WPF - Bug allowing multiple selection in a radiobutton group - wpf

I have multiple ratio buttons in itemscontrols and datatemplates binded to database data in a MVVM / prism application. Each group of radio buttons is grouped with a name accordingly so that they are seprate groups.
The problem I'm having (and goes against convention of radio buttons) is that you can select multiple options within the group. Not all options allow multiple selection. Some behave as they should others do not. On inspection through snoop all radio buttons are part of the same group but with multiple buttons reporting true to IsChecked.
Any ideas?
Thanks
EDIT - Code
XAML
<StackPanel Grid.Column="0" Margin="10,0,0,10">
<TextBlock Margin="5,5,0,5"
FontSize="16"
FontWeight="Bold"
Foreground="{Binding Path=ThemeBackground}"
Text="From" />
<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding Path=InternetItems}">
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<RadioButton Margin="5"
Content="{Binding Path=Title}"
GroupName="InternetFrom"
IsChecked="{Binding Path=IsSelected}"
IsEnabled="{Binding Path=IsEnabled}" />
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
</ItemsControl>
</StackPanel>
View Model
public ObservableCollection<Item> InternetItems
{
get
{
return
new ObservableCollection<Item>(
_items.Where(x => x.Category == Category.InternetFrom).OrderBy(x => x.DisplayOrder));
}
}
Edit -
Problem resolved. Code behind was initiating a new observable collection each time a radio button was selected leading to multiple datacontexts regardless of the groupnames of the radio buttons being the same

RadioButton controls are mutually excusive if they share the same container (e.g. anything derives from Panel, or ContentControl). In your case, each item generated in your ItemsControl is a separate container thus the buttons are not automatically mutually exclusive.
For example:
If your ItemsControl is setup like this, the buttons are mutually exclusive:
<ItemsControl>
<RadioButton Content="1" />
<RadioButton Content="2" />
<RadioButton Content="3" />
<RadioButton Content="4" />
</ItemsControl>
But this is not:
<ItemsControl>
<Grid>
<RadioButton Content="1" />
</Grid>
<Grid>
<RadioButton Content="2" />
</Grid>
<Grid>
<RadioButton Content="3" />
</Grid>
<Grid>
<RadioButton Content="4" />
</Grid>
</ItemsControl>
As Dean said, assigning the same GroupName property will solve your problem.
<ItemsControl>
<Grid>
<RadioButton Content="1"
GroupName="Group1" />
</Grid>
<Grid>
<RadioButton Content="2"
GroupName="Group1" />
</Grid>
<Grid>
<RadioButton Content="3"
GroupName="Group1" />
</Grid>
<Grid>
<RadioButton Content="4"
GroupName="Group1" />
</Grid>
</ItemsControl>
Edit
If you have multiple ItemsControls, you can simply set a different GroupName for RadioButtons in each ItemsControl. An in-scope default style comes in handy in this case:
<StackPanel>
<ItemsControl>
<ItemsControl.Resources>
<Style TargetType="{x:Type RadioButton}">
<Setter Property="GroupName"
Value="Group1" />
</Style>
</ItemsControl.Resources>
<Grid>
<RadioButton Content="1" />
</Grid>
<Grid>
<RadioButton Content="2" />
</Grid>
<Grid>
<RadioButton Content="3" />
</Grid>
<Grid>
<RadioButton Content="4" />
</Grid>
</ItemsControl>
<ItemsControl>
<ItemsControl.Resources>
<Style TargetType="{x:Type RadioButton}">
<Setter Property="GroupName"
Value="Group2" />
</Style>
</ItemsControl.Resources>
<Grid>
<RadioButton Content="1" />
</Grid>
<Grid>
<RadioButton Content="2" />
</Grid>
<Grid>
<RadioButton Content="3" />
</Grid>
<Grid>
<RadioButton Content="4" />
</Grid>
</ItemsControl>
</StackPanel>

You're doing something wrong, RadioButtons within a same group are mutually exclusive. If you use GroupName Property to assign two or more RadioButtons to a group you will be able to select only one RadioButton from that group.
RadioButton.GroupName Property
Gets or sets the name that specifies which RadioButton controls are
mutually exclusive.
The user can choose one RadioButton in each group.
Do you really think you discovered such a fundamental bug in the .NET Framework that no one reported yet and was not fixed already?

