Panel Web Server Control Overview

The Panel Web server control provides a container control within a Web Forms page that you can use as a parent for static text and for other controls. In addition, you can use the Panel control for a variety of other purposes.

Grouping Controls and Markup

You can manage a group of controls and associated markup as a unit by putting them in a Panel control and then manipulating the Panel control. For example, you can hide or show a group of controls inside a panel by setting the panel's Visible property.

Forms with Default Buttons

You can put TextBox controls and Button controls inside the Panel control and then define a default button by setting the Panel control's DefaultButton property to the ID of a button in the panel. If users press ENTER while typing in a text box inside the panel, it has the same effect as if the user had clicked the specified default button. This can help users work more efficiently with entry forms.

Container for Dynamically Generated Controls

The Panel control provides a convenient container for controls that you create at run time. For details, see Adding ASP.NET Controls Programmatically.

Adding Scrollbars to Other Controls

Some controls, such as the TreeView control, do not have built-in scrollbars. You can add scrolling behavior by placing the control in a Panel control. To add scrollbars to the Panel control, set the Height and Width properties to constrain the Panel control to a specific size, and then set the ScrollBars property.

Custom Areas on the Page

You can use the Panel control to create areas on the page that have custom appearance and behavior, such as the following:

• Creating a grouping box with title   You can set the GroupingText property to display a title. When the page renders, the Panel control is displayed with a box around it that contains a title with the text you specify.

  Note
  You cannot specify both scrollbars and grouping text in the Panel control. If you set grouping text, it takes precedence over scrollbars.

• Creating areas on the page with a custom color or other appearance   The Panel control supports appearance properties such as BackColor and BorderWidth that you can set to create a unique look for a region on a page.

  Note
  Setting the GroupingText property automatically renders a border around the Panel control.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Add Panel Web Server Controls to a Web Forms Page