am just learning C# and am writing code for various sample projects just getting a feel for it, so I do not really want to spend the $200 on a 3rd party library just because I'm not really building anything that is enterprise. I was just looking for a way to do this using forms designers with maybe group boxes or panels or some other element that I just have not come across yet. Thanks!
You can build your page class from any Control descendant; utilize any list or Collection you want to manage your pages; anchor each page to a page region; and build a navigation system to negotiate the page population. You can do a simple job of it to see what you're getting into. Professional results and deep functionality will not be trivial.
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You can build your page class from any Control descendant; utilize any list or Collection you want to manage your pages; anchor each page to a page region; and build a navigation system to negotiate the page population. You can do a simple job of it to see what you're getting into. Professional results and deep functionality will not be trivial.