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Windows Controls: List Boxes
 

Introduction to List Boxes
 

Description

A list box presents a list of items to choose from. Each item displays on a line. The user makes a selection by clicking in the list. Once clicked, the item or line on which the mouse landed becomes highlighted, indicating that it is the current choice. Here is an example:

The Commands tab of the Customize dialog box of Microsoft Access

After an item has been selected, to make a different selection, the user would click another. The new clicked item becomes selected or highlighted; the previously selected item looses its highlighting attribute. The user can also change the selection by pressing the up or down arrow keys.

List boxes are categorized in two types: single and multi-selection. The second category allows a user to select more than one item by pressing Ctrl to select items at random or by pressing Shift to select items in a range.

One of the main reasons for using a list box is to display a list of items to the user. Sometimes the list would be very large. If the list is longer than the available client area of the control, the control would be equipped with a scroll bar that allows the user to navigate up and down to access all items of the list. You will have the option of deciding how many items to display on the list.

Practical Learning: Introducing List Boxes
  1. Start Microsoft Visual Studio
  2. To start a new project, on the main menu, click File -> New Project...
  3. In the middle list, click Windows Forms Application
  4. Set the Name to SQLTutorial1
  5. Click OK

Creating a List Box

To support list boxes, the .NET Framework provides the ListBox class. At design time, to add a list box to an application, from the Common Controls section of the Toolbox, click the ListBox control and click the form or the control that will host it. To programmatically create a list box, declare a variable of type ListBox, use the new operator to allocate memory it, and add it to the Controls property of its eventual parent. 

#include <windows.h>

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

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

public ref class CExercise : public Form
{
private:
    ListBox ^ lbxFamily;

public:
    CExercise()
    {
	InitializeComponent();
    }

private:
    void InitializeComponent()
    {
	lbxFamily = gcnew ListBox;

        Text = "Exercise";
        Size = System::Drawing::Size(452, 150);
        StartPosition = FormStartPosition::CenterScreen;
        Controls->Add(lbxFamily);
    }
};

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

    return 0;
}
Author Note

In our applications, the names of the list-based controls will be in plural. This is not a rule and it is not based on any preconceived standard.
   

Practical Learning: Adding a List Box
  • In the Common Controls section of the Toolbox, click ListBox and click the form

The Items of a List Box
 

Introduction

Like every control, when creating a list box, make sure you give it a name. Once the list box is positioned on a container, as done with other controls, you can move it by clicking and dragging the control. You can also resize it using any of the techniques we learned to add, position, move, and resize controls. If the list will cover many items, design it so its height can display 8 items at a time. Otherwise, for a list of 8 or less items, use only the necessary height that would accommodate all of the items.

Visually Adding Items to a List Box

The most important characteristic of a list box is the list of items it contains. This list is represented by the Items property. The Items list is created and managed by a ListBox-nested class named ObjectCollection. ObjectCollection is a collection class that implements the IList, the ICollection, and the IEnumerable interfaces.

At design time, to create a list of items, access the Properties window of the list box and click the ellipsis button of the Items field. This would open the String Collection Editor:

String Collection Editor

In the empty window, you can type an item, press Enter, add another, and so on. After creating the list, you can click OK.

Practical Learning: Visually Adding Items to a List Box
  1. On the form, right-click the list box and click Edit Items...
  2. In the String Collection Editor, type the following: 
    CREATE TABLE
Products
(
ProductID int,
Name varchar(50)
);
  3. To test the application, on the main menu, click Debug -> Start Debugging
  4. Close the form and return to your programming environment

Programmatically Adding Items to a List Box

To programmatically add an item to the list, access the Items property, call its Add() member function, and pass the new item. You can do this continually for each item. Here are examples:

void InitializeComponent()
{
    lbxFamily = gcnew ListBox;
    lbxFamily->Location = Point(12, 12);
	
    lbxFamily->Items->Add("Son");
    lbxFamily->Items->Add("Daughter");
    lbxFamily->Items->Add("Father");
    lbxFamily->Items->Add("Mother");

    Text = "Exercise";
    Size = System::Drawing::Size(452, 150);
    StartPosition = FormStartPosition::CenterScreen;
    Controls->Add(lbxFamily);
}

This would produce:

