Introduction

Why another Tab Control? The standard Tab Control is too limited in functionality and I couldn't find a custom control written that did all that I wanted. This is a User Control with many properties and versatility. It is simple to use, just drop it onto the form, adjust the design-time properties, and use it as the normal Tab Control.

Background

MBTabControl is a Control that inherits all the properties of simple TabControl control. I added some extra functionalities in MBTabControl like Glow, Tabs with Rounded Corners, Tabs with Images, and so on. The language used is VB.NET.

Control Properties

Here is the list of some properties available in MBTabControl:

Code

The concept for this MBTabControl came from "Microsoft Ribbons". I organized my control events and functions into layers as in the following.
The following method draws a tab page for MBTabControl:
  1. ''' <summary>
  2. ''' Draw TabPage for MBTabControl
  3. ''' </summary>
  4. Private Sub DrawTabPage(ByVal index As Integer, ByVal graphics As Graphics)
  5. graphics.SmoothingMode = SmoothingMode.HighSpeed
  6. Using tabPageBorderPath As GraphicsPath = Me.GetTabPageBorder(index)
  7. Using fillBrush As Brush = Me._StyleProvider.GetPageBackgroundBrush(index)
  8. graphics.FillPath(fillBrush, tabPageBorderPath)
  9. End Using
  10. If Me._Style <> MBTabStyle.None Then
  11. Me._StyleProvider.PaintTab(index, graphics)
  12. Me.DrawTabImage(index, graphics)
  13. Me.DrawTabText(index, graphics)
  14. End If
  15. Me.DrawTabBorder(tabPageBorderPath, index, graphics)
  16. End Using
  17. End Sub
The following method draws images on the tab for the MBTabControl:
  1. ''' <summary>
  2. ''' Draw TabImage for MBTabControl
  3. ''' </summary>
  4. Private Sub DrawTabImage(ByVal index As Integer, ByVal graphics As Graphics)
  5. Dim tabImage As Image = Nothing
  6. If Me.TabPages(index).ImageIndex > -1 AndAlso Me.ImageList IsNot Nothing AndAlso Me.ImageList.Images.Count > Me.TabPages(index).ImageIndex Then
  7. tabImage = Me.ImageList.Images(Me.TabPages(index).ImageIndex)
  8. ElseIf (Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(Me.TabPages(index).ImageKey) AndAlso Not Me.TabPages(index).ImageKey.Equals("(none)", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)) AndAlso Me.ImageList IsNot Nothing AndAlso Me.ImageList.Images.ContainsKey(Me.TabPages(index).ImageKey) Then
  9. tabImage = Me.ImageList.Images(Me.TabPages(index).ImageKey)
  10. End If
  11. If tabImage IsNot Nothing Then
  12. If Me.RightToLeftLayout Then
  13. tabImage.RotateFlip(RotateFlipType.RotateNoneFlipX)
  14. End If
  15. Dim imageRect As Rectangle = Me.GetTabImageRect(index)
  16. If Me.TabPages(index).Enabled Then
  17. graphics.DrawImage(tabImage, imageRect)
  18. Else
  19. ControlPaint.DrawImageDisabled(graphics, tabImage, imageRect.X, imageRect.Y, Color.Transparent)
  20. End If
  21. End If
  22. End Sub
The following method draws a Close button on the tab for the MBTabControl:
  1. Protected Overridable Sub DrawTabCloseButton(ByVal index As Integer, ByVal graphics As Graphics)
  2. If Me._ShowTabCloser Then
  3. Dim closerRect As Rectangle = Me._TabControl.GetTabCloserRect(index)
  4. graphics.SmoothingMode = SmoothingMode.AntiAlias
  5. Using closerPath As GraphicsPath = MBTabStyleProvider.GetCloserPath(closerRect)
  6. If closerRect.Contains(Me._TabControl.MousePosition) Then
  7. Using closerPen As New Pen(Me._CloserColorActive)
  8. graphics.DrawPath(closerPen, closerPath)
  9. End Using
  10. Else
  11. Using closerPen As New Pen(Me._CloserColor)
  12. graphics.DrawPath(closerPen, closerPath)
  13. End Using
  15. End If
  16. End Using
  17. End If
  18. End Sub

Points of interest

It is very easy to use the MBTabControl in your application. Simply add the reference of the provided DLL to your application and just drag and drop.

History