Group Box
Purpose
A group box is a labeled rectangular area that surrounds a set of related controls. A frame is an unlabeled rectangular area that can be used to mark relationships.
Group box and frame are a way to show visual relationships; it provides no additional functionality.
Guidelines
Is this the right control?
- Always use a group box to arrange related controls.
- Use a frame to arrange related controls that cannot be labeled.
- Don't group single controls.
- Show relationship by layout only.
Behavior
- Don't nest grouping elements; use layout to show relationships within a group.
- Don't place controls in group box caption.
- Don't disable groups. To indicate that a group of controls does not currently apply, disable all the controls within the group, but not the group itself.
- Put a splitter between aligned grouping controls.
Appearance
- Label the group box with a descriptive caption.
- Don't assign an access key to the group box caption.
- Set the group box or frame shadow to 'flat' to provide the consistent spacing required to convey relationship.