You can also first create an array of items and then add that array to the collection. To support this, the ObjectCollection class provides the AddRange() member function. Here is an example:

void InitializeComponent()
{
    lbxFamily = gcnew ListBox;
    lbxFamily->Location = Point(12, 12);
	
    lbxFamily->Items->Add("Son");
    lbxFamily->Items->Add("Daughter");
    lbxFamily->Items->Add("Father");
    lbxFamily->Items->Add("Mother");

    array<String ^> ^ strMembers = { "Niece", "Nephew", "Uncle" };
    lbxFamily->Items->AddRange(strMembers);

    Size = System::Drawing::Size(452, 150);
    StartPosition = FormStartPosition::CenterScreen;
    Controls->Add(lbxFamily);
}

 

This would produce:

If you use either the Add() or the AddRange() member function to add an item or a group of items, the item or the group would be added to the end of the list, if a list exists already. To insert a new item somewhere inside of the list, call the Insert() member function.

Practical Learning: Programmatically Adding Items to a List Box
  1. Double-click an unnoccupied area of the form
  2. Implement the Load event as follows: 
    System::Void Form1_Load(System::Object^  sender, System::EventArgs^  e)
{
    array<String ^> ^ code = {
		"CREATE TABLE", "Products", "(",
		"ProductID int,", "Name varchar(50)", ");" };

    listBox1->DataSource = code;
}
  3. Press F5 to test the form
  4. Close the form and return to your programming environment
  5. On the form, click the list box and press Delete
  6. Design the form as follows:
     
    SQL Tutorial
    Control Text Name Other Properties
    Label Label You have a table named Products and that has many columns. You want to select the following columns in this order: ProductID, Name, and ListPrice.    
    ListBox TextBox   lbxSource Items:
    Products
    ListPrice
    SELECT
    ,
    Name
    ,
    FROM
    ProductID
    Button Button Add >> btnAdd Enabled: False
    Button Button << Remove btnRemove Enabled: False
    ListBox TextBox   lbxTarget  
    Button Button Move Up btnMoveUp Enabled: False
    Button Button Move Down btnMoveDown Enabled: False
    Button Button Close btnClose  

Selecting an Item in a List Box

To use an item from a list box, the user must locate and click the desired item. That item is said to have been selected. To programmatically select an item, you can assign the index of the desired item to the ListBox::SelectedIndex property. The indices of the items of a list box are stored in a zero-based array. This means that the first item has an index of 0, the second has an index of 1, and so on. Here is an example that will select the fourth item of  the list:

void InitializeComponent()
{
    lbxFamily = gcnew ListBox;
    lbxFamily->Location = Point(12, 12);
	
    lbxFamily->Items->Add("Son");
    lbxFamily->Items->Add("Daughter");
    lbxFamily->Items->Add("Father");
    lbxFamily->Items->Add("Mother");

    array<String ^> ^ strMembers = { "Niece", "Nephew", "Uncle" };
    lbxFamily->Items->AddRange(strMembers);

    Size = System::Drawing::Size(452, 150);
    StartPosition = FormStartPosition::CenterScreen;
    Controls->Add(lbxFamily);

    lbxFamily->SelectedIndex = 3;
}

This would produce:

Selected Item

After an item has been selected, to find out the index of the item that is currently selected, get the value of the ListBox::SelectedIndex property.

To select an item, the user can click it in the list box. When an item has been clicked, the list box fires a SelectedIndexChanged event. Because selecting an item is the most regularly performed operation on a list box, SelectedIndexChanged is the default event of a list box. This event is of type EventArgs which means that it does not provide any significant information other than to let you know that an item has been selected. Nonetheless, this event allows you to easily check if an item has been selected and what item has been selected.
To fire a SelectedIndexChanged event and to test what item has been selected in the list, you can double-click the list box.

The ListBox::SelectedIndex property allows you either to select an item or to find out what item is selected, using its index, that is, the numeric position of the item in the list. If you know the identity, such as the name, of the item you want to select, or if you want to identify the selected item based on its name, you can use the ListBox::SelectedItem property instead. This member identifies the item instead of locating it.

By default, the user can select only one item in the list. If you want the user to be able to select more than one item, change the value of the SelectionMode property. This property is based on the SelectionMode enumeration. After the user has selected more than one item, to get the indexes of the items that are selected, you can access the ListBox::SelectedIndices property which holds that list.

