By default, a newly created contextual menu is attached neither to the form nor to any control on it. In order to display a context menu, you must assign its name to the control. To support this, Control, the ancestor to all visual controls of the .NET Framework, is equipped, and provides to its children, a property named ContextMenuStrip, which is of type ContextMenuStrip.

To visually assign a contextual menu to a control during design, click the control. In the Properties window, click the ContextMenuStrip field, then click the arrow of its combo box, and select the menu. If you had created more than one contextual menu, the combo box would show all of them and you can choose the one you want to use as default.

To programmatically specify the contextual menu of a control, assign a ContextMenuStrip object to its ContextMenuStrip property. 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
{
public:
    CExercise()
    {
	InitializeComponent();
    }

    void InitializeComponent()
    {
	System::Windows::Forms::ContextMenuStrip ^ context =
		gcnew System::Windows::Forms::ContextMenuStrip;
 
        ToolStripMenuItem ^ mnuCut	 = gcnew ToolStripMenuItem(L"Cut");
	array<ToolStripMenuItem ^> ^ mnuEdit = {
			gcnew ToolStripMenuItem(L"Copy"),
		        gcnew ToolStripMenuItem(L"Paste") };

	context->Items->Add(mnuCut);
	context->Items->AddRange(mnuEdit);

        ContextMenuStrip = context;
    }
};

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

    return 0;
}

After assigning a ContextMenuStrip object to a control, when you right-click (actually when the user right-clicks) the control, the contextual menu would display. The above code would produce:

1. Start a new Windows Forms Application named spr2 (spr stands for Solas Property Rental)
2. In the Menus & Toolbars section of the Toolbox, click the ContextMenuStrip button and click the form
3. Under the form, click the ContextMenuStrip object.
   In the Properties window, click (Name) and type mnuProperties
4. On the form, click the Type Here box, type New, and press Enter
5. Under New, click Type Here, type Delete and press Enter
6. Under Delete, click Type Here, type Modify and press Enter
7. In the Common Controls section of the Toolbox, click ListView and click the form
8. While the list view is still selected, in the Properties window, change the following characteristics
   (Name): lvwProperties
   View: Details
9. Still in the Properties window, click Columns and click its ellipsis button
10. In the ColumnHeader Collection Editor, click Add
11. In the right list, click Text and type Property #
12. Click Add.
    In the right list, click Text and type Property Type
13. Click Add.
    In the right list, click Text and type Bedrooms
14. Click Add.
    In the right list, click Text and type Bathrooms
15. Click OK
16. Still in the Properties window, click Items and click its ellipsis button
17. In the ListViewItem Collection Editor, click Add
18. In the right list, click Text and type 229647
19. Click Add.
    In the right list, click Text and type 935774
20. Click Add.
    In the right list, click Text and type 400759
21. In the Members list, click the first item and, in the right list, click SubItems
22. Click Add.
    In the right list, click Text and type Single Family
23. Click Add.
    In the right list, click Text and type 5
24. Click Add.
    In the right list, click Text and type 3.5
25. Click OK
26. In the Members list, click the second item and, in the right list, click SubItems
27. Click Add.
    In the right list, click Text and type Apartment
28. Click Add.
    In the right list, click Text and type 1
29. Click Add.
    In the right list, click Text and type 1
30. Click OK
31. In the Members list, click the second item and, in the third list, click SubItems
32. Click Add.
    In the right list, click Text and type Townhouse
33. Click Add.
    In the right list, click Text and type 3
34. Click Add.
    In the right list, click Text and type 2.5
35. Click OK and click OK
36. While the list view is still selected on the form, in the Properties window, click ContextMenuStrip, click the arrow of its combo box and select mnuProperties
37. Execute the application
38. Right-click the list view to see the contextual menu
     
    
39. Right-click away from the list view, on the form and notice that the contextual menu doesn't come up
40. Close the form

In your application, you can create as many contextual menus as you want. If you have different controls, each can have its own contextual menu or many can share a contextual menu. Also, you can use different contextual menus for a control and decide what menu to display when/why.

There is nothing particularly specific with writing code for a popup menu item. You approach it exactly as if you were dealing with a menu item of a main menu. You can write code for an item of a popup menu independent of any other item of a main menu. If you want an item of a popup menu to respond to the same request as an item of a main menu, you can write code for one of the menu items (either the item on the main menu or the item on the popup menu) and simply call its Click event in the event of the other menu item.

1. In the Menus & Toolbars section of the Toolbox, click the ContextMenuStrip button and click the form
2. Under the form, click the new ContextMenuStrip object.
   In the Properties window, click (Name) and type mnuNoProperty
3. On the form, click the Type Here box, type New, and press the down arrow key
4. Type Clear and press Enter
5. On the form, click the list view
6. In the Properties window, click ContextMenuStrip, click the arrow of its combo box and select None
7. Right-click the form and click View Code
8. In the class, just above public:, declare a variable as follows:
    
   ListViewItem ^ prpCurrentlySelected;
9. Return to the form and double-click an area outside of the list view
10. Implemented the event as follows:
    

    System::Void Form1_Load(System::Object^  sender,
    			 System::EventArgs^  e)
    {				 
        prpCurrentlySelected = gcnew ListViewItem;
    }

11. Return to the form and click the list view
12. In the Properties window, click the Events button and double-click MouseDown
13. Implement the event as follows:
    

    System::Void lvwProperties_MouseDown(System::Object^  sender,
    			 System::Windows::Forms::MouseEventArgs^  e)
    {
        if( e->Button == System::Windows::Forms::MouseButtons::Right )
        {
    	 if( lvwProperties->SelectedItems->Count > 0 )
    	     prpCurrentlySelected = lvwProperties->SelectedItems[0];
    	 else
    	     prpCurrentlySelected = nullptr;
        }
    }

14. Return to the form and click the list view
15. In the events section of the Properties window, double-click ItemSelectionChanged
16. Implement the event as follows:
    

    System::Void lvwProperties_ItemSelectionChanged(System::Object^  sender,
    	 System::Windows::Forms::ListViewItemSelectionChangedEventArgs^  e)
    {
        if( e->Item == prpCurrentlySelected )
    	 lvwProperties->ContextMenuStrip = mnuNoProperty;
        else
    	 lvwProperties->ContextMenuStrip = mnuProperties;
    }

17. Execute the application
     
18. Close the form and return to your programming environment