Getting-Started.md

layout	post
title	Getting Started in Windows Forms CommandBar control | Syncfusion®
description	Learn here about getting started with Syncfusion® Windows Forms CommandBar (CommandBars) control, its elements, and more.
platform	windowsforms
control	CommandBar
documentation	ug

Getting Started with Windows Forms CommandBar (CommandBars)

This section provides a quick overview to work with the command bar control in WinForms.

Important Starting with v16.2.0.x, if you refer to Syncfusion assemblies from trial setup or from the NuGet feed, include a license key in your projects. Refer to this link to learn about registering Syncfusion license key in your Windows Forms application to use our components.

This section describes how to add CommandBar control in a Windows Forms application and overview of its basic functionalities.

Assembly deployment

Refer control dependencies section to get the list of assemblies or NuGet package needs to be added as reference to use the control in any application. Please find more details regarding installation of nuget packages in windows form application.

Creating application with command bar

You can create the Windows Forms application with CommandBar control as follows:

1. Adding command bar via designer
2. Adding command bar via code

Adding control via designer

The CommandBarController can be added to the application by dragging it from the toolbox and dropping it to the designer view. The following required assembly references will be added automatically.

• Syncfusion.Grid.Base.dll
• Syncfusion.Grid.Windows.dll
• Syncfusion.Shared.Base.dll
• Syncfusion.Shared.Windows.dll
• Syncfusion.Tools.Base.dll
• Syncfusion.Tools.Windows.dll
• Syncfusion.Licensing.dll
• Syncfusion.SpellChecked.Base.dll

Adding command bar

Command bar can be added to the command bar controller by selecting the Add CommandBar from the smart tag option.

Adding control via code

To add command bar in C#, follow the given steps:

Step 1 - Add the following required assembly references to the project:

    * Syncfusion.Grid.Base.dll
    * Syncfusion.Grid.Windows.dll
    * Syncfusion.Shared.Base.dll
    * Syncfusion.Shared.Windows.dll
    * Syncfusion.Tools.Base.dll
    * Syncfusion.Tools.Windows.dll
    * Syncfusion.Licensing.dll
    * Syncfusion.SpellChecked.Base.dll

Step 2 - Include the namespace Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools

{% tabs %} {% highlight C# %}

using Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools;

{% endhighlight %}

{% highlight VB %}

Imports Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools

{% endhighlight %} {% endtabs %}

Step 3 - Create a CommandBarController instance and set the HostForm property to be the current form.

{% tabs %} {% highlight C# %}

CommandBarController commandBarController1 = new CommandBarController();

this.commandBarController1.Style = VisualStyle.Office2016Colorful;

this.commandBarController1.HostForm = this;

{% endhighlight %}

{% highlight VB %}

Dim commandBarController1 As CommandBarController = New CommandBarController()

Me.commandBarController1.Style = VisualStyle.Office2016Colorful

Me.commandBarController1.HostForm = Me;

{% endhighlight %} {% endtabs %}

Adding command bar

Create an instance of CommandBar and add it to the CommandBars collection property of commandbar controller instance. The below code shows a command bar is being added to the commandbar controller.

{% tabs %}

{% highlight C# %}

CommandBar commandBar1 = new CommandBar();

this.commandBar1.Text = "commandBar1";

this.commandBarController1.CommandBars.Add(this.commandBar1);

{% endhighlight %}

{% highlight VB %}

Dim commandBar1 As CommandBar = New CommandBar()

this.commandBar1.Text = "commandBar1";

this.commandBarController1.CommandBars.Add(this.commandBar1);

{% endhighlight %}

{% endtabs %}

N> You can find the detailed description of various themes applicable to command bar in this topic

Child controls

Command bar acts as a container control to host the required control in the tool bar. In this topic the child controls hosted via command bar is discussed.

Adding single control

The controls with single-line visual structure like combo box, text box and button can be added directly to the command bar instance. This can be done via adding the required control via the Controls property of the command bar. In the below code snippet a text box control with key properties defined is being added to the command bar.

{% tabs %}

{% highlight C# %}

this.commandBar1.Controls.Add(this.textBox1);

{% endhighlight %}

{% highlight VB %}

Me.commandBar1.Controls.Add(Me.textBox1)

{% endhighlight %}

{% endtabs %}

Adding multiple controls

In order to host more than one control with better alignment and avoid overlapping, a container control like Panel can be used. In the below code snippet, a combo box is added along with a label control.

{% tabs %}

{% highlight C# %}

Panel panel1 = new Panel(); panel1.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;

Label lable1 = new Label(); lable1.Text = "Combo box text"; lable1.TextAlign = ContentAlignment.MiddleCenter;

ComboBox combobox1 = new ComboBox(); combobox1.Location = new Point(lable1.Width + 5, lable1.Location.Y); combobox1.Items.AddRange(new string[] { "object1", "object2", "object3", "object4", "object5", }); combobox1.SelectedIndex = 0; panel1.Controls.Add(lable1); panel1.Controls.Add(combobox1);

this.commandBar1.Controls.Add(panel1);

{% endhighlight %}

{% highlight VB %}

Dim panel1 As New Panel() panel1.Dock = DockStyle.Fill

Dim lable1 As New Label() lable1.Text = "Combo box text" lable1.TextAlign = ContentAlignment.MiddleCenter

Dim combobox1 As New ComboBox() combobox1.Location = New Point(lable1.Width + 5, lable1.Location.Y) combobox1.Items.AddRange(New String() { "object1", "object2", "object3", "object4", "object5" }) combobox1.SelectedIndex = 0 panel1.Controls.Add(lable1) panel1.Controls.Add(combobox1)

Me.commandBar1.Controls.Add(panel1)

{% endhighlight %}

{% endtabs %}

Adding menu items

Menu items could be added to the command bar only via the XpToolBar control. Refer this topic