Form Class (System.Windows.Forms)

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

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.NET Framework Class Library

Form Class

Updated: July 2009

Represents a window or dialog box that makes up an application's user interface.

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

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

<ComVisibleAttribute(True)> _
<ClassInterfaceAttribute(ClassInterfaceType.AutoDispatch)> _
Public Class Form _
    Inherits ContainerControl

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As Form

[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
[ClassInterfaceAttribute(ClassInterfaceType.AutoDispatch)]
public class Form : ContainerControl

Visual C++

[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
[ClassInterfaceAttribute(ClassInterfaceType::AutoDispatch)]
public ref class Form : public ContainerControl

JScript

public class Form extends ContainerControl

Remarks

A Form is a representation of any window displayed in your application. The Form class can be used to create standard, tool, borderless, and floating windows. You can also use the Form class to create modal windows such as a dialog box. A special kind of form, the multiple-document interface (MDI) form, can contain other forms called MDI child forms. An MDI form is created by setting the IsMdiContainer property to true. MDI child forms are created by setting the MdiParent property to the MDI parent form that will contain the child form.

Using the properties available in the Form class, you can determine the appearance, size, color, and window management features of the window or dialog box you are creating. The Text property allows you to specify the caption of the window in the title bar. The Size and DesktopLocation properties allow you to define the size and position of the window when it is displayed. You can use the ForeColor color property to change the default foreground color of all controls placed on the form. The FormBorderStyle, MinimizeBox, and MaximizeBox properties allow you to control whether the form can be minimized, maximized, or resized at run time.

In addition to properties, you can use the methods of the class to manipulate a form. For example, you can use the ShowDialog method to show a form as a modal dialog box. You can use the SetDesktopLocation method to position the form on the desktop.

The events of the Form class allow you to respond to actions performed on the form. You can use the Activated event to perform operations such as updating the data displayed in the controls of the form when the form is activated.

You can use a form as the starting class in your application by placing a method called Main in the class. In the Main method add code to create and show the form. You will also need to add the STAThread attribute to the Main method in order for the form to run. When the starting form is closed, the application is also closed.

If you set the Enabled property to false before the Form is visible (for example, setting Enabled to false in the Microsoft Visual Studio designer), the minimize, maximize, close, and system buttons remain enabled. If you set Enabled to false after the Form is visible (for example, when the Load event occurs), the buttons are disabled.

Examples

The following code example creates a new instance of a Form and calls the ShowDialog method to display the form as a dialog box. The example sets the FormBorderStyle, AcceptButton, CancelButton, MinimizeBox, MaximizeBox, and StartPosition properties to change the appearance and functionality of the form to a dialog box. The example also uses the Add method of the form's Controls collection to add two Button controls. The example uses the HelpButton property to display a help button in the caption bar of the dialog box.

Visual Basic

Public Sub CreateMyForm()
    ' Create a new instance of the form.
    Dim form1 As New Form()
    ' Create two buttons to use as the accept and cancel buttons.
    Dim button1 As New Button()
    Dim button2 As New Button()

    ' Set the text of button1 to "OK".
    button1.Text = "OK"
    ' Set the position of the button on the form.
    button1.Location = New Point(10, 10)
    ' Set the text of button2 to "Cancel".
    button2.Text = "Cancel"
    ' Set the position of the button based on the location of button1.
    button2.Location = _
       New Point(button1.Left, button1.Height + button1.Top + 10)
    ' Set the caption bar text of the form.   
    form1.Text = "My Dialog Box"
    ' Display a help button on the form.
    form1.HelpButton = True

    ' Define the border style of the form to a dialog box.
    form1.FormBorderStyle = FormBorderStyle.FixedDialog
    ' Set the MaximizeBox to false to remove the maximize box.
    form1.MaximizeBox = False
    ' Set the MinimizeBox to false to remove the minimize box.
    form1.MinimizeBox = False
    ' Set the accept button of the form to button1.
    form1.AcceptButton = button1
    ' Set the cancel button of the form to button2.
    form1.CancelButton = button2
    ' Set the start position of the form to the center of the screen.
    form1.StartPosition = FormStartPosition.CenterScreen

