Embedded Visual Basic Windows Ce And Pocket Pc Mobile Applications [Electronic resources]

Summary

Although creating menus programmatically is more challenging than using the menu build in Visual Basic, it's not that daunting a task. Experience has shown that re-creating the entire menu by refreshing it is a sound strategy. Using the knowledge gained in this chapter should put you on course to develop functional, robust menus for your applications.

One of the best practices for menus is to use the Key property. Without using Key to your advantage, the application can quickly become unwieldy and error-prone.

It's easy to notice that there is no way to use the MenuBar control to create shortcut menus. Although it's beyond the scope of this book, they can be created in different ways. One method is to use API calls. Context-sensitive menus can also be mimicked using a borderless form with Frame and Label controls. And, another mimic is to use an invisible list control that's manipulated, moved, and made visible.