[.NET] Multi-Panel Application?

[NoMore]

Hi,

I've made a simple application in VB.NET that switches between two different panels, but I'm not sure if it's the most efficient way to do it. Please see the below code and compile the file and let me know if there's any better way to do it. Thanks!

Public Class Form1
    Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form

#Region " Windows Form Designer generated code "

    Public Sub New()
        MyBase.New()

        'This call is required by the Windows Form Designer.
        InitializeComponent()

        'Add any initialization after the InitializeComponent() call

    End Sub

    'Form overrides dispose to clean up the component list.
    Protected Overloads Overrides Sub Dispose(ByVal disposing As Boolean)
        If disposing Then
            If Not (components Is Nothing) Then
                components.Dispose()
            End If
        End If
        MyBase.Dispose(disposing)
    End Sub

    'Required by the Windows Form Designer
    Private components As System.ComponentModel.IContainer

    'NOTE: The following procedure is required by the Windows Form Designer
    'It can be modified using the Windows Form Designer.  
    'Do not modify it using the code editor.
    Friend WithEvents Panel1 As System.Windows.Forms.Panel
    Friend WithEvents Label1 As System.Windows.Forms.Label
    Friend WithEvents Panel2 As System.Windows.Forms.Panel
    Friend WithEvents Label2 As System.Windows.Forms.Label
    Friend WithEvents MainMenu1 As System.Windows.Forms.MainMenu
    Friend WithEvents MenuItem1 As System.Windows.Forms.MenuItem
    Friend WithEvents MenuItem2 As System.Windows.Forms.MenuItem
    Friend WithEvents MenuItem3 As System.Windows.Forms.MenuItem
    <System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThrough()> Private Sub InitializeComponent()
        Me.Panel1 = New System.Windows.Forms.Panel
        Me.Label1 = New System.Windows.Forms.Label
        Me.Panel2 = New System.Windows.Forms.Panel
        Me.Label2 = New System.Windows.Forms.Label
        Me.MainMenu1 = New System.Windows.Forms.MainMenu
        Me.MenuItem1 = New System.Windows.Forms.MenuItem
        Me.MenuItem2 = New System.Windows.Forms.MenuItem
        Me.MenuItem3 = New System.Windows.Forms.MenuItem
        Me.Panel1.SuspendLayout()
        Me.Panel2.SuspendLayout()
        Me.SuspendLayout()
        '
        'Panel1
        '
        Me.Panel1.BackColor = System.Drawing.SystemColors.ActiveCaption
        Me.Panel1.Controls.Add(Me.Label1)
        Me.Panel1.Dock = System.Windows.Forms.DockStyle.Fill
        Me.Panel1.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(0, 0)
        Me.Panel1.Name = "Panel1"
        Me.Panel1.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(292, 271)
        Me.Panel1.TabIndex = 0
        '
        'Label1
        '
        Me.Label1.Font = New System.Drawing.Font("Verdana25!, System.Drawing.FontStyle.Regular, System.Drawing.GraphicsUnit.Point, CType(0, Byte))
        Me.Label1.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(96, 88)
        Me.Label1.Name = "Label1"
        Me.Label1.TabIndex = 0
        Me.Label1.Text = "This Is Panel 1"
        Me.Label1.TextAlign = System.Drawing.ContentAlignment.MiddleCenter
        '
        'Panel2
        '
        Me.Panel2.BackColor = System.Drawing.SystemColors.Info
        Me.Panel2.Controls.Add(Me.Label2)
        Me.Panel2.Dock = System.Windows.Forms.DockStyle.Fill
        Me.Panel2.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(0, 0)
        Me.Panel2.Name = "Panel2"
        Me.Panel2.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(292, 271)
        Me.Panel2.TabIndex = 1
        '
        'Label2
        '
        Me.Label2.Font = New System.Drawing.Font("Verdana25!, System.Drawing.FontStyle.Regular, System.Drawing.GraphicsUnit.Point, CType(0, Byte))
        Me.Label2.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(32, 48)
        Me.Label2.Name = "Label2"
        Me.Label2.TabIndex = 1
        Me.Label2.Text = "This Is Panel 2"
        Me.Label2.TextAlign = System.Drawing.ContentAlignment.MiddleCenter
        '
        'MainMenu1
        '
        Me.MainMenu1.MenuItems.AddRange(New System.Windows.Forms.MenuItem() {Me.MenuItem1})
        '
        'MenuItem1
        '
        Me.MenuItem1.Index = 0
        Me.MenuItem1.MenuItems.AddRange(New System.Windows.Forms.MenuItem() {Me.MenuItem2, Me.MenuItem3})
        Me.MenuItem1.Text = "Change Panel"
        '
        'MenuItem2
        '
        Me.MenuItem2.Index = 0
        Me.MenuItem2.Text = "Panel 1"
        '
        'MenuItem3
        '
        Me.MenuItem3.Index = 1
        Me.MenuItem3.Text = "Panel 2"
        '
        'Form1
        '
        Me.AutoScaleBaseSize = New System.Drawing.Size(5, 13)
        Me.ClientSize = New System.Drawing.Size(292, 271)
        Me.Controls.Add(Me.Panel1)
        Me.Controls.Add(Me.Panel2)
        Me.Menu = Me.MainMenu1
        Me.Name = "Form1"
        Me.Text = "Form1"
        Me.Panel1.ResumeLayout(False)
        Me.Panel2.ResumeLayout(False)
        Me.ResumeLayout(False)

    End Sub

#End Region

    Private Sub MenuItem2_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MenuItem2.Click
        Panel1.Visible = True
        Panel2.Visible = False
    End Sub

    Private Sub MenuItem3_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MenuItem3.Click
        Panel1.Visible = False
        Panel2.Visible = True
    End Sub
End Class

Once again, thanks in advance!

[Ianmac45]

is there any other way? i don't think so....if it work, it looks like you have it

[bangbang023 Veteran]

You could simply do a panel1.bringtofront() command. That should make things a little easier and cleaner if you start having many panels. I believe that command should still work.

[xfx]

If the panels appear one over the other (that is, they have the same size and location) then you should consider changing their zorder... like this:

Private Sub MenuItem2_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MenuItem2.Click
  Panel1.BringToFront()
End Sub

Private Sub MenuItem3_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MenuItem3.Click
  Panel2.BringToFront()
End Sub

[Brandon Live Veteran]

  bangbang023 said:

You could simply do a panel1.bringtofront() command. That should make things a little easier and cleaner if you start having many panels. I believe that command should still work.

586600388[/snapback]

Yeah either of those should work fine.

[NoMore]

Thanks for the replies =D. Is there any way to optimize it? I've an application that has 3 different panels and it takes up like 15MB of memory while running =(.

[bangbang023 Veteran]

  syko86 said:

Thanks for the replies =D. Is there any way to optimize it? I've an application that has 3 different panels and it takes up like 15MB of memory while running =(.

586600853[/snapback]

That's simply how .net works and while users will bitch and moan, it's nothing to worry about. The framework reserves memory for itself so it's readily accessible when needed, however, if another application requests any of that unused memory, the .net framework will immediately release it and let the other process use it.

[NoMore]

Oh ok, thanks for the reply, I didn't know that =X. Anyway, is BringToFront enough? Should I also set Visible and Enabled to "false"?

[bangbang023 Veteran]

  syko86 said:

Oh ok, thanks for the reply, I didn't know that =X. Anyway, is BringToFront enough? Should I also set Visible and Enabled to "false"?

586600914[/snapback]

Bring to front should be enough yes.

[NoMore]

Ok, thanks for the help! =)