Resolved How do you get MainMenu or ContextMenu to show up in the VS ToolBox?

[tim8w]

I can get this to happen in code, but how do I get it to show up in the VisualStudios Toolbox?

 

[Skydiver]

Are you targeting .NET Framework 4.8, or .NET Core 3.x, or NET 5 ?

 

[tim8w]

Are you targeting .NET Framework 4.8, or .NET Core 3.x, or NET 5 ?

Sorry,
.Net Framework 4.5

 

[Skydiver]

I don't use the WinForms Designer, so I don't know. I've not used it since VS2008. I was expecting to find them under the "Menus & Toolbars" group since that is where they used to be in old versions of Visual Studio. I suspect that they deliberately hid those controls in newer version of VS because they want you to use the forward compatible MenuString and ContextMenuString instead.

 

[tim8w]

I don't use the WinForms Designer, so I don't know. I've not used it since VS2008. I was expecting to find them under the "Menus & Toolbars" group since that is where they used to be in old versions of Visual Studio. I suspect that they deliberately hid those controls in newer version of VS because they want you to use the forward compatible MenuString and ContextMenuString instead.

I am trying to use RadioCheck which is not available under the current menu system. I have a requirement to build a menu that has CheckBox or RadioButton along with a separate image. So I guess I'll do it in code then. Thanks!

 

[Skydiver]

I believe that the ToolStripMenuStrip has Checked property that you could use.

 

[tim8w]

I believe that the ToolStripMenuStrip has Checked property that you could use.

It has Checked, but not RadioCheck.

 

[JohnH]

They were replaced with MenuStrip and ContextMenuStrip in .Net 2, in .Net 5 they have been removed. You can add other controls like RadioButton to strip by using ToolStripControlHost.

 

[jmcilhinney]

You can add other controls like RadioButton to strip by using ToolStripControlHost.

RadioButtons work as a group so I would assume that each ToolStripControlHost would be considered a single group. That means that you'll still have to add your own code to uncheck other items when an item is checked.

 

[jmcilhinney]

Here's a class I just created that may be of use to you:

/// <summary>
/// Ensures that only one <see cref="ToolStripMenuItem"/> is checked at a time on a <see cref="System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripDropDown"/>
/// </summary>
public class ToolStripDropDownRadioCheckManager
{
    /// <summary>
    /// The <see cref="ToolStripDropDown"/> whose items should exhibit radio-check behaviour.
    /// </summary>
    private ToolStripDropDown _toolStripDropDown;

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets or sets the <see cref="ToolStripDropDown"/> whose items should exhibit radio-check behaviour.
    /// </summary>
    public ToolStripDropDown ToolStripDropDown
    {
        get => _toolStripDropDown;
        set
        {
            if (_toolStripDropDown != value)
            {
                if (_toolStripDropDown != null)
                {
                    // Remove event handler from old drop-down.
                    _toolStripDropDown.ItemClicked -= ToolStripDropDown_ItemClicked;
                }

                _toolStripDropDown = value;

                // Add event handler to new drop-down.
                _toolStripDropDown.ItemClicked += ToolStripDropDown_ItemClicked;
            }
        }
    }

    public ToolStripDropDownRadioCheckManager() { }

    public ToolStripDropDownRadioCheckManager(ToolStripDropDown toolStripDropDown)
    {
        this.ToolStripDropDown = toolStripDropDown;
    }

    private void ToolStripDropDown_ItemClicked(object sender, ToolStripItemClickedEventArgs e)
    {
        if (e.ClickedItem is ToolStripMenuItem clickedItem &&
            clickedItem.CheckOnClick &&
            !clickedItem.Checked)
        {
            // The user has clicked an item that is not currently checked and will be checked automatically.

            // The get currently checked item, if there is one.
            var checkedMenuItem = ToolStripDropDown.Items
                                                   .OfType<ToolStripMenuItem>()
                                                   .SingleOrDefault(tsmi => tsmi.Checked);

            if (checkedMenuItem != null)
            {
                checkedMenuItem.Checked = false;
            }
        }
    }
}

It could certainly be improved but I'll leave that to you if you need it. It will work with both a ContextMenuStrip and a ToolStripMenuItem on a MenuStrip. All you have to do is make sure that CheckOnClick is true for each menu item and then create an instance and associate it appropriately. Here's the code I used to test it:

private ToolStripDropDownRadioCheckManager mainRadioCheckManager;
private ToolStripDropDownRadioCheckManager contextRadioCheckManager;

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    mainRadioCheckManager = new ToolStripDropDownRadioCheckManager(parentToolStripMenuItem.DropDown);
    contextRadioCheckManager = new ToolStripDropDownRadioCheckManager(contextMenuStrip1);
}

 

[JohnH]

RadioButtons work as a group so I would assume that each ToolStripControlHost would be considered a single group. That means that you'll still have to add your own code to uncheck other items when an item is checked.

I just did a quick test, each DropDownItems collection is a separate radio group, as would be natural. That also goes for the root Items collections.

 

[tim8w]

I just did a quick test, each DropDownItems collection is a separate radio group, as would be natural. That also goes for the root Items collections.

Thanks for the example!