This article did not help me. Are you saying that there is some combobox component out there that I have to download and install in order for the combox box icon already sitting in the toolbox to not be grayed out and actually work? How would I go about doing that?
Ann, can you post a screen shot? I'll forward it to a couple of the Msft devs then get back to you ASAP. All the best, Mark
Here is a screen shot. Keep in mind I develop on two totally seperate machines in my office, and neither has any of these controls available. They are all grayed out. (Also, I have uninstalled and reinstalled Visual Web Developer Express twice now to no avail, and even went so far as to donwload the beta version of VWDE 2008. Controls grayed out there too.)
I'll send out a few calls for help Ann. This will, more than likely, be the common response: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms247075(vs.80).aspx The odd thing is you have the same problem on two machines. Right away I'd suspect that one of your own controls is causing this... Simply looking for a common denominator. To be honest, even VS 2005 Pro has done this to me a few times. And I've just reformed my toolbar each time to fix it. If you haven't tried it's pretty easy to open the toolbar properties dialog and manually change items. All the best, Mark
Yes, it is all very odd. Not only is it doing this on two different machines, but I have opened four or five different applications and it doesn't matter which application I open the buttons are always grayed out. Furthermore, when I do try to go in and manually select the combobox in the toolbox properties, it is already selected!!! I'll check out the msdn article. I am running out of ideas here....
FYI - Resetting the development environment per the msdn article you sent me did not resolve the issue.
Please try using this kb article. http://kb.discountasp.net/article.aspx?id=10368 rcp DiscountASP.NET www.DiscountASP.NET
Hi, there. This probably should have been posted in the Visual Studio Heading, but I figured it may be something to do with the assemblies associated with my web project. I have an application for which I would like to use a combobox. Unfortunately when I right-click on the toolbox and click 'Show All' the ComboBox Control (listed under Common Containers) is grayed out. I have searched for documentation on this problem and there is all kinds of weird hacks to try to get the tools to come back, but nothing has worked. Is this something as simple as a missing reference in my web.config file, or is this really a problem with Visual Basic? I want to use a combobox!!! Help!!!
Hi Ann, Still haven't found any solution for you. Wanted to ask, even though it may seem silly... What happens if you go to Code view? How about Code View on a new page? Would seem this has to do with the project itself or VS Express. All the best, Mark
nope it doesn't matter if I am code view or in design view. The tools just plain aren't there. Now, not only do I need a combobox control for this application, but I would like to use a tab control too. Of course....it's grayed out too. Allcontrols not listed under Ajax Extensions, Standard, Data, Validation, Navigation, Login, WebParts, or HTML are grayed out. I am soooo frustrated right now.
In regular Visual Studio 2005, all the common ASP.NET controls are in the Standard tab. Are the controls you're looking for there? Aristotle DiscountASP.NET www.DiscountASP.NET
Nope. The combo box control and the tab control are not under standard controls: Combobox and TabControl are under different headings andthey are grayed out:
Oh. I didn't realize you had the Personal Website Starter Kit project open. This is a web application. The Common Controls and Containers tabs are only available for certain types of projects like Windows Applications. There are equivalent controls for web applications, such as the DropDownList is essentially the combo box. Aristotle DiscountASP.NET www.DiscountASP.NET
It doesn't matter what application I have open, the tools never show up. Why would those tools appear at all in Visual Web Developer if they weren't intended to be used on web applications? Maybe I'm just not understanding you.....
Because you chose to "show all". If you open a Windows Application, those will not be greyed out. For web applications, it will always be greyed out. Those controls are not meant to be used in web applications. Aristotle DiscountASP.NET www.DiscountASP.NET
Fair enough. So if I want to create something combobox "like" for a web application, essentially I am going to have to create a table with a textbox, a downarrow image, and a listbox, and just fully code the functionality right? As for the TabControl....I would have no idea where to even get started with that....any suggestions?
Hi Ann, Have you tried the free version of Iron Speed? http://www.ironspeed.com/ They even have an article on using it with DASP: http://www.ironspeed.com/articles/Deploying%20Applications%20to%20a%20Hosting%20Service%20Provider/Article.aspx Aristotle..Thanks for helping bro.
For a combo box in web applications, usethe DropDownList control. It is listedin the Standard toolbox. I don't think there's a tab control that comes with the framework for web applications. You'll have to look into using a custom control, like the AJAX Control Toolkit, whichhas a tab control. See these resources: http://asp.net/AJAX/AjaxControlToolkit/Samples/Tabs/Tabs.aspx http://www.codeproject.com/aspnet/TabControl.asp Aristotle DiscountASP.NET www.DiscountASP.NET
I can't just use a dropdownlist, because I need the user to be able to either type an entry in that isn't in the list, or select an item from a list pulling from a database. I'll just have to design a custom control, I guess.
