`GroupBox`

Controls must be arranged somehow. With a GroupBox in WPF, we can place them within a box that has a header. This makes interfaces easier to understand and interact with.

In a GroupBox we can nest another control. We can use the Grid, Label and CheckBox controls within a GroupBox—more details on these sub-controls are available.

Example

The Grid can be used inside a GroupBox to lay out other controls. In this example, I dragged a GroupBox to the Window from the Toolbox in Visual Studio.

Then I adjusted the bounds of the GroupBox, also by dragging, to expand to fit the containing Window.

Next I added a Grid. I added controls to the Grid. I moved things around to make them look less awful.

So The GroupBox control's contribution is the header, which I changed to read "Pizza," and the border around its sub-controls.

<Window x:Class="WpfApplication9.MainWindow"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
    <Grid>
        <GroupBox Header="Pizza" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="10,10,0,0"
                  VerticalAlignment="Top" Height="236" Width="263">
            <Grid HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="226" VerticalAlignment="Top"
                  Width="253" Margin="0,0,-2,-12">
                <Label Content="These are some pizza toppings."
                       HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" Margin="10,10,0,0"/>
                <CheckBox Content="Cheese" HorizontalAlignment="Left"
                          Margin="10,41,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top"/>
                <CheckBox Content="Mushrooms" HorizontalAlignment="Left"
                          Margin="10,61,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top"/>
                <CheckBox Content="Olives" HorizontalAlignment="Left"
                          Margin="10,81,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top"/>
            </Grid>
        </GroupBox>
    </Grid>
</Window>

Discussion

A GroupBox is a container control. We add controls inside of it, which may be more interactive with the user. A Grid or TabControl are good choices here.

Note We do not need to manipulate the GroupBox in our C# code, but such operations are possible.

Tip In WPF, any property can be changed in code. If needed, we do not need to use Visual Studio to manually change the XAML.

Arranging elements in complex user interfaces is difficult. With a control like GroupBox we arrange our controls neatly, making better programs.