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create-a-multipane-user-interface-with-wf-using-the-designer.md

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title description ms.date helpviewer_keywords ms.assetid
Create a Multipane User Interface Using the Designer
Learn about how to create a multipane user interface (UI) with Windows Forms using the designer.
03/30/2017
user interface [Windows Forms], multipane
SplitContainer control [Windows Forms], using the designer
multipane user interface
c3f9294d-a26c-4198-9242-f237f55f7573

How to: Create a Multipane User Interface with Windows Forms Using the Designer

In the following procedure, you will create a multipane user interface that is similar to the one used in Microsoft Outlook, with a Folder list, a Messages pane, and a Preview pane. This arrangement is achieved chiefly through docking controls with the form.

When you dock a control, you determine which edge of the parent container a control is fastened to. Thus, if you set the xref:System.Windows.Forms.SplitContainer.Dock%2A property to xref:System.Windows.Forms.DockStyle.Right, the right edge of the control will be docked to the right edge of its parent control. Additionally, the docked edge of the control is resized to match that of its container control. For more information about how the xref:System.Windows.Forms.SplitContainer.Dock%2A property works, see How to: Dock Controls on Windows Forms.

This procedure focuses on arranging the xref:System.Windows.Forms.SplitContainer and the other controls on the form, not on adding functionality to make the application mimic Microsoft Outlook.

To create this user interface, you place all the controls within a xref:System.Windows.Forms.SplitContainer control, which contains a xref:System.Windows.Forms.TreeView control in the left-hand panel. The right-hand panel of the xref:System.Windows.Forms.SplitContainer control contains a second xref:System.Windows.Forms.SplitContainer control with a xref:System.Windows.Forms.ListView control above a xref:System.Windows.Forms.RichTextBox control. These xref:System.Windows.Forms.SplitContainer controls enable independent resizing of the other controls on the form. You can adapt the techniques in this procedure to craft custom user interfaces of your own.

To create an Outlook-style user interface at design time

  1. Create a new Windows Application project (File > New > Project > Visual C# or Visual Basic > Classic Desktop > Windows Forms Application).

  2. Drag a xref:System.Windows.Forms.SplitContainer control from the Toolbox to the form. In the Properties window, set the xref:System.Windows.Forms.SplitContainer.Dock%2A property to xref:System.Windows.Forms.DockStyle.Fill.

  3. Drag a xref:System.Windows.Forms.TreeView control from the Toolbox to the left-hand panel of the xref:System.Windows.Forms.SplitContainer control. In the Properties window, set the xref:System.Windows.Forms.SplitContainer.Dock%2A property to xref:System.Windows.Forms.DockStyle.Left by clicking the left hand panel in the value editor shown when the down arrow is clicked.

  4. Drag another xref:System.Windows.Forms.SplitContainer control from the Toolbox; place it in the right-hand panel of the xref:System.Windows.Forms.SplitContainer control you added to your form. In the Properties window, set the xref:System.Windows.Forms.SplitContainer.Dock%2A property to xref:System.Windows.Forms.DockStyle.Fill and the xref:System.Windows.Forms.SplitContainer.Orientation%2A property to xref:System.Windows.Forms.Orientation.Horizontal.

  5. Drag a xref:System.Windows.Forms.ListView control from the Toolbox to the upper panel of the second xref:System.Windows.Forms.SplitContainer control you added to your form. Set the xref:System.Windows.Forms.SplitContainer.Dock%2A property of the xref:System.Windows.Forms.ListView control to xref:System.Windows.Forms.DockStyle.Fill.

  6. Drag a xref:System.Windows.Forms.RichTextBox control from the Toolbox to the lower panel of the second xref:System.Windows.Forms.SplitContainer control. Set the xref:System.Windows.Forms.SplitContainer.Dock%2A property of the xref:System.Windows.Forms.RichTextBox control to xref:System.Windows.Forms.DockStyle.Fill.

    At this point, if you press F5 to run the application, the form displays a three-part user interface, similar to that of Microsoft Outlook.

    [!NOTE] When you put the mouse pointer over either of the splitters within the xref:System.Windows.Forms.SplitContainer controls, you can resize the internal dimensions.

At this point in application development, you have crafted a sophisticated user interface. The next step is proceeding with the programming of the application itself, perhaps by connecting the xref:System.Windows.Forms.TreeView control and xref:System.Windows.Forms.ListView controls to some kind of data source. For more information about connecting controls to data, see Data Binding and Windows Forms.

See also