ToolStripManager Class
Controls ToolStrip rendering and rafting, and the merging of MenuStrip, ToolStripDropDownMenu, and ToolStripMenuItem objects. This class cannot be inherited.
Assembly: System.Windows.Forms (in System.Windows.Forms.dll)
ToolStripManager supports ToolStrip-related tasks for entire applications, such as merging, settings, and renderer options. The overloaded Merge method combines ToolStrip controls with each other, and the overloaded RevertMerge method undoes a merge operation.
Use the ToolStripRenderer class with the ToolStripManager class to gain even more control and customizability over painting and layout style.
The following code example demonstrates all the typical scenarios of menu item merging.
Imports System Imports System.Collections.Generic Imports System.ComponentModel Imports System.Data Imports System.Drawing Imports System.Text Imports System.Windows.Forms Public Enum MergeSample None Append InsertInSameLocation InsertInSameLocationPreservingOrder ReplacingItems MatchOnly End Enum Public Class Form1 Inherits Form Private cmsBase As ContextMenuStrip Private cmsItemsToMerge As ContextMenuStrip Public Sub New() InitializeComponent() If components Is Nothing Then components = New Container() End If cmsBase = New ContextMenuStrip(components) cmsItemsToMerge = New ContextMenuStrip(components) ' cmsBase is the base ContextMenuStrip. cmsBase.Items.Add("one") cmsBase.Items.Add("two") cmsBase.Items.Add("three") cmsBase.Items.Add("four") ' cmsItemsToMerge contains the items to merge. cmsItemsToMerge.Items.Add("one") cmsItemsToMerge.Items.Add("two") cmsItemsToMerge.Items.Add("three") cmsItemsToMerge.Items.Add("four") ' Distinguish the merged items by setting the shortcut display string. Dim tsmi As ToolStripMenuItem For Each tsmi In cmsItemsToMerge.Items tsmi.ShortcutKeyDisplayString = "Merged Item" Next tsmi ' Associate the ContextMenuStrip with the form so that it displays when ' the user clicks the right mouse button. Me.ContextMenuStrip = cmsBase CreateCombo() End Sub #Region "ComboBox switching code." Private Sub CreateCombo() ' This ComboBox allows the user to switch between the samples. Dim sampleSelectorCombo As New ComboBox() sampleSelectorCombo.DataSource = [Enum].GetValues(GetType(MergeSample)) AddHandler sampleSelectorCombo.SelectedIndexChanged, AddressOf comboBox_SelectedIndexChanged sampleSelectorCombo.Dock = DockStyle.Top Me.Controls.Add(sampleSelectorCombo) Dim textBox As New TextBox() textBox.Multiline = True textBox.Dock = DockStyle.Left textBox.DataBindings.Add("Text", Me, "ScenarioText") textBox.ReadOnly = True textBox.Width = 150 Me.Controls.Add(textBox) Me.BackColor = ProfessionalColors.MenuStripGradientBegin Me.Text = "Right click under selection." End Sub Private Sub comboBox_SelectedIndexChanged(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Dim sampleSelectorCombo As ComboBox = sender If Not (sampleSelectorCombo.SelectedValue Is Nothing) Then CurrentSample = CType(sampleSelectorCombo.SelectedValue, MergeSample) End If End Sub Private scenarioText1 As String Public Property ScenarioText() As String Get Return scenarioText1 End Get Set scenarioText1 = value RaiseEvent ScenarioTextChanged(Me, EventArgs.Empty) End Set End Property Public Event ScenarioTextChanged As EventHandler #End Region Private Sub RebuildItemsToMerge() ' This handles cases where the items collection changes for the sample. cmsItemsToMerge.SuspendLayout() cmsItemsToMerge.Items.Clear() cmsItemsToMerge.Items.Add("one") cmsItemsToMerge.Items.Add("two") cmsItemsToMerge.Items.Add("three") cmsItemsToMerge.Items.Add("four") ' Distinguish the merged items by setting the shortcut display string. Dim tsmi As ToolStripMenuItem For Each tsmi In cmsItemsToMerge.Items tsmi.ShortcutKeyDisplayString = "Merged Item" Next tsmi cmsItemsToMerge.ResumeLayout() End Sub #Region "Switching current samples." Private currentSample1 As MergeSample = MergeSample.None Private Property CurrentSample() As MergeSample Get Return currentSample1 End Get Set If currentSample1 <> value Then Dim resetRequired As Boolean = False If currentSample1 = MergeSample.MatchOnly Then resetRequired = True End If currentSample1 = value ' Undo previous merge, if any. ToolStripManager.RevertMerge(cmsBase, cmsItemsToMerge) If resetRequired Then RebuildItemsToMerge() End If Select Case currentSample1 Case MergeSample.None Return Case MergeSample.Append ScenarioText = "This sample adds items to the end of the list using MergeAction.Append." + ControlChars.Cr + ControlChars.Lf + ControlChars.Cr + ControlChars.Lf + "This is the default setting for MergeAction. A typical scenario is adding menu items to the end of the menu when some part of the program is activated." ShowAppendSample() Case MergeSample.InsertInSameLocation ScenarioText = "This sample adds items to the middle of the list using