.NET 2.0's ToolStrip control changes the design model considerably, by combining what has traditionally been three separate items into a single flexible ToolStrip model. But was that a good idea? Do you like the new model? Let us know in the .NET Discussion forum on DevX.
Master Toolbars and Menus with the New ToolStrip Control
For years, developers have complained about the difficulties involved in creating professional toolbars, menus, and status bars, notably the lack of flexibility and extensibility in the controls. The flexible and extensible new ToolStrip control in the .NET 2.0 framework promises to solve those problems by changing the underlying model.
by Vishnu Prasad
September 22, 2004
he upcoming .NET framework version 2.0 has new features galore, one of which is the new ToolStrip control. The ToolStrip aims to unify and replace existing toolbars, menus, and status bars. The new version offers specialized control implementations for use in dropdown menus, context menu popups, and status bar controls in Window Forms applications. To create this multipurpose control Microsoft had to completely redesign the class organization for menus and toolbars—a worthwhile effort—because the new design provides better design time support, custom rendering, built-in rafting, run-time re-ordering, and many more features. First, here's a brief overview of the new object model.
ToolStrip Architecture Overview
In the previous versions of the .NET framework, Menu was the base class for Main Menu and ContextMenu controls while the ToolBar and StatusBar were specific control type implementations. In contrast, Whidbey groups these controls logically and provides an integrated base class called ToolStrip that's both rich and extensible. ToolStrip is now the base class for MenuStrip, ContextMenuStrip, and StatusStrip controls. All these controls function as item containers, inheriting common behavior and a common event model—extended appropriately so that each implementation accommodates specific behaviors. The base ToolStrip class handles painting, user input, and drag/drop events.
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he upcoming .NET framework version 2.0 has new features galore, one of which is the new ToolStrip control. The ToolStrip aims to unify and replace existing toolbars, menus, and status bars. The new version offers specialized control implementations for use in dropdown menus, context menu popups, and status bar controls in Window Forms applications. To create this multipurpose control Microsoft had to completely redesign the class organization for menus and toolbars—a worthwhile effort—because the new design provides better design time support, custom rendering, built-in rafting, run-time re-ordering, and many more features. First, here's a brief overview of the new object model.
