how to simulate tabcontrol functionality?

[silverspecv]

I'm trying to rewrite an existing program that is somewhat "graphically rich".. pretty buttons, etc. I figured out how to roll my own button rollovers, but now I need to have a column of buttons running down the left so when you click them then the main content portion of the form swaps out all its controls, so to speak. Basically a home made tab system. I got shot down on using MDI, and they don't like the native tab control either ("too ugly").. I was experimenting using 6 panels that all contain their own controls, and when the user clicks a button on the left, show that one and hide the other 5. But this is kind of tedious, especially with having to put in individual background images, etc. I also experimented with using a real tab control and hiding the tabs under an image, but that's kind of a pain too. Can someone send me down a good general path?

 

[ThatRickGuy]

One option is to build 6 user controls. Each of your user controls you populate with the controls you want to display on a tab. Then put a panel next to your 'tab' buttons. On the click events from the buttons, clear the panel and add a control of the type of user control that correlates to that tab.

-Rick

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