Menus

• Feb 28, 2024
• 6 minutes to read

Many DevExpress controls have built-in context-dependent popup menus. You can customize them or replace with custom menus in code. The built-in context menus are encapsulated by DXPopupMenu class objects.

The PopupMenu component allows you to create a non-context-dependent popup menu for a control. Unlike the DXPopupMenu, the PopupMenu component provides design-time customization tools.

The current document covers information on how to customize built-in context-dependent popup menus for the DevExpress controls.

Popup Menu Customization Settings

Specific DevExpress .NET controls contain properties to enable/disable predefined items in their built-in context menus. Below is a list of these controls and corresponding properties:

• Data Grid - See members provided by the GridView.OptionsMenu object.
• Tree List - See members provided by the TreeList.OptionsMenu object.
• PivotGridControl - See members provided by the PivotGridControl.OptionsMenu object.
• VGridControl, PropertyGridControl - See members provided by the VGridControlBase.OptionsMenu object.
• PictureEdit - See PictureEdit.Properties.ShowEditMenuItem, PictureEdit.Properties.ShowCameraMenuItem and PictureEdit.Properties.ShowZoomSubMenu.

Example - Enable Predefined Menu Item

The following code enables the “Show Footer” menu item via the GridView.OptionsMenu.ShowFooterItem property.

C#

gridView1.OptionsMenu.ShowFooterItem = true;

VB.NET

GridView1.OptionsMenu.ShowFooterItem = True

Popup Menu Customization Events

DevExpress .NET controls provide events to perform advanced menu customization tasks:

• Customize the order, visibility and text of all predefined menu items.
• Add custom menu items.
• Perform custom actions when a user clicks predefined menu items.
• Invoke custom context menus.

Control	Menu Customization Events
Data Grid See Popup Menus.	GridView.PopupMenuShowing and GridView.GridMenuItemClick
Tree List See Context Menus.	TreeList.PopupMenuShowing and TreeList.TreeListMenuItemClick
PivotGridControl	PivotGridControl.PopupMenuShowing and PivotGridControl.MenuItemClick
LayoutControl See Context Menu.	LayoutControl.PopupMenuShowing
VGridControl, PropertyGridControl	VGridControlBase.PopupMenuShowing
DocumentManager	BaseView.PopupMenuShowing
DockManager	DockManager.PopupMenuShowing
SpellChecker	SpellChecker.PopupMenuShowing
SchedulerControl	SchedulerControl.PopupMenuShowing
RichEditControl	RichEditControl.PopupMenuShowing
FilterControl	FilterControl.PopupMenuShowing
PictureEdit	PopupMenuShowing,
Text Editors (TextEdit descendants)	editor.Properties.BeforeShowMenu

When you handle any of these events, you can access the currently processed menu from the e.Menu event argument. The e.Menu.Items property returns a collection of menu items, encapsulated by the following objects:

• DXMenuItem
• DXMenuCheckItem
• DXSubMenuItem
• DXButtonGroupItem
• DXEditMenuItem

Example - Display Custom Menus

The following code sample invokes a custom context menu when a user right-clicks a column header:

1. Add a BarManager to the form and create a custom PopupMenu.

2. Handle the GridView.PopupMenuShowing event and call the e.ShowCustomMenu method to display your custom menu instead of the default header menu.

C#

void gridView1_PopupMenuShowing(object sender, PopupMenuShowingEventArgs e) {
    if (e.MenuType == GridMenuType.Column) {
        popupMenu_Column.Tag = e.HitInfo;
        popupMenu_Column.MenuCaption = $"{e.HitInfo.Column}";

        e.ShowCustomMenu(popupMenu_Column);
    }
}

GridHitInfo GetHitInfo(BarItemLink link) {
    PopupMenu menu = link.LinkedObject as PopupMenu;
    return menu.Tag as GridHitInfo;
}
void barButtonItem_Filter_ItemClick(object sender, ItemClickEventArgs e) {
    GridHitInfo info = GetHitInfo(e.Link);
    info.View.ShowFilterEditor(info.Column);
}

void barButtonItem_ColumnChooser_ItemClick(object sender, ItemClickEventArgs e) {
    GridHitInfo info = GetHitInfo(e.Link);
    info.View.ShowCustomization();
}

