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Options Button

The Options Button is displayed on the far-bottom corner of the ribbon and is used to show a menu of options to the end-user.

Screenshot

The ribbon options button with menu displayed

Standard Options

Based on the ribbon configuration, several options are available from the menu.

Ribbon Layout

The ribbon supports two layout modes: Classic and Simplified. When enabled, the options menu allows the end-user to toggle between the two layout modes. The following options are available:

Option Description
Classic Ribbon Activates the classic layout; Ribbon.LayoutMode = Classic
Simplified Ribbon Activates the simplified layout; Ribbon.LayoutMode = Simplified

If only one layout mode is supported, you can prevent these options from being displayed on the menu by setting Ribbon.CanChangeLayoutMode = false.

See the Layout Modes and Density topic for more details on layout modes.

Show Ribbon

The ribbon can display the full ribbon or only the tabs (i.e., minimized). When enabled, the options menu allows the end-user to toggle the minimized state. The following options are available:

Option Description
Show Tabs Only Minimizes the ribbon to only show tabs; Ribbon.IsMinimized = true
Always Show Ribbon Expands the full ribbon; Ribbon.IsMinimized = false

To hide these options from the menu, the feature should be disabled by setting Ribbon.IsMinimizable = false.

See the Minimization topic for more details on the feature.

Quick Access Toolbar

The ribbon supports a quick access toolbar, and the options menu allows the user to toggle the visibility of the toolbar. The following options are available:

Option Description
Hide Quick Access Toolbar Hides the toolbar; Ribbon.QuickAccessToolBarMode = Hidden
Show Quick Access Toolbar Shows the toolbar; Ribbon.QuickAccessToolBarMode = Visible

To hide these options from the menu, the quick access toolbar should be disabled by setting Ribbon.QuickAccessToolBarMode = None.

Hiding the Options Button

Depending on the purpose and configuration of the ribbon, it may not make sense to display the Options Button at all. To hide the Options Button, set Ribbon.IsOptionsButtonVisible = false.

Save and Restore Options

Users will expect any changes in options to be saved and restored the next time they launch an application. See the Serialization topic for more details on how to save and restore ribbon settings like those available from the Options Button.

Customizing Menu Entries

Ribbon supports dynamic customization of the Options Button menu at run-time.

See the Menu Customization topic for a section with additional details on customizing the default menu. The Options Button menu is identified by BarMenuKind.RibbonOptionsButtonMenu.

Customizing Option Labels

The menu item labels for each option are defined by the following string resources that can be customized:

Menu Option String Resource
Classic Ribbon UIRibbonMenuItemClassicRibbonText
Simplified Ribbon UIRibbonMenuItemSimplifiedRibbonText
Show Tabs Only UIRibbonMenuItemMinimizeText
Always Show Ribbon UIRibbonMenuItemAlwaysShowRibbonText
Hide Quick Access Toolbar UIRibbonMenuItemHideQatText
Show Quick Access Toolbar UIRibbonMenuItemShowQatText

The following example demonstrates how to change the "Always Show Ribbon" menu item label to "Show Full Ribbon":

ActiproSoftware.Products.Bars.SR.SetCustomString(ActiproSoftware.Products.Bars.SRName.UIRibbonMenuItemAlwaysShowRibbonText.ToString(), "Show Full Ribbon");

See the Customizing String Resources topic for additional details.