Practical Learning: Using a Selected Item From a List Box
  1. On the form, double-click the left list box
  2. Implement its event as follows: 
    System::Void lbxSource_SelectedIndexChanged(System::Object^  sender,
			System::EventArgs^  e)
{
    if( lbxSource->SelectedItems->Count > 0 )
    {
        btnAdd->Enabled = true;
    }
}
  3. Return to the form
  4. Double-click the right list box
  5. Implement the event as follows: 
    System::Void lbxTarget_SelectedIndexChanged(System::Object^  sender, System::EventArgs^  e)
{
    // If the target list box has at least one item, enable the Remove button
    if( lbxTarget->SelectedItems->Count > 0 )
        btnRemove->Enabled = true;

    // If the target list box has more than one item...
    if( lbxTarget->Items->Count > 1 )
    {
	// if the top item is selected ...
	if( lbxTarget->SelectedIndex == 0 )
	{
		// ... disable the Move Up button
		btnMoveUp->Enabled = false;
		// ... and enable the Move down button.
		btnMoveDown->Enabled = true;
	}
	else if( lbxTarget->SelectedIndex == lbxTarget->Items->Count - 1 )
	{
		btnMoveUp->Enabled = true;
		btnMoveDown->Enabled = false;
	}
	else
	{
		// If an item in the middle of the list is selected, enable both buttons
		btnMoveUp->Enabled = true;
		btnMoveDown->Enabled = true;
	}
    }
}
  6. Return to the form and click the left list box
  7. In the Properties window, click the Events button and double-click DoubleClick
  8. Implement the event as follows: 
    System::Void lbxSource_DoubleClick(System::Object^ sender,
		  		   System::EventArgs^  e)
{
    // When  the user double-clicks an item from the source,
    // behave as if the user had clicked the Add button
    btnAdd_Click(sender, e);
}
  9. Return to the form and click the right list box
  10. In the Properties window, click the Events button and double-click DoubleClick
  11. Implement the event as follows: 
    System::Void lbxTarget_DoubleClick(System::Object^ sender,
		  		   System::EventArgs^  e)
{
	btnRemove_Click(sender, e);
}
  12. Return to the form
  13. Double-click the Move Up button
  14. Implement its Click event as follows: 
    System::Void btnMoveUp_Click(System::Object^  sender, System::EventArgs^  e)
{
	// Get the index of the currently selected item
	int indexSelected = lbxTarget-<SelectedIndex;
	// Get a reference to the item above the selected one
	Object ^ itemAbove = lbxTarget-<Items[indexSelected - 1];

	// Move the selected item up by decreasing its index
	lbxTarget-<Items[indexSelected - 1] = lbxTarget-<Items[indexSelected];
	// Put the selected item where the other item was
	lbxTarget-<Items[indexSelected] = itemAbove;
}
  15. Return to the form
  16. Double-click the Move Down button
  17. Implement its Click event as follows: 
    System::Void btnMoveDown_Click(System::Object^  sender, System::EventArgs^  e)
{
	int indexSelected = lbxTarget-<SelectedIndex;
	int targetIndex = indexSelected + 1;

	Object ^ itemSelected = lbxTarget-<Items[indexSelected];
	Object ^ itemNext = lbxTarget-<Items[indexSelected + 1];

	lbxTarget-<Items[indexSelected] = itemNext;
	lbxTarget-<Items[targetIndex] = itemSelected;
}

Removing Items From a List Box

If you have an undesired item in a list box, you can remove it. To To support this operation, the ObjectCollection class provides the Remove() member function. When calling it, pass the name of the item as argument. This means that you must know the item you are trying to delete. If you call this member function, the compiler would look for the item in the list. If the item is found, it would be deleted.

Instead of removing an item by its name or identification, you can use its position. To do that, you can call the RemoveAt() member function and pass the zero-based index of the undesired item. If the index is valid, the item would be deleted from the list.

To remove all items from the list, you can call the Clear() member function.

