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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

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Style 2010

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Style 2013

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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)


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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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Programming is an art.

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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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Comments and Discussions

 
QuestionRibbonComboBox Issue Pin
Member 1384943929-May-18 2:51
Member 1384943929-May-18 2:51 
AnswerRe: RibbonComboBox Issue Pin
Member 1384943930-May-18 3:23
Member 1384943930-May-18 3:23 
GeneralThanks for your excellent control Pin
Southmountain20-Mar-18 16:23
Southmountain20-Mar-18 16:23 
QuestionFrom where to get System.Windows.Forms.Ribbon35.dll Pin
Mou_kol19-Mar-18 22:12
Mou_kol19-Mar-18 22:12 
AnswerRe: From where to get System.Windows.Forms.Ribbon35.dll Pin
RickZeeland20-Mar-18 8:20
mveRickZeeland20-Mar-18 8:20 
QuestionMouseClick not processed when Ribbon is updating Pin
Marco Tenuti4-Dec-17 9:35
Marco Tenuti4-Dec-17 9:35 
Questionhow to drop down a menu items from the OrbDropDown? Pin
Mahmoud Ayman8-Nov-17 21:51
Mahmoud Ayman8-Nov-17 21:51 
QuestionHow to stop auto hide of Ribbon Tab on double click on menu. Pin
Ramveer Singh from Gurgaon, Haryana20-Mar-17 23:03
Ramveer Singh from Gurgaon, Haryana20-Mar-17 23:03 
AnswerRe: How to stop auto hide of Ribbon Tab on double click on menu. Pin
niuzj20-May-17 16:45
niuzj20-May-17 16:45 
SuggestionRe: How to stop auto hide of Ribbon Tab on double click on menu. Pin
谢龙6-Sep-17 21:10
professional谢龙6-Sep-17 21:10 
QuestionRibbon Controls alignment inside a RibbonPanel Pin
fastlater_pro6-Mar-17 15:28
fastlater_pro6-Mar-17 15:28 
QuestionRibbonButtons keep showing focus if you drag from them Pin
AndrewInEssex8-Feb-17 6:53
AndrewInEssex8-Feb-17 6:53 
AnswerRe: RibbonButtons keep showing focus if you drag from them Pin
AndrewInEssex21-Feb-17 1:47
AndrewInEssex21-Feb-17 1:47 
GeneralRe: RibbonButtons keep showing focus if you drag from them Pin
AndrewInEssex7-Apr-17 1:35
AndrewInEssex7-Apr-17 1:35 
Generalprivate ribbon Pin
kh2tech24-Dec-16 1:30
professionalkh2tech24-Dec-16 1:30 
QuestionCopy to Another Computer Pin
Shawn Kanyer12-Dec-16 13:29
Shawn Kanyer12-Dec-16 13:29 
QuestionCould not load file or assembly Pin
sidali.kadi9-Dec-16 10:33
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QuestionMousewheel on Combos Pin
Member 1229590524-Nov-16 23:11
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AnswerRe: Mousewheel on Combos Pin
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QuestionEnable or disable tabs in case of MDI project Pin
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Questionhow to call event button click from mdiParent Pin
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AnswerRe: how to call event button click from mdiParent Pin
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