Setting ToolStripDropDown.DropShadowEnabled to false on multi level dropdowns - winforms

I want to disable the dropdown shadow on the dropdown of a ToolStripDropDownButton. If the dropdown menu contains items that have dropdowns themselves (e.g. multi-level menu) then setting the DropShadowEnabled to false on the ToolStripDropDownButton causes the top level dropdown to appear at the wrong position. See attached picture.
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
toolStripDropDownButton1.DropDown.DropShadowEnabled = false;
}
}
partial class Form1
{
/// <summary>
/// Required designer variable.
/// </summary>
private System.ComponentModel.IContainer components = null;
/// <summary>
/// Clean up any resources being used.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="disposing">true if managed resources should be disposed; otherwise, false.</param>
protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
{
if (disposing && (components != null))
{
components.Dispose();
}
base.Dispose(disposing);
}
#region Windows Form Designer generated code
/// <summary>
/// Required method for Designer support - do not modify
/// the contents of this method with the code editor.
/// </summary>
private void InitializeComponent()
{
System.ComponentModel.ComponentResourceManager resources = new System.ComponentModel.ComponentResourceManager(typeof(Form1));
this.toolStrip1 = new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStrip();
this.toolStripDropDownButton1 = new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripDropDownButton();
this.item1ToolStripMenuItem = new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem();
this.subitem1ToolStripMenuItem = new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem();
this.toolStrip1.SuspendLayout();
this.SuspendLayout();
//
// toolStrip1
//
this.toolStrip1.Items.AddRange(new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem[] {
this.toolStripDropDownButton1});
this.toolStrip1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(0, 0);
this.toolStrip1.Name = "toolStrip1";
this.toolStrip1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(292, 25);
this.toolStrip1.TabIndex = 0;
this.toolStrip1.Text = "toolStrip1";
//
// toolStripDropDownButton1
//
this.toolStripDropDownButton1.DisplayStyle = System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItemDisplayStyle.Image;
this.toolStripDropDownButton1.DropDownItems.AddRange(new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem[] {
this.item1ToolStripMenuItem});
this.toolStripDropDownButton1.Image = ((System.Drawing.Image)(resources.GetObject("toolStripDropDownButton1.Image")));
this.toolStripDropDownButton1.ImageTransparentColor = System.Drawing.Color.Magenta;
this.toolStripDropDownButton1.Name = "toolStripDropDownButton1";
this.toolStripDropDownButton1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(29, 22);
this.toolStripDropDownButton1.Text = "toolStripDropDownButton1";
//
// item1ToolStripMenuItem
//
this.item1ToolStripMenuItem.DropDownItems.AddRange(new System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem[] {
this.subitem1ToolStripMenuItem});
this.item1ToolStripMenuItem.Name = "item1ToolStripMenuItem";
this.item1ToolStripMenuItem.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(152, 22);
this.item1ToolStripMenuItem.Text = "item1";
//
// subitem1ToolStripMenuItem
//
this.subitem1ToolStripMenuItem.Name = "subitem1ToolStripMenuItem";
this.subitem1ToolStripMenuItem.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(152, 22);
this.subitem1ToolStripMenuItem.Text = "subitem1";
//
// Form1
//
this.AutoScaleDimensions = new System.Drawing.SizeF(6F, 13F);
this.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Font;
this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(292, 273);
this.Controls.Add(this.toolStrip1);
this.Name = "Form1";
this.Text = "Form1";
this.toolStrip1.ResumeLayout(false);
this.toolStrip1.PerformLayout();
this.ResumeLayout(false);
this.PerformLayout();
}
#endregion
private System.Windows.Forms.ToolStrip toolStrip1;
private System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripDropDownButton toolStripDropDownButton1;
private System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem item1ToolStripMenuItem;
private System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem subitem1ToolStripMenuItem;
}

