Merge Menu Items in C#.NET

Kettic Menu Control for Windows Forms allows the users to merge menu items in C# for their applications as well as in a MDI application. To merge KetticMenuItems in C#.NET, the MergeMenu method of KetticMenu will be applied. The KetticMenu is able to find MergeMenu method automatically in a child MDI form, and merge them in a parent form when the child MDI form is maximized. This is achieved by defining MergeType and MergeOrder properties for KetticMenuItem.

How to Merge Menu Items in C#.NET

To merge menu items in C#.NET, we need to call the MergeMenu method of Kettic Menu component, and use the parameter to designate the source menu, where the method will be invoked to determine the destination menu.

When we need to merge menu items in a MDI application, we need not call the MergeMethod and the KetticMenu is able to find the method automatically in a child MDI form and will invoke the MergeMenu when necessary.

The C# code below demonstrates how to use the MergeMenu method.


ketticMenu1.MergeMenu(srcKetticMenu2);

Properties for Merging Menu Items

To process the merging of menu items, the KetticMenuItem C# class has contains two properties for this, MergeType and MergeOrder. The following shows details of the two properties.

MergeType Property for Merging Menu Items in C#.NET

The MergeType property determines the type MenuMerge, including Add, Replace, MergeItems, and Remove.

Add, this value is the default setting and is able to add items to the left of the original items in the parent menu.
Replace, this value is able to replace the item in the child menu at the same position in the parent menu.
MergeItems, this value is able to replace items from the parent and child menus at that position are merged.
Remove, this value is able to remove the item as maximizing the child form in a MDI application.

MergeOrder Property for Merging Menu Items in C#.NET

The merge order of items is determine by an integer value, which ranges from 0 to greater. The merge order value controls the relative position of the menu item based on the values of the other menu items that will be merged. The higher values will place menu items to the right and the lower values will place the menu items to the left.

UI Controlsfor Windows Forms

.NET WinForms UI Overview .NET WinForms UI Features .NET WinForms UI Guide C# WinForms UI Design VB.NET WinForms UI Design

WinForms UI Controls