Manipulating a tab control

I have a form with a bunch of tabs on it, but I don't want them to all be开发者_StackOverflow visible all the time. I've tried

    For Each t In TabControl1.TabPages
        t.Hide()
    Next
    TabControl1.TabPages("DateRange").Show()

in order to hide them all on doc load and then .Show() for just the tabs that I want at that time, but that apparently doesn't work that way, as all the tabs are still visible.

Then I tried

Private tabs As TabControl.TabPageCollection

    For Each t In TabControl1.TabPages
        tabs.Add(t) ' Object reference not set to an instance of an object. '

        TabControl1.TabPages.Remove(t)
    Next
    TabControl1.TabPages.Add(tabs("DateRange"))

but I get a tabs is not set to an instance of an object... And I get errors if I try to use

tabs = New TabControl.TabPageCollection

its frustrating that .Hide or .Visible don't do what they are supposed to.

You're on the right path, except instead of

Private tabs As TabControl.TabPageCollection

use

Private tabs As New List(Of TabPage)

You cannot continue around the loop removing as the index moves when an item is removed.

Setup your tabs and then remove them one by one either by index or name:

tabctrl.TabPages.RemoveAt(indx)

For x = 0 To tabctrl.TabPages.Count - 1
   If tabctrl.TabPages(x).Name.Equals(tabToRemove.Name) Then
      tabctrl.TabPages.RemoveAt(x)
      Exit For
   End If
Next

Moving a page that needs to be hidden into a List is the simple approach. However, such a hidden page also needs to be disposed when the form closes. It won't be automatic anymore since the TabControl cannot see the page. And you can't ignore it, forgetting to dispose a control is a permanent leak. Make it look like this:

Public Class Form1
    Private hiddenPages As New List(Of TabPage)

    Friend Sub SetTabState(ByVal page As TabPage, ByVal visible As Boolean)
        If visible Then
            If TabControl1.TabPages.Contains(page) Then Exit Sub
            hiddenPages.Remove(page)
            TabControl1.TabPages.Add(page)
        Else
            If Not TabControl1.TabPages.Contains(page) Then Exit Sub
            hiddenPages.Add(page)
            TabControl1.TabPages.Remove(page)
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Sub Form1_FormClosed(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.FormClosedEventArgs) Handles Me.FormClosed
        For Each page As TabPage In hiddenPages
            page.Dispose()
        Next
    End Sub
End Class