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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

Image 1

Style 2010

Image 2

Style 2013

Image 3

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)


Written By
Product Manager
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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Software Developer
Other Other
Programming is an art.

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Austria Austria
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Written By
Software Developer (Senior)
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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Germany Germany
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Comments and Discussions

 
AnswerRe: Use system password characters Pin
toATwork27-Aug-13 2:12
toATwork27-Aug-13 2:12 
QuestionMenu like Office 2010 Pin
dudz artiaga28-Jul-13 2:16
dudz artiaga28-Jul-13 2:16 
AnswerRe: Menu like Office 2010 Pin
toATwork27-Aug-13 2:15
toATwork27-Aug-13 2:15 
GeneralRe: Menu like Office 2010 Pin
weijiayi29-Aug-13 21:26
weijiayi29-Aug-13 21:26 
GeneralRe: Menu like Office 2010 Pin
toATwork2-Sep-13 5:18
toATwork2-Sep-13 5:18 
GeneralRe: Menu like Office 2010 Pin
FRH-HAZZEL17-Sep-13 9:03
FRH-HAZZEL17-Sep-13 9:03 
AnswerRe: Menu like Office 2010 Pin
toATwork17-Sep-13 20:44
toATwork17-Sep-13 20:44 
QuestionDeleting a Button Pin
CorvetteGuru24-Jul-13 8:55
CorvetteGuru24-Jul-13 8:55 
I accidentally deleted a button from a Ribbon... When I try to reuse the name, the button is still in the list of available buttons, but not on the form!

I want to clear that list and reuse the name, but it doesn't remove them from the list, but it does from the form.

Thanks!

UPDATE: Figured it out... the control needs better housecleaning to take care of the Designer file.

I was able to fix manually...

modified 24-Jul-13 16:35pm.

QuestionError when adding control to the toolbox Pin
misiek351013-Jul-13 12:32
misiek351013-Jul-13 12:32 
QuestionOrbDropDown - auto hide menu do not working Pin
Radek_Jur9-Jul-13 22:12
Radek_Jur9-Jul-13 22:12 
AnswerRe: OrbDropDown - auto hide menu do not working Pin
toATwork10-Jul-13 0:28
toATwork10-Jul-13 0:28 
GeneralRe: OrbDropDown - auto hide menu do not working Pin
Radek_Jur10-Jul-13 1:54
Radek_Jur10-Jul-13 1:54 
AnswerRe: OrbDropDown - auto hide menu do not working Pin
toATwork10-Jul-13 2:14
toATwork10-Jul-13 2:14 
QuestionAutomatically cascade the QuickAcessToolbar if there is no enough space to display all the buttons Pin
Member 79489462-Jul-13 1:58
Member 79489462-Jul-13 1:58 
QuestionFlash feature Pin
Alejandro Gaio27-Jun-13 12:52
Alejandro Gaio27-Jun-13 12:52 
AnswerRe: Flash feature Pin
toATwork28-Jun-13 9:48
toATwork28-Jun-13 9:48 
GeneralRe: Flash feature Pin
Alejandro Gaio29-Jun-13 4:42
Alejandro Gaio29-Jun-13 4:42 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
Alejandro Gaio27-Jun-13 12:46
Alejandro Gaio27-Jun-13 12:46 
QuestionRibbonButton.Visible on RibbonQuickAccessToolbar Pin
Alejandro Gaio27-Jun-13 9:27
Alejandro Gaio27-Jun-13 9:27 
NewsRe: RibbonButton.Visible on RibbonQuickAccessToolbar Pin
toATwork28-Jun-13 9:46
toATwork28-Jun-13 9:46 
QuestionChange tab in code Pin
Anonime20-Jun-13 23:31
Anonime20-Jun-13 23:31 
AnswerRe: Change tab in code Pin
toATwork20-Jun-13 23:38
toATwork20-Jun-13 23:38 
GeneralRe: Change tab in code Pin
Anonime21-Jun-13 2:58
Anonime21-Jun-13 2:58 
QuestionWhat about a NuGet release? Pin
Tiago Freitas Leal10-Jun-13 10:25
professionalTiago Freitas Leal10-Jun-13 10:25 
AnswerRe: What about a NuGet release? Pin
adriancs10-Jun-13 15:00
mvaadriancs10-Jun-13 15:00 

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