A status bar can be used for its aesthetic characteristics as it can be made to display sunken or raised bars to the bottom of a form:

Other than that, a status bar can be made to display other items.

Like a toolbar, a status bar is an intermediary container, meaning it must be positioned on another container, which is usually a form. The default Dock value of a status bar is Bottom.

To manage its panels, the StatusStrip class inherits the functionalities of its panels from the inherited Items property. As seen for the ToolStrip toolbar, to create the panels of a status bar:

• Click the status bar to select it on the form. Click the arrowed button on its top-right side and click Edit Items...
• Right-click the status bar and click Edit Items...
• Click the status bar on the form to select it. Then, under the Properties window, click Edit Items...

This would open the Items Collection Editor. Use it to add the desired items that would then create the panels.

Like a toolbar, a status bar can host some items. A status bar is primarily used to display text. To get such text, you can create a label and add it to the status bar. A label on a status bar is an object of type ToolStripStatusLabel. The ToolStripStatusLabel class inherits from a class named ToolStripLabel.

To visually add a label to a status bar:

• Click an empty area on the status bar to create a new button. Click the arrow of the new button and click StatusLabel

  

• Display the Properties window for the status bar. In Select Item And Add To List Below, select StatusLabel and click Add

To programmatically add a label to a status bar, declare a variable of type ToolStripStatusLabel, initialize it, and add it to the Items property of the StatusStrip variable. Here is an example:

Imports System.Drawing
Imports System.Windows.Forms

Public Class Exercise
    Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form

    Dim statusbar As StatusStrip
    Dim lblMessage As ToolStripStatusLabel

    Public Sub New()
        statusbar = New StatusStrip

        lblMessage = New ToolStripStatusLabel
        statusbar.Items.Add(lblMessage)

        Controls.Add(statusbar)
    End Sub

    Public Shared Function Main() As Integer
        Application.Run(New Exercise)

        Return 0
    End Function

End Class

Like the label of a toolbar, the label of a status bar can be made to display text, an icon, or both. This is handled by the DisplayStyle property that has the same options as the other.

The label of a status bar is highly configurable. It has the ability to sink or raise its borders. If you want to control the borders of a label, first use its BorderSides property:

You can do this programmatically as follows:

Imports System.Drawing
Imports System.Windows.Forms

Public Class Exercise
    Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form

    Dim statusbar As StatusStrip
    Dim lblMessage As ToolStripStatusLabel

    Public Sub New()
        statusbar = New StatusStrip

        lblMessage = New ToolStripStatusLabel
        lblMessage.BorderSides = ToolStripStatusLabelBorderSides.All

        statusbar.Items.Add(lblMessage)

        Controls.Add(statusbar)
    End Sub

    Public Shared Function Main() As Integer
        Application.Run(New Exercise)

        Return 0
    End Function

End Class

After setting the BorderSides  property, select the type of border you want in the BorderStyle property:

You can also specify the border style programmatically. Here is an example:

Imports System.Drawing
Imports System.Windows.Forms

Public Class Exercise
    Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form

    Dim statusbar As StatusStrip
    Dim lblMessage As ToolStripStatusLabel

    Public Sub New()
        statusbar = New StatusStrip

        lblMessage = New ToolStripStatusLabel
        lblMessage.BorderSides = ToolStripStatusLabelBorderSides.All
        lblMessage.BorderStyle = Border3DStyle.Sunken

        statusbar.Items.Add(lblMessage)

        Controls.Add(statusbar)
    End Sub

    Public Shared Function Main() As Integer
        Application.Run(New Exercise)

        Return 0
    End Function

End Class

This would produce:

Besides the label, a status bar can also contain a drop down button, a split button, and/or a progress bar.

1. On the form, to create a section, click the button that displays
2. While the new label is still selected, in the Properties window, change the following characteristics:
   (Name): pnlMessage
   AutoSize: False
   BorderSides: All
   BorderStyle: Sunken
   DisplayStyle: None
   Size -> Width: 200
3. On the form, click the new button on the right side of the previous label
4. While the new label is still selected, in the Properties window, change the following characteristics:
   (Name): pnlStatus
   AutoSize: False
   BorderSides: All
   BorderStyle: Raised
   DisplayStyle: None
   Size -> Width: 150
5. On the form, click the new button on the right side of the previous label (you should now have three labels)
6. While the new label is still selected, in the Properties window, change the following characteristics:
   (Name): pnlZoom
   BorderSides: All
   BorderStyle: SunkenOuter
   DisplayStyle: None
   Spring: True
    
   
7. Close Microsoft Visual Studio
8. When asked whether you want to save, click Discard