George Shepherd's Windows Forms FAQ
Questions and answers in this FAQ have been collected from newsgroup posts, various mailing lists and the employees of Syncfusion.

10. Windows Forms Menus

 WinForms FAQ Home
   10.1 How do I clone menus, insert menus, use popup menus, etc.
   10.2 How do I add a context menu to a control?
   10.3 When using the ContextMenu on multiple Controls, how do I know on which Control the right click was performed?
   10.4 How do menu shortcuts work?
   10.5 How do I prevent the context menu from showing up on certain keyboard keys (like Keys.Apps)?
   10.6 How do I know when a menu is closed/started so that I can refresh my status bar?
   10.7 How do I make the context menu appear only when clicked at certain portions of the Control?
   10.8 How to add a Separator in a menu?
   10.9 How can I add an icon to my menu items?
   10.10 How do I cancel a context menu programatically?
   10.11 Is there an easy way to create the "Window" menu that shows the list of child forms open?
   10.12 Is there an Idle event which will get fired from which I could update my menu item's enabled state?
   10.13 How can I work around my menu shortcuts from showing up incorrectly when I use Ctrl+Number?
   10.14 How do I control the position of the context menu when it is invoked via the keyboard?
   10.15 How do I disable the default context menu of a textbox?
   10.16 How can I make the context menu to close after a set time interval?
   10.17 How can I enable the mnemonics (underline) to show when my application is launched?



10.1 How do I clone menus, insert menus, use popup menus, etc.

Check out G. G. Arun Ganesh's article Working with Menus in C# on C# Corner.

10.2 How do I add a context menu to a control?

The frame will manage a context menu for you if you set the control's ContextMenu property. Here is some code adding a context menu to a Label.

     //Add Menus in your form's constructor...
     this.pictureContextMenu = new ContextMenu();
     this.pictureContextMenu.MenuItems.Add("&Color",
               new EventHandler(Color_Clicked));
     this.pictureContextMenu.MenuItems.Add("&Font",
               new EventHandler(Font_Clicked));
     label1.ContextMenu = this.pictureContextMenu;
     //
     // TODO: Add any constructor code after InitializeComponent call
     //
}
     
private void Font_Clicked(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{ . . . }

private void Color_Clicked(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{ ... }


10.3 When using the ContextMenu on multiple Controls, how do I know on which Control the right click was performed?

The ContextMenu.SourceControl property will specify the latest Control on which the context menu was shown.


10.4 How do menu shortcuts work?

The focused control's ProcessCmdKey will be called first.

1) The Control class implementation of this method will check if there is a ContextMenu associated with the Control and if so let the context menu handle the shortcut.

2) If not handled, the ProcessCmdKey of the parent will be called recursively until the Form is reached.

3) When the Form is reached it's MainMenu will be requested to handle the key.

You can override ProcessCmdKey of any Control and interrupt the normal processing. Note that you can also override the ProcessCmdKey method is the MainMenu and ContextMenu classes (this is not documented) to override default processing.


10.5 How do I prevent the context menu from showing up on certain keyboard keys (like Keys.Apps)?

Override WndProc in your Control and do the following. You should then listen to keyup and show the context menu yourself.


[C#]
protected override void WndProc(ref Message m)
{
     if(m.Msg == 0x7b /*WM_CONTEXTMENU*/ )
     {
          return;
     }
     if(m.Msg == 0x101 /*WM_KEYUP*/)
     {
          Keys keys = (Keys)m.WParam.ToInt32();
          // Prevent this key from being processed.
          if(keys == Keys.Apps)
               return;
     }
     base.WndProc(ref m);
}



[VB.Net]
Protected Overrides Sub WndProc(ByRef m As Message)
     If m.Msg = 0x7b Then 'WM_CONTEXTMENU
          Return
     End If
     If m.Msg = 0x101 Then 'WM_KEYUP
          Dim keys As Keys = CType(m.WParam.ToInt32(), Keys)
          ' Prevent this key from being processed.
          If keys = Keys.Apps Then
               Return
          End If
     End If
     MyBase.WndProc( m)
End Sub



10.6 How do I know when a menu is closed/started so that I can refresh my status bar?

There are MenuComplete and MenuStart events in the Form that will inform you of the corresponding menu events in the Form.

