Working with List Boxes

For good reason, list boxes are among the most popular form controls. Text boxes are very flexible, but they demand typing from the user and stringent validity checking in the program. Check boxes are great for yes/no or true/false types of entries but life is often more complicated. Radio buttons are unwieldy for more than a few items.

List boxes provide a happy medium. They can present dozens of choices in a small space; they require little or no typing; they prompt the user to make correct choices; and, in most cases, they prevent the user from entering an illegal value.

List boxes are so wonderful that the .NET Framework actually provides five different kinds. Naturally, all of these are available in Microsoft Visual ...

Get Faster Smarter Beginning Programming now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.