This is very typical lossage in the ToolStripItem classes. Clearly it is a bug, it probably got introduced when they applied a hack to work around a Windows problem. You can still see the internal bug number in the Reference Source:
public bool DropShadowEnabled {
get {
// VSWhidbey 338272 - DropShadows are only supported on TopMost windows
// due to the flakeyness of the way it's implemented in the OS. (Non toplevel
// windows can have parts of the shadow disappear because another window can get
// sandwiched between the SysShadow window and the dropdown.)
return dropShadowEnabled && TopMost && DisplayInformation.IsDropShadowEnabled;
}
set { // etc... }
}
But without a corresponding fix in the setter and the renderer.
The flakeyness they mentioned actually got fixed in Vista, you are still running on XP so you can't see it. Drop shadows are done differently on the Aero desktop and it is a system setting whether or not they are enabled. So using the property is entirely ineffective on Aero.
These ToolStripItem class bugs didn't get fixed after the .NET 2.0 release, about the entire Winforms team moved over to the WPF group. And they are certainly not getting fixed now, no point filing a bug at connect.microsoft.com although you are free to do so.
With the added wrinkle that the property just cannot have an effect anymore on later versions of Windows since it is now a system setting, the only logical thing to do here is to throw in the towel. Don't change the property.

Related

C++ form unresponsive on start

i'm working on my first C++ project that requires a form and I've seemed to have gone in way over my head. largely I believe my issue has to do with that I'm not multi threading my form, but I'm unsure of the proper implementation. I was hoping someone could point out to me exactly where I've gone and made myself look like a muppet. (warning for the feint of heart, I used global variables to quickly create a proof of concept, once I have everything working more or less correctly I'll go back and properly protect everything)
*edit: I guess to clarify, it looks like the issue is that i execute everything in the main thread, its is possible to create a single new thread for the entire form or do i need to create a new thread for each individual control on the form?
Winmain.cpp
main function where I initialize the form and update the information on the form / refresh the form.
int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE hPrevInstance, LPSTR lpCmdLine, int nShowCmd)
{
using namespace Interface;
cooldowns ^ CDwin = gcnew cooldowns;
CDwin->Show();
CDwin->Location = Point(0,0);
while (true)
{
CDwin->timer1->Text = timer1Duration.ToString();
CDwin->timer1Progress->Value = timer1Value;
CDwin->timer1->Refresh();
CDwin->timer1Progress->Refresh();
//collect info to populate CDwin values for next cycle
//something tells me this sleep could be part of the problem?
Sleep(50);
}
}
form.h
#pragma once
namespace Interface {
using namespace System;
using namespace System::ComponentModel;
using namespace System::Collections;
using namespace System::Windows::Forms;
using namespace System::Data;
using namespace System::Drawing;
using namespace System::Threading;
/// <summary>
/// Summary for cooldowns
/// </summary>
public ref class cooldowns : public System::Windows::Forms::Form
{
public:
cooldowns(void)
{
InitializeComponent();
//
//TODO: Add the constructor code here
//
}
protected:
/// <summary>
/// Clean up any resources being used.
/// </summary>
~cooldowns()
{
if (components)
{
delete components;
}
}
public: System::Windows::Forms::ProgressBar^ timer1Progress;
protected:
public: System::Windows::Forms::Label^ timer1;
private:
/// <summary>
/// Required designer variable.
/// </summary>
System::ComponentModel::Container ^components;
#pragma region Windows Form Designer generated code
/// <summary>
/// Required method for Designer support - do not modify
/// the contents of this method with the code editor.
/// </summary>
void InitializeComponent(void)
{
this->timer1Progress = (gcnew System::Windows::Forms::ProgressBar());
this->timer1 = (gcnew System::Windows::Forms::Label());
this->SuspendLayout();
//
// timer1Progress
//
this->timer1Progress->ForeColor = System::Drawing::Color::Fuchsia;
this->timer1Progress->Location = System::Drawing::Point(3, 12);
this->timer1Progress->Maximum = 30000;
this->timer1Progress->Name = L"timer1Progress";
this->timer1Progress->Size = System::Drawing::Size(244, 18);
this->timer1Progress->Style = System::Windows::Forms::ProgressBarStyle::Continuous;
this->timer1Progress->TabIndex = 0;
this->timer1Progress->Value = 10000;
//
//timer1
//
this->timer1->AutoSize = true;
this->timer1->ForeColor = System::Drawing::Color::White;
this->timer1->Location = System::Drawing::Point(253, 108);
this->timer1->Name = L"Timer1";
this->timer1->Size = System::Drawing::Size(34, 13);
this->timer1->TabIndex = 9;
this->timer1->Text = L"00.00";
//
// cooldowns
//
this->AutoScaleDimensions = System::Drawing::SizeF(6, 13);
this->AutoScaleMode = System::Windows::Forms::AutoScaleMode::Font;
this->BackColor = System::Drawing::Color::FromArgb(static_cast<System::Int32>(static_cast<System::Byte>(64)), static_cast<System::Int32>(static_cast<System::Byte>(64)),
static_cast<System::Int32>(static_cast<System::Byte>(64)));
this->ClientSize = System::Drawing::Size(294, 138);
this->Controls->Add(this->Timer1);;
this->Controls->Add(this->timer1Progress);
this->FormBorderStyle = System::Windows::Forms::FormBorderStyle::None;
this->Name = L"cooldowns";
this->StartPosition = System::Windows::Forms::FormStartPosition::Manual;
this->Text = L"cooldowns";
this->TopMost = true;
this->Load += gcnew System::EventHandler(this, &cooldowns::cooldowns_Load);
this->ResumeLayout(false);
this->PerformLayout();
}
#pragma endregion
private: System::Void cooldowns_Load(System::Object^ sender, System::EventArgs^ e) {
}
};
}
edit after a lot of trial and error the issue seems to surround the CDwin->Show();. if i switch it to ShowDialog(); it no longer is unresponsive, unfortunately the values of the progress bars do not update either, which i believe is where the multi-threading comes into play.
I think you should use ShowDialog so your form has a message loop, and put your "every 50 ms" stuff in an event handler listening to your timer's Tick event.
As the first form you should always use System::Windows::Forms::Application::Run(CDwin), you can only use Show() and ShowDialog() methods when you already have run a form.
if you use Run() you will encounter some problems. This functions only returns something after form is closed that means codes after the Run() code will not be run until form is closed.
So you must forget about working with your form in main function. I recommend you to create two forms for example "Form1" and "Form2" (using threads is another way but this one's easier).
Use "Form1" as the base form that is hidden and it is used for updating the application by refreshing timer.
Use "Form2" as showed form to user. For doing this you should run "Form2" inside "Form1" using Show() or ShowDialog().
So that means:
// This is Form1 or base.
#include "Form2.h"
Form2 ^openForm2 = gcnew Form2();
openForm2->Show();
// while(true) Refresh the other form and other codes...

