How Can I Hide TabControl Buttons While Still Using It for Stacked Panel Management?

Hiding TabControl Buttons for Stacked Panel Management

In designing user interfaces, it can be challenging to manage multiple panels that display various data masks. A common approach is to use a TreeView control for panel selection and manually handle panel visibility. However, this approach can become cumbersome when adding or resizing panels.

Potential Solutions

Two potential solutions exist:

1. TabControl with Hidden Buttons: Employ a TabControl, where each panel resides in a TabPage. However, this method requires hiding the TabControl buttons, as the TreeView is responsible for item selection.
2. StackPanelControl: Create a hypothetical control that arranges panels in a stack, eliminating the need for manual panel management.

Optimal Solution

The most effective solution involves leveraging a bit of Windows API magic. By creating a custom class and implementing the WndProc method, you can trap the TCM_ADJUSTRECT message that the TabControl sends to adjust the tab size. This allows the tab size to be adjusted to zero at runtime, effectively hiding the tab buttons.

By using the SelectedIndex or SelectedTab property, you can seamlessly switch between panels, using the TreeView for item selection and the TabControl for panel layout.

Implementation

1. Introduce a new class into your project and paste the following code:

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;

class StackPanel : TabControl {
  protected override void WndProc(ref Message m) {
    // Hide tabs by trapping the TCM_ADJUSTRECT message
    if (m.Msg == 0x1328 && !DesignMode) m.Result = (IntPtr)1;
    else base.WndProc(ref m);
  }
}

2. Compile the project and drop the StackPanel control from the Toolbox onto the form.
3. During design time, the tabs will be visible, making it easy to switch between pages.
4. At runtime, the tabs will be hidden, enabling effortless panel switching through the SelectedIndex or SelectedTab property.

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