Getting Started with Windows Forms StatusStrip

18 Nov 20187 minutes to read

Essential Tools has come up with StatusStrip control which can be added to the bottom of the Ribbon. It can hold controls like TrackBarEx, ProgressBar, StatusStripButtons, and so on.

Creating a StatusStrip

Through designer

The StatusStrip can be added to the form by dragging a StatusStripEx control from the Toolbox. It can be docked to the bottom of the RibbonControlAdv.

Dock the StatusStrip control to the bottom using Dock property.

Adding items to the StatusStrip

Access the Items property of the control, to open the Items Collection Editor. Use this editor to add customized StatusControl items. The Editor will let you modify the look and feel of the items using the properties provided on it right side.

A shortcut to add the ToolStripStatus Items is through Tasks Window. See Smart Tag options to know more.

Through code

StatusStrip can be created programmatically using the code below. This code snippet adds a ToolStripStatus Label to the StatusStrip control.

C#

using Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools;

//Declaring the StatusStripEx and ToolStripStatusLabel
private Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools.StatusStripEx statusStripEx1;
private System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripStatusLabel toolStripStatusLabel1;

//Initializing the StatusStripEx and ToolStripStatusLabel
this.statusStripEx1 = new Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools.StatusStripEx();
this.toolStripStatusLabel1 = new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripStatusLabel();

//Adding ToolStripStatusLabel to StatusStripEx
this.statusStripEx1.Items.AddRange(new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem[] {
this.toolStripStatusLabel1});
this.Controls.Add(this.statusStripEx1);

//Docking the StatusStripEx to Bottom
this.statusStripEx1.Dock = Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools.DockStyleEx.Bottom;

VB.NET

Imports Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools

'Declaring the StatusStripEx and ToolStripStatusLabel 
Private statusStripEx1 As Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools.StatusStripEx
Private toolStripStatusLabel1 As System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripStatusLabel

'Initializing the StatusStripEx and ToolStripStatusLabel 
Me.statusStripEx1 = New Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools.StatusStripEx() 
Me.toolStripStatusLabel1 = New System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripStatusLabel() 

'Adding ToolStripStatusLabel to StatusStripEx 
Me.statusStripEx1.Items.AddRange(New System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem() {Me.toolStripStatusLabel1}) 
Me.Controls.Add(Me.statusStripEx1)

'Docking the StatusStripEx to Bottom'
Me.statusStripEx1.Dock = Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools.DockStyleEx.Bottom

StatusStrip Items

The StatusStripEx control has two types of items.

• StatusControl items

• Notification items

StatusControl items

The StatusControl items is placed to right side of the StatusStrip when added. The StatusControl items are listed below,

• StatusLabel
• ProgressBar
• DropDownButton
• SplitButton

Notification items

The Notification items is placed to left side of the StatusStrip when added. The Notification items are listed below,

• StatusStripLabel
• StatusStripProgressBar
• StatusStripDropDownButton
• StatusStripSplitButton

StatusControl items and Notification items are same type of items. For example, If you select StatusStripLabel, it will be added to the left side of StatusStrip. Similarly, if you select StatusLabel, it will be added to the right side of StatusStrip.

Smart tag options

Clicking the Smart Tag of the StatusStrip, displays the below Tasks window. This window lets you add ToolStripStatus Items.

The options are,

• Dock - Provides docking options for StatusStrip control.

StatusControl items

Methods	Description
Add StatusLabel	Represents that adds a status label item.
Add ProgressBar	Represents that adds a ProgressBar item.
Add DropDownButton	Represents that adds a dropdown button item.
Add SplitButton	Represents that adds a split button item.
Add PanelItem	Represents that adds a Panel item.
Add TrackBarItem	Represents that adds a TrackBar item.

Notifications items

Methods	Description
Add StatusStripButton	Represents that adds a Button item.
Add StatusStripLabel	Represents that adds status strip label item.
Add StatusStrip ProgressBar	Represents that adds progressbar to the status bar
Add StatusStrip DropDownButton	Represents that adds dropdown button to the status bar.
Add StatusStrip SplitButton	Represents that adds split button to the status bar.
Add StatusStrip PanelItem	Represents that adds panel item to the status bar.

SizingGrip settings

The StatusStrip control has a sizing grip at its bottom right corner. This sizing grip can be shown or hidden using SizingGrip property. The below properties controls the appearance of the sizing grip.

Property	Description
GripStyle	Specifies the style of the sizing grip.
GripMargin	Gets or sets the margin for the sizing grip.

C#

this.statusStripEx1.SizingGrip = true;
this.statusStripEx1.GripStyle = ToolStripGripStyle.Visible;
this.statusStripEx1.GripMargin = new Padding(5);

VB.NET

Me.statusStripEx1.SizingGrip = True
Me.statusStripEx1.GripStyle = ToolStripGripStyle.Visible
Me.statusStripEx1.GripMargin = New Padding(5)

ColorSchemes for StatusStrip

StatusStrip supports all the three color schemes, i.e., Silver, Blue and Black schemes of Office2007. It can be changed using OfficeColorScheme property.

Tooltips

C#

this.statusStripEx1.OfficeColorScheme = Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools.ToolStripEx.ColorScheme.Silver;

VB.NET

Me.statusStripEx1.OfficeColorScheme = Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools.ToolStripEx.ColorScheme.Silver

Visual style

StatusStrip control supports Office2016 Visual styles such as Office2016Colorful,Office2016White,Office2016Black and Office2016DarkGray.

//Sample code for setting “Office2016 Colorful” style for StatusStripEx

C#

this.statusStripEx1.VisualStyle = Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools.StatusStripExStyle.Office2016Colorful;

VB.NET

Me.statusStripEx1.VisualStyle = Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools.StatusStripExStyle.Office2016Colorful;

Custom colors

We can also apply custom colors to the StatusStrip by setting OfficeColorScheme to “Managed” and specifying the custom color through the ApplyManagedColors method as follows.

C#

this.statusStripEx1.OfficeColorScheme = Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools.ToolStripEx.ColorScheme.Managed;
Office2007Colors.ApplyManagedColors(this, Color.DarkGreen);

VB.NET

Me.statusStripEx1.OfficeColorScheme = Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools.ToolStripEx.ColorScheme.Managed
Office2007Colors.ApplyManagedColors(Me, Color.DarkGreen)

Custom context Menu

It is possible to customize the status bar context menu that displays in StatusStrip, to look like Word2007. This can be done by setting StatusString property of NotificationItems like StatusStrip Button, StatusStripLabel, so on.

C#

this.statusStripLabel1.Text = "Pages";
this.statusStripLabel1.StatusString = "1/1";

VB.NET

Me.statusStripLabel1.Text = "Pages"
Me.statusStripLabel1.StatusString = "1/1"