VB.Net - MenuStrip Control

The MenuStrip control represents the container for the menu structure.

The MenuStrip control work as the top-level container for the menu structure. The ToolStripMenuItem class and the ToolStripDropDownMenu class provide the functionalities to create menu items, sub menus and drop-down menus.

The following diagram shows adding a MenuStrip control on the form:

Properties of the MenuStrip Control

The following are some of the commonly used properties of the MenuStrip control:

S.N	Property	Description
1	CanOverflow	Gets or sets a value indicating whether the MenuStrip supports overflow functionality.
2	GripStyle	Gets or sets the visibility of the grip used to reposition the control.
3	MdiWindowListItem	Gets or sets the ToolStripMenuItem that is used to display a list of Multiple-document interface (MDI) child forms.
4	ShowItemToolTips	Gets or sets a value indicating whether ToolTips are shown for the MenuStrip.
5	Stretch	Gets or sets a value indicating whether the MenuStrip stretches from end to end in its container.

Events of the MenuStrip Control

The following are some of the commonly used events of the MenuStrip control:

S.N	Event	Description
1	MenuActivate	Occurs when the user accesses the menu with the keyboard or mouse.
2	MenuDeactivate	Occurs when the MenuStrip is deactivated.

Example

In this example, let us add menu and sub-menu items.

Take the following steps:

1. Drag and drop or double click on a MenuStrip control, to add it to the form.
2. Click the Type Here text to open a text box and enter the names of the menu items or sub-menu items you want. When you add a sub-menu, another text box with 'Type Here' text opens below it.
3. Complete the menu structure shown in the diagram above.
4. Add a sub menu Exit under the File menu

Double-Click the Exit menu created, and add the following code to the Click event ofExitToolStripMenuItem:

Private Sub ExitToolStripMenuItem_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) _
   Handles ExitToolStripMenuItem.Click
   End
End Sub

When the above code is executed and run using Start button available at the Microsoft Visual Studio tool bar, it will show following window:

Click on the File -> Exit to exit from the application: