Visual Basic.Net Forms: Properties, Methods, and Events

Visual Basic.Net provides both console applications and Windows applications. The Windows Form applications are created using the Windows forms. Here we are learning the visual basic.net forms and form properties, methods, and events.

VB.Net Forms

Create Visual Basic.Net Forms in Visual Studio

To create a form in VB.Net, open your Visual Studio and follow this step: File -> New Project -> Windows Forms Applications.

Before clicking the OK button choose the project location and provide a custom project name instead of WindowsApplication1.

By clicking OK button, Visual Studio creates a project and displays a Form namely form1 as shown below.

Every Form in the .Net framework contains a title bar, which displays the caption of the form, and three buttons to maximize, minimize and to close the window.

VB.Net Forms Properties

Following table lists down the important properties of a form in VB.net.

Properties	Uses
BackColor	Set’s the background color for the form
BackgroundImage	Set’s the background image for the form
Cursor	Set the cursor image when it hovers over the form.
AllowDrop	Specifies whether to accept the data dragged and dropped onto the form.
Font	Get or sets the font used in the form
Locked	Specifies whether the form is locked.
FormBorderStyle	Get or set border style of a form
Text	Provide the title for a Form Window
Control Box	Determines whether the ControlBox is available by clicking the icon in the upper left corner of the window.
Icon	Specifies icon for the window in the upper left corner.
MousePointer	Sets the type of mouse pointer to be displayed when hovered over a specific area.
AcceptButton	Get or sets the form button if the enter key is pressed.
Language	Specifies the localized language.
Autoscroll	Specifies whether to enable auto scrolling.
MaximizaBox	Specifies whether to display the maximize option in the caption bar of the form.
IsMDIChild	Defines whether the form is a container of Multiple Document Interface(MDI) child form.
MinimizeBox	Specifies whether to display the minimize option in the caption bar of the form.

VB.Net Forms Methods

The commonly used form methods in Visual Basic.Net are given in the following table.

Method Name	Description
Activate	Activates the form and gives it focus.
ActivateMdiChild	Activates the MDI child of a form.
BringToFront	Brings the control to the front of the z-order.
CenterToParent	Centers the position of the form within the bounds of the parent form.
CenterToScreen	Centers the form on the current screen.
Close	Closes the form.
Contains	Retrieves a value indicating whether the specified control is a child of the control.
Focus	Sets input focus to the control.
Hide	Conceals the control from the user.
Refresh	Forces the control to invalidate its client area and immediately redraw itself and any child controls.
ScaleControl	Scales the location, size, padding, and margin of a control.
Select	Activates the control.
SendToBack	Sends the control to the back of the z-order.
SetAutoScrollMargin	Sets the size of the auto-scroll margins.
SetDesktopBounds	Sets the bounds of the form in desktop coordinates.
Show	Displays the control to the user.
ShowDialog	Shows the form as a modal dialog box.

VB.Net Forms Events

The following table shows the mostly used Form events in Visual Basic.Net.

Event	Description
Activated	Occurs when the form is activated in code or by the user.
Click	Occurs when the form is clicked.
Closed	Occurs before the form is closed.
Closing	Occurs when the form is closing.
DoubleClick	Occurs when the form control is double-clicked.
DragDrop	Occurs when a drag-and-drop operation is completed.
Enter	Occurs when the form is entered.
GotFocus	Occurs when the form control receives focus.
KeyDown	Occurs when a key is pressed while the form has focus.
KeyPress	Occurs when a key is pressed while the form has focus.
KeyUp	Occurs when a key is released while the form has focus.
Load	Occurs before a form is displayed for the first time.
MouseDown	Occurs when the mouse pointer is over the form and a mouse button is pressed.
MouseEnter	Occurs when the mouse pointer enters the form.
MouseHover	Occurs when the mouse pointer rests on the form.
MouseLeave	Occurs when the mouse pointer leaves the form.
MouseMove	Occurs when the mouse pointer is moved over the form.
Move	Occurs when the form is moved.
Resize	Occurs when the control is resized.
Scroll	Occurs when the user or code scrolls through the client area.
Shown	Occurs whenever the form is first displayed.
VisibleChanged	Occurs when the Visible property value changes.
MouseUp	Occurs when the mouse pointer is over the form and a mouse button is released.
MouseWheel	Occurs when the mouse wheel moves while the control has focus.
LostFocus	Occurs when the form loses focus.
HelpButtonClicked	Occurs when the Help button is clicked.