Related

Vertical alignment of ContentControl in styled ListBox

I am using this answer to style a ListBox as RadioButton in order to simplify my MVVM code by driving the selection of the checked radio button via an enum - rather than having a bunch of bools that I have to manually map back and forth to the enum.
This works really well when the ListBoxItem content is a simple line of text. The radio button aligns with the text and all is happy. But when I change the content to be a UserControl, the radio button for that choice gets rendered at the vertical mid-point of the UserControl rather than at the top (where I want it).
Here is some code and an image that better explains what I am trying to do (Note that a bunch of stuff has been left out for clarity):
The UserControl that I am inserting as content into one of the choices
<UserControl x:Class="TestCtl">
<StackPanel Orientation="Vertical" >
<Label Margin="-5,0,0,0" Content="Choice #2"/>
<CheckBox Margin="10,0,0,5">Option 1</CheckBox>
<CheckBox Margin="10,0,0,5">Option 2</CheckBox>
<CheckBox Margin="10,0,0,0">Option 3</CheckBox>
</StackPanel>
</UserControl>
The ListBox (with the aforementioned style defined elsewhere)
<StackPanel Orientation="Vertical">
<ListBox SelectedValuePath="Tag"
Style="{StaticResource RadioButtonList}"
SelectedValue="{Binding Blah Blah"}>
<ListBoxItem Tag="Choice1" Content="Choice #1" />
<ListBoxItem Tag="Choice2">
<ContentControl>
<subf:TestCtl />
</ContentControl>
</ListBoxItem>
<ListBoxItem Tag="Choice3" Content="Choice #3"/>
<ListBoxItem Tag="Choice4" Content="Choice #4" />
</ListBox>
<ComboBox blah blah/>
</StackPanel>
What it looks like when rendered:
I have tried setting both the VerticalAlignment and VerticalContentAlignment as well as playing with Margin and Padding in every location I can think of in both my xaml code and the style that I linked to, but no matter what I set I can't get the radio button and user control to align at their tops.
Is there anyway to achieve what I want by modifying either the style I am using or my code? Or am I just flat out doing this wrong?
In the RabioButtonList style change this:
<Setter Property="ItemContainerStyle">
<Setter.Value>
<Style TargetType="{x:Type ListBoxItem}" >
<Setter Property="Margin" Value="5" />
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type ListBoxItem}">
<Border BorderThickness="0" Background="Transparent">
<!-- CHANGE THIS -->
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<RadioButton
Focusable="False"
IsHitTestVisible="False"
IsChecked="{TemplateBinding IsSelected}"/>
<ContentPresenter />
</StackPanel>
<!------------------>
</Border>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
In the user control set the label Padding to 5,0,0,0 (Thanks to mm8)
<StackPanel Orientation="Vertical" >
<Label Margin="-5,0,0,0" Content="Choice #2" Padding="5,0,0,0"/>
<CheckBox Margin="10,0,0,5">Option 1</CheckBox>
<CheckBox Margin="10,0,0,5">Option 2</CheckBox>
<CheckBox Margin="10,0,0,0">Option 3</CheckBox>
</StackPanel>
Set the Padding of the Label to 0:
<ListBoxItem Tag="Choice1" Content="Choice #1" />
<ListBoxItem Tag="Choice2">
<UserControl>
<StackPanel Orientation="Vertical" >
<Label Content="Choice #2" Padding="0"/>
<CheckBox Margin="10,0,0,5">Option 1</CheckBox>
<CheckBox Margin="10,0,0,5">Option 2</CheckBox>
<CheckBox Margin="10,0,0,0">Option 3</CheckBox>
</StackPanel>
</UserControl>
</ListBoxItem>
<ListBoxItem Tag="Choice3" Content="Choice #3"/>
<ListBoxItem Tag="Choice4" Content="Choice #4" />
This should fix the vertical alignment issue. But you shouldn't have to use a ListBox in the first place to be able to bind a RadioButton to a single source property:
WPF + MVVM + RadioButton : Handle binding with single property

