Finding the top most(z-order) control in a panel

Question

See my case is,

I am opening more than one forms (toplevel=false) inside a panel. All the forms opened inside that panel will be dock filled and brought to front during runtime. and my need in this situation is, how can i select the top most control(form) on that panel. Top most control means control(form) which is having greater z-order.

I am currently using this code by assumption,

 panel.controls(0)

Can any body tell me, whether the above snippet is right or any alternate syntax available in dot net to achieve that.?

Answer 1

According to the MSDN:

The control with an index value of zero is at the top of the z-order, and higher numbers are closer to the bottom.

Therefore, I'd say your assumption was correct. Controls(0) will always be the top-most control. The only concern would be whether or not it is visible.

Answer 2

I don't see any other solution of looping through each Control and see what's the topmost one. Something like:

Dim TopMostControl As Control = panel.Controls(0) 'Check if there are any control
For Each Control As Control In panel.Controls
    If panel.Controls.GetChildIndex(Control) < panel.Controls.GetChildIndex(TopMostControl) Then
        TopMostControl = Control
    End If
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