How to: Associate a ContextMenuStrip with a Control

After creating your controls and shortcut menus, use the following procedures to display a given shortcut menu when the user right-clicks the control. These procedures associate a ContextMenuStrip with a Windows Form and with a ToolStrip control.

To associate a ContextMenuStrip with a Windows Form

1. Set the ContextMenuStrip property to the name of the associated ContextMenuStrip.

To associate a ContextMenuStrip with a ToolStrip control

1. Set the control's ContextMenuStrip property to the name of the associated ContextMenuStrip.

Example

The following code example creates a Windows Form and a ToolStrip, and associates a different ContextMenuStrip control with each of them.

C#

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace WindowsApplication10
{
    public class Form1 : Form
    {
        private ToolStripButton toolStripButton1;
        private ToolStripButton toolStripButton2;
        private ToolStripButton toolStripButton3;
        private ContextMenuStrip contextMenuStrip1;
        private IContainer components;
        private ToolStripMenuItem toolStripMenuItem1;
        private ToolStripMenuItem toolStripMenuItem2;
        private ContextMenuStrip contextMenuStrip2;
        private ToolStripMenuItem rearrangeButtonsToolStripMenuItem;
        private ToolStripMenuItem selectIconsToolStripMenuItem;
        private ToolStrip toolStrip1;

        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }
        [STAThread]
        static void Main()
        {
            Application.EnableVisualStyles();
            Application.Run(new Form1());
        }

        private void InitializeComponent()
        {
            this.components = new System.ComponentModel.Container();
            System.ComponentModel.ComponentResourceManager resources = new System.ComponentModel.ComponentResourceManager(typeof(Form1));
            this.toolStrip1 = new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStrip();
            this.toolStripButton1 = new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripButton();
            this.toolStripButton2 = new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripButton();
            this.toolStripButton3 = new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripButton();
            this.contextMenuStrip1 = new System.Windows.Forms.ContextMenuStrip(this.components);
            this.contextMenuStrip2 = new System.Windows.Forms.ContextMenuStrip(this.components);
            this.toolStripMenuItem1 = new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem();
            this.toolStripMenuItem2 = new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem();
            this.rearrangeButtonsToolStripMenuItem = new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem();
            this.selectIconsToolStripMenuItem = new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem();
            this.toolStrip1.SuspendLayout();
            this.contextMenuStrip1.SuspendLayout();
            this.contextMenuStrip2.SuspendLayout();
            this.SuspendLayout();
            //
            // Associate contextMenuStrip2 with toolStrip1.
            // toolStrip1 property settings follow.
            //
            this.toolStrip1.ContextMenuStrip = this.contextMenuStrip2;
            this.toolStrip1.Items.AddRange(new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem[] {
            this.toolStripButton1,
            this.toolStripButton2,
            this.toolStripButton3});
            this.toolStrip1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(0, 0);
            this.toolStrip1.Name = "toolStrip1";
            this.toolStrip1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(292, 25);
            this.toolStrip1.TabIndex = 0;
            this.toolStrip1.Text = "toolStrip1";
            //
            // toolStripButton1
            //
            this.toolStripButton1.DisplayStyle = System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItemDisplayStyle.Image;
            this.toolStripButton1.Image = ((System.Drawing.Image)(resources.GetObject("toolStripButton1.Image")));
            this.toolStripButton1.ImageTransparentColor = System.Drawing.Color.Magenta;
            this.toolStripButton1.Name = "toolStripButton1";
            this.toolStripButton1.Text = "toolStripButton1";
            //
            // toolStripButton2
            //
            this.toolStripButton2.DisplayStyle = System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItemDisplayStyle.Image;
            this.toolStripButton2.Image = ((System.Drawing.Image)(resources.GetObject("toolStripButton2.Image")));
            this.toolStripButton2.ImageTransparentColor = System.Drawing.Color.Magenta;
            this.toolStripButton2.Name = "toolStripButton2";
            this.toolStripButton2.Text = "toolStripButton2";
            //
            // toolStripButton3
            //
            this.toolStripButton3.DisplayStyle = System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItemDisplayStyle.Image;
            this.toolStripButton3.Image = ((System.Drawing.Image)(resources.GetObject("toolStripButton3.Image")));
            this.toolStripButton3.ImageTransparentColor = System.Drawing.Color.Magenta;
            this.toolStripButton3.Name = "toolStripButton3";
            this.toolStripButton3.Text = "toolStripButton3";
            //
            // contextMenuStrip1
            //
            this.contextMenuStrip1.Items.AddRange(new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem[] {
            this.toolStripMenuItem1,
            this.toolStripMenuItem2});
            this.contextMenuStrip1.Name = "contextMenuStrip1";
            this.contextMenuStrip1.RightToLeft = System.Windows.Forms.RightToLeft.No;
            this.contextMenuStrip1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(131, 48);
            //
            // contextMenuStrip2
            //
            this.contextMenuStrip2.Items.AddRange(new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem[] {
            this.rearrangeButtonsToolStripMenuItem,
            this.selectIconsToolStripMenuItem});
            this.contextMenuStrip2.Name = "contextMenuStrip2";
            this.contextMenuStrip2.RightToLeft = System.Windows.Forms.RightToLeft.No;
            this.contextMenuStrip2.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(162, 48);
            //
            // toolStripMenuItem1
            //
            this.toolStripMenuItem1.Name = "toolStripMenuItem1";
            this.toolStripMenuItem1.Text = "&Resize";
            //
            // toolStripMenuItem2
            //
            this.toolStripMenuItem2.Name = "toolStripMenuItem2";
            this.toolStripMenuItem2.Text = "&Keep on Top";
            //
            // rearrangeButtonsToolStripMenuItem
            //
            this.rearrangeButtonsToolStripMenuItem.Name = "rearrangeButtonsToolStripMenuItem";
            this.rearrangeButtonsToolStripMenuItem.Text = "R&earrange Buttons";
            //
            // selectIconsToolStripMenuItem
            //
            this.selectIconsToolStripMenuItem.Name = "selectIconsToolStripMenuItem";
            this.selectIconsToolStripMenuItem.Text = "&Select Icons";
            //
            // Associate contextMenuStrip1 with Form1.
            // Form1 property settings follow.
            //
            this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(292, 266);
            this.ContextMenuStrip = this.contextMenuStrip1;
            this.Controls.Add(this.toolStrip1);
            this.Name = "Form1";
            this.toolStrip1.ResumeLayout(false);
            this.contextMenuStrip1.ResumeLayout(false);
            this.contextMenuStrip2.ResumeLayout(false);
            this.ResumeLayout(false);
            this.PerformLayout();
        }
    }
}

Compiling the Code

This example requires:

• References to the System, System.Data, System.Drawing and System.Windows.Forms assemblies.

See also

• ContextMenuStrip
• ContextMenuStrip
• ToolStrip
• How to: Add Menu Items to a ContextMenuStrip
• ContextMenuStrip Control