reactivate exiting window using WindowManager

I am using WPF with the currently latest and greatest version of Caliburn.Micro (1.4.1). I use IWindowManager.ShowWindow(...) to open an new modeless window:
private void OpenOrReactivateInfoView()
{
if(this.infoViewModel == null)
{
this.infoViewModel = new InfoViewModel();
}
this.windowManager.ShowWindow(this.infoViewModel);
}
Instead of opening a new window each time when OpenOrReactivateInfoView() is called, I would like to check whether the window ist still open and if it is, the existing window should just regain focus.
What would we be a good Calibrun.Micro-way to solve this? I sure would like to avoid keeping a reference to the window (or any UIElement for that matter) itself in the viewmodel. Also note that this is a common behavior for a lot of modeless dialogs, so it is preferred solve this in a generic reusable way.
Does Caliburn.Micro already have means for this built in?
The WindowManager source code always creates a new window, so what you really want to do is only use the WindowManager.ShowWindow method if you actually intend to create a new window.
The first thing you want to do is hold a persistent reference to your view model like this:
private readonly InfoViewModel infoViewModel = new InfoViewModel();
private void OpenOrReactivateInfoView()
{
this.windowManager.ShowWindow(this.infoViewModel);
}
Then, in your view model, create a method called Focus or whatever you want like this:
public void Focus()
{
var window = GetView() as Window;
if (window != null) window.Activate();
}
Then revisit your OpenOrReactivateInfoView() method make a slight adjustment like this:
private void OpenOrReactivateInfoView()
{
if (!this.infoViewModel.IsActive)
this.windowManager.ShowWindow(this.infoViewModel);
else
this.infoViewModel.Focus();
}
This method worked for me.
A fairly straightforward way to keep track of your windows without actually
having to implement IViewAware would be to keep a dictionary of weak references
to your ViewModels and Views that go together and then checking if you already
have an existing Window or not. Could be implemented either as a decorator to
the WindowManager, subclass or extension.
Something as simple as the following should do the trick assuming you don't
actually plan on opening enough windows that even the dead WeakReferences
would impact performance. If it is going to be long running it shouldn't be
that hard to implement some sort of cleanup.
public class MyFancyWindowManager : WindowManager
{
IDictionary<WeakReference, WeakReference> windows = new Dictionary<WeakReference, WeakReference>();
public override void ShowWindow(object rootModel, object context = null, IDictionary<string, object> settings = null)
{
NavigationWindow navWindow = null;
if (Application.Current != null && Application.Current.MainWindow != null)
{
navWindow = Application.Current.MainWindow as NavigationWindow;
}
if (navWindow != null)
{
var window = CreatePage(rootModel, context, settings);
navWindow.Navigate(window);
}
else
{
var window = GetExistingWindow(rootModel);
if (window == null)
{
window = CreateWindow(rootModel, false, context, settings);
windows.Add(new WeakReference(rootModel), new WeakReference(window));
window.Show();
}
else
{
window.Focus();
}
}
}
protected virtual Window GetExistingWindow(object model)
{
if(!windows.Any(d => d.Key.IsAlive && d.Key.Target == model))
return null;
var existingWindow = windows.Single(d => d.Key.Target == model).Value;
return existingWindow.IsAlive ? existingWindow.Target as Window : null;
}
}
I have come up with this extension method. It works but I am not particulary happy with it, it is still somewhat hackish.
It is clearly a designsmell that this extension has to make so many assumption about the model (do you see also those nasty exceptions?).
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using Caliburn.Micro;
public static class WindowManagerExtensions
{
/// <summary>
/// Shows a non-modal window for the specified model or refocuses the exsiting window.
/// </summary>
/// <remarks>
/// If the model is already associated with a view and the view is a window that window will just be refocused
/// and the parameter <paramref name="settings"/> is ignored.
/// </remarks>
public static void FocusOrShowWindow(this IWindowManager windowManager,
object model,
object context = null,
IDictionary<string, object> settings = null)
{
var activate = model as IActivate;
if (activate == null)
{
throw new ArgumentException(
string.Format("An instance of type {0} is required", typeof (IActivate)), "model");
}
var viewAware = model as IViewAware;
