Create User Interface Controls at Runtime

This will show how to create controls not as usual by dragging them from the ToolBox but at run time where the ToolBox is out of reach.

Visual studio provides a very rich tool box, useful to create nice UI, but what if we are in need create those controls at run time, sure we could , that's what I am going to demonstrate now.

Code behind the form

using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace CreateUserInterfaceControlsAt_RunTime

{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {         buttonCount = 0;
        int textBoxCount = 0;
        int ty = 100;
        int by = 100; 

        public Form()

        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }
        private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            by+=40;
            buttonCount++;
            Button b = new Button();
            b.Name = "MyButton" + buttonCount.ToString();
            b.Text = "MyButton" + buttonCount.ToString(); ;
            b.Size = new Size(100, 35);
             Point p = new Point(20, by);
            b.Location = p;
            this.Controls.Add(b);
        } 
        private void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            ty += 20;
            textBoxCount++;
            TextBox tx = new TextBox();
            tx.Name = "MyTextBox" + textBoxCount.ToString();
            tx.Text = "MyTextBox" + textBoxCount.ToString(); ;
            tx.Size = new Size(100, 35);
            Point p = new Point(250, ty);
            tx.Location = p;
            this.Controls.Add(tx);
        }
    }
}

The UI

Let's explain the code, It is very simple :

1. Create your instance of the wished control:
   
   Ex : Button b=new Button() ;
    
2. Then give it it's property values: name, location..
    
3. And the key is to add it to the form to be shown: this.Controls.Add(b)