10.7 How do I make the context menu appear only when clicked at certain portions of the Control?

You can listen to the Popup event, determine where the mouse was clicked and selectively make the menu items visible in the menu as follows:


          // In C#
          private void contextMenu1_Popup(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
          {
               // Get current mouse click position in the control (assuming pictureBox1 is the control):
               Point ptClick = this.pictureBox1.PointToClient(Control.MousePosition);
               // Get the rectangle where you want to show the context menu.
               Rectangle preferredClickRect = new Rectangle(0, 0, 50, 50);
               if(preferredClickRect.Contains(ptClick))
               {
                    // Show all the menu items so that the menu will appear
                    foreach(MenuItem item in this.contextMenu1.MenuItems)
                         item.Visible = true;
               }
               else
               {
                    // Hide all the menu items so that the menu will not appear
                    foreach(MenuItem item in this.contextMenu1.MenuItems)
                         item.Visible = false;
               }
          }



          ' In VB.Net
          Private Sub contextMenu1_Popup(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
               ' Get current mouse click position in the control (assuming pictureBox1 is the control):
               Dim ptClick As Point = Me.pictureBox1.PointToClient(Control.MousePosition)
               ' Get the rectangle where you want to show the context menu.
               Dim preferredClickRect As Rectangle = New Rectangle(0,0,50,50)
               If preferredClickRect.Contains(ptClick) Then
                    ' Show all the menu items so that the menu will appear
                    Dim item As MenuItem
                    For Each item In Me.contextMenu1.MenuItems
                         item.Visible = True
                    Next
               Else
                    ' Hide all the menu items so that the menu will not appear
                    Dim item As MenuItem
                    For Each item In Me.contextMenu1.MenuItems
                         item.Visible = False
                    Next
               End If
          End Sub



10.8 How to add a Separator in a menu?

contextmenu.MenuItems.Add("-");


10.9 How can I add an icon to my menu items?

You need to implement an owner drawn menu to add icons to it. Take a look at the sample on .netPlus.

10.10 How do I cancel a context menu programatically?

First keep track of which control is showing the ContextMenu by listening to the menu's Popup event and querying for the SourceControl.

Then when you are ready to cancel the popup, do as follows:


[C#]
          [DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet=CharSet.Auto)]
          extern internal static IntPtr SendMessage(IntPtr hWnd, int msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam);

          private void Timer_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
          {
               if(menuSourceControl != null)
                    SendMessage(menuSourceControl.Handle, 0x001F/*WM_CANCELMODE*/, IntPtr.Zero, IntPtr.Zero);

          }



[VB.Net]
           _
          extern internal static IntPtr SendMessage(IntPtr hWnd, Integer msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam)

          Private Sub Timer_Tick(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
               If Not menuSourceControl Is Nothing Then
                    SendMessage(menuSourceControl.Handle, 0x001F, IntPtr.Zero, IntPtr.Zero)
               End If

          End Sub




10.11 Is there an easy way to create the "Window" menu that shows the list of child forms open?

Create a "Window" menu in you mdi parent form's menu and then drop another MenuItem into it, setting it's MdiList property to true. It will then expand to show all the available mdi children during runtime.

10.12 Is there an Idle event which will get fired from which I could update my menu item's enabled state?

This used to be a very useful feature in MFC. You can do something similar with the System.Windows.Forms.Application.Idle event which will get fired when the app becomes Idle. Where you could parse through all the menu items and update their states.


