You can create menus in either design-time using the DotNetBar Windows Forms designer or in run-time by writting the the code to do so. You can always create the menu in design-time and explore the InitializeComponent method that is automatically created on the form and which will have all the code that is needed to create the menu that you actually see on the form.

To create the menu from code follow these steps:

1. Create new Bar object and set its MenuBar and Stretch properties to true
2. Add the Bar object to the DotNetBarManager.Bars collection using the Add method
3. Set the DockSide property of the Bar object to eDockSide.Top
4. Create ButtonItem object and assign name and text to it
5. Add that ButtonItem object to the Bar.Items collection using Add method
6. To create popup menu items for newly created menu item add new ButtonItem objects to the ButtonItem SubItems collection using the Add method.
7. Repeat steps 4-6 to create additional main menu items and/or popup menu items associated with them

See following code for sample implementation. Also review the MenuFromCode sample shipped with DotNetBar for working sample and full source code.

VB

        Imports DevComponents.DotNetBar
        .
        .
        .
        Dim bar As Bar
        Dim menu, submenu As ButtonItem

        bar = New Bar("Menu Bar")
        bar.MenuBar = True
        bar.Stretch = True
        dotNetBarManager1.Bars.Add(bar)
        bar.DockSide = eDockSide.Top

        menu = New ButtonItem("bFile", "&File")
        bar.Items.Add(menu)
        submenu = New ButtonItem("bOpen", "&Open")
        menu.SubItems.Add(submenu)
        submenu = New ButtonItem("bClose", "&Close")
        menu.SubItems.Add(submenu)
        submenu = New ButtonItem("bExit", "&Exit")
        submenu.BeginGroup = True
        menu.SubItems.Add(submenu)

        menu = New ButtonItem("bEdit", "&Edit")
        bar.Items.Add(menu)
        submenu = New ButtonItem("bCut", "&Cut")
        menu.SubItems.Add(submenu)
        submenu = New ButtonItem("bCopy", "&Copy")
        menu.SubItems.Add(submenu)
        submenu = New ButtonItem("bPaste", "&Paste")
        menu.SubItems.Add(submenu)
        submenu = New ButtonItem("bClear", "&Clear")
        submenu.BeginGroup = True
        menu.SubItems.Add(submenu)
        bar.RecalcLayout()
      

C#

         using DevComponents.DotNetBar;
         .
         .
         .
         Bar bar=new Bar("Menu Bar");
         bar.MenuBar=true;
         bar.Stretch=true;
         dotNetBarManager1.Bars.Add(bar);
         bar.DockSide=eDockSide.Top;
         
         ButtonItem menu, submenu;
         menu=new ButtonItem("bFile","&File");
         bar.Items.Add(menu);
         submenu=new ButtonItem("bOpen","&Open");
         menu.SubItems.Add(submenu);
         submenu=new ButtonItem("bClose","&Close");
         menu.SubItems.Add(submenu);
         submenu=new ButtonItem("bExit","&Exit");
         submenu.BeginGroup=true;
         menu.SubItems.Add(submenu);
         
         menu=new ButtonItem("bEdit","&Edit");
         bar.Items.Add(menu);
         submenu=new ButtonItem("bCut","&Cut");
         menu.SubItems.Add(submenu);
         submenu=new ButtonItem("bCopy","&Copy");
         menu.SubItems.Add(submenu);
         submenu=new ButtonItem("bPaste","&Paste");
         menu.SubItems.Add(submenu);
         submenu=new ButtonItem("bClear","&Clear");
         submenu.BeginGroup=true;
         menu.SubItems.Add(submenu);
         bar.RecalcLayout();