TabControl .SelectTab() engages the tab page and the focus momentarily appears on the tab as expected but then immediately leaps to a button on the tab page. How can I get it focus to stay on the tab?
I tried
mytc.TabPages[mytc.SelectedIndex].Focus();
but this fails, sending the focus somewhere invisible.
One solution is to enclose all buttons in a groupbox (!) but I would rather avoid such a kludge.
The default Windows Forms App code showing this kludge is here – build, run and press F5 to see the fail, and F6 for the kludged.
Form1.cs
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace WindowsFormsApplication1
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
TabControl mytc;
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
mytc = tabControl1;
}
private void tab1ToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
mytc.SelectTab(0);
// mytc.TabPages[mytc.SelectedIndex].Focus(); // fails
}
private void tab2ToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
mytc.SelectTab(1);
// mytc.TabPages[mytc.SelectedIndex].Focus(); // fails
}
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
debugl.Text = "Button1";
}
private void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
debugl.Text = "Button2";
}
}
}
Form1.Designer.cs
namespace WindowsFormsApplication1
{
partial class Form1
{
/// <summary>
/// Required designer variable.
/// </summary>
private System.ComponentModel.IContainer components = null;
/// <summary>
/// Clean up any resources being used.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="disposing">true if managed resources should be disposed; otherwise, false.</param>
protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
{
if (disposing && (components != null))
{
components.Dispose();
}
base.Dispose(disposing);
}
#region Windows Form Designer generated code
/// <summary>
/// Required method for Designer support - do not modify
/// the contents of this method with the code editor.
/// </summary>
private void InitializeComponent()
{
this.tabControl1 = new System.Windows.Forms.TabControl();
this.tabPage1 = new System.Windows.Forms.TabPage();
this.button3 = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
this.tabPage2 = new System.Windows.Forms.TabPage();
this.button2 = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
this.menuStrip1 = new System.Windows.Forms.MenuStrip();
this.operationToolStripMenuItem = new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem();
this.tab1ToolStripMenuItem = new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem();
this.tab2ToolStripMenuItem = new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem();
this.debugl = new System.Windows.Forms.Label();
this.button1 = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
this.button4 = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
this.groupBox1 = new System.Windows.Forms.GroupBox();
this.tabControl1.SuspendLayout();
this.tabPage1.SuspendLayout();
this.tabPage2.SuspendLayout();
this.menuStrip1.SuspendLayout();
this.groupBox1.SuspendLayout();
this.SuspendLayout();
//
// tabControl1
//
this.tabControl1.Controls.Add(this.tabPage1);
this.tabControl1.Controls.Add(this.tabPage2);
this.tabControl1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(9, 23);
this.tabControl1.Name = "tabControl1";
this.tabControl1.SelectedIndex = 0;
this.tabControl1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(272, 136);
this.tabControl1.TabIndex = 0;
//
// tabPage1
//
this.tabPage1.Controls.Add(this.button4);
this.tabPage1.Controls.Add(this.button3);
this.tabPage1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(4, 22);
this.tabPage1.Name = "tabPage1";
this.tabPage1.Padding = new System.Windows.Forms.Padding(3);
this.tabPage1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(264, 110);
this.tabPage1.TabIndex = 0;
this.tabPage1.Text = "tabPage1";
this.tabPage1.UseVisualStyleBackColor = true;
//
// button3
//
this.button3.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(35, 61);
this.button3.Name = "button3";
this.button3.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(75, 23);
this.button3.TabIndex = 0;
this.button3.Text = "butt&on1";
this.button3.UseVisualStyleBackColor = true;
this.button3.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.button1_Click);
//
// tabPage2
//
this.tabPage2.Controls.Add(this.groupBox1);
this.tabPage2.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(4, 22);
this.tabPage2.Name = "tabPage2";
this.tabPage2.Padding = new System.Windows.Forms.Padding(3);
this.tabPage2.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(264, 110);
this.tabPage2.TabIndex = 1;
this.tabPage2.Text = "tabPage2";
this.tabPage2.UseVisualStyleBackColor = true;
//
// button2
//
this.button2.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(13, 27);
this.button2.Name = "button2";
this.button2.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(75, 23);
this.button2.TabIndex = 1;
this.button2.Text = "butto&n2";
this.button2.UseVisualStyleBackColor = true;