RibbonCheckBox alignment in a RibbonGroup

<RibbonWindow x:Class="xxx.yyy"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
...
<Ribbon x:Name="mainRibbon" Grid.Row="0" >
...
<RibbonTab Name="ComparisonTab" HorizontalContentAlignment="Left" Header="Comparison" >
<!--<StackPanel Orientation="Vertical" HorizontalAlignment="Left">-->
<RibbonGroup HorizontalContentAlignment="Left" Header="Images" >
<RibbonCheckBox HorizontalAlignment="Left" Width="200" IsChecked="{Binding CompInfo1Check}" Label="{Binding CompInfo1Text}" />
<RibbonCheckBox HorizontalAlignment="Left" Width="200" IsChecked="{Binding CompInfo2Check}" Label="{Binding CompInfo2Text}" />
<RibbonCheckBox HorizontalAlignment="Left" Width="200" IsChecked="{Binding CompInfo3Check}" Label="{Binding CompInfo3Text}" />
</RibbonGroup>
<!--</StackPanel>-->
</RibbonTab>
I have some checkboxes with a dynamic text (labels) and I want to have them left aligned within a ribbon group.
I've tried every imaginable combination of Horizontal(Content)Alignment on them and on their parents. I tried to put them into a container (StackPanel, Grid). I even tried to set a label as a separate element.
The checkboxes stubbornly remain centered within a ribbon group. How do I align them horizontally to the left?
I've found a workaround in using standard check boxes inside a ribbon. There is no problem with their alignment. They could be styled to look as the ribbon check boxes, if required.
So, the modified xaml is:
<RibbonTab Name="ComparisonTab" HorizontalContentAlignment="Left" Header="Comparison" >
<RibbonGroup Header="Images" >
<StackPanel Orientation="Vertical" HorizontalAlignment="Left">
<CheckBox Height="25" IsChecked="{Binding CompInfo1Check}" Content="{Binding CompInfo1Text}" />
<CheckBox Height="25" IsChecked="{Binding CompInfo2Check}" Content="{Binding CompInfo2Text}" />
<CheckBox Height="25" IsChecked="{Binding CompInfo3Check}" Content="{Binding CompInfo3Text}" />
</StackPanel>
</RibbonGroup>
</RibbonTab>
EDIT
Probably a better way is to use a grid, RibbonCheckBox without a label and a TextBlock instead.
Explained here.

