When in doubt using Visual Basic, hit Ctrl+T: A short guide to adding controls

I am used to programming with the Visual Basic Editor in ArcMap, Excel, and Access. I'm building a weather client (upcoming article) that will be a one stop resource for various weather maps, models, and surf reports from around the Internets that I use to help predict my next surfing or diving trip. The best way to manage all of these maps and graphics that I can think of right now is to use a multi page control to separate the various groups into individual tabs.

This is easy enough in ArcMap - the MultiPage control is already loaded onto the main toolbar (left). Visual Basic is a bit more tricky however.

Many extra options and controls (including a previous post about the Common Dialog) are not automatically loaded onto the Visual Basic 6 general Toolbox by default. By right clicking in some empty gray space away from a tool, or by pressing Ctrl+T, one can launch the Components window. From here, a number of additional controls can be added to the toolbox to be inserted into a form or project. In teh following case, the Microsoft Tabbed Dialog Control 6.0 is checked. A TabStrip can also be added through the Microsoft Windows Common Controls - I used 6.0 (SP6) which is a few below the Tabbed Dialog Control.


A multi page tab system can be inserted to to organize the data inside of this new form:



This is the VB 6 toolbox from which the new control can be called:


If there seems to be something missing from a Visual Basic toolbox, hit Ctrl+T and skim through the available controls - it will probably be located in there.