C# 0 The Complete Reference

ToolStripMenuItem

, which is the modern equivalent of 

MenuItem

, also described in 

the previous section.

Using

MenuStrip

 and 

ToolStripMenuItem

 is similar to using a 

MainMenu

 and 

MenuItem

 as described in the previous section. Here is one way to create and use a 

MenuStrip

:

 1. 

Create 

a 

MenuStrip

control.

 2. 

To 

the 

MenuStrip

 control, add 

ToolStripMenuItem

s that describe the top-level 

categories. This is done by calling 

Add( )

 on the collection referred to by the 

Items

property provided by 

MenuStrip

.

 

3.  To each top-level 

ToolStripMenuItem

, add the list of 

ToolStripMenuItem

s that 

defines the drop-down menu associated with that top-level entry. This is done by 

calling

Add( )

 on the collection referred to by the 

DropDownItems

 property.

 

4.  Add the event handlers for each selection.

 5. 

Add 

the 

MenuStrip

 to the list of controls for the form by calling 

Add( )

 on the 

Controls

 property.

 6. 

Assign 

the 

MenuStrip

 control to the 

MainMenuStrip

 property associated with the 

form.

Pay special attention to Steps 2 and 3 because they differ from the parallel steps used 

with

MainMenu

. First, in Step 2, top-level menu items that represent submenus are added 

to the collection referred to by 

Items

. Second, in Step 3, individual menu items are added to 

the collection referred to by the 

DropDownItems

 property. (Both 

MainMenu

 and 

MenuItem

use the 

MenuItems

 property for this purpose.) Other than those differences, the two 

procedures are essentially the same.

The following program demonstrates 

MenuStrip

 by reworking the program shown in 

the previous section. Sample output is shown in Figure 26-5. Notice that the menu now has 

a modern look.

// Use a MenuStrip.

using System;

using System.Windows.Forms;

class MenuForm : Form {

  MenuStrip MyMenu; // use a MenuStrip

  public MenuForm() {

    Text = "Use a MenuStrip";

    // Create a main menu object.

    MyMenu  = new MenuStrip();

    // Add top-level menu items to the menu.

    ToolStripMenuItem m1 = new ToolStripMenuItem("File");

    MyMenu.Items.Add(m1);

    ToolStripMenuItem m2 = new ToolStripMenuItem("Tools");

    MyMenu.Items.Add(m2);

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