if (viewAware == null)
{
throw new ArgumentException(
string.Format("An instance of type {0} is required", typeof (IViewAware)), "model");
}
if (!activate.IsActive)
{
windowManager.ShowWindow(model, context, settings);
return;
}
var view = viewAware.GetView(context);
if (view == null)
{
throw new InvalidOperationException("View aware that is active must have an attached view.");
}
var focus = view.GetType().GetMethod("Focus");
if (focus == null)
{
throw new InvalidOperationException("Attached view requires to have a Focus method");
}
focus.Invoke(view, null);
}
}

In Silverlight, how do I find the first field bound to a model that has an error so that I can give it focus?

Greetings
I have a Silverlight form bound to a model object which implements INotifyDataErrorInfo and does validation when you click the save button. If some of the properties on the model come back invalid, Silverlight will automatically highlight the bound input field.
Is there a way to set the focus to the first invalid field?
UPDATE:
Is there even a way to see if an input field is in that invalid display state? If I can detect that, I can loop through my fields and set the focus manually.
Thanks,
Matthew
You could use a ValidationSummary in your view to display all validation errors your model raised. When you click on an error in the ValidationSummary the control which caused the validation error will be focused.
An example of the ValidationSummary can be found on the samples of the Silverlight Toolkit.
Until now I didn´t use the ValidationSummary in any application, so i cannot provide you any informations about usage or "how to use", but maybe this will help you
I've implemented this behavior.
First you need to subscribe to your ViewModel ErrorsChanged and PropertyChanged methods. I am doing this in my constructor:
/// <summary>
/// Initializes new instance of the View class.
/// </summary>
public View(ViewModel viewModel)
{
if (viewModel == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("viewModel");
// Initialize the control
InitializeComponent(); // exception
// Set view model to data context.
DataContext = viewModel;
viewModel.PropertyChanged += new PropertyChangedEventHandler(_ViewModelPropertyChanged);
viewModel.ErrorsChanged += new EventHandler<DataErrorsChangedEventArgs>(_ViewModelErrorsChanged);
}
Then write handlers for this events:
/// <summary>
/// If model errors has changed and model still have errors set flag to true,
/// if we dont have errors - set flag to false.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="sender">Ignored.</param>
/// <param name="e">Ignored.</param>
private void _ViewModelErrorsChanged(object sender, DataErrorsChangedEventArgs e)
{
if ((this.DataContext as INotifyDataErrorInfo).HasErrors)
_hasErrorsRecentlyChanged = true;
else
_hasErrorsRecentlyChanged = false;
}
/// <summary>
/// Iterate over view model visual childrens.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="sender">Ignored.</param>
/// <param name="e">Ignored.</param>
private void _ViewModelPropertyChanged(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
if ((this.DataContext as INotifyDataErrorInfo).HasErrors)
_LoopThroughControls(this);
}
And finally add method:
/// <summary>
/// If we have error and we haven't already set focus - set focus to first control with error.
/// </summary>
/// <remarks>Recursive.</remarks>
/// <param name="parent">Parent element.</param>
private void _LoopThroughControls(UIElement parent)
{
// Check that we have error and we haven't already set focus
if (!_hasErrorsRecentlyChanged)
return;
int count = VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(parent);
// VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount for TabControl will always return 0, so we need to
// do this branch of code.
if (parent.GetType().Equals(typeof(TabControl)))
{
TabControl tabContainer = ((TabControl)parent);
foreach (TabItem tabItem in tabContainer.Items)
{
if (tabItem.Content == null)
continue;
_LoopThroughControls(tabItem.Content as UIElement);
}
}
// If element has childs.
if (count > 0)
{
for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)
{
UIElement child = (UIElement)VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(parent, i);
if (child is System.Windows.Controls.Control)
{
var control = (System.Windows.Controls.Control)child;
// If control have error - we found first control, set focus to it and
// set flag to false.
if ((bool)control.GetValue(Validation.HasErrorProperty))
{
_hasErrorsRecentlyChanged = false;
control.Focus();
return;
}
}
_LoopThroughControls(child);
}
}
}

