VB.Net 2008 Buttons acts as Tab Controls - vb.net

Question

I am looking for a way to design things differently in my project. Instead of using TabControls I wish to use Buttons (Instead of pressing the tabs on the top I would like to press the Buttons on the left-side). These buttons when pressed they have their own Panel where each has their own respective content.
Select Case tabAdmin.SelectedIndex
Case 0
If txtCode_Patient.Text = "" Then
txtCode_Patient.Focus()
Else
cmdAdminister.Focus()
End If
Case 1
If txtD_Patient.Text = "" Then
txtD_Patient.Focus()
Else
cmdRefresh.Focus()
End If
Case 2
If txtI_Patient.Text = "" Then
txtI_Patient.Focus()
Else
cmdI_CUser.Focus()
End If
Case 3
If txtStat_CS.Text = "" Then
txtStat_CS.Focus()
Else
cmdStat_Refresh.Focus()
End If
End Select
The code above is similar to what my project acts and it works with TabControls. I want to do a similar thing but this time, like I said before, pressing Buttons on the left-side. How can I do a similar thing ?
UPDATE:
I found a way for this one but now my concern is how do I make it look like one of its default button 3D look-alike?
Public Class Tab
Inherits TabControl
Private Property DoubledBuffered As Boolean
Sub New()
SetStyle(ControlStyles.AllPaintingInWmPaint Or ControlStyles.OptimizedDoubleBuffer Or ControlStyles.ResizeRedraw Or ControlStyles.UserPaint, True)
DoubledBuffered = True
SizeMode = TabSizeMode.Fixed
ItemSize = New Size(30, 110)
End Sub
Protected Overrides Sub CreateHandle()
MyBase.CreateHandle()
Alignment = TabAlignment.Left
End Sub
Protected Overrides Sub OnPaint(e As System.Windows.Forms.PaintEventArgs)
Dim B As New Bitmap(Width, Height)
Dim G As Graphics = Graphics.FromImage(B)
G.Clear(Color.AliceBlue)
For i = 0 To TabCount - 1
Dim TabRectangle As Rectangle = GetTabRect(i)
If i = SelectedIndex Then
'//Selected
G.FillRectangle(Brushes.DarkSlateGray, TabRectangle)
Else
'//Not Selected
G.FillRectangle(Brushes.AntiqueWhite, TabRectangle)
End If
G.DrawString(TabPages(i).Text, Font, Brushes.Black, TabRectangle, New StringFormat With {.Alignment = StringAlignment.Center, .LineAlignment = StringAlignment.Center})
Next
e.Graphics.DrawImage(B.Clone, 0, 0)
G.Dispose() : B.Dispose()
MyBase.OnPaint(e)
End Sub
End Class

Answer 1

Use the CheckBox control instead of Button, but set Appearance = Button, that way it looks exactly like a button can remains in the "pressed" state when clicked.
To shift between content, put each of your sub-forms into their own UserControl instances, then host them within a Panel control, then switch the .Visibility property of each sub-form according to which CheckBox was clicked.

Answer 2

There is an Outlook-style side bar available on Code Project. It has a VB version as well as C# and although it's knocking on a bit now, you could always adapt this to look a bit nicer. I have used it in the past and it worked pretty well as I recall.

Answer 3

You can set the selected tab via tabAdmin.SelectedIndex = 0 (or 1, 2, etc, but remember it is 0 based)
You may also set the tab by the tab's name via tabAdmin.SelectedTab = TabName

Answer 4

Use a common click event handler for the buttons. Store the relevant tabindex in the Tag property of the buttons. Then tabAdmin.SelectedIndex equals the tag of the clicked button cast as integer.