Tab button switches to wrong control in windows form application

Question

I am working in windows form application using c#. I have two fields in a form "Username" and "password" and two buttons "Login" and "Cancel". On form loading cursor is placed in Username textbox which is ok.

But when I press TAB from my keyboard instead of going to Password textbox its going to Login button. How can I set this?

Also the shortcut CTRL+A to select all text is not working in text fields. Any help?

You should set TabIndex right. It gives you the sequence of which tab is next when Tab button on keyboard is pressed. (Note*: It is in the comments cause it does not completely answer OPS whole question) — P. Pat, Mar 10 '17 at 07:45
You need to adjust tab order for your controls: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/csz6b8x8.aspx — Dmitry Egorov, Mar 10 '17 at 07:47

score 6 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:00

6

Every control on WinForms has a TabIndex. This you can find in the properties of the control. You need to adjust this value to 2 in the Password textbox if you want to have the focus switch there after tab

Select your control in the designer, go into the properties:

and set the TabIndex property:

The shortcut Cntr + A will only work if you have the focus on the TextBox! Also make sure that the ShortCutsEnabled property is set to true:

For reference here is the original answer for the shortcut problem. It says however that:

The TextBox control does not support the CTRL+A shortcut key when the Multiline property value is true.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:00

Community

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answered Mar 10 '17 at 07:47

Mong Zhu

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yes, it resolved this.. thanks and what about keyboard shortcuts like CTRL+A – SidraM Mar 10 '17 at 07:50
@user3837889 not enough information about what you did so that this short cut does not work anymore. – Mong Zhu Mar 10 '17 at 07:51
@user3837889 it works only if you have the focus on the textbox. Did you override any of the key press or down events?# – Mong Zhu Mar 10 '17 at 07:54
@user3837889 please check the `ShortCutsEnabled` property of the textbox. I made an edit – Mong Zhu Mar 10 '17 at 07:58
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yeah I just checked that and found that due to setting the multiline property to true CTRL+A is not working. – SidraM Mar 10 '17 at 07:59

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 10 '17 at 07:47

2

Change the tabindex property of your password textbox 1 higher to the tabindex of your username textbox. (i.e. Username tabindex = 1, password tebaindex = 2)

answered Mar 10 '17 at 07:47

imprezzeb

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yes, it resolved this.. thanks and what about keyboard shortcuts like CTRL+A – SidraM Mar 10 '17 at 07:50
If you are using Ctrl+A to select the text in textbox, that is already automatic. – imprezzeb Mar 10 '17 at 07:55
resolved by giong through the link which Mong Zhu has shared. thank you – SidraM Mar 10 '17 at 08:00

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 10 '17 at 07:47

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The order of the 'tabs' is set by setting 'TabIndex' eg.

controlName.TabIndex = 0;

answered Mar 10 '17 at 07:47

EpicKip

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yes, it resolved this.. thanks and what about keyboard shortcuts like CTRL+A – SidraM Mar 10 '17 at 07:50
That selects all text – EpicKip Mar 10 '17 at 07:51
yes it does... When I type in a username and I want to select it by pressing CTRL+A it doesn't work – SidraM Mar 10 '17 at 07:53
resolved by giong through the link which Mong Zhu has shared. thank you – SidraM Mar 10 '17 at 08:00

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 11 '17 at 21:55

Here is the answer to your second question regarding using Ctrl + A to select text in a TextBox.

To do this, you'll need to hook into the KeyDown event of the TextBox. This is how you'd select the text:

private void textBox1_KeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.Control && e.KeyCode == Keys.A) // Select All
    {
        ((TextBox)sender).SelectAll();
        e.SuppressKeyPress = true;
        e.Handled = true;
    }
}

Tab button switches to wrong control in windows form application

4 Answers4