Datagrid inside of MahApps.Metro Flyout

I am trying to create a flyout for settings using MahApps.Metro inside of a MetroWindow control using WPF. I have created the flyout and have several other radio buttons and seperators. I am now adding a datagrid to hold a list of StockSymbols used as a watch list for my application. What I am having trouble with is properly setting the datagrid so that it does not autogrow past the size of the flyout. If you add rows to the datagrid you can keep adding until it flows offscreen ouside of the window. I would like to do it so that I don't have to manually set the max Height and for it to dynamically grow as the window grows.
Here is my current code for the flyout:
<Controls:MetroWindow.Flyouts>
<Controls:Flyout Header="Settings"
Background="#9f000000"
Position="Right"
IsOpen="{Binding IsSettingsFlyoutOpen}">
<DockPanel HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"
VerticalAlignment="Stretch">
<StackPanel Orientation="Vertical"
VerticalAlignment="Top"
HorizontalAlignment="Center"
Margin="20,0"
DockPanel.Dock="Top">
<Label Content="Theme"
Style="{StaticResource DescriptionHeaderStyle}" />
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<RadioButton Content="Dark"
Margin="0,0,5,0"
IsChecked="True"
Checked="ThemeDark" />
<RadioButton Content="Light"
Margin="0,0,5,0"
Checked="ThemeLight" />
</StackPanel>
<Separator Margin="0,10,0,10" />
<Label Content="Accent"
Style="{StaticResource DescriptionHeaderStyle}" />
<StackPanel Orientation="Vertical">
<RadioButton Content="Black"
Margin="0,5,0,0" />
<RadioButton Content="Blue"
Margin="0,5,0,0"
Checked="AccentBlue" />
<RadioButton Content="Red"
Margin="0,5,0,0"
Checked="AccentRed" />
<RadioButton Content="Green"
Margin="0,5,0,0"
Checked="AccentGreen" />
<RadioButton Content="Orange"
Margin="0,5,0,0"
IsChecked="True"
Checked="AccentOrange" />
<RadioButton Content="Purple"
Margin="0,5,0,0"
Checked="AccentPurple" />
</StackPanel>
<Separator Margin="0,10,0,10" />
</StackPanel>
<StackPanel Orientation="Vertical"
Height="Auto"
VerticalAlignment="Top"
DockPanel.Dock="Bottom"
Margin="20,0">
<Label Content="Watch List"
Style="{StaticResource DescriptionHeaderStyle}" />
<DataGrid ItemsSource="{Binding WatchList}"
AutoGenerateColumns="False"
CanUserResizeRows="False"
CanUserReorderColumns="False"
HeadersVisibility="Column">
<DataGrid.Columns>
<DataGridTextColumn Header="Symbol"
Binding="{Binding Symbol}" />
<DataGridTextColumn Header="Name"
Binding="{Binding Name}" />
</DataGrid.Columns>
</DataGrid>
</StackPanel>
</DockPanel>
</Controls:Flyout>
</Controls:MetroWindow.Flyouts>
Any and all help is appreciated.
I solved this question by using only a Dock Panel to hold all the controls inside the Flyout. The all controls but the data grid should be set to top docking and no docking set on the datagrid. This then auto sizes the datagrid to fill the remaining space and no more.
I had the same problem.
I solved this issue setting the Flyout size.
I think the problem occurs when WPF render the grid and the Flyout size is smaller than grid size.
anyway, our Flyout was dynamic, I had to create a Converter to get its size and set my child control to same width