    ' Add button1 to the form.
    form1.Controls.Add(button1)
    ' Add button2 to the form.
    form1.Controls.Add(button2)

    ' Display the form as a modal dialog box.
    form1.ShowDialog()
End Sub

public void CreateMyForm()
{
   // Create a new instance of the form.
   Form form1 = new Form();
   // Create two buttons to use as the accept and cancel buttons.
   Button button1 = new Button ();
   Button button2 = new Button ();

   // Set the text of button1 to "OK".
   button1.Text = "OK";
   // Set the position of the button on the form.
   button1.Location = new Point (10, 10);
   // Set the text of button2 to "Cancel".
   button2.Text = "Cancel";
   // Set the position of the button based on the location of button1.
   button2.Location
      = new Point (button1.Left, button1.Height + button1.Top + 10);
   // Set the caption bar text of the form.   
   form1.Text = "My Dialog Box";
   // Display a help button on the form.
   form1.HelpButton = true;

   // Define the border style of the form to a dialog box.
   form1.FormBorderStyle = FormBorderStyle.FixedDialog;
   // Set the MaximizeBox to false to remove the maximize box.
   form1.MaximizeBox = false;
   // Set the MinimizeBox to false to remove the minimize box.
   form1.MinimizeBox = false;
   // Set the accept button of the form to button1.
   form1.AcceptButton = button1;
   // Set the cancel button of the form to button2.
   form1.CancelButton = button2;
   // Set the start position of the form to the center of the screen.
   form1.StartPosition = FormStartPosition.CenterScreen;

   // Add button1 to the form.
   form1.Controls.Add(button1);
   // Add button2 to the form.
   form1.Controls.Add(button2);

   // Display the form as a modal dialog box.
   form1.ShowDialog();
}

Visual C++

public:
   void CreateMyForm()
   {
      // Create a new instance of the form.
      Form^ form1 = gcnew Form;
      // Create two buttons to use as the accept and cancel buttons.
      Button^ button1 = gcnew Button;
      Button^ button2 = gcnew Button;

      // Set the text of button1 to "OK".
      button1->Text = "OK";
      // Set the position of the button on the form.
      button1->Location = Point(10,10);
      // Set the text of button2 to "Cancel".
      button2->Text = "Cancel";
      // Set the position of the button based on the location of button1.
      button2->Location =
         Point( button1->Left, button1->Height + button1->Top + 10 );
      // Set the caption bar text of the form.   
      form1->Text = "My Dialog Box";
      // Display a help button on the form.
      form1->HelpButton = true;

      // Define the border style of the form to a dialog box.
      form1->FormBorderStyle = ::FormBorderStyle::FixedDialog;
      // Set the MaximizeBox to false to remove the maximize box.
      form1->MaximizeBox = false;      
      // Set the MinimizeBox to false to remove the minimize box.
      form1->MinimizeBox = false;
      // Set the accept button of the form to button1.
      form1->AcceptButton = button1;
      // Set the cancel button of the form to button2.
      form1->CancelButton = button2;
      // Set the start position of the form to the center of the screen.
      form1->StartPosition = FormStartPosition::CenterScreen;

      // Add button1 to the form.
      form1->Controls->Add( button1 );
      // Add button2 to the form.
      form1->Controls->Add( button2 );
      // Display the form as a modal dialog box.
      form1->ShowDialog();
   }

Inheritance Hierarchy

Thread Safety

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

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, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC

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

.NET Compact Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 2.0, 1.0

Reference

Form Members

System.Windows.Forms Namespace

Other Resources

Multiple-Document Interface (MDI) Applications

Change History

Date	History	Reason
July 2009	Added remark about setting the Enabled property.	Information enhancement.

Date

History

Reason

July 2009

Added remark about setting the Enabled property.

Information enhancement.