Step 1: Create the Control

Start a new Visual Basic project including VSFlexGrid 8.0 (if you don't know how to add OCX files to a project, consult the Visual Basic documentation). The VSFlexGrid icon will be added to the Visual Basic Toolbox.

Create a VSFlexGrid object on the form by clicking the VSFlexGrid icon on the Toolbox, then clicking on the form and dragging until the object is the proper size.

Next, use the Visual Basic Property window to set the following control properties:

    (Name) = fg

    Cols = 3

    ExtendLastCol = True

    FixedCols = 0

    Rows = 1

    FormatString = "Node|Token|Setting"

    OutlineBar = flexOutlineBarComplete

    GridLines = flexGridNone

    MergeCells = flexMergeSpill

    AllowUserResising = flexResizeColumns

We set the OutlineBar property to be able to see the outline tree. You can create outlines without trees, but the user will not be able to collapse and expand the nodes (unless you write code to do it).

We also set the MergeCells property to flexMergeSpill, so long entries may extend into adjacent empty cells. This is often a good setting to use when building outlines.

Now the control is ready. We can start adding some code to it.