CRUD menu creation

Question

I would like to re-write this C# code so it is easier to understand. Should I create a separate function to configure a menu item? Is there is some kind of using statement so I only need to mention the menu name once?

private void initializeContextMenuRightClick()
 {
 try
 {
 ctxMenuStripRightClick = new ContextMenuStrip();
 ctxMenuStripRightClick.Opening += ctxMenuStrip_Opening;
 ToolStripMenuItem addMenuItem = new ToolStripMenuItem("Add", null, AddMenuItem_Click);
 ToolStripMenuItem deleteMenuItem = new ToolStripMenuItem("Delete", null, DeleteMenuItem_Click);
 ToolStripMenuItem editMenuItem = new ToolStripMenuItem("Edit", null, EditMenuItem_Click);
 ToolStripMenuItem markDoneMenuItem = new ToolStripMenuItem("Mark Done", null, MarkDoneMenuItem_Click);
 ToolStripSeparator separatorMenuItem = new ToolStripSeparator();
 ctxMenuStripRightClick.Items.Add(addMenuItem);
 ctxMenuStripRightClick.Items.Add(deleteMenuItem);
 ctxMenuStripRightClick.Items.Add(editMenuItem);
 ctxMenuStripRightClick.Items.Add(separatorMenuItem);
 ctxMenuStripRightClick.Items.Add(markDoneMenuItem);
 }
 catch (Exception ex)
 {
 HandleException.Show(ex);
 }
 }

• dreza: Do you need the intermediate tool menu variables? Could you not just use ctxMenuStripRightClick.Items.Add(new ToolStripMenuItem("Add", null, AddMenuItem_Click)) etc
• Kirsten: Good idea. Is there a way I can avoid repeatedly mentioning ctxMenuStripRightClick ?
• dreza: Yes, see my answer as a bit much for a comment

Answer 1

Is there a way I can avoid repeatedly mentioning ctxMenuStripRightClick.

Yes, I guess you could do something like:

ctxMenuStripRightClick = new ContextMenuStrip();
ctxMenuStripRightClick.Opening += ctxMenuStrip_Opening;
ctxMenuStripRightClick.Items.AddRange(new List<ToolStripMenuItem>
{
 new ToolStripMenuItem("Add", null, AddMenuItem_Click),
 new ToolStripMenuItem("Delete", null, DeleteMenuItem_Click),
 // etc
}

Answer 2

I think you should create new function to add item

private void AddMenuItem(string caption, EventHandler onClick) {
 ctxMenuStripRightClick.Items.Add(
 new ToolStripMenuItem(caption, null, onClick)
 ); 
}

So your initialization method will be

ctxMenuStripRightClick = new ContextMenuStrip();
ctxMenuStripRightClick.Opening += ctxMenuStrip_Opening;
AddMenuItem("Add", AddMenuItem_Click);
AddMenuItem("Delete", DeleteMenuItem_Click);
AddMenuItem("Edit", EditMenuItem_Click);
ctxMenuStripRightClick.Items.Add(new ToolStripSeparator());
AddMenuItem("Mark Done", MarkDoneMenuItem_Click);

EDIT: If you really don't want a separated function, you can use lambda expression:

Action<string, EventHandler> addMenuItem = (caption, onClick) =>
{
 ctxMenuStripRightClick.Items.Add(
 new ToolStripMenuItem(caption, null, onClick)
 );
};
addMenuItem("Add", AddMenuItem_Click);
...

• Kirsten: i like the separate function idea, but I want ctxMenuStripRightClick to be private to the main procedure
• tia: @kirsteng See my update.