XL: How to Use the TabStrip Control in a UserForm

ID: Q155009


The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
  • Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition


SUMMARY

This article explains how to use the TabStrip control in a UserForm and provides a Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications example.


MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support professionals can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about the support options available from Microsoft, please see the following page on the World Wide Web:

http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/overview/overview.asp
Use a TabStrip control to view different sets of information for related controls. A TabStrip is recommended if you use a single layout for your data. For example, use different tabs in a TabStrip control to display different "views" for one group of controls.

The TabStrip is implemented as a container of a Tabs collection, which in turn contains a group of Tab objects. By default, the control contains two Tab objects; you can add or remove Tab objects as needed.

The client region of a TabStrip control is not a separate form. Instead, the region is a portion of the form that contains the TabStrip control.

The border of a TabStrip control defines a region of the form that you can associate with tabs. When you place a control in the client region of a TabStrip, you are adding a control to the form that contains the TabStrip.

Adding a TabStrip Control to a UserForm

To add a TabStrip control to a UserForm in the Visual Basic Editor, follow these steps:

  1. Click the UserForm to activate it.


  2. On the View menu, click Toolbox to display the toolbox.


  3. Click the TabStrip control button.


  4. Draw the TabStrip control on the form.


Working with Existing Tabs in a TabStrip Control

To select an individual tab in a TabStrip control, follow these steps:

  1. Select the TabStrip control.


  2. Press the SHIFT key and click the tab that you want to select.


After you select a tab, you can change the tab properties, delete the tab, add new tabs, or move tabs by right-clicking the selected tab and clicking the appropriate command on the shortcut menu.

Controlling a TabStrip Programmatically

Use the SelectedItem property of the TabStrip control to indicate which Tab object is selected in the TabStrip control at run time. For example, if you create a TabStrip control named TabStrip1, you can use the following statement to display the caption of the selected Tab:

   MsgBox TabStrip1.SelectedItem.Caption 
The SelectedItem property is read-only and cannot be set at run time. If you need to programmatically set which tab is selected, set the Value property for the TabStrip control. The following example selects the third tab on a TabStrip named TabStrip1:

   TabStrip1.Value=2 
NOTE: The values of tabs in a TabStrip control start with zero. If the TabStrip control contains three tabs, their values are 0, 1, and 2.

Example

The following example describes how you can create a simple UserForm that implements a TabStrip control.

  1. In a new workbook in Microsoft Excel, point to Macro on the Tools menu, and then click Visual Basic Editor.


  2. On the Insert menu, click UserForm. Press F4 to activate the Properties window for the form. Next to the Name property of the form, type frmMain, and type Choose a Color next to the Caption property.


  3. Select the form. Click the TabStrip control on the Toolbox window and draw a TabStrip control on the form. With the TabStrip control selected, press F4 to activate the Properties window. Type tbsColor next to the Name property.


  4. To select the first tab in the TabStrip control, press the SHIFT key and click Tab1. Right-click Tab1, and click Rename on the shortcut menu. Type Red in the Caption box, and then click OK.


  5. Click Tab2 to select it. Right-click Tab2, and click Rename on the shortcut menu. Type Green in the Caption box, and then click OK.


  6. With the second tab still selected, right-click Green, and click New Page on the shortcut menu.

    The Visual Basic Editor inserts a third Tab.


  7. Right-click Tab3, and click Rename on the shortcut menu. Type Blue in the Caption box, and then click OK.


  8. Click Red and cancel the selection of the Tab control by clicking on the TabStrip container.


  9. Add the following controls to the TabStrip container with the listed property setting:
    
          Control Type          Property                Value
          ----------------------------------------------------------
    
          Image                 Name                    imgColor
                                BackColor               &H000000FF&
    
          CommandButton         Name                    cmdOK
                                Caption                 OK
    
          CommandButton         Name                    cmdCancel
                                Caption                 Cancel 


  10. Press F7 to view the Code window for the form.


  11. Type the following event procedures for the form in the Code window:
    
            Private Sub tbsColor_Change()
    
            ' This procedure runs when the TabStrip control named tbsColor
            ' changes. This procedure will change the color of the image
            ' control based on which tab the user selects.
    
               Dim i As Integer
    
               i = tbsColor.SelectedItem.Index
    
               Select Case i
                  Case 0
                     ' First tab selected, change color of image to red.
                     imgColor.BackColor = RGB(255, 0, 0)
    
                  Case 1
                     ' Second tab selected, change color of image to green.
                     imgColor.BackColor = RGB(0, 255, 0)
    
                  Case 2
                     ' Third tab selected, change color of image to blue.
                     imgColor.BackColor = RGB(0, 0, 255)
               End Select
    
            End Sub
    
            Private Sub cmdCancel_Click()
    
            ' This procedure will run when the command button cmdCancel is
            ' clicked. This procedure unloads the form.
    
               Unload Me
    
            End Sub
    
            Private Sub cmdOK_Click()
    
            ' This procedure will run when the command button cmdOK is clicked.
            ' This procedure displays a message indicating which tab is
            ' selected and then unloads the form.
    
               MsgBox "You selected " & tbsColor.SelectedItem.Caption
               Unload Me
    
            End Sub 


  12. With the insertion point in the procedure ShowForm, press F5 to run the macro.



REFERENCES

For more information about the TabStrip control, follow these steps:

  1. Create a TabStrip control on a form.


  2. Select the TabStrip control and press F1.

    The "TabStrip Control" topic in the "Microsoft Forms Reference" Help file appears.


Additional query words: dialog tabbed XL97 XL98 deselect

Keywords : kbprg kbdta kbdtacode KbVBA
Version : :; MACINTOSH:98
Platform : MACINTOSH
Issue type :


Last Reviewed: January 27, 2000
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