The SelectNextControl method activates the next control in the tab order if the control's Selectable style bit is set to true in ControlStyles, it is contained in another control, and all its parent controls are both visible and enabled.

The Windows Forms controls in the following list are not selectable. Controls derived from controls in the list will also not be selectable.

• Label

• Panel

• GroupBox

• PictureBox

• ProgressBar

• Splitter

• LinkLabel (when there is no link present in the control)

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:

1. Enter

2. GotFocus

3. Leave

4. Validating

5. Validated

6. LostFocus

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

The following code example shows the SelectNextControl method being used in a form that has some controls. Each time that you click the form, the next control is activated. The ActiveControl property gets the currently active control in the container control.

Private Sub Form1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Click
    Dim ctl As Control
    ctl = CType(sender, Control)
    ctl.SelectNextControl(ActiveControl, True, True, True, True)
End Sub

private void Form1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    Control ctl;
    ctl = (Control)sender;
    ctl.SelectNextControl(ActiveControl, true, true, true, true);
}

The following code example shows the SelectNextControl method being used in a form that has a Button and some other controls. When you click the Button, the next control after the Button is activated. Notice that you have to get the parent of the Button control. Since Button is not a container, calling SelectNextControl directly on the Button would not change the activation.

Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
    Dim p As Control
    p = CType(sender, Button).Parent
    p.SelectNextControl(ActiveControl, True, True, True, True)
End Sub

private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    Control p;
    p = ((Button) sender).Parent;
    p.SelectNextControl(ActiveControl, true, true, true, true);
}

.NET Framework

.NET Framework Client Profile

Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or later, Windows XP SP3, Windows XP SP2 x64 Edition, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core supported with SP1 or later), Windows Server 2003 SP2

Reference