Setting Focus to a Control at Form Load

I used to write a “.Net Tips and Tricks” column for an online magazine associated with a forum called the  Universal Thread. The magazine has been known by several names, the Universal Thread Magazine, Level Extreme .NET Magazine and simply the UT Mag. Unfortunately, after being in “publication” since 2001, the last issue was in April of this year and it doesn’t look like it will be published anymore.

So, if no one minds, I think it’s time to start including a few of the Tips from my columns over the years. The format of my column was to garner tidbits of wisdom from other people’s posts on the UT, re-work them into a good format for a Tip, and credit the people who wrote the post (sometime it was even from a post that I wrote).

So, let’s start out with this --- how about a simple WinForms tip. Nothing earth-shattering here, but worth mentioning.

Normally, the Focus() method of a control is used to move the focus to that control:

private void MyButton_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
    // Move the Focus elsewhere
    this.MySpecialTextBox.Focus();
}

This works at any time, except during Form/Control Load. Then, you simply have to set the ActiveControl:

private void MyForm_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
    // Start the Form with the Focus on a certain control
    this.ActiveControl = this.MySpecialTextBox;
}

Thanks to Kevin McNeish in Message #1080245 on the Universal Thread.