VB.NET

Private Sub gridView1_PopupMenuShowing(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As PopupMenuShowingEventArgs)
    If e.MenuType = GridMenuType.Column Then
        popupMenu_Column.Tag = e.HitInfo
        popupMenu_Column.MenuCaption = $"{e.HitInfo.Column}"

        e.ShowCustomMenu(popupMenu_Column)
    End If
End Sub

Private Function GetHitInfo(ByVal link As BarItemLink) As GridHitInfo
    Dim menu As PopupMenu = TryCast(link.LinkedObject, PopupMenu)
    Return TryCast(menu.Tag, GridHitInfo)
End Function

Private Sub barButtonItem_Filter_ItemClick(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As ItemClickEventArgs)
    Dim info As GridHitInfo = GetHitInfo(e.Link)
    info.View.ShowFilterEditor(info.Column)
End Sub

Private Sub barButtonItem_ColumnChooser_ItemClick(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As ItemClickEventArgs)
    Dim info As GridHitInfo = GetHitInfo(e.Link)
    info.View.ShowCustomization()
End Sub

Example - Add Custom Menu Items

The following code sample creates a menu item that fixes the column to the left. This item is added to the column header’s context menu next to the Hide This Column item:

C#

void gridView1_PopupMenuShowing(object sender, PopupMenuShowingEventArgs e) {
    if (e.MenuType == GridMenuType.Column) {
        DXMenuItem item = new DXMenuItem("Fix/Unfix This Column", (s, args) => {
            GridColumn column = (s as DXMenuItem).Tag as GridColumn;
            if (column.Fixed == FixedStyle.Left)
                column.Fixed = FixedStyle.None;
            else column.Fixed = FixedStyle.Left;
        });
        item.Tag = e.HitInfo.Column;
        int index = e.Menu.Items.IndexOf(e.Menu.Find(GridStringId.MenuColumnRemoveColumn));
        e.Menu.Items.Insert(index + 1, item);
    }
}

VB.NET

Private Sub gridView1_PopupMenuShowing(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As PopupMenuShowingEventArgs)
    If e.MenuType = GridMenuType.Column Then
        Dim item As DXMenuItem = New DXMenuItem("Fix/Unfix This Column", Function(s, args)
            Dim column As GridColumn = TryCast((TryCast(s, DXMenuItem)).Tag, GridColumn)

            If column.Fixed = FixedStyle.Left Then
                column.Fixed = FixedStyle.None
            Else
                column.Fixed = FixedStyle.Left
            End If
        End Function)
        item.Tag = e.HitInfo.Column
        Dim index As Integer = e.Menu.Items.IndexOf(e.Menu.Find(GridStringId.MenuColumnRemoveColumn))
        e.Menu.Items.Insert(index + 1, item)
    End If
End Sub

Display Modes

A DXPopupMenu object can be displayed as a regular menu, popup bar or RibbonMiniToolbar. To specify the menu’s display mode, set the DXPopupMenu.MenuViewType property to the required enumeration value and use a corresponding menu manager.

When you invoke a DXPopupMenu manually in code, you can specify a menu manager via the popup menu’s IDXDropDownControl.Show method. For built-in menus in DevExpress controls, you can specify a menu manager via a control’s MenuManager property.

The following menu managers are available.

• SkinMenuManager - Displays a DXPopupMenu as a regular menu.

  

  Note

  SkinMenuManager presents DXEditMenuItem objects as text labels without edit boxes. DXButtonGroupItem objects are displayed as sub-menus.