this.button2.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.button2_Click);
//
// menuStrip1
//
this.menuStrip1.Items.AddRange(new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem[] {
this.operationToolStripMenuItem});
this.menuStrip1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(0, 0);
this.menuStrip1.Name = "menuStrip1";
this.menuStrip1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(292, 24);
this.menuStrip1.TabIndex = 1;
this.menuStrip1.Text = "menuStrip1";
//
// operationToolStripMenuItem
//
this.operationToolStripMenuItem.DropDownItems.AddRange(new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem[] {
this.tab1ToolStripMenuItem,
this.tab2ToolStripMenuItem});
this.operationToolStripMenuItem.Name = "operationToolStripMenuItem";
this.operationToolStripMenuItem.ShortcutKeys = System.Windows.Forms.Keys.F5;
this.operationToolStripMenuItem.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(67, 20);
this.operationToolStripMenuItem.Text = "Operation";
//
// tab1ToolStripMenuItem
//
this.tab1ToolStripMenuItem.Name = "tab1ToolStripMenuItem";
this.tab1ToolStripMenuItem.ShortcutKeys = System.Windows.Forms.Keys.F5;
this.tab1ToolStripMenuItem.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(126, 22);
this.tab1ToolStripMenuItem.Text = "tab1";
this.tab1ToolStripMenuItem.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.tab1ToolStripMenuItem_Click);
//
// tab2ToolStripMenuItem
//
this.tab2ToolStripMenuItem.Name = "tab2ToolStripMenuItem";
this.tab2ToolStripMenuItem.ShortcutKeys = System.Windows.Forms.Keys.F6;
this.tab2ToolStripMenuItem.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(126, 22);
this.tab2ToolStripMenuItem.Text = "tab2";
this.tab2ToolStripMenuItem.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.tab2ToolStripMenuItem_Click);
//
// debugl
//
this.debugl.AutoSize = true;
this.debugl.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(40, 197);
this.debugl.Name = "debugl";
this.debugl.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(37, 13);
this.debugl.TabIndex = 2;
this.debugl.Text = "debug";
//
// button1
//
this.button1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(33, 67);
this.button1.Name = "button1";
this.button1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(75, 23);
this.button1.TabIndex = 1;
this.button1.Text = "butto&n2";
this.button1.UseVisualStyleBackColor = true;
this.button1.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.button2_Click);
//
// button4
//
this.button4.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(127, 61);
this.button4.Name = "button4";
this.button4.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(75, 23);
this.button4.TabIndex = 0;
this.button4.Text = "butt&on1";
this.button4.UseVisualStyleBackColor = true;
this.button4.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.button1_Click);
//
// groupBox1
//
this.groupBox1.Controls.Add(this.button1);
this.groupBox1.Controls.Add(this.button2);
this.groupBox1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(30, 4);
this.groupBox1.Name = "groupBox1";
this.groupBox1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(200, 100);
this.groupBox1.TabIndex = 3;
this.groupBox1.TabStop = false;
this.groupBox1.Text = "groupBox1";
//
// Form1
//
this.AutoScaleDimensions = new System.Drawing.SizeF(6F, 13F);
this.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Font;
this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(292, 273);
this.Controls.Add(this.debugl);
this.Controls.Add(this.tabControl1);
this.Controls.Add(this.menuStrip1);
this.MainMenuStrip = this.menuStrip1;
this.Name = "Form1";
this.Text = "Form1";
this.tabControl1.ResumeLayout(false);
this.tabPage1.ResumeLayout(false);
this.tabPage2.ResumeLayout(false);
this.menuStrip1.ResumeLayout(false);
this.menuStrip1.PerformLayout();
this.groupBox1.ResumeLayout(false);
this.ResumeLayout(false);
this.PerformLayout();
}
#endregion
private System.Windows.Forms.TabControl tabControl1;
private System.Windows.Forms.TabPage tabPage1;
private System.Windows.Forms.TabPage tabPage2;
private System.Windows.Forms.Button button2;
private System.Windows.Forms.MenuStrip menuStrip1;
private System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem operationToolStripMenuItem;
private System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem tab1ToolStripMenuItem;
private System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem tab2ToolStripMenuItem;
private System.Windows.Forms.Label debugl;
private System.Windows.Forms.Button button3;
private System.Windows.Forms.Button button4;
private System.Windows.Forms.Button button1;
private System.Windows.Forms.GroupBox groupBox1;
}
}
Thanks.
Don’t focus the TabPage, it doesn’t know how to indicate focus nor does it have any use for keyboard input. Focus the TabControl instead.
A bit flaky on Win7 when I tried it, it doesn’t always draw the dotted rectangle on the tab. Pressing the left/right cursor keys does however change tabs.