Control.Enabled Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.Windows.Forms

Assembly:

System.Windows.Forms.dll

Source:

Control.cs

Gets or sets a value indicating whether the control can respond to user interaction.

public:
 property bool Enabled { bool get(); void set(bool value); };

public bool Enabled { get; set; }

member this.Enabled : bool with get, set

Public Property Enabled As Boolean

Property Value

Boolean

true if the control can respond to user interaction; otherwise, false. The default is true.

Examples

The following code example creates a GroupBox and sets some of its common properties. The example creates a TextBox and sets its Location within the group box. Next, it sets the Text property of the group box, and docks the group box to the top of the form. Lastly, it disables the group box by setting the Enabled property to false, which causes all controls contained within the group box to be disabled.

   // Add a GroupBox to a form and set some of its common properties.
private:
   void AddMyGroupBox()
   {
      // Create a GroupBox and add a TextBox to it.
      GroupBox^ groupBox1 = gcnew GroupBox;
      TextBox^ textBox1 = gcnew TextBox;
      textBox1->Location = Point(15,15);
      groupBox1->Controls->Add( textBox1 );

      // Set the Text and Dock properties of the GroupBox.
      groupBox1->Text = "MyGroupBox";
      groupBox1->Dock = DockStyle::Top;

      // Disable the GroupBox (which disables all its child controls)
      groupBox1->Enabled = false;

      // Add the Groupbox to the form.
      this->Controls->Add( groupBox1 );
   }

// Add a GroupBox to a form and set some of its common properties.
private void AddMyGroupBox()
{
   // Create a GroupBox and add a TextBox to it.
   GroupBox groupBox1 = new GroupBox();
   TextBox textBox1 = new TextBox();
   textBox1.Location = new Point(15, 15);
   groupBox1.Controls.Add(textBox1);

   // Set the Text and Dock properties of the GroupBox.
   groupBox1.Text = "MyGroupBox";
   groupBox1.Dock = DockStyle.Top;

   // Disable the GroupBox (which disables all its child controls)
   groupBox1.Enabled = false;

   // Add the Groupbox to the form.
   this.Controls.Add(groupBox1);
}

' Add a GroupBox to a form and set some of its common properties.
Private Sub AddMyGroupBox()
   ' Create a GroupBox and add a TextBox to it.
   Dim groupBox1 As New GroupBox()
   Dim textBox1 As New TextBox()
   textBox1.Location = New Point(15, 15)
   groupBox1.Controls.Add(textBox1)
   
   ' Set the Text and Dock properties of the GroupBox.
   groupBox1.Text = "MyGroupBox"
   groupBox1.Dock = DockStyle.Top
   
   ' Disable the GroupBox (which disables all its child controls)
   groupBox1.Enabled = False
   
   ' Add the Groupbox to the form.
   Me.Controls.Add(groupBox1)
End Sub

Remarks

With the Enabled property, you can enable or disable controls at run time. For example, you can disable controls that do not apply to the current state of the application. You can also disable a control to restrict its use. For example, a button can be disabled to prevent the user from clicking it. If a control is disabled, it cannot be selected.

Important

Setting the Enabled property to false does not disable the application's control box or prevent the application window from receiving the focus.

When a container control has its enabled property set to false, all its contained controls are disabled, as well. For example, if the user clicks on any of the controls contained in a disabled GroupBox control, no events are raised.

Note

When a scrollable control is disabled, the scroll bars are also disabled. For example, a disabled multiline textbox is unable to scroll to display all the lines of text.

See also

• ScrollableControl