  C#

  // Display a DXPopupMenu as a regular menu
  UserLookAndFeel lf = UserLookAndFeel.Default;
  Control parentControl = this;
  Point pt;
  DXPopupMenu dxPopupMenu = new DXPopupMenu();
  //...
  dxPopupMenu.MenuViewType = MenuViewType.Menu;
  dxPopupMenu.ShowPopup(parentControl, pt);
  //or
  ((IDXDropDownControl)dxPopupMenu).Show(new SkinMenuManager(lf), parentControl, pt);
  

  VB.NET

  ' Display a DXPopupMenu as a regular menu
  Dim lf As UserLookAndFeel = UserLookAndFeel.Default
  Dim parentControl As Control = Me
  Dim pt As Point
  Dim dxPopupMenu As DXPopupMenu = New DXPopupMenu()
  '...
  dxPopupMenu.MenuViewType = MenuViewType.Menu
  dxPopupMenu.ShowPopup(parentControl, pt)
  'or
  CType(dxPopupMenu, IDXDropDownControl).Show(New SkinMenuManager(lf), parentControl, pt)
  

• BarManager - Displays DXPopupMenu as a popup bar.

  

  C#

  // Display a DXPopupMenu as a popup bar
  Control parentControl = this;
  Point pt;
  DXPopupMenu dxPopupMenu = new DXPopupMenu();
  //...
  dxPopupMenu.MenuViewType = MenuViewType.Toolbar;
  dxPopupMenu.ShowPopup(parentControl, pt);
  //or
  ((IDXDropDownControl)dxPopupMenu).Show(barManager1, parentControl, pt);
  

  VB.NET

  ' Display a DXPopupMenu as a popup bar
  Dim parentControl As Control = Me
  Dim pt As Point
  Dim dxPopupMenu As DXPopupMenu = New DXPopupMenu()
  '...
  dxPopupMenu.MenuViewType = MenuViewType.Toolbar
  dxPopupMenu.ShowPopup(parentControl, pt)
  'or
  CType(dxPopupMenu, IDXDropDownControl).Show(barManager1, parentControl, pt)
  

• RibbonControl - Displays a DXPopupMenu as a RibbonMiniToolbar object.

  

  C#

  // Display a DXPopupMenu as a RibbonMiniToolbar
  Control parentControl = this;
  Point pt;
  DXPopupMenu dxPopupMenu = new DXPopupMenu();
  //...
  dxPopupMenu.MenuViewType = MenuViewType.RibbonMiniToolbar;
  dxPopupMenu.ShowPopup(parentControl, pt);
  //or
  ((IDXDropDownControl)dxPopupMenu).Show(RibbonControl1, parentControl, pt);
  

  VB.NET

  ' Display a DXPopupMenu as a RibbonMiniToolbar
  Dim parentControl As Control = Me
  Dim pt As Point
  Dim dxPopupMenu As DXPopupMenu = New DXPopupMenu()
  '...
  dxPopupMenu.MenuViewType = MenuViewType.RibbonMiniToolbar
  dxPopupMenu.ShowPopup(parentControl, pt)
  'or
  CType(dxPopupMenu, IDXDropDownControl).Show(RibbonControl1, parentControl, pt)
  

Related API

• The inherited IDXDropDownControl.Show method displays a popup menu. You do not need to use this method to open the DevExpress Controls’ built-in menus, as these menus are automatically displayed on a control’s right click.
• The DXPopupMenu.HidePopup method hides a popup menu.
• The DXPopupMenu.CloseUp event fires after the menu has been closed.
• The DXPopupMenu.Alignment property determines a menu’s alignment relative to the mouse cursor. This property is supported only when the DXPopupMenu is displayed as a RibbonMiniToolbar object.

Examples

• How to: Implement Custom Menu in XtraGrid Control
• How to: Add DXButtonGroupItem to DXPopupMenu and Display Menu as RibbonMiniToolbar
• How to: Add DXEditMenuItem to DXPopupMenu and Display Menu as Toolbar
• How to: Display DXPopupMenu as a Regular Menu, Popup Bar or RibbonMiniToolbar

Cheat Sheets and Best Practices

DevExpress WinForms UI controls (Data Grid, Tree List, Vertical Grid, Gantt Control, etc.) ship with the built-in context menus. Read the following quick-reference guide for detailed information and examples:

Context Menus - DevExpress WinForms Cheat Sheets