I've written initialization code for each of my TabPages in the the Selected event handler. However, when the form where the TabControl lives first loads,

(1) the Selected event of the TabPage that's displayed doesn't fire automatically and (2) programmatically selecting a TabPage in the Form Load event (by using SelectTab or SelectedIndex etc) is ignored and does not fire the Selected event.

How do I cause the Selected event to fire on Form Load, or how do I cause my initialization code to run for the top, visible TabPage? Thanks!

-Doug

Doug,

Yes, I've seen this. Very annoying. The underlying problem is that the sequencing of events is not well documented, so you don't know which events fire in which order and thus can assign a value that the system will subsequent override. Also, if you try to select a TabPage that is already selected, I don't believe the Selected event will even fire.

Are you initializing the TabControl itself or the actual TabPages within the control? If the pages, you might try the Enter event instead on each page. If you guarantee the first page receives focus, then the problem is solved. Another option is the Layout event. Layout occurs before Load, while Focus is set (and Enter invoked) after Load.

If in .NET 2.0, you could also try the Form.Shown event, which has the added advantage of only firing once. The Shown event also fires after Load fires and focus is assigned, so any changes you make are likely to stick.

Hope that helps.

Erik

Erik,

Thank you for the information and the suggestions. My goal is to initialize individual TabPages (populate controls, etc) when the user (or program) selects that page. The Selected event works great except on Form Load, where it may not be firing because the TabPage on which I want the event to fire is also the one that's displayed by default.

For the moment I've been using the inelegant workaround of selecting a different TabPage, then immediately reselecting the first TabPage (in Form Load) to force the first page's event to fire. However I'll explore the Enter event and others that you suggest.

Thanks again,

-Doug

Hi,

Is your problem solved?

Thank you,
Bhanu.

I have not yet experimented with the other events that were suggested to me. I am still "forcing" the Selected event to fire by switching tabs programmatically. Thanks,

-Doug (douglasl)