Visual Basic 2005: A Developer's Notebook

Create a Windows Explorer-like Split Window

.NET 1.0 gave developers the tools they needed to create split windows of the kind seen in Windows Explorer with the Splitter control. Unfortunately, creating these windows wasn't always easy, because it commonly required a combination of a Splitter and three Panel controls, all of which needed to be docked in the correct order. If you needed to split a window in more than one way, the task became even more awkward. Thankfully, .NET 2.0 streamlines the process with a SplitContainer control.

Note

Split windows are easier than ever now that the SplitContainer control replaces the bare-bones Splitter.

How do I do that?

Essentially, the SplitContainer control represents two panels separated by a splitter bar. The user can drag the bar to one side or another to change the relative amount of space given to each section. To help signal the availability of this functionality, the mouse pointer switches from a single- to a double-headed arrow icon when the user mouses over the splitter bar.

Note

A SplitContainer control is often used when the content in the two panels is related. When the user makes a selection in the first panel, the content in the second is refreshed.

To create a simple interface with the SplitContainer, you should first decide how much screen real estate the SplitContainer will occupy. For example, if you need to reserve some space below the SplitContainer, start by docking a Panel to the bottom of the form. When you add the SplitContainer ...