How to Add Items from Comboboxes to Windows Forms

On a recent PoC (Proof-of-Concept) I had to add items from two comboboxes to a Windows Form combobox. Here is a simple solution to that:

1. Highlight the combobox control in Object Explorer and click the Explore Component Properties button at the top of the Object Explorer.

2. You should see the list of properties available for the combobox control. Select the "Items" property and then select Configure Type to see Properties and Methods of the combobox.

3. Select the Methods you would like to use and then click OK. The methods you selected will appear in the Object Explorer. I've added Items.AddRange(Object[] items) to add an Array of items Commonly used methods are:

4. Then on my Automation I just added the AddRange method to be populated by the combobox from a Windows Application. Something similar to the following:

I just did the same thing for the other combobox items I wanted to add to my Windows Form combobox and ended up with all of them in one single control.

How to Change the Default Drag And Drop Behavior for Properties, Methods or Events

There are some cases during a project you're constantly working with the same control and you want to change the default behavior when you drag and drop it from the Object Explorer. Well, here is what you have to do to change the default behavior in OpenSpan Studio (MS-Visual Studio plugin):

1. Select the control type you want and click Configure Type. Here is an example for a button.

2. The Button Control Configuration pops up and now you can select the property, event or method you want to be the default behavior. For the button control the "Click" event is the default behavior.

3. Select the new configuration you want to be the default behavior, right-click on it and then select Set As Default Member.

In the example above I've set the PerformClick method to be the default behavior.

The next time I drag and drop a button to the automation it will be the PerformClick method instead of the Click event.