Is it possible to rotate a button control in WinForms?

Question

Is it possible to rotate a button or any control at a particular angle in WinForms? If so, how?

Answer 1

If you really want to (I have no idea why one would..*) you could try to use a Button subclass, maybe like that:

public partial class TurnButton : Button
{
    public TurnButton()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
    }

    int angle = 0;   // current rotation
    Point oMid;      // original center

    protected override void OnLayout(LayoutEventArgs levent)
    {
        base.OnLayout(levent);
        if (oMid == Point.Empty) oMid = new Point(Left + Width / 2, Top + Height / 2);
    }

    protected override void OnPaint(PaintEventArgs pe)
    {
       int mx = this.Size.Width / 2;
       int my = this.Size.Height / 2;
       SizeF size = pe.Graphics.MeasureString(Text, Font);
       string t_ = Text;
       Text = "";

        base.OnPaint(pe);

        if (!this.DesignMode)
        {
            Text = t_; pe.Graphics.TranslateTransform(mx, my);
            pe.Graphics.RotateTransform(angle);
            pe.Graphics.TranslateTransform(-mx, -my);

            pe.Graphics.DrawString(Text, Font, SystemBrushes.ControlText,
                                  mx - (int)size.Width / 2, my - (int)size.Height / 2);
        }
    }



    protected override void OnClick(EventArgs e)
    {
        this.Size = new Size(Height, Width);
        this.Location = new Point(oMid.X - Width / 2, oMid.Y - Height / 2);
        angle = (angle + 90) % 360;
        Text = angle + "°";

        base.OnClick(e);
    }
}

(* I have no idea why I wrote that, either ;-)