Dynamic MenuStrip in Windows Forms

SqlDataAdapter datransaction = new SqlDataAdapter(Seqtx, conn);

DataTable dtransaction = new DataTable();

datransaction.Fill(dtransaction);

Assembly frmAssembly = Assembly.LoadFile(Application.ExecutablePath);

foreach (Type type in frmAssembly.GetTypes())

{

//MessageBox.Show(type.Name);

if (type.BaseType == typeof(Form))

{

if (type.Name == dtransaction.Rows[0][0].ToString())

{

Form frmShow = (Form)frmAssembly.CreateInstance(type.ToString());

// then we close all of the child Forms with simple below code

foreach (Form form in this.MdiChildren)

{

form.Close();

}

frmShow.MdiParent = this;

frmShow.WindowState = FormWindowState.Maximized;

//frmShow.ControlBox = false;

frmShow.Show();

}

}

}

}

Here,

String Seqtx = "SELECT FRM_CODE FROM MNU_SUBMENU WHERE FRM_NAME='" + sender.ToString() + "'";

To get the "FRM_CODE", in other words the Form name:

Assembly frmAssembly = Assembly.LoadFile(Application.ExecutablePath);

Here we add the namespace System.Reflection to our project that contains classes that allow us to obtain information about the application dynamically at run-time.

The classes that provide access to the metadata of the running program are available in the System.Reflection namespace.

type.BaseType == typeof(Form)

Comparing the BaseType of the application to Form and get the Type from which System.Type is inherited:

type.Name == dtransaction.Rows[0][0].ToString()

Comparing the name of the form with the form that is present in the Database:

Form frmShow = (Form)frmAssembly.CreateInstance(type.ToString());

Creating an instance of the form by Locating the specified type from the Assembly.

Entire code

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;

using System.Data.SqlClient;

using System.Configuration;

using System.Reflection;

namespace DynamicMenuStripDBDriven

{

public partial class FrmParent : Form

{

SqlConnection conn;

MenuStrip MnuStrip;

ToolStripMenuItem MnuStripItem;

public FrmParent()

{

InitializeComponent();

}

private void FrmParent_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)

{

// To make this Form the Parent Form

this.IsMdiContainer = true;

//Creating object of MenuStrip class

MnuStrip = new MenuStrip();

//Placing the control to the Form

this.Controls.Add(MnuStrip);

String connectionString;

connectionString = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["dbconn"].ConnectionString;

conn = new SqlConnection(connectionString);

String Sequel = "SELECT MAINMNU,MENUPARVAL,STATUS FROM MNU_PARENT";

SqlDataAdapter da = new SqlDataAdapter(Sequel, conn);

DataTable dt = new DataTable();

conn.Open();

da.Fill(dt);

foreach (DataRow dr in dt.Rows)

{

MnuStripItem = new ToolStripMenuItem(dr["MAINMNU"].ToString());

SubMenu(MnuStripItem, dr["MENUPARVAL"].ToString());

MnuStrip.Items.Add(MnuStripItem);

}

// The Form.MainMenuStrip property determines the merge target.

this.MainMenuStrip = MnuStrip;

}

public void SubMenu(ToolStripMenuItem mnu, string submenu)

{

String Seqchild = "SELECT FRM_NAME FROM MNU_SUBMENU WHERE MENUPARVAL='" + submenu + "'";

SqlDataAdapter dachildmnu = new SqlDataAdapter(Seqchild, conn);

DataTable dtchild = new DataTable();

dachildmnu.Fill(dtchild);

foreach (DataRow dr in dtchild.Rows)

{

ToolStripMenuItem SSMenu = new ToolStripMenuItem(dr["FRM_NAME"].ToString(), null, new EventHandler(ChildClick));

mnu.DropDownItems.Add(SSMenu);

}

}

private void ChildClick(object sender, EventArgs e)

{

// MessageBox.Show(string.Concat("You have Clicked ", sender.ToString(), " Menu"), "Menu Items Event",MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information);

String Seqtx = "SELECT FRM_CODE FROM MNU_SUBMENU WHERE FRM_NAME='" + sender.ToString() + "'";

SqlDataAdapter datransaction = new SqlDataAdapter(Seqtx, conn);

DataTable dtransaction = new DataTable();

datransaction.Fill(dtransaction);

Assembly frmAssembly = Assembly.LoadFile(Application.ExecutablePath);

foreach (Type type in frmAssembly.GetTypes())

{

//MessageBox.Show(type.Name);

if (type.BaseType == typeof(Form))

{

if (type.Name == dtransaction.Rows[0][0].ToString())

{

Form frmShow = (Form)frmAssembly.CreateInstance(type.ToString());

// then when you want to close all of them simple call the below code

foreach (Form form in this.MdiChildren)

{

form.Close();

}

frmShow.MdiParent = this;

frmShow.WindowState = FormWindowState.Maximized;

//frmShow.ControlBox = false;

frmShow.Show();

}

}

}

}

}

}

When we run the project:



Clicking the Accounting Form



Clicking the Finance Transaction



Summary

In this article we have discussed how to create a Database Driven MenuStrip in a Windows Form and adding Submenus using the ToolStripMenuItem class and registering the Event for the Child Forms and navigating through the forms in the Project to associate them with the Form Name dynamically in the database.