Create lines in windows form with visual studio 2010?

Question

I wonder if it's possible to add a line to the design in a windows form? I can't find any tool for this in the toolbox? Or is there some other way to do this in visual studio or in code?

Answer 1

There isn't a built-in control for WinForms to do this. You can use the GroupBox control though, set the Text property to an empty string, and set it's height to 2. This will mimic a embossed line. Otherwise, you need to create a custom control and paint the line yourself.

For a custom control, here's an example.

using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace WindowsFormsApplication12
{
    public partial class Line : Control
    {
        public Line() {
            InitializeComponent();
        }        

        private Color m_LineColor = Color.Black;
        /// <summary>
        /// Gets or sets the color of the divider line
        /// </summary>
        [Category("Appearance")]
        [Description("Gets or sets the color of the divider line")]
        public Color LineColor {
            get {
                return m_LineColor;
            }
            set {
                m_LineColor = value;
                Invalidate();
            }
        }

        protected override void OnPaint(PaintEventArgs pe) {
            using (SolidBrush brush = new SolidBrush(LineColor)) {
                pe.Graphics.FillRectangle(brush, pe.ClipRectangle);
            }
        }
    }
}

It simply fills the ClientRectangle with the specified LineColor, so the height and width of the line is that of the control itself. Adjust accordingly.