Color a WPF ListBox item based on a property

I have an observable collection of Song objects. These song objects have a property called "Playing" that is a bool (bad naming, I know). The songs display in a ListBox in my application. I want the song that is Playing to be colored red. I have been working with triggers all day trying to make this work. So far, I have gotten to the point where they are colored based on what Playing is set to when the song is added to the list. Is it possible to make it change when the Playing property changes?
Here is my XAML:
<Window x:Class="MusicPlayer.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" xmlns:MusicPlayer="clr-namespace:MusicPlayer" Title="Music" Height="350" Width="525" Name="Main">
<Grid>
<ListBox HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" Name="Playlist" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Margin="0,23,0,79" MouseDoubleClick="Playlist_MouseDoubleClick">
<ListBox.Resources>
<Style TargetType="ListBoxItem">
<Style.Triggers>
<DataTrigger Binding="{Binding Path=Playing}" Value="True">
<Setter Property="Background" Value="Red" />
</DataTrigger>
</Style.Triggers>
</Style>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type MusicPlayer:Song}">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Title}"/>
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.Resources>
</ListBox>
<Button Content="Play" Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Margin="0,0,330,20" Name="PlayButton" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" Width="75" Click="PlayButton_Click" />
<Button Content="Stop" Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Margin="0,0,165,20" Name="stopButton" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" Width="75" Click="stopButton_Click" />
<Button Content="Next" Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Margin="165,0,0,20" Name="nextButton" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" Width="75" Click="nextButton_Click" />
<Button Content="Add Songs..." Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Margin="330,0,0,20" Name="AddButton" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" Width="75" Click="AddButton_Click" />
<Button Content="Previous" Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Margin="0,0,0,20" Name="PreviousButton" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" Width="75" Click="PreviousButton_Click" />
<Button Content="Pause" Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Margin="0,0,330,20" Name="PauseButton" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" Width="75" Visibility="Hidden" Click="PauseButton_Click" />
<Menu Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" Name="menu1" VerticalAlignment="Top">
<MenuItem Header="File">
<MenuItem Header="Quit" Click="MenuItem_Click" />
</MenuItem>
</Menu>
<Slider Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" Margin="10,0,10,50" Name="ProgressBar" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" />
</Grid>
</Window>
Edit:
After implementign INotifyPropertyChanged, The color will change to red using either the above or below XAML. Now, it won't change back white using either method. I am also having a problem where my Play method will not change the background color to red, but my next method will. Here is my code: http://pastebin.com/EMTUpTin http://pastebin.com/LuK78zGp
Here is my new XAML:
<Window x:Class="MusicPlayer.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" xmlns:MusicPlayer="clr-namespace:MusicPlayer" Title="Music" Height="350" Width="525" Name="Main">
<Grid>
<ListBox HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" Name="Playlist" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Margin="0,23,0,79" MouseDoubleClick="Playlist_MouseDoubleClick">
<ListBox.Resources>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type MusicPlayer:Song}">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Title}">
<TextBlock.Background>
<SolidColorBrush Color="{Binding BackgroundColor}"/>
</TextBlock.Background>
</TextBlock>
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.Resources>
</ListBox>
<Button Content="Play" Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Margin="0,0,330,20" Name="PlayButton" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" Width="75" Click="PlayButton_Click" />
<Button Content="Stop" Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Margin="0,0,165,20" Name="stopButton" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" Width="75" Click="stopButton_Click" />
<Button Content="Next" Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Margin="165,0,0,20" Name="nextButton" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" Width="75" Click="nextButton_Click" />
<Button Content="Add Songs..." Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Margin="330,0,0,20" Name="AddButton" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" Width="75" Click="AddButton_Click" />
<Button Content="Previous" Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Margin="0,0,0,20" Name="PreviousButton" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" Width="75" Click="PreviousButton_Click" />
<Button Content="Pause" Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Margin="0,0,330,20" Name="PauseButton" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" Width="75" Visibility="Hidden" Click="PauseButton_Click" />
<Menu Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" Name="menu1" VerticalAlignment="Top">
<MenuItem Header="File">
<MenuItem Header="Quit" Click="MenuItem_Click" />
</MenuItem>
</Menu>
<Slider Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" Margin="10,0,10,50" Name="ProgressBar" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" />
</Grid>
</Window>
Edit 2:
I just noticed I am having another problem. If I highlight one of the items with a white background, the text is invisible. How do I fix this?
Edit 3:
Fixed this problem by setting the background to Colors.Transparent instead of Colors.White.
In order to have it change back, wouldn't you also have to implement a trigger for when Playing is False? Like so:
<ListBox HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" Name="Playlist" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Margin="0,23,0,79" MouseDoubleClick="Playlist_MouseDoubleClick">
<ListBox.Resources>
<Style TargetType="ListBoxItem">
<Style.Triggers>
<DataTrigger Binding="{Binding Path=Playing}" Value="True">
<Setter Property="Background" Value="Red" />
</DataTrigger>
<DataTrigger Binding="{Binding Path=Playing}" Value="False">
<Setter Property="Background" Value="White" />
</DataTrigger>
</Style.Triggers>
</Style>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type MusicPlayer:Song}">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Title}"/>
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.Resources>
This seems like the simplest solution to me. Of course you can change Value="White" to whatever color you need.
Does your object with the Playing property implement INotifyPropertyChanged ? If it does, then your UI should auto-update based on the DataTrigger approach you are using.
Another approach is to use ViewModels instead of Triggers (easier to understand and work with - when things don't go as expected) An example
Update:
Just looked at your code snippets. One thing I found - you need to trigger the event after you've applied the new value.
public Color BackgroundColor
{
get { return _backgroundColor; }
set
{
_backgroundColor = value;
NotifyPropertyChanged("BackgroundColor"); // must be after so that new value is readable by the GUI
}
}
Also the dataTemplate must be applied to the ItemTemplate property of the listbox
<ListBox.ItemTemplate> <!-- not Resources property -->
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type MusicPlayer:Song}">
I basically changed the snippet from the example that I posted to use your song class and then modified the button click to toggle between 2 colors. (Also turned ListView into ListBox)
private bool _isGreen = false;
private void Button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
foreach (var item in Items)
item.BackgroundColor = (_isGreen ? Colors.Cyan : Colors.PaleGreen );
_isGreen = !_isGreen;
}
My listboxes change color on every click! :)

