Control.Enter Event (System.Windows.Forms)

Enter Event

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

Other versions are also available for the following:

.NET Framework Class Library

Control..::.Enter Event

Updated: October 2008

Occurs when the control is entered.

Namespace: System.Windows.Forms
Assembly: System.Windows.Forms (in System.Windows.Forms.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

Public Event Enter As EventHandler

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As Control
Dim handler As EventHandler

AddHandler instance.Enter, handler

public event EventHandler Enter

Visual C++

public:
 event EventHandler^ Enter {
    void add (EventHandler^ value);
    void remove (EventHandler^ value);
}

JScript

JScript does not support events.

Remarks

When you change the focus by using the keyboard (TAB, SHIFT+TAB, and so on), by calling the Select or SelectNextControl methods, or by setting the ContainerControl..::.ActiveControl property to the current form, focus events occur in the following order:

When you change the focus by using the mouse or by calling the Focus method, focus events occur in the following order:

If the CausesValidation property is set to false, the Validating and Validated events are suppressed.

Note:
The Enter and Leave events are suppressed by the Form class. The equivalent events in the Form class are the Activated and Deactivate events. The Enter and Leave events are hierarchical and will cascade up and down the parent chain until the appropriate control is reached. For example, assume you have a Form with two GroupBox controls, and each GroupBox control has one TextBox control. When the caret is moved from one TextBox to the other, the Leave event is raised for the TextBox and GroupBox, and the Enter event is raised for the other GroupBox and TextBox.

Note:

The Enter and Leave events are suppressed by the Form class. The equivalent events in the Form class are the Activated and Deactivate events. The Enter and Leave events are hierarchical and will cascade up and down the parent chain until the appropriate control is reached. For example, assume you have a Form with two GroupBox controls, and each GroupBox control has one TextBox control. When the caret is moved from one TextBox to the other, the Leave event is raised for the TextBox and GroupBox, and the Enter event is raised for the other GroupBox and TextBox.

Caution:
Do not attempt to set focus from within the Enter, GotFocus, Leave, LostFocus, Validating, or Validated event handlers. Doing so can cause your application or the operating system to stop responding. For more information, see the WM_KILLFOCUS topic in the "Keyboard Input Reference" section, and the "Message Deadlocks" section of the "About Messages and Message Queues" topic in the MSDN library at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library.

Caution:

Do not attempt to set focus from within the Enter, GotFocus, Leave, LostFocus, Validating, or Validated event handlers. Doing so can cause your application or the operating system to stop responding. For more information, see the WM_KILLFOCUS topic in the "Keyboard Input Reference" section, and the "Message Deadlocks" section of the "About Messages and Message Queues" topic in the MSDN library at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library.

For more information about handling events, see Consuming Events.

Examples

The following code example uses the Enter event to change the foreground and background colors of a TextBox under particular conditions.

Visual Basic

    Private Sub textBox1_Enter(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles textBox1.Enter
        ' If the TextBox contains text, change its foreground and background colors.
        If textBox1.Text <> [String].Empty Then
            textBox1.ForeColor = Color.Red
            textBox1.BackColor = Color.Black
            ' Move the selection pointer to the end of the text of the control.
            textBox1.Select(textBox1.Text.Length, 0)
        End If
    End Sub 'textBox1_Enter


    Private Sub textBox1_Leave(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles textBox1.Leave
        ' Reset the colors and selection of the TextBox after focus is lost.
        textBox1.ForeColor = Color.Black
        textBox1.BackColor = Color.White
        textBox1.Select(0, 0)
    End Sub 'textBox1_Leave
End Class 'Form1

private void textBox1_Enter(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
    // If the TextBox contains text, change its foreground and background colors.
    if (textBox1.Text != String.Empty)
    {
        textBox1.ForeColor = Color.Red;
        textBox1.BackColor = Color.Black;
        // Move the selection pointer to the end of the text of the control.
        textBox1.Select(textBox1.Text.Length, 0);
    }
}

private void textBox1_Leave(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
    // Reset the colors and selection of the TextBox after focus is lost.
    textBox1.ForeColor = Color.Black;
    textBox1.BackColor = Color.White;
    textBox1.Select(0,0);
}

Visual C++

private:
   void textBox1_Enter( Object^ /*sender*/, System::EventArgs^ /*e*/ )
   {
      // If the TextBox contains text, change its foreground and background colors.
      if ( textBox1->Text != String::Empty )
      {
         textBox1->ForeColor = Color::Red;
         textBox1->BackColor = Color::Black;

         // Move the selection pointer to the end of the text of the control.
         textBox1->Select(textBox1->Text->Length,0);
      }
   }

   void textBox1_Leave( Object^ /*sender*/, System::EventArgs^ /*e*/ )
   {
      // Reset the colors and selection of the TextBox after focus is lost.
      textBox1->ForeColor = Color::Black;
      textBox1->BackColor = Color::White;
      textBox1->Select(0,0);
   }

Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

Reference

Control Class

Control Members

System.Windows.Forms Namespace

OnEnter

Change History

Date	History	Reason
October 2008	Updated caution about setting focus.	Information enhancement.

Date

History

Reason

October 2008

Updated caution about setting focus.

Information enhancement.