To add a label to a container, click the Label button from the Toolbox and click the object that would host it.

To programmatically create a label, declare a handle to Label, initialize it using its default constructor, and add it to the Controls property of the form. Here is an example:

#include <windows.h>

#using <System.dll>
#using <System.Windows.Forms.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Windows::Forms;

public ref class CExercise : public Form
{
private:
    Label ^ lblMessage;

public:
    CExercise()
    {
	InitializeComponent();
    }

    void InitializeComponent()
    {
        lblMessage = gcnew Label;
        Controls->Add(lblMessage);
    }
};

int APIENTRY WinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance,
		     HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,
		     LPSTR lpCmdLine,
		     int nCmdShow)
{
    Application::Run(gcnew CExercise());

    return 0;
}

1. Start Microsoft Visual C++
2. Create a Window Forms Application named ElementaryAddition1
3. From the Common Control section of the Toolbox, click Label and click the form
4. From the Common Control section of the Toolbox, click the Label again and click the form
5. From the Common Control section of the Toolbox, click the Label again and click the form

The most important characteristic of a label control is the text it displays. That text is also referred to as its caption and this is what the user would read. The text of a label is its Text property and is its default. To set a label's caption, after adding the control to a container, click Text in the Properties window and type the desired value. As we mentioned when studying controls characteristics, at design time, the text you type in the Text field is considered "as is". If you want to create a more elaborate and formatted string, you would have to do it programmatically. Here is an example:

public ref class CExercise : public Form
{
private:
    Label ^ lblMessage;

public:
    CExercise()
    {
	InitializeComponent();
    }

    void InitializeComponent()
    {
        lblMessage = gcnew Label;
        lblMessage->Location = Point(20, 20);
	lblMessage->Text = DateTime::Now.ToString();
        Controls->Add(lblMessage);
    }
};

After specifying the caption of a label, by default, it is positioned to the left of its confined rectangle. You can change this alignment to the center or the right sides. To do this, you can specify the value of the TextAlign property.

When it comes to its caption, one of the most valuable characteristics of the text of a label is the variance of the font. When designing a caption. you can change the default font to make it more attractive.

1. On the form, click the first label
2. In the Properties window, click Text and type 00
3. Click (Name) and type lblOperand1
4. Click TextAlign and the arrow of its combo box to select MiddleCenter
5. Click the + button of the Font field and change the characteristics as follows:
   Name: Tahoma
   Font Style: Bold
   Size:   48
6. On the form, click the second label and, in the Properties window, change its characteristics as follows:
   Text: +
   TextAlign: MiddleCenter
   (Name): lblOPeration
   Font -> Name: Arial
   Font -> Font Style: Bold
   Font -> Size:   48
7. On the form, click the third label and, in the Properties window, change its characteristics as follows:
   Text: 00
   TextAlign: MiddleCenter
   (Name): lblOperand2
   Font -> Name: Arial
   Font -> Font Style: Bold
   Font -> Size:   48

After adding a label to a form, by default, it receives a fixed size. If you type its caption and press Enter, the text you provided would be confined to the allocated dimensions of the control. If the text is too long, part of it may disappear. You can then resize the label to provide more area. Another solution is to automatically resize the label to accommodate the length of the string you typed. This is aspects is controlled by the Boolean AutoSize property. Its default value is False. If you set this property to True, at design time, a rectangular border appears around it. If you type a string in the Text field and press Enter, the control would be resized to show the whole string but using only the necessary space.

If you programmatically create a label, it assumes a default size. If you assign it a string that is too long for that default size, part of the string may appear on a subsequent line. If you want the whole string to appear on the same line, you can set the AutoSize to true. Here is an example:

public ref class CExercise : public Form
{
private:
    Label ^ lblMessage;

public:
    CExercise()
    {
	InitializeComponent();
    }

    void InitializeComponent()
    {
        lblMessage = gcnew Label;
        lblMessage->Location = Point(20, 20);
        lblMessage->Text = DateTime::Now.ToString();
        lblMessage->AutoSize = true;
        Controls->Add(lblMessage);
    }
};

1. Click an unoccupied area of the form and press Ctrl+A to select all three labels
2. In the Properties window, double-click AutoSize to set the value to False

After typing the caption of a label whose AutoSize property is set to False, you can resize its allocated space to your liking. This is because a string occupies a rectangular area. Here is an example:

By default, the caption of a label is positioned starting on the middle-left side of its allocated rectangle. Alternatively, you can position it to one of the nine available positions. The position of the caption of a label is controlled by the TextAlign property which is based on the ContentAlignment enumerator:

It can have the following values:

TopLeft	TopCenter	TopRight
MiddleLeft	MiddleCenter	MiddleRight
BottomLeft	BottomCenter	BottomRight