I have written a windows application that has a form containing SplitContainers nested inside yet other SplitContainers nested inside of TabControls nested inside of other TabControls. Compounding the issue: the controls inside the SplitContainer panels are fully docked.

The narrow borders between all these controls makes it nearly impossible to select a SplitContainer directly in the IDE. The only way I've found to get there is to first undock the control in panel1, move it aside so I can select the panel it was docked inside of just to get the SplitContainer name, and then select the SplitContainer from the Properties panel drop down list to access its properties. And then when I'm done I have to redock the Panel1 control.

In comparison, selecting nested controls in a web page is a snap. Simply selecting a nested control lists all containers from it all the way out to the HTML tag in hierarchical order from left to right;

[html] [body] [form] [table] [tr] [td] SELECTED CONTROL

Clicking any of the "buttons" provided selects that container to make changes to it.

Does such a list exist for Windows applications? If so, what is it called and how do I make it visible? None of the Other Windows appears helpful. If an interactive list of nested controls on a Windows form does not exist, is there a hot key that will select the parent container of the curently selected control in the IDE during development?

I dont know is it right place to post my question but my apologize if not.

Do I need to know C# before I can start working with asp.net. I'm planning to buy some books and I saw Imaar's latest BOOK: Beginning ASP.NET 4.5.1 : in C# and VB so if you can tell me is it good for absolute beginners ? I know basic markup "languages" but not C#, VB and SQL. And if you can give some good books or practices that can be found on the web. Thank you

Many Visual Studio controls now generate code for you. The SQL Server explorer, for example, will create the necessary objects to manage simple database I/O for you. Bind the results to a data grid and you've created a very simple data entry system. So you can get a little way without knowing a programming language at first, but wizard generated code is typically far too limited for most needs. In any case, if that's all you want to accomplish, SharePoint appears simpler to learn.

IOW, doing anything really useful requires some programming language. But Visual Studio supports more than C# and VB, and projects may even combine languages, so which language is used appears irrelevant once compiled. So while I prefer VB because I learned it first, C# no longer offers any significant advantages as far as I can see? Just be advised that the majority of examples I've found on-line seem to be written in C#. And if you intend to produce web sites, as your reference to markup langauges suggests, you'll also need to be proficient in some scripting language. I have the luxury of developing to a strictly MS audience so I can use VBScript, but you are likely to also need to learn JavaScript.

I have not read Imar's book but his responses to my occasional questions here have always proven helpful. I'd therefore hope his book to be equally valuable? I'm sorry I cannot suggest any beginner sites but I've been programming since before Al Gore invented the internet and rarely visit beginner sites these days. WROX P2P is the only site I've bookmarked.

Many Visual Studio controls now generate code for you. The SQL Server explorer, for example, will create the necessary objects to manage simple database I/O for you. Bind the results to a data grid and you've created a very simple data entry system. So you can get a little way without knowing a programming language at first, but if that's all you want to accomplish SharePoint appears simpler to learn?

Visual Studio supports more than C# and VB, and projects may even combine languages, so which language is used appears irrelevant once compiled. So while I prefer VB because I learned it first, C# no longer offers any significant advantages, AFAIC see? Just be advised that the majority of examples I've found on-line are written in C#, forcing me to occasionally resort to translation sites. And if you intend to produce web sites, as your reference to markup languages suggests, you'll also need to be proficient in some scripting language. I have the luxury of developing to a strictly MS audience so I can use VBScript, but you may also need to learn JavaScript.

I have not read Imar's book but his responses to my occasional questions here have always proven helpful. I'd therefore hope his book to be equally valuable? I'm sorry I cannot suggest any beginner sites but I've been programming since before Al Gore invented the internet and rarely visit such sites these days. WROX P2P is the only site I've bookmarked.