10.13 How can I work around my menu shortcuts from showing up incorrectly when I use Ctrl+Number?

When you assign Ctrl1, Ctrl2 etc as shortcuts for menuitems they show up as Ctrl+D1, Ctrl+D2. This can be worked around by creating and adding the menuitem through code as demonstrated below:


[C#]
//Create the menuitem
MenuItem mymenuItem = new MenuItem();
//ShortCut
mymenuItem.Shortcut = System.Windows.Forms.Shortcut.Ctrl1;
//Add Event Handler for the menuitem
mymenuItem.Click +=new EventHandler(this.mymenuItem_Click);
//ShortCut Text to be displayed
mymenuItem.Text = "My MenuItem" +"\t"+ "Ctrl+1";
//hide shortcut
mymenuItem.ShowShortcut = false;
//Add it to the bottom of the first menu
this.mainMenu1.MenuItems[0].MenuItems.Add(mymenuItem);

[VB.NET]
'Create the menuitem
Dim mymenuItem As MenuItem = New MenuItem()
'ShortCut
mymenuItem.Shortcut = System.Windows.Forms.Shortcut.Ctrl1
'Add Event Handler for the menuitem
mymenuItem.Click +=New EventHandler(Me.mymenuItem_Click)
'ShortCut Text to be displayed
mymenuItem.Text = "My MenuItem" +"\t"+ "Ctrl+1"
'hide shortcut
mymenuItem.ShowShortcut = False
'Add it to the bottom of the first menu
Me.mainMenu1.MenuItems(0).MenuItems.Add(mymenuItem)



10.14 How do I control the position of the context menu when it is invoked via the keyboard?

Normally, the context menu will be shown at the center of the control when the keyboard is used to invoke the context menu of a control (Shift+F10, for example). You can customize the location as follows.

  1. Override WndProc in the grid and check if the Message.Msg is WM_CONTEXTMENU (0x007b)
  2. If so, check if the Message.LParam is -1, which means this was due to a keyboard message as opposed to the user right-clicking the mouse.
  3. Now, call the associated ContextMenu's Show method explicitly at the selected row position.
  4. Make sure NOT to call the base class after showing the menu explicitly.

protected override void WndProc(ref Message m)
{
     if(m.Msg == 0x007B /*WM_CONTEXTMENU*/)
     {
          // LParam == -1 means that this is due to a keyboard message
          if((int)m.LParam == -1)
          {
               this.contextMenu.Show();
               return;
          }
     }
}



[VB.Net]
Protected Overrides Sub WndProc(ByRef m As Message)
     If m.Msg = 0x007B Then 'WM_CONTEXTMENU
          ' LParam == -1 means that this is due to a keyboard message
          If (CType(m.LParam,Integer)) = -1 Then
               Me.contextMenu.Show()
               Return
          End If
     End If
End Sub



10.15 How do I disable the default context menu of a textbox?

To prevent the default context menu of a TextBox from showing up, assign a empty context menu as shown below:


[C#]
textBox1.ContextMenu = new ContextMenu();

[VB.Net]
textBox1.ContextMenu = New ContextMenu()



10.16 How can I make the context menu to close after a set time interval?

To automatically close the context menu after a set time interval, you can use a Timer and send a ESC key stroke after the desired time interval as shown:


[C#]
private void timer1_Tick(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
     SendKeys.Send("{ESC}");
     timer1.Stop();
}
private void contextMenu1_Popup(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
     //set interval to 5 seconds
     timer1.Interval = 5000;
     timer1.Start();
}

[VB.Net]

Private Sub timer1_Tick(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
     SendKeys.Send("{ESC}")
     timer1.Stop()
End Sub
Private Sub contextMenu1_Popup(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
     'set interval to 5 seconds
     timer1.Interval = 5000
     timer1.Start()
End Sub



10.17 How can I enable the mnemonics (underline) to show when my application is launched?

Usually the underline appears only after you press the ALT Key, but you can enable it by changing the Operating System Settings. On Windows XP, Right Click Desktop to bring up the Display Properties Dialog and then choose Appearance tab and then the Effects Button and uncheck the checkbox "Hide Underlined letters for keyboard navigation until I press the ALT Key".

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