The actions that users need to use regularly should always be available on the Ribbon control, where the user can access them within a few clicks. However, certain actions are exclusive to a certain element; for example, an action that allows you to format the font of text may only be necessary when users are editing text in a RichTextBox. In the aforementioned case, it would be beneficial to place this action (and all other actions specific to RichTextBoxes) under a contextual tabs that only appears when users have selected the RichTextBox. This topic demonstrates how to add a contextual tab group that appears only when a RichTextBox is selected.

Complete the following steps:

1. From the Visual Studio Toolbox, add the following controls to your Windows form:
   • (1) C1Ribbon control
   • (1) ListBox control
   • (1) RichTextBox control
2. Arrange the form as follows:
   
3. Hover over the Ribbon to enable the floating toolbar, click the Actions button , and select Add Contextual Tab Group.
4. Select View | Code to enter Code view and add the following code to your project:

   To write code in Visual Basic

   Visual Basic	Copy Code
   Private Sub richTextBox1_Enter(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) ribbonContextualTabGroup1.Visible = True End Sub Private Sub richTextBox1_Leave(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) ribbonContextualTabGroup1.Visible = False End Sub

   To write code in C#

   C#	Copy Code
   private void richTextBox1_Enter(object sender, EventArgs e) { ribbonContextualTabGroup1.Visible = true; } private void richTextBox1_Leave(object sender, EventArgs e) { ribbonContextualTabGroup1.Visible = false; }

5. Select View | Designer to return to Design view.
6. Complete the following actions in the Properties window:
   • From the drop-down list, select c1Ribbon1 and then set the Selectable property to False.
   • From the drop-down list, select ribbonContextualTabGroup1 and then set the Visible property to False.
   • From the drop-down list, select richTextBox1, click the Events button , and then set the following event handlers so that the RichTextBox control can handle the code you added to the project:
     • Set Enter to richTextBox1_Enter.
     • Set Leave to richTextBox1_Leave.
7. Press F5 to run the project. Observe that the contextual tab that you added to the project is hidden.
   
8. Click inside the RichTextBox and observe that the contextual tab appears in orange.
   
9. Click inside the ListBox and observe that the contextual tab disappears.
   

And that’s it! Ribbon for WinForms makes it that simple to add a contextual tab to the Ribbon interface.