MergeAction.Insert." + ControlChars.Cr + ControlChars.Lf + ControlChars.Cr + ControlChars.Lf + "Notice here how the items are added in reverse order: four, three, two, one. This is because they all have the same merge index." + ControlChars.Cr + ControlChars.Lf + ControlChars.Cr + ControlChars.Lf + "A typical scenario is adding menu items to the middle or beginning of the menu when some part of the program is activated. " ShowInsertInSameLocationSample() Case MergeSample.InsertInSameLocationPreservingOrder ScenarioText = "This sample is the same as InsertInSameLocation, except the items are added in normal order by increasing the MergeIndex of ""two merged items"" to be 3, ""three merged items"" to be 5, and so on." + ControlChars.Cr + ControlChars.Lf + " You could also add the original items backwards to the source ContextMenuStrip." ShowInsertInSameLocationPreservingOrderSample() Case MergeSample.ReplacingItems ScenarioText = "This sample replaces a menu item using MergeAction.Replace. Use this for the MDI scenario where saving does something completely different." + ControlChars.Cr + ControlChars.Lf + ControlChars.Cr + ControlChars.Lf + "Matching is based on the Text property. If there is no text match, merging reverts to MergeIndex." ShowReplaceSample() Case MergeSample.MatchOnly ScenarioText = "This sample adds only the subitems from the child to the target ContextMenuStrip." ShowMatchOnlySample() End Select ' Reapply with the new settings. ToolStripManager.Merge(cmsItemsToMerge, cmsBase) End If End Set End Property #End Region #Region "MergeSample.Append" ' Example 1 - Add all items to the end of the list. ' * one ' * two ' * three ' * four ' * merge-one ' * merge-two ' * merge-three ' * merge-four ' Public Sub ShowAppendSample() Dim item As ToolStripItem For Each item In cmsItemsToMerge.Items item.MergeAction = MergeAction.Append Next item End Sub #End Region #Region "MergeSample.InsertInSameLocation" ' Example 2 - Place all in the same location. ' * one ' * two ' * merge-four ' * merge-three ' * merge-two ' * merge-one ' * three ' * four ' ' Public Sub ShowInsertInSameLocationSample() ' Notice how the items are in backward order. ' This is because "merge-one" gets applied, then a search occurs for the new second position ' for "merge-two", and so on. Dim item As ToolStripItem For Each item In cmsItemsToMerge.Items item.MergeAction = MergeAction.Insert item.MergeIndex = 2 Next item End Sub #End Region #Region "MergeSample.InsertInSameLocationPreservingOrder" ' Example 3 - Insert items in the right order. ' * one ' * two ' * merge-one ' * merge-two ' * merge-three ' * merge-four ' * three ' * four ' Public Sub ShowInsertInSameLocationPreservingOrderSample() ' Undo previous merges, if any. ToolStripManager.RevertMerge(cmsBase, cmsItemsToMerge) ' This is the same as above, but increases the MergeIndex so that ' subsequent items are placed afterwards. Dim i As Integer = 0 Dim item As ToolStripItem For Each item In cmsItemsToMerge.Items item.MergeAction = MergeAction.Insert item.MergeIndex = 2 + i Next item ' Reapply with new settings. ToolStripManager.Merge(cmsItemsToMerge, cmsBase) End Sub #End Region #Region "MergeSample.ReplacingItems" ' Example 4 - ' * merge-one ' * merge-two ' * merge-three ' * merge-four ' Public Sub ShowReplaceSample() ' MergeAction.Replace compares Text property values. ' If matching text is not found, Replace reverts to MergeIndex. Dim item As ToolStripItem For Each item In cmsItemsToMerge.Items item.MergeAction = MergeAction.Replace Next item End Sub #End Region #Region "MergeSample.MatchOnly" ' Example 5 - Match to add subitems to a menu item. ' * Add items to the flyout menus for the original collection. ' * one -> subitem from "one merged item" ' * two -> subitem from "two merged items" ' * three -> subitem from "three merged items" ' * four -> subitem from "four merged items" ' Public Sub ShowMatchOnlySample() Dim item As ToolStripMenuItem For Each item In cmsItemsToMerge.Items item.MergeAction = MergeAction.MatchOnly item.DropDownItems.Add(("subitem from """ + item.Text + " " + item.ShortcutKeyDisplayString + """")) Next item End Sub #End Region Private components As System.ComponentModel.IContainer = Nothing Protected Overrides Sub Dispose(disposing As Boolean) If disposing AndAlso Not (components Is Nothing) Then components.Dispose() End If MyBase.Dispose(disposing) End Sub Private Sub InitializeComponent() Me.components = New System.ComponentModel.Container() Me.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Font Me.Text = "Form1" End Sub <STAThread()> _ Shared Sub Main() Application.EnableVisualStyles() Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(False) Application.Run(New Form1()) End Sub End Class
The following code example demonstrates a call to ToolStripManager and some of its members.
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.