WinForms Ribbon Control - A Flexible Command Bar

Overview

The WinForms Ribbon control (ribbon menu) accommodates all the tools required for an application in a single, easy-to-navigate user interface similar to Microsoft Office. Its dynamic resizing, keyboard accessibility, and complete customization options help organize an application.

Access items with the quick access toolbar

The quick access toolbar (QAT) is used to render a set of ribbon items that are commonly used in applications. It renders at the top-left corner of a window to make it more accessible. Users can choose to place it above or below the ribbon, remove certain commands from it, or add commands to it.

Tabs with contextual groups

The Ribbon control supports any number of contextual tab groups, which can be hidden or shown in certain contexts.

Office 2010, 2016 backstage view

The backstage is a separate view that contains tabs and buttons that can show an application’s information and basic settings. The backstage items can also be arranged at the top or bottom of the view.

Office 2007 application menu

The application menu is equivalent to a file menu found in a traditional UI.

Ribbon resizing

The Ribbon will resize its controls to fit within the space available in the ribbon window.

Merge MDI panel

In a multiple document interface (MDI), parent and child forms can have their own ribbon menus and items specific to their requirement. Normally in the ribbon, the parent form holds general commands like File, Home, Help, etc., whereas the child form holds specific and exclusive functionalities like Insert, Review, View, etc. Users can either switch between forms to operate these functionalities or merge both parent and child MDI forms to combine the ribbon menus and items within the parent form, if needed.

Serialization

Settings in the WinForms Ribbon control can be serialized to XML format. The XML files can be loaded back with built-in deserialization options. The Ribbon control also offers the option to serialize and deserialize QAT and tabs modules, separately.

Complete keyboard accessibility

The Ribbon control supports key tips for ribbon items, letting users quickly access a command in a few keystrokes. When a user presses the Alt key, key tips for commands in the current tab are displayed. Pressing a key indicated in the key tip invokes the corresponding command.

Tooltips

The Ribbon control supports super tooltips, which are used to customize the default look and feel of all tooltips.

• Tooltip documentation

Right-to-left languages

Right-to-left (RTL) orientation allows users to work in right-to-left languages like Hebrew, Arabic, or Persian.

Localization

Content in the Ribbon control can be formatted according to culture.

• Localization documentation

WinForms Ribbon Code Example

Easily get started with the WinForms Ribbon using a few simple lines of C# code example as demonstrated below. Also explore our WinForms Ribbon Example that shows you how to render and configure the WinForms Ribbon.

using Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace WindowsFormsApp1
{
    public partial class Form1 : RibbonForm
    {
        private RibbonControlAdv ribbonControlAdv1;
        private ToolStripTabItem homeTabItem;
        private ToolStripTabItem sendTabItem;
        private ToolStripTabItem folderTabItem;
        private ToolStripButton newMailButton;
        private ToolStripButton IgnoreButton;
        private ToolStripButton replyButton;
        private ToolStripEx newToolStripEx;
        private ToolStripEx deleteToolStripEx;
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
            this.newToolStripEx = new ToolStripEx();
            this.deleteToolStripEx = new ToolStripEx();
            this.respondToolStripEx = new ToolStripEx();
            this.ribbonControlAdv1 = new RibbonControlAdv();
            this.Controls.Add(ribbonControlAdv1);
            this.homeTabItem = new ToolStripTabItem();
            this.sendTabItem = new ToolStripTabItem();
            this.folderTabItem = new ToolStripTabItem();
            this.homeTabItem.Text = "Home";
            this.sendTabItem.Text = "Send";
            this.folderTabItem.Text = "Folder";
            this.ribbonControlAdv1.Header.AddMainItem(this.homeTabItem);
            this.ribbonControlAdv1.Header.AddMainItem(this.sendTabItem);
            this.ribbonControlAdv1.Header.AddMainItem(this.folderTabItem);
            this.newMailButton = new ToolStripButton();
            this.IgnoreButton = new ToolStripButton();
            this.replyButton = new ToolStripButton();
            this.homeTabItem.Panel.Controls.AddRange(new Control[] { newToolStripEx, deleteToolStripEx, respondToolStripEx});
            this.newMailButton.Text = "New Mail";
            this.IgnoreButton.Text = "Ignore";
            this.replyButton.Text = "Reply";
            this.newToolStripEx.Items.AddRange(new ToolStripItem[] {this.newMailButton });
            this.deleteToolStripEx.Items.AddRange(new ToolStripItem[] {this.IgnoreButton });
            this.respondToolStripEx.Items.AddRange(new ToolStripItem[] {this.replyButton});
        }
    }
}