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Articles / Desktop Programming / Windows Forms

Easily Add a Ribbon into a WinForms Application

7 Aug 2019Ms-PL2 min read 2.3M   38.1K   618   655
Easily add a ribbon to a WinForms application

Style 2007

Image 1

Style 2010

Image 2

Style 2013

Image 3

Background

The ribbon that is going to be used in this article is an open source project created by Jose Menendez Poo. However, the original author of the ribbon has stopped support of it. A group of fans of this ribbon re-host and continue to develop/enhance and support the ribbon.

The original ribbon creator has posted an article explaining what this ribbon is all about at [A Professional Ribbon You Will Use (Now with orb!)]. However, that article doesn't describe how to use it in your project. Therefore, this article will show how to use it.

How to Use this Ribbon Control

The ribbon class library can be added via Nuget. Right click your project and go to "Manage Nuget Packages..."

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Search "RibbonWinForms" and install the nuget package.

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Drag the ribbon control into the form.

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Click "Add Tab".

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Click "Add Panel".

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Showing the commands of the "Panel":

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Click the command and add the controls you want.

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Changing the icon and button text label.

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Adding the "Click" event.

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Type the commands that you wish to do in the event block.

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Now, try run the application.

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Example of using RibbonForm style.

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Replace the inheritance of "Form":

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to "RibbonForm".

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Note

Some behaviour of "RibbonForm" might not be working properly in some unknown circumstances. We recommended that you to perform the test in your environment before delivering your application into production.

Alternative Ribbon Control

Windows Ribbon Framework
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/windowsribbon/-uiplat-windowsribbon-entry 
Support Windows 7 onwards

Krypton WinForms components for .NET
https://github.com/ComponentFactory/Krypton

RibbonLib
https://github.com/ennerperez/RibbonLib 
https://www.nuget.org/packages/RibbonLib

Windows Ribbon for WinForms
https://github.com/ennerperez/RibbonLib 
http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/arik/2010/11/08/windows-ribbon-for-winforms-v26-released/ 
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/55599/Windows-Ribbon-for-WinForms-Part-0-Table-of-Conten

Ribbon by Juan Pablo G.C.
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/18449/An-easy-way-to-add-a-Ribbon-Panel-Office-2007-styl 
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/19044/The-new-RibbonForm-RibbonRoundButton-and-FastMenu

History

  • 8th August, 2019: Publish Nuget Package, several bug fixes
  • 12th April, 2012: Initial version

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Microsoft Public License (Ms-PL)


Written By
Product Manager
United States United States
- I've been programming Windows and Web apps since 1997.
- My greatest concern nowadays is product, user interface, and usability.
- TypeScript / React expert

@geeksplainer

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Other Other
Programming is an art.

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Austria Austria
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Written By
Software Developer (Senior)
United States United States
Lead Software Engineer on a paperless office / workflow system. I specialize in building custom user controls and components that are using in my everyday software. I've also worked with Neural Networks for character recognition on documents in my paperless office software.

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Germany Germany
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Comments and Discussions

 
QuestionSupport RTL layout Pin
Alzain29-May-12 20:22
Alzain29-May-12 20:22 
AnswerRe: Support RTL layout Pin
adriancs30-May-12 2:34
mvaadriancs30-May-12 2:34 
QuestionHow display a ToolTip?? Pin
lhsanchez26-May-12 20:03
lhsanchez26-May-12 20:03 
AnswerRe: How display a ToolTip?? Pin
adriancs27-May-12 4:10
mvaadriancs27-May-12 4:10 
QuestionComo visualizar ToolTips Pin
lhsanchez26-May-12 19:59
lhsanchez26-May-12 19:59 
Questionurgent help needed Pin
satnamsinghnagi24-May-12 1:20
satnamsinghnagi24-May-12 1:20 
AnswerRe: urgent help needed Pin
adriancs25-May-12 2:24
mvaadriancs25-May-12 2:24 
QuestionThanks Pin
Murugesan.sam15-May-12 1:48
Murugesan.sam15-May-12 1:48 
Thanks for code
QuestionVery nice Pin
Laserson13-May-12 16:40
Laserson13-May-12 16:40 
AnswerRe: Very nice Pin
adriancs20-May-12 4:25
mvaadriancs20-May-12 4:25 
QuestionVS 2008 Pin
jsdhgkjdsahklg9-May-12 9:21
jsdhgkjdsahklg9-May-12 9:21 
AnswerRe: VS 2008 Pin
adriancs20-May-12 4:24
mvaadriancs20-May-12 4:24 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
Reza Ahmadi5-May-12 18:09
Reza Ahmadi5-May-12 18:09 
BugDoes not work with framework 4.0 Pin
MaxOliveira19-Apr-12 9:07
MaxOliveira19-Apr-12 9:07 
GeneralRe: Does not work with framework 4.0 Pin
adriancs19-Apr-12 18:56
mvaadriancs19-Apr-12 18:56 
GeneralRe: Does not work with framework 4.0 Pin
MaxOliveira20-Apr-12 1:54
MaxOliveira20-Apr-12 1:54 
BugA few bugs I think !? Pin
Mazen el Senih15-Apr-12 8:26
professionalMazen el Senih15-Apr-12 8:26 
GeneralRe: A few bugs I think !? Pin
adriancs28-Apr-12 15:57
mvaadriancs28-Apr-12 15:57 
GeneralRe: A few bugs I think !? Pin
adriancs2-Jan-13 5:16
mvaadriancs2-Jan-13 5:16 
GeneralRe: A few bugs I think !? Pin
Mazen el Senih3-Jan-13 5:49
professionalMazen el Senih3-Jan-13 5:49 
QuestionMissing images Pin
Not Active15-Apr-12 5:58
mentorNot Active15-Apr-12 5:58 
AnswerRe: Missing images Pin
adriancs15-Apr-12 18:29
mvaadriancs15-Apr-12 18:29 
QuestionIn web application Pin
SaurabhSavaliya12-Apr-12 23:55
SaurabhSavaliya12-Apr-12 23:55 
AnswerRe: In web application Pin
adriancs13-Apr-12 1:16
mvaadriancs13-Apr-12 1:16 
AnswerRe: In web application Pin
Mazen el Senih15-Apr-12 8:31
professionalMazen el Senih15-Apr-12 8:31 

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