TabControl.DrawMode Property

Reference

Definition

Namespace:: System.Windows.Forms

Assembly:: System.Windows.Forms.dll

Source:: TabControl.cs

Source:: TabControl.cs

Source:: TabControl.cs

Important

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Gets or sets the way that the control's tabs are drawn.

public:
 property System::Windows::Forms::TabDrawMode DrawMode { System::Windows::Forms::TabDrawMode get(); void set(System::Windows::Forms::TabDrawMode value); };

public System.Windows.Forms.TabDrawMode DrawMode { get; set; }

member this.DrawMode : System.Windows.Forms.TabDrawMode with get, set

Public Property DrawMode As TabDrawMode

Property Value

TabDrawMode

One of the TabDrawMode values. The default is Normal.

Exceptions

InvalidEnumArgumentException

The property value is not a valid TabDrawMode value.

Examples

The following code example creates a TabControl with one TabPage. This example sets the DrawMode property to OwnerDrawFixed, which specifies that the tabs are drawn by the parent object Form1. The value OwnerDrawFixed also enables access to the DrawItem event, which, in this example, is used to draw myTabRect on the tabPage1 tab.

Use the System.Drawing and System.Windows.Forms namespaces with this example.

using namespace System::Drawing;
using namespace System::Windows::Forms;
public ref class Form1: public Form
{
private:
   TabControl^ tabControl1;
   Rectangle myTabRect;

public:
   Form1()
   {
      tabControl1 = gcnew TabControl;
      TabPage^ tabPage1 = gcnew TabPage;
      
      // Sets the tabs to be drawn by the parent window Form1.
      // OwnerDrawFixed allows access to DrawItem.
      tabControl1->DrawMode = TabDrawMode::OwnerDrawFixed;
      tabControl1->Controls->Add( tabPage1 );
      tabControl1->Location = Point(25,25);
      tabControl1->Size = System::Drawing::Size( 250, 250 );
      tabPage1->TabIndex = 0;
      myTabRect = tabControl1->GetTabRect( 0 );
      ClientSize = System::Drawing::Size( 300, 300 );
      Controls->Add( tabControl1 );
      tabControl1->DrawItem += gcnew DrawItemEventHandler( this, &Form1::OnDrawItem );
   }


private:
   void OnDrawItem( Object^ /*sender*/, DrawItemEventArgs^ e )
   {
      Graphics^ g = e->Graphics;
      Pen^ p = gcnew Pen( Color::Blue );
      g->DrawRectangle( p, myTabRect );
   }

};

int main()
{
   Application::Run( gcnew Form1 );
}

using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;

public class Form1 : Form
{
    private TabControl tabControl1;
    private Rectangle myTabRect;

    public Form1()
    {
        tabControl1 = new TabControl();
        TabPage tabPage1 = new TabPage();

        // Sets the tabs to be drawn by the parent window Form1.
        // OwnerDrawFixed allows access to DrawItem. 
        tabControl1.DrawMode = TabDrawMode.OwnerDrawFixed;

        tabControl1.Controls.Add(tabPage1);
        tabControl1.Location = new Point(25, 25);
        tabControl1.Size = new Size(250, 250);

        tabPage1.TabIndex = 0;

        myTabRect = tabControl1.GetTabRect(0);

        ClientSize = new Size(300, 300);
        Controls.Add(tabControl1);

        tabControl1.DrawItem += new DrawItemEventHandler(OnDrawItem);
    }
 
    private void OnDrawItem(object sender, DrawItemEventArgs e)
    {
        Graphics g = e.Graphics;
        Pen p = new Pen(Color.Blue);
        g.DrawRectangle(p, myTabRect);
    }

    static void Main() 
    {
        Application.Run(new Form1());
    }
}

Imports System.Drawing
Imports System.Windows.Forms

Public Class Form1
    Inherits Form
    Private tabControl1 As TabControl
    Private myTabRect As Rectangle

    Public Sub New()
        tabControl1 = New TabControl()
        Dim tabPage1 As New TabPage()

        ' Sets the tabs to be drawn by the parent window Form1.
        ' OwnerDrawFixed allows access to DrawItem. 
        tabControl1.DrawMode = TabDrawMode.OwnerDrawFixed

        tabControl1.Controls.Add(tabPage1)
        tabControl1.Location = New Point(25, 25)
        tabControl1.Size = New Size(250, 250)

        tabPage1.TabIndex = 0

        myTabRect = tabControl1.GetTabRect(0)

        ClientSize = New Size(300, 300)
        Controls.Add(tabControl1)

        AddHandler tabControl1.DrawItem, AddressOf OnDrawItem
    End Sub

    Private Sub OnDrawItem(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As DrawItemEventArgs)
        Dim g As Graphics = e.Graphics
        Dim p As New Pen(Color.Blue)
        g.DrawRectangle(p, myTabRect)
    End Sub

    Shared Sub Main()
        Application.Run(New Form1())
    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

When you set the DrawMode property to OwnerDrawFixed, the TabControl raises the DrawItem event whenever it needs to paint one of its tabs. To customize the appearance of the tabs, provide your own painting code in a handler for the DrawItem event.

The TabControl does not support variable tab sizes with owner drawing.

Applies to

Product	Versions
.NET Framework	1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
Windows Desktop	3.0, 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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