Question

I am trying to overlap panels so that whenever I click a button A certain panel will be visible.

However doing this job is very tricky as because the panels doesn’t overlap.

for ex. I have panel 1 and panel 2:

I make panel 2 the same as panel 1,
Whenever I position them on the same position…
Sometimes, the panel 2 becomes a member of panel 1 and whenever I set the visibility of panel 1 to true panel 2 also shows up.

What I want is that the two panels to overlap each other.

“Btw, I’m making a vertical tab that’s why I thought that hiding, unhiding the panels might be my best approach.

Is it possible to make the panels overlap each other?

Answer 1

The designer is fighting you do get them overlapped. You need to use a little trick to stop the bottom panel from sucking up the overlapping panel. Put it overlapping panel somewhat off towards the upper-left so they are truly overlapped. Then put it in the right spot by adding code to the form constructor:

    public Form1() {
        InitializeComponent();
        panel2.Location = panel1.Location;
        panel2.Size = panel1.Size;  // optional
    }

Another way to do it is with View + Other Windows + Document Layout. You can drag and drop the inner panel to the outer container (form). You will however have to edit the Location property by hand.