Could you point how to desabilitate a C# Windows Form tab page in a manner that it could't even be opened?

Hi  Eduardo;

The TabPages of the TabControl can not be made unselectable only the controls on the specific page can all be made unselectable. Once a TabPage is part of the TabControl TabPage collection it will be displayed. What you can do is have a class level variable of type TabPage assign the page to that variable and remove it from the TabControl TabPages collection. This will cause the TabPage not to show at all. Not what you may want but only way I know to do what  I think you want.

There are some more options:

1) you can use owner drawn items to give the tabs a disabled look;
2) you can use the Selecting event to stop the user from selecting disabled tabs.

These can also have some negative side effects:
1) the default windows background is not drawn anymore, I have tried to cater for that partially by using a gradient (can be removed easily if you don't want that);
2) if there is an enabled tab between 2 disabled tabs then you can't reach it with keys, only mouse (maybe not relevant for you).

In the code below I have built on the fact that you already have the code to set tabs disabled (and I assume you set enabled to true when you want them to become available again).

        private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {

            // set tabpages you want as disabled
            (tabControl1.TabPages[1] as Control).Enabled = false;

            // owner drawn items to give the impression of really being disabled
            tabControl1.DrawMode = TabDrawMode.OwnerDrawFixed;
            tabControl1.DrawItem += new DrawItemEventHandler(tabControl1_DrawItem);

            // do not allow the disabled tabs to be selected
            tabControl1.Selecting += new TabControlCancelEventHandler(tabControl1_Selecting);
        }

        void tabControl1_DrawItem(object sender, DrawItemEventArgs e) {
            TabControl tc = (TabControl)sender;
            TabPage tp = tc.TabPages[e.Index];
            Graphics gr = e.Graphics;
            Rectangle rect = e.Bounds;
            // draw background, color depends on selected item or not
            Brush bg = (e.State == DrawItemState.Selected) ? Brushes.White : new System.Drawing.Drawing2D.LinearGradientBrush(rect, Color.FromArgb(255, 241, 241, 241), Color.FromArgb(255, 206, 206, 206), System.Drawing.Drawing2D.LinearGradientMode.Vertical);
            gr.FillRectangle(bg, rect);
            // draw tab name, color depends on disabled or not
            string txt = tp.Text;
            Color col = tp.Enabled ? tp.ForeColor : Color.Gray; // normal / 'disabled'
            rect.Offset(0, 3);
            StringFormat sf = new StringFormat();
            sf.Alignment = StringAlignment.Center;
            gr.DrawString(txt, tp.Font, new SolidBrush(col), rect, sf);
        }

        private void tabControl1_Selecting(object sender, TabControlCancelEventArgs e) {
            // if tab page is disabled, then cancel the selection event
            if (e.Action == TabControlAction.Selecting && !e.TabPage.Enabled) {
                e.Cancel = true;
            }
        }

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Here is a little preview:

also have a look at http://emoreau.com/Entries/Articles/2004/05/The-incomplete-TabControl.aspx

Hi Robert

The form really starts the way I need using your code


But after saving the first tab's data the 2nd tab must be enabled. I coded this:

           //Include data
                     publicacaoBLL.Incluir(_publicacao);
// Inform success
                    MessageBox.Show("Book Included.", "Incluir", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information);

// So, the 2nd tab page must be enabled
                    (tbcPublicacoes.TabPages[1] as Control).Enabled = true;

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But the 2nd tab isn't enabled. What else must be done?

This solution attends what I need.
Thank you for the assistance!