Practical Learning: Removing Items From a List Box
  1. Return to the form
  2. Double-click the Add button
  3. Implement its Click event as follows: 
    System::Void btnAdd_Click(System::Object^  sender, System::EventArgs^  e)
{
    // First check that the user had selected an item.
    // If no item is selected, let the user know and do nothing else.
    if( lbxSource->SelectedItems->Count == 0 )
    {
    MessageBox::Show("You must first select an item from the source list box.",
                            "SQL Tutorial",
                           MessageBoxButtons::OK, MessageBoxIcon::Information);
            return;
    }

    // Since an item is selected in the Source list box,
    // you will add it to the target list box.
    // First check if that item exists already in the Target list box.
    // If the item doesn't exist, add it
    if( !lbxTarget->Items->Contains(lbxSource->SelectedItems[0]) )
        lbxTarget->Items->Add(lbxSource->SelectedItems[0]);
}
  4. Return to the form
  5. Double-click the Remove button
  6. Implement the event as follows: 
    System::Void btnRemove_Click(System::Object^  sender, System::EventArgs^  e)
{
	// First check that the user had selected an item.
    // If no item is selected, let the user know and do nothing else.
    if( lbxTarget->SelectedItems->Count == 0 )
    {
    MessageBox::Show("You must first select an item from the target list box.",
                             "SQL Tutorial",
                         MessageBoxButtons::OK, MessageBoxIcon::Information);
            return;
    }

    // Remove the item that is selected
    lbxTarget->Items->Remove(lbxTarget->SelectedItems[0]);

	// Don't select any item
	lbxTarget->SelectedIndex = -1;
	// Disable the buttons
	btnRemove->Enabled = false;
	btnMoveUp->Enabled = false;
	btnMoveDown->Enabled = false;
}
  7. Execute the application to test the form
  8. Click items from the left list box and click the Add button
  9. If available, click items from the right list box and click Remove
  10. Close the form and return to your programming environment

Characteristics of a List Box
 

A Sorted List Box

After creating the list, by default, each item assumes the position it received when it was added. If you want, you can rearrange them in ascending order. To do this, set the ListBox::Sorted Boolean property to True. If you create an unsorted list, then at one time get it sorted (for example, you can give the user the ability to sort the list, by clicking a button), the list would be sorted. If an item is added to the sorted list, the compiler would automatically insert it to the right position following the alphabetical, ascending or chronological order. If at another time you allow the user to "unsort"ť the list, the list would keep its current order. If another item is added when the list is not sorted, the item would be positioned at the end of the list. If you want the list to have its original state, you would have to reset it through code.

The Scroll Bars

If you provide a longer list than the list box' height can display, it would have a vertical scroll bar. Here is an example:

#include <windows.h>

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

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

public ref class CExercise : public Form
{
private:
    ListBox ^ lbxFamily;

public:
    CExercise()
    {
	InitializeComponent();
    }

private:
    void InitializeComponent()
    {
        lbxFamily = gcnew ListBox;
        lbxFamily->Location = Point(12, 12);
        lbxFamily->Items->Add("Son");
        lbxFamily->Items->Add("Daughter");
        lbxFamily->Items->Add("Father");
        lbxFamily->Items->Add("Mother");

        array<String ^> ^  strMembers =
        {
            "Niece", "Nephew", "Uncle", "Aunt",
            "Grand Father", "Grand Mother"
        };
        lbxFamily->Items->AddRange(strMembers);

        Controls->Add(lbxFamily);
    }
};

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

    return 0;
}

This would produce:

A List Box With a Vertical Scroll Bar

At design time, if just one or a few items are hidden by the scroll bar, you can heighten it if the form provides more space.

Consider the following example:

#include <windows.h>

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

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

public ref class CExercise : public Form
{
private:
    ListBox ^ lbxBook;
    Label   ^ lblTitle;

public:
    CExercise()
    {
	InitializeComponent();
    }

private:
    void InitializeComponent()
    {
        lblTitle = gcnew Label;
        lblTitle->Text = "Book Titles";
        lblTitle->Location = Point(12, 12);

        lbxBook = gcnew ListBox;
        lbxBook->Location = Point(12, 36);
        lbxBook->Items->Add("College Algebra");;
        lbxBook->Items->Add("Finite Mathematics");
        lbxBook->Items->Add("Mathematical Structures");
        lbxBook->Items->Add("MCAD 70-316 Training Guide");
        lbxBook->Items->Add("C++ Builder 6 Developer's Guide");