Programmatically create ItemsPanelTemplate for Silverlight ComboBox?

I am trying to create a Blend behavior related to ComboBoxes. In order to get the effect I want, the ItemsPanel of the ComboBox has to have a certain element added to it. I don't want to do this in every ComboBox that uses the behavior, so I want the Behavior to be able to inject the ItemsPanelTemplate programmatically. However, I can't seem to find a way to do this. ItemsPanelTemplate does not seem to have a property/method that lets me set the visual tree. WPF ItemsPanelTemplate has the VisualTree but Silverlight does not.
Basically, what is the programmatic equivalent of this XAML?
<ComboBox>
<ComboBox.ItemsPanel>
<ItemsPanelTemplate>
<StackPanel/>
</ItemsPanelTemplate>
</ComboBox.ItemsPanel>
</ComboBox>
Edit:
Okay apparently that is not an easy question, so I started a bounty and I'm going to give some more background in case there is another way to go about this. I want to provide keyboard support for the Silverlight ComoboBox. Out of the box it only supports the up and down arrows but I also want it to work so that when the user hits a letter, the ComboBox jumps to the first item of that letter, similar to how ComboBoxes work in a browser or Windows app.
I found this blog post, which got me half way. Adapting that behavior code, the ComboBox will change selection based on letter input. However, it does not work when the ComboBox is opened. The reason for this, according to this blog post is that when the ComboBox is opened, you are now interacting with its ItemsPanel and not the ComboBox itself. So according to that post I actually need to add a StackPanel to the ItemsPanelTemplate and subscribe to the StackPanel's KeyDown event, in order to take action when the ComboBox is opened.
So that is what prompted my question of how to get a StackPanel into the ItemsPanelTemplate of a ComboBox, from a behavior. If that is not possible, are there alternative ways of getting this to work? Yes, I know I could go to each ComboBox in the application and add a StackPanel and the event. But I want to do this through a behavior so that I don't have to modify every ComboBox in the app, and so I can reuse this logic across applications.
AnthonyWJones' answer below using XamlReader gets me part way, in that I can create the StackPanel and get it into the template. However, I need to be able to get at that SP programmatically in order to subscribe to the event.
This should work. I've shown how you can change the orientation below. You can add additional SetValue calls to modify other properties.
cb.ItemsPanel = new ItemsPanelTemplate();
var stackPanelFactory = new FrameworkElementFactory(typeof (StackPanel));
// Modify it like this:
stackPanelFactory.SetValue(StackPanel.OrientationProperty, Orientation.Horizontal);
// Set the root of the template to the stack panel factory:
cb.ItemsPanel.VisualTree = stackPanelFactory;
You can find more detailed information in this article: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/WPF/codeVsXAML.aspx
What you actually want to build programmatically is this:-
<ItemsPanelTemplate>
<StackPanel />
</ItemsPanelTemplate>
Your behaviour will then assign this to the ItemsPanel property of the ComboBox it is attached to. Currently your behaviour is pure code but there is no way to create the above purely in code.
Since this is such a small piece for of Xaml the easiest approach is to use the XamlReader:-
ItemsPanelTemplate itemsPanelTemplate = XamlReader.Load("<ItemsPanelTemplate><StackPanel /></ItemsPanelTemplate>");
