Share a button with multiple pages in a Tab Control in Windows Forms

Question

Is there a way to share a button with multiple pages in a C# Windows Forms Application; so that the button will be available in two or more pages?

I tried:

this.Page1.Controls.Add(this.Button1);
this.Page2.Controls.Add(this.Button1);

But it does not work for me and the button Button1 is still available only in Page1.

Answer 1

No you cannot share it, each control belongs to a single parent and cannot be shared between multiple parents. You can use either of the following options:

• Use a single button but in tab selection change, move it to another tab page:

  private void tabControl1_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
  {
      // Will be removed from previous tab and added to new selected tab
      tabControl1.SelectedTab.Controls.Add(button1);
  }
  

• Use different buttons in each tab page but share the same event handler

  button1.Click += button_Click;
  button2.Click += button_Click;
  ...
  private void button_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
  {
      //var clicked = (Button)sender;
      //Do somthing
  }
  

• Put it over the tab control, not inside the pages (pay attention to document outline):