        Controls->Add(lblTitle);
        Controls->Add(lbxBook);
    }
};

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

    return 0;
}

This would produce:

A list box with wide items

If at least one of the items of the list box is wider than the width of the control, the right side(s) of that (those) may disappear. To allow the user to see the hidden part of the item(s), you should display a horizontal scroll bar. To support this, the ListBox class is equipped with a Boolean property named HorizontalScrollbar. To make a list box display a horizontal scroll bar, at design time, access the Properties window for the list box and set its HorizontalScrollbar property to True. You can also do this programmatically. Here is an example:

void InitializeComponent()
{
    lblTitle = gcnew Label;
    lblTitle->Text = "Book Titles";
    lblTitle->Location = Point(12, 12);

    lbxBook = gcnew ListBox;
    lbxBook->Location = Point(12, 36);
    lbxBook->Items->Add("College Algebra");;
    lbxBook->Items->Add("Finite Mathematics");
    lbxBook->Items->Add("Mathematical Structures");
    lbxBook->Items->Add("MCAD 70-316 Training Guide");
    lbxBook->Items->Add("C++ Builder 6 Developer's Guide");
        
    lbxBook->HorizontalScrollbar = true;

    Controls->Add(lblTitle);
    Controls->Add(lbxBook);
}

This property allows the operating system to find the widest item in the list and provide a horizontal scroll bar that is long enough to display each item when the user scrolls to the right. The above code would produce:

A List Box With a Horizontal Scroll Bar

If the list of items requires it, the list box would display both the vertical and the horizontal scroll bars. Here is an example:

#include <windows.h>

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

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

public ref class CExercise : public Form
{
private:
    ListBox ^ lbxBook;
    Label   ^ lblTitle;

public:
    CExercise()
    {
	InitializeComponent();
    }

private:
    void InitializeComponent()
    {
        lblTitle = gcnew Label;
        lblTitle->Text = "Book Titles";
        lblTitle->Location = Point(12, 12);

        lbxBook = gcnew ListBox;
        lbxBook->Location = Point(12, 36);
        lbxBook->Items->Add("College Algebra");;
        lbxBook->Items->Add("Finite Mathematics");
        lbxBook->Items->Add("Mathematical Structures");
        lbxBook->Items->Add("MCAD 70-316 Training Guide");
        lbxBook->Items->Add("C++ Builder 6 Developer's Guide");
        lbxBook->Items->Add("La Bible de Jérusalem");
        lbxBook->Items->Add("Patterns for a Purpose");
        lbxBook->HorizontalScrollbar = true;

        Controls->Add(lblTitle);
        Controls->Add(lbxBook);
    }
};

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

    return 0;
}

This would produce:

If you prefer to decide how much width should be allowed, then set the desired value in the HorizontalExtent property.

Practical Learning: Using Scroll Bars Items to a List Box
  • Change the design of the form as follows (you will change the text of the top label and the items of the left list box):
     
    SQL Tutorial
    Control Text Name Other Properties
    Label Label You have a table named Products and that has many columns. You want to select the following columns in this order: ProductID, Name, and ListPrice. You want to arrange the list based on the ListPrice column but the list must have only products whose price is higher than $40. Select items from the left list and add them to the right list to get the statement.    
    ListBox TextBox   lbxSource Items:
    $40
    FROM
    Products
    ORDER BY
    ,
    Name
    Orders
    >
    ListPrice
    ProductID
    WHERE
    Employees
    SELECT

A Multi-Column List Box

When you create a list of items, they appear in one column. If the number of items exceeds the height, a scrollbar would appear on the control. An alternative you can use is to span the list to more than one column. To support this, the ListBox class is equipped with the MultiColumn Boolean property. At design time, you can set this characteristic in the Properties window. By default, the MultiColumn value is set to False, which means the items appear in one column. If you set this property to True, then the compiler would decide if or when the control needs the columns, based on the number of items in the list. You can then specify the width of each column using the ColumnWidth property.
 
 
 

Intermediate Operations on a List Box
 

Drag and Drop Operations

There are various ways you can involve a list box in a drag n' drop operation. For example, to add an item to a list box, you can allow a user to drag from another control or object and drop it in the list box. You can also allow a user to drag and drop list box elements from one list box to another.

