Here we continue our Windows Forms presentation. We start with menus, which present users with logically organized commands (or options). We show how to create menus in the Windows Forms designer. We discuss how to input and display dates and times using the MonthCalendar and DateTimePicker controls. We also introduce LinkLabels that can hyperlink to a file on the current machine or a web page, simply by clicking the mouse.

We demonstrate how to manipulate lists of values via a ListBox and ListView and how to combine several checkboxes in a CheckedListBox. We also create drop-down lists using ComboBoxes and display data hierarchically with a TreeView control. You’ll learn two other important GUI elements—tab controls and multiple document interface (MDI) windows. These components enable you to create real-world programs with sophisticated GUIs. You’ll use visual inheritance to build upon an existing GUI.

Visual Studio provides many GUI components, several of which are discussed in this (and the previous) chapter. You also can design custom controls and add them to the ToolBox, as we demonstrate in this chapter’s last example. The techniques presented here form the groundwork for creating more substantial GUIs and custom controls.