C# Dynamically add ToolStripMenueItems to MenuStrip

Question

I was wondering if SO could help simplify some logic. I have a windows form (C# 2.0) which contains a System.Windows.Forms.MenuStrip.

1. I want to dynamically add ToolStripMenueItems to the MenuStrip. The added items will be driven off of a database (but for simplicity I have removed that part from the code below).
2. I would like to be able to build complex menus (i.e Tools>Math>Calc, Help>Documents, Help>About, Format>Encoding>Western, Format>Encoding>Other>Greek).

The code below seems to work but what would you do to make loadToolbars() more efficient/simpler?

This is the function I need help with:

void loadToolbars()
{
    foreach(Toolbar t in getToolStripItems())
    {
        string[] toolPath = t.toolbar.Split(">".ToCharArray(),StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
        ToolStripMenuItem root = null;
        ToolStripItem[] foundItems;

        /*
         * follow the path of each Toolbar item.  If we find a dead-end,
         * add the missing part
         */
        for(int i=0; i<toolPath.Length; i++)
        {
            if(root == null)
            {
                //Search the main menu strip (System.Windows.Forms.MenuStrip)
                foundItems = DA_Menu.Items.Find(toolPath[i],false);
            }else
            {
                //Continue searching were we left off
                foundItems = root.DropDownItems.Find(toolPath[i],false);
            }

            if(foundItems.Length>0)
            {
                foreach(ToolStripItem item in foundItems)
                {
                    //Is this the Toolbar item I am looking for?
                    if(item.Text == toolPath[i])
                    {
                        if(item.OwnerItem != null && i>0)
                        {
                            if((item.OwnerItem.Text == toolPath[i-1]) 
                                && (item.Text == toolPath[i]))
                                root = (ToolStripMenuItem)item;
                        }else
                        {
                            root = (ToolStripMenuItem)item;
                        }
                    }
                }
            }else
            {
                //We hit a dead-end.  Add the missing path
                if(root == null)
                {
                    root = new ToolStripMenuItem(toolPath[i]);
                    root.Name = toolPath[i];
                    DA_Menu.Items.Add(root);
                }else
                {
                    ToolStripMenuItem tsmi = new ToolStripMenuItem(toolPath[i]);
                    tsmi.Name = toolPath[i];
                    root.DropDownItems.Add(tsmi);
                    root = tsmi;
                }
            }
        }

        //Add the Toobar item to the path that was built above
        t.Click +=new EventHandler(Toolbar_Click);
        ((ToolStripMenuItem)root).DropDownItems.Add(t);
    }
}

Everthing below, I am happy with but I am providing it to help others follow what I am doing.

This function is data driven but hard coded for the benefit of SO

private List<Toolbar> getToolStripItems()
{
   List<Toolbar>toolbars = new List<Toolbar>();

   Toolbar t = new Toolbar();
   t.Text = "Calc";
   t.path = "c:\windows\system32\calc.exe";
   t.toolbar = "Tools>Microsoft>Math";

   toolbars.Add(t);

   t = new Toolbar()
   t.Text = "Calc2";
   t.path = "c:\windows\system32\calc.exe";
   t.toolbar = "Tools>Math>Microsoft";

   toolbars.Add(t);

   return toolbars;
}

Custom class to help keep my click events simple

class Toolbar:ToolStripMenuItem
{
    public string path;
    public string toolbar;
    public Toolbar()
    {
        /*
         * Set the name to the Text value
         * so that it can be found in collection
         * by key
         */
        base.Name = Text;
    }
}

All Toolbar item Click events will be handled in this function

void Toolbar_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    //Get the Toolbar item that was clicked
    Toolbar t = (Toolbar)sender;

    //Start new process
    System.Diagnostics.Process p = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
    p.StartInfo.FileName = t.path;
    p.Start();
}

Answer 1

The problem is the form that your data is in. If you stick to that form I don't think there is much to do.

Otherwise change your data from a flat field structure like "Tools>Microsoft>Math" to something like a TreeList e.g. a Tools list including a Microsoft list including a Math list including your app entries. You could even build that structure in the database.

Then you can easily add the menu items recursively.