I think, best way for you - extend combobox functionality not via behavior but using inheritance.
So, you can create own control MyComboBox:ComboBox. Create style for it - get default ComboBox Style
here
And write instead (look for ScrollViewer by name):
< ScrollViewer x:Name="ScrollViewer" BorderThickness="0" Padding="1" >
< ItemsPresenter />
< /ScrollViewer >
this
< ScrollViewer x:Name="ScrollViewer" BorderThickness="0" Padding="1" >
< StackPanel x:Name="StackPanel" >
< ItemsPresenter />
< /StackPanel >
< /ScrollViewer >
This StackPanel you can get in code:
public class MyComboBox: ComboBox{
public CM()
{
DefaultStyleKey = typeof (MyComboBox);
}
public override void OnApplyTemplate()
{
base.OnApplyTemplate();
StackPanel stackPanel = (StackPanel)GetTemplateChild("StackPanel");
stackPanel.KeyUp += (s, e) => { /*do something*/ };
}
}
Inheritance is more powerful. It's allow work with template elements.
If you decided to inject ItemsPanel, you must understand that:
1)it's impossible from code with keeping reference on injected panel.
2)to get reference to injected panel, this panel must registered itself in some storage, e.g.
< ComboBox>
< ComboBox.ItemsPanel>
< ItemsPanelTemplate>
< StackPanel>
< i:Interaction.EventTriggers>
< i:EventTrigger EventName="Loaded">
< RegisterMyInstanceInAccessibleFromCodePlaceAction/>
< /i:EventTrigger>
< /i:Interaction.EventTriggers>
< /StackPanel>
< /ItemsPanelTemplate>
< /ComboBox.ItemsPanel>
< /ComboBox>
Good luck!
I found your post while trying to set the ItemsPanel from code so that I can implement a VirtualizingStackPanel. When there are hundreds of items in my list, performance sucks. Anyway .. here's how I did it.
1) Custom control
2) Custom Behavior
-- you could also just apply this behavior to the normal ComboBox - either at each instance, or through a style.
-- you might also expose the timeout value so that can be overridden in xaml ..
-- also, it seems this doesn't work when the dropdown itself is open. not sure why exactly .. never looked into it
1..
public class KeyPressSelectionComboBox : ComboBox
{
private BindingExpression _bindingExpression;
public KeyPressSelectionComboBox()
: base()
{
Interaction.GetBehaviors(this).Add(new KeyPressSelectionBehavior());
Height = 22;
this.SelectionChanged += new SelectionChangedEventHandler(KeyPressSelectionComboBox_SelectionChanged);
}
void KeyPressSelectionComboBox_SelectionChanged(object sender, SelectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
if (_bindingExpression == null)
{
_bindingExpression = this.GetBindingExpression(ComboBox.SelectedValueProperty);
}
else
{
if (this.GetBindingExpression(ComboBox.SelectedValueProperty) == null)
{
this.SetBinding(ComboBox.SelectedValueProperty, _bindingExpression.ParentBinding);
}
}
}
}
2...
/// <summary>
/// This behavior can be attached to a ListBox or ComboBox to
/// add keyboard selection
/// </summary>
public class KeyPressSelectionBehavior : Behavior<Selector>
{
private string keyDownHistory = string.Empty;
private double _keyDownTimeout = 2500;
private DateTime _lastKeyDownTime;
private DateTime LastKeyDownTime
{
get
{
if (this._lastKeyDownTime == null)
this._lastKeyDownTime = DateTime.Now;
return this._lastKeyDownTime;
}
set { _lastKeyDownTime = value; }
}
/// <summary>
/// Gets or sets the Path used to select the text
/// </summary>
public string SelectionMemberPath { get; set; }
/// <summary>
/// Gets or sets the Timeout (ms) used to reset the KeyDownHistory item search string
/// </summary>
public double KeyDownTimeout
{
get { return _keyDownTimeout; }
set { _keyDownTimeout = value