To support drag n' drop operations, the list box is equipped with the AllowDrop property. Therefore, if you want to implement this operation, first set the AllowDrop property to true. Here is an example:

#include <windows.h>

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

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

public ref class CExercise : public Form
{
private:
    ListBox ^ lbxSource;
    ListBox ^ lbxTarget;

public:
    CExercise()
    {
	InitializeComponent();
    }

private:
    void InitializeComponent()
    {
        lbxSource = gcnew ListBox;
        lbxSource->Items->Add("James");
        lbxSource->Items->Add("Gertrude");
        lbxSource->Items->Add("Paul");
        lbxSource->Items->Add("Hélène");
        lbxSource->Location = Point(12, 12);
        lbxSource->Size = System::Drawing::Size(100, 100);

        lbxTarget = gcnew ListBox;
        lbxTarget->AllowDrop = true;
        lbxTarget->Location = Point(120, 12);
        lbxTarget->Size = System::Drawing::Size(100, 100);

        Text = "Employees Names";
        Controls->Add(lbxSource);
        Controls->Add(lbxTarget);
    }
};

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

    return 0;
}

To create a drag n' drop scenario, you should implement the DragEnter event of the target control to find out what the user is dragging. To drop the item in the target, you should implement its DragDrop event. Here is an example of two list boxes that allows a user to drag an item from the source list box and drop it on the target list box:

#include <windows.h>

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

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

public ref class CExercise : public Form
{
private:
    ListBox ^ lbxSource;
    ListBox ^ lbxTarget;

public:
    CExercise()
    {
	InitializeComponent();
    }

private:
    void InitializeComponent()
    {
        lbxSource = gcnew ListBox;
        lbxSource->Location = Point(12, 12);
        lbxSource->Size = System::Drawing::Size(100, 100);
        lbxSource->MouseDown += gcnew MouseEventHandler(this,
        				&CExercise::lbxSourceMouseDown);

        lbxTarget = gcnew ListBox;
        lbxTarget->AllowDrop = true;
        lbxTarget->Location = Point(120, 12);
        lbxTarget->Size = System::Drawing::Size(100, 100);
        lbxTarget->DragEnter += gcnew DragEventHandler(this,
        				&CExercise::lbxTargetDragEnter);
        lbxTarget->DragDrop += gcnew DragEventHandler(this,
        				&CExercise::lbxTargetDragDrop);

        Text = "Employees Names";
        Controls->Add(lbxSource);
        Controls->Add(lbxTarget);

        lbxSource->Items->Add("James");
        lbxSource->Items->Add("Gertrude");
        lbxSource->Items->Add("Paul");
        lbxSource->Items->Add("Hélène");
    }

	void lbxSourceMouseDown(Object ^ sender, MouseEventArgs ^ e)
    {
        // Find out if the user had clicked (with the left mouse button.
        // If so, prepare to copy the item the user had clicked
        if( e->Button == System::Windows::Forms::MouseButtons::Left)
            lbxSource->DoDragDrop(lbxSource->SelectedItem->ToString(),
            				DragDropEffects::Copy);
    }

    void lbxTargetDragEnter(Object ^ sender, DragEventArgs ^ e)
    {
        // When the user gets to the target list box, specify that you want to copy
        e->Effect = DragDropEffects::Copy;
    }

    void lbxTargetDragDrop(Object ^ sender, DragEventArgs ^ e)
    {
        // Before dropping, get the string that the user is dragging
        String ^ strSelected = e->Data->GetData(DataFormats::Text)->ToString();

        // Once you know what string the user is dragging,
        // add it to the target list box
        if( !strSelected->Equals("") )
            ((ListBox ^)sender)->Items->Add(strSelected);
    }
};

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

    return 0;
}

A Custom Owner-Draw List Box

A list box is painted based on three types or style. This characteristic is controlled by the DrawMode property. When its value is set to Normal, the operating system would regularly draw each item of the list. If you want each item of the list to display a graphic or a color, you must set the style to an owner drawn type. The OwnerDrawFixed value allows you to set a desired but same height for each item of the list. This height is controlled through the ItemHeight property. You can set a different height for each item if you set the list style to OwnerDrawVariable.
 
 
   
 
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