I am new to using the visual designer and I am having difficulty with
a simple task but can't find the answer.  I am using VS 2005.   I have
a form with two panels that overlay one another.  I intend to control
which panel is visible in the running application through hide( ) and
show( ). Each panel has its own set of controls, of course. The
problem is in using the designer.  After creating the first panel and
placing various controls on it, I add the second panel to the form and
placed its controls on it. All well and good.  I now see just the
second panel and its controls.  But now I want to go back to the first
panel and its controls.  I tried selecting the top panel and then
right-clicking and choosing Send to Back, thinking it would send the
panel and its controls behind the first panel and its controls.  But
now all the controls are visible, making one big mess. How, in the
designer, do I show a single panel with its controls and then switch
to another panel and see just its controls?     It must be simple
because it seems like a typical common need, but I can't figure it out
and searching VS's help has not yet provided me with the answer.
Please help!  Thanks.

On Aug 16, 12:06 pm, silverfox  wrote:

> I am new to using the visual designer and I am having difficulty with
> a simple task but can't find the answer.  I am using VS 2005.   I have
> a form with two panels that overlay one another.  I intend to control
> which panel is visible in the running application through hide( ) and
> show( ). Each panel has its own set of controls, of course. The
> problem is in using the designer.  After creating the first panel and
> placing various controls on it, I add the second panel to the form and
> placed its controls on it. All well and good.  I now see just the
> second panel and its controls.  But now I want to go back to the first
> panel and its controls.  I tried selecting the top panel and then
> right-clicking and choosing Send to Back, thinking it would send the
> panel and its controls behind the first panel and its controls.  But
> now all the controls are visible, making one big mess. How, in the
> designer, do I show a single panel with its controls and then switch
> to another panel and see just its controls?     It must be simple
> because it seems like a typical common need, but I can't figure it out
> and searching VS's help has not yet provided me with the answer.
> Please help!  Thanks.


It turns out that I did not add the new panel to the form but to the
first panel.