Adding Controls

In your example, you will be adding a chart control on the left and two buttons on the upper right of your form.

To add the controls to the form:

1.      Click the AChart control on the Controls toolbar. Place your mouse pointer at the upper left side of the form. Click and drag a rectangle that is approximately two thirds of the size of your form.

2.      Click the AButton control on the Controls toolbar. Place your mouse pointer at the upper right side of the form. Click and drag a rectangle. When you let the mouse up, the button is labeled btn1.

3.      Copy the button. To copy, click on the button while holding down the CTRL key. Drag the button to a position immediately below the first button. When you are finished, your form will look similar to the following:

You now have all the controls you need and it's time to set the visual appearance of the Form. Next, you will need to place the controls and space them evenly. You also need to make the button height and width to be the same.

To adjust the size and location of the controls:

1.      Click on btn1 to select the control. You can move the control using the keyboard's arrow keys. This is more precise than moving the control by dragging it with the mouse. You can also size the control by dragging the selection handles or using the keyboard by pressing the SHIFT key down and pressing the arrow keys.

2.      Once btn1 is in the correct position, you can make btn2 align equal to the left edge of btn1. To do that you must select multiple controls. Click on btn2 to select the control, press the SHIFT key, and then click on btn1. Notice that the two controls are now selected. The last control that you select is called the pivot control. Click on the Align Left command from the Form Design toolbar or from the Arrange menu under the Edit menu. Notice that btn2 is now aligned equal to the left edge of btn1.

3.      While the two buttons are still selected, make btn2 have the same width and height of btn1. Click on the Make Same Width command and then click on the Make Same Height command (alternatively, you can select the Make Same Width and Height command). At this point btn1 and btn2 are aligned and are the same size.

4.      Next, make the chart and top button align to the top edge. Using the same technique as step two, select the chart (cht1). Holding the SHIFT key down, select btn1. Click the Align Top command. Both controls are aligned to the top.