Stephens' Visual Basic® Programming 24-Hour Trainer

Chapter 6. Making Tool Strips and Status Strips

Not every program needs a tool strip or status strip, but they can make the user's life easier, particularly for complicated programs. This lesson explains how to add tool strips and status strips to your applications.

USING TOOL STRIPS

Usually a tool strip sits below a form's menu bar and displays a series of small buttons that enable the user to easily perform frequently executed tasks. The buttons typically duplicate functions that are also available in menus, but placing them on the tool strip makes it easier for the user to find and use them.

Place only the most frequently used commands in the tool strip so it doesn't become cluttered.

Recall from Lesson 5 that you should also give most if not all of your menu items accelerators, and you can give the most important commands shortcuts. That means the user can access the most important and useful commands in at least four ways: mouse menu navigation, accelerators, shortcuts, and tool strip buttons.

To create a single tool strip, simply double-click the Toolbox's ToolStrip tool. By default, the ToolStrip docks to the top of the form so you don't need to position it manually.

Note

Recall from Lesson 3 that docked controls are drawn in their stacking order, which by default is the same as their creation order. To avoid confusion, if a form should contain a main menu and a tool strip, create the menu first so the tool strip appears below it and not above it.

When you select a ToolStrip, the ...