ProgressBar Class (System.Windows.Forms)

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2005/.NET Framework 2.0

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.NET Framework Class Library

ProgressBar Class

Represents a Windows progress bar control.

Namespace: System.Windows.Forms
Assembly: System.Windows.Forms (in system.windows.forms.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

<ClassInterfaceAttribute(ClassInterfaceType.AutoDispatch)> _
<ComVisibleAttribute(True)> _
Public Class ProgressBar
    Inherits Control

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As ProgressBar

[ClassInterfaceAttribute(ClassInterfaceType.AutoDispatch)] 
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)] 
public class ProgressBar : Control

C++

[ClassInterfaceAttribute(ClassInterfaceType::AutoDispatch)] 
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)] 
public ref class ProgressBar : public Control

/** @attribute ClassInterfaceAttribute(ClassInterfaceType.AutoDispatch) */ 
/** @attribute ComVisibleAttribute(true) */ 
public class ProgressBar extends Control

JScript

ClassInterfaceAttribute(ClassInterfaceType.AutoDispatch) 
ComVisibleAttribute(true) 
public class ProgressBar extends Control

Remarks

A ProgressBar control visually indicates the progress of a lengthy operation in one of three styles:

Segmented blocks that increase in steps from left to right.
A continuous bar that fills in from left to right.
A block that scrolls across a ProgressBar in a marquee fashion.

The Style property determines the style of ProgressBar that is displayed. Note that the ProgressBar control can only be oriented horizontally. For an example of how to create a vertically oriented ProgressBar, see the ProgressBarRenderer class. The ProgressBar control is typically used when an application performs tasks such as copying files or printing documents. Users of an application might consider an application unresponsive if there is no visual cue. By using the ProgressBar in your application, you alert the user that the application is performing a lengthy task and that the application is still responding.

The Maximum and Minimum properties define the range of values to represent the progress of a task. The Minimum property is typically set to a value of 0, and the Maximum property is typically set to a value indicating the completion of a task. For example, to properly display the progress when copying a group of files, the Maximum property could be set to the total number of files to be copied.

The Value property represents the progress that the application has made toward completing the operation. The value displayed by the ProgressBar only approximates the current value of the Value property. Based on the size of the ProgressBar, the Value property determines when to display the next block or increase the size of the bar.

There are a number of ways to modify the value displayed by the ProgressBar other than changing the Value property directly. You can use the Step property to specify a specific value to increment the Value property by, and then call the PerformStep method to increment the value. To vary the increment value, you can use the Increment method and specify a value with which to increment the Value property.

Note
ForeColor changes for the ProgressBar will not be honored when visual styles are enabled on Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional, Windows Server 2003 and above.

Example

The following code example uses a ProgressBar control to display the progress of a file copy operation. The example uses the Minimum and Maximum properties to specify a range for the ProgressBar that is equivalent to the number of files to copy. The code also uses the Step property with the PerformStep method to increment the value of the ProgressBar as a file is copied. This example requires that you have a ProgressBar control created called pBar1 that is created within a Form and that there is a method created called CopyFile (that returns a Boolean value indicating the file copy operation was completed successfully) that performs the file copy operation. The code also requires that an array of strings containing the files to copy is created and passed to the CopyWithProgress method defined in the example and that the method is called from another method or event in the Form.

Visual Basic

Private Sub CopyWithProgress(ByVal ParamArray filenames As String())
    ' Display the ProgressBar control.
    pBar1.Visible = True
    ' Set Minimum to 1 to represent the first file being copied.
    pBar1.Minimum = 1
    ' Set Maximum to the total number of files to copy.
    pBar1.Maximum = filenames.Length
    ' Set the initial value of the ProgressBar.
    pBar1.Value = 1
    ' Set the Step property to a value of 1 to represent each file being copied.
    pBar1.Step = 1

    ' Loop through all files to copy.
    Dim x As Integer
    for x = 1 To filenames.Length - 1
        ' Copy the file and increment the ProgressBar if successful.
        If CopyFile(filenames(x - 1)) = True Then
            ' Perform the increment on the ProgressBar.
            pBar1.PerformStep()
        End If
    Next x
End Sub

private void CopyWithProgress(string[] filenames)
{
    // Display the ProgressBar control.
    pBar1.Visible = true;
    // Set Minimum to 1 to represent the first file being copied.
    pBar1.Minimum = 1;
    // Set Maximum to the total number of files to copy.
    pBar1.Maximum = filenames.Length;
    // Set the initial value of the ProgressBar.
    pBar1.Value = 1;
    // Set the Step property to a value of 1 to represent each file being copied.
    pBar1.Step = 1;
    
    // Loop through all files to copy.
    for (int x = 1; x <= filenames.Length; x++)
    {
        // Copy the file and increment the ProgressBar if successful.
        if(CopyFile(filenames[x-1]) == true)
        {
            // Perform the increment on the ProgressBar.
            pBar1.PerformStep();
        }
    }
}

C++

private:
   void CopyWithProgress( array<String^>^filenames )
   {
      // Display the ProgressBar control.
      pBar1->Visible = true;

      // Set Minimum to 1 to represent the first file being copied.
      pBar1->Minimum = 1;

      // Set Maximum to the total number of files to copy.
      pBar1->Maximum = filenames->Length;

      // Set the initial value of the ProgressBar.
      pBar1->Value = 1;

      // Set the Step property to a value of 1 to represent each file being copied.
      pBar1->Step = 1;

      // Loop through all files to copy.
      for ( int x = 1; x <= filenames->Length; x++ )
      {
         // Copy the file and increment the ProgressBar if successful.
         if ( CopyFile( filenames[ x - 1 ] ) == true )
         {
            // Perform the increment on the ProgressBar.
            pBar1->PerformStep();
         }
      }
   }

private void CopyWithProgress(String fileNames[])
{
    // Display the ProgressBar control.
    pBar1.set_Visible(true);
    // Set Minimum to 1 to represent the first file being copied.
    pBar1.set_Minimum(1);
    // Set Maximum to the total number of files to copy.
    pBar1.set_Maximum(fileNames.get_Length());
    // Set the initial value of the ProgressBar.
    pBar1.set_Value(1);
    // Set the Step property to a value of 1 to represent each file
    // being copied.
    pBar1.set_Step(1);
    // Loop through all files to copy.
    for (int x = 1; x <= fileNames.get_Length(); x++) {
        // Copy the file and increment the ProgressBar if successful.
        if (CopyFile(fileNames[(x - 1)]) == true) {
            // Perform the increment on the ProgressBar.
            pBar1.PerformStep();
        }
    }
} //CopyWithProgress

Inheritance Hierarchy

System.Object
   System.MarshalByRefObject
     System.ComponentModel.Component
       System.Windows.Forms.Control
        System.Windows.Forms.ProgressBar

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 98, Windows 2000 SP4, Windows CE, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Starter Edition

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

Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

.NET Compact Framework

Supported in: 2.0, 1.0

Reference

ProgressBar Members
System.Windows.Forms Namespace