XL2000: How to Use the TabStrip Control on a UserForm

This article explains how to use the TabStrip control on a UserForm, and provides Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications sample code for this purpose.

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For more information about the support options that are available and about how to contact Microsoft, visit the following Microsoft Web site:http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;en-us;cntactms) Use a TabStrip control to view different sets of information for related controls. A TabStrip is recommended if you use a single layout for your data. For example, use different tabs in a TabStrip control to display different views for one group of controls.

The TabStrip is implemented as a container of a Tabs collection, which, in turn, contains a group of Tab objects. By default, the control contains two Tab objects; you can add or remove Tab objects as needed.

The client region of a TabStrip control is not a separate form. Rather, the client region is a portion of the form that contains the TabStrip control.

The border of a TabStrip control defines a region of the form that you can associate with tabs. When you place a control in the client region of a TabStrip, you are adding a control to the form that contains the TabStrip.

Adding a Tab Strip Control to a UserForm

To add a TabStrip control to a UserForm in the Visual Basic Editor, follow these steps:

1. Click the UserForm, and then on the View menu, click Toolbox to display the toolbox.
2. Click the TabStrip button.
3. Draw the TabStrip control on the form.

Working with Existing Tabs in a TabStrip Control

To select an individual tab in a TabStrip control, follow these steps:

1. Select the TabStrip control.
2. Press the SHIFT key, and then click the tab that you want to select.

After you select a tab, you can change the tab properties, delete the tab, add new tabs, or move tabs by right-clicking the selected tab and then clicking the appropriate command on the shortcut menu.

Controlling a Tab Strip Programmatically

Use the SelectedItem property of the TabStrip control to indicate which Tab object is selected in the TabStrip control at run time. For example, if you create a TabStrip control named TabStrip1, you can use the following statement to display the caption of the selected tab: The SelectedItem property is read-only and cannot be set at run time. If you need to programmatically set which tab is selected, set the Value property for the TabStrip control. The following example selects the third tab on a TabStrip named TabStrip1: NOTE: The values of tabs in a TabStrip control start with 0 (zero). If the TabStrip control contains 3 tabs, their values are 0, 1, and 2.

Example

To create a simple UserForm that implements a TabStrip control, follow these steps:

1. In a new workbook in Microsoft Excel, point to Macro on the Tools menu, and then click Visual Basic Editor.
2. On the Insert menu, click UserForm. Press F4 to start the Properties window for the form. Next to the (Name) property of the form, type frmMain, and then type Choose a Color next to the Caption property.
3. Select the form. Click TabStrip on the Toolbox, and then draw a TabStrip control on the form. With the TabStrip control selected, press F4 to start the Properties window. Type tbsColor next to the (Name) property.
4. To select the first tab in the TabStrip control, press SHIFT, and then click Tab1. Right-click Tab1, and then click Rename on the shortcut menu. Type Red in the Caption box, and then click OK.
5. Click Tab2 to select it. Right-click Tab2, and then click Rename on the shortcut menu. Type Green in the Caption box, and then click OK.
6. With the second tab still selected, right-click Green, and then click New Page on the shortcut menu.
   
   The Visual Basic Editor inserts a third tab.
7. Right-click Tab3, and then click Rename on the shortcut menu. Type Blue in the Caption box, and then click OK.
8. Click Red, and then cancel the selection of the Tab control by clicking the TabStrip container.
9. Add the following controls to the TabStrip container with the listed property settings:

      Control Type          Property                Value
      ----------------------------------------------------------
   
      Image                 Name                    imgColor
                            BackColor               &H000000FF&
   
      CommandButton         Name                    cmdOK
                            Caption                 OK
   
      CommandButton         Name                    cmdCancel
                            Caption                 Cancel
   					

10. Press F7 to view the Code window for the form.
11. Type the following event procedures for the form in the Code window:

    Private Sub tbsColor_Change()
    ' This procedure runs when the TabStrip control named tbsColor
    ' changes. This procedure will change the color of the image
    ' control based on which tab the user selects.
       Dim i As Integer
       i = tbsColor.SelectedItem.Index
       Select Case i
          Case 0
             ' First tab selected, change color of image to red.
             imgColor.BackColor = RGB(255, 0, 0)
          Case 1
             ' Second tab selected, change color of image to green.
             imgColor.BackColor = RGB(0, 255, 0)
          Case 2
             ' Third tab selected, change color of image to blue.
             imgColor.BackColor = RGB(0, 0, 255)
       End Select
    End Sub
    
    Private Sub cmdCancel_Click()
    ' This procedure will run when the command button cmdCancel is
    ' clicked. This procedure unloads the form.
       Unload Me
    End Sub
    Private Sub cmdOK_Click()
    ' This procedure will run when the command button cmdOK is clicked.
    ' This procedure displays a message indicating which tab is
    ' selected and then unloads the form.
       MsgBox "You selected " & tbsColor.SelectedItem.Caption
       Unload Me
    End Sub
    					

12. On the Insert menu, click Module.
13. Type the following procedure in the new module sheet:

    Public Sub ShowForm()
    ' This procedure displays the form named frmMain.
       frmMain.Show
    End Sub
    					

14. Press F5, select ShowForm, and then click Run to run the macro.

For more information about the TabStrip control, in the Visual Basic Editor, click Microsoft Visual Basic Help on the Help menu, type tabstrip control in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.