property ComboBox.Style as StyleEnum

Retrieves or sets a value that indicates the control's behavior.

TypeDescription
StyleEnum A StyleEnum expression that indicates the control's style.

The control supports three styles: Simple, DropDown and DropDownList. When control's style is Simple, the list is always displayed. When the control's style is DropDown or DropDownList the list is visible only if the user presses the F4 key, or clicks the drop down button of the control. Use the Key property assign a new key to open the drop down window when user presses a key. Use the Columns property to access the control's columns collection. Use the Items property to access the control's items collection. Use the DropDown method to show programmatically the drop down portion of the control. Use the AutoDropDown property to specify whether the user shows the drop down portion of the control. Use the Add method to add new columns to the control. Use the AddItem, InsertItem, PutItems, DataSource properties to add new items to the control. Use the BeginUpdate and EndUpdate methods to maintain performance while adding new columns and items. Use the Background property to change the drop down button's visual appearance.

Note! The Style property can be changed at runtime, starting with the version 1.0.5.7. If you are creating and removing the control dynamically and you need to set the appropriate Style property at runtime make sure that you are loading data after setting the Style property, else the data is lost. The Style property clears the columns and items collections.

The following screen shot shows the control when Style property is Simple (The control doesn't provide a drop down button):

The following screen shot shows the control when Style property is DropDown (The control provides a drop down button, and user may use the edit controls in the control's label area to type values that are not in the drop down list.):

The following screen shot shows the control when Style property is DropDownList (The control provides a drop down button, and user can select only values that are in the drop down portion of the control. ):