Why does this WPF button stretch across the window?

The button below always expands to be as wide as the TextBlock. I've tried StackPanel, DockPanel, Width="Auto", etc.
How can I make the button expand to the size of its own text (as in HTML) and not to the size of text in its environement?
<DockPanel HorizontalAlignment="Left">
<Button x:Name="ButtonFavorite"
DockPanel.Dock="Top"
Content="Customers"
Margin="10"
Width="Auto"
Click="ButtonFavorite_Click">
</Button>
<TextBlock DockPanel.Dock="Top" Text="this is a long text which makes the button stretch across the window, if this text is just a couple words, the button will be smaller, and this drives me up the wall" Margin="10" TextWrapping="Wrap" />
</DockPanel>
ANSWER:
Thanks Greg, that did it. Here is the full XAML that works now, you can right-click the button to change its Content so see that the button expands and contracts appropriately.
<Window x:Class="Test3784234.Window1"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="Window1" Height="300" Width="300">
<DockPanel HorizontalAlignment="Left">
<StackPanel DockPanel.Dock="Top" Orientation="Horizontal" >
<Button x:Name="ButtonFavorite"
Padding="5"
Cursor="Hand"
DockPanel.Dock="Top"
Content="Customers"
Margin="10"
Click="ButtonFavorite_Click">
<Button.ContextMenu>
<ContextMenu>
<MenuItem x:Name="menuItemReports" Header="Reports" Click="MenuItem_Click" />
<MenuItem x:Name="menuItemContracts" Header="Contracts" Click="MenuItem_Click"/>
<MenuItem x:Name="menuItemCustomers" Header="Customers" Click="MenuItem_Click" />
<MenuItem x:Name="menuItemDocumentation" Header="Documentation Creation Instructions" Click="MenuItem_Click" />
<MenuItem x:Name="menuItemEmail" Header="E-Mail" Click="MenuItem_Click" />
</ContextMenu>
</Button.ContextMenu>
</Button>
</StackPanel>
<TextBlock x:Name="TheMessage" DockPanel.Dock="Top" Text="Right-click the 'favorites' button to change its function." Margin="10" TextWrapping="Wrap"/>
</DockPanel>
</Window>
All you need to do is set the HorizontalAlignment property on your button. It defaults to stretch therefore filling the available space.
<Button x:Name="ButtonFavorite"
HorizontalAlignment="Left"
Content="Customers"
Margin="10"
Width="Auto"
Click="ButtonFavorite_Click">
Regarding your annoyance at the sizing of buttons, this is something that seems to be targeted at the designer in the designer/developer workflow, while you're clearly working on the developer portion. For the sake of development, I always apply a few styles in my App.xaml to ensure somewhat better button sizing. For example, in the application tag in your app.xaml file:
<Application.Resources>
<Style TargetType="Button">
<Setter Property="MinWidth" Value="60" />
<Setter Property="MinHeight" Value="23" />
<Setter Property="Margin" Value="3" />
</Style>
</Application.Resources>
Regarding your actual question:
The problem is that your DockPanel is stretching to the width of the text and the button will naturally expand to fill the available area. If you want the quick and dirty solution you can do something like:
<DockPanel HorizontalAlignment="Left">
<Button x:Name="ButtonFavorite"
DockPanel.Dock="Top"
Content="Customers"
Margin="10"
Width="Auto"
MaxWidth="100"
Click="ButtonFavorite_Click">
</Button>
</DockPanel>
Note the MaxWidth. If you want a more composable result, isolate your button in another panel. (I'm using a stackpanel because I believe someone else already used a grid in their example):
<DockPanel HorizontalAlignment="Left">
<StackPanel DockPanel.Dock="Top" Orientation="Horizontal">
<Button x:Name="ButtonFavorite"
Content="Customers"
Margin="10"
Width="Auto"
Click="ButtonFavorite_Click" />
</StackPanel>
<TextBlock DockPanel.Dock="Top" Text="this is a long text which makes the button stretch across the window, if this text is just a couple words, the button will be smaller, and this drives me up the wall" Margin="10" TextWrapping="Wrap" />
</DockPanel>
I like the StackPanel in this case because I find myself using it to create the horizontal "bar" of buttons along the bottom of a Form- err- Window in the right corner.
You could try isolating the button from the main panel by putting it in another panel.
<DockPanel HorizontalAlignment="Left">
<Grid DockPanel.Dock="Top">
<Button x:Name="ButtonFavorite"
Content="Customers"
Margin="10"
Width="Auto"
Click="ButtonFavorite_Click">
</Button>
</Grid>
<TextBlock DockPanel.Dock="Top" Text="this is a long text which makes the button stretch across the window, if this text is just a couple words, the button will be smaller, and this drives me up the wall" Margin="10" TextWrapping="Wrap" />
</DockPanel>
Can you place them in a two column Grid with the button spanning just one column and the text spanning two columns?
Here's an example using a Grid layout versus a DockPanel. The idea is to have 2 columns and 2 rows. Put the Button it a single cell and make that row/column pair auto-sizing. Then put the TextBox into the second row and have it span both of the columns. This will essentially make the top-right cell just filler space and will achieve the behavior you're looking for.
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition />
<RowDefinition />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Button
x:Name="ButtonFavorite"
Grid.Column="0"
Grid.Row="0"
Content="Customers"
Margin="10"
Width="Auto"
Click="ButtonFavorite_Click">
</Button>
<TextBlock
Grid.Column="0"
Grid.ColumnSpan="2"
Grid.Row="1"
Margin="10"
TextWrapping="Wrap"
Text="this is a long text which makes the button stretch across the window, if this text is just a couple words, the button will be smaller, and this drives me up the wall" />
</Grid>
As another method to do this: You could change the button's template so it's essentially wrapped in a centered StackPanel. Something like this:
<Button Content="Back">
<Button.Template>
<ControlTemplate>
<StackPanel HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center">
<Button Content="{TemplateBinding Content}"></Button>
</StackPanel>
</ControlTemplate>
</Button.Template>
</Button>
Or you could add a style to app.xaml (or any other place where you're storing your global styles) like this:
<Style TargetType="{x:Type Button}">
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate>
<StackPanel HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center">
<Button Style="{x:Null}" Content="{Binding Path=Content, RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type Button}} }" FontWeight="Bold" Padding="5"></Button>
</StackPanel>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
Note that it's important to include the Style="{x:Null}" attribute on the button within the template if adding to the global styles, otherwise you'll get an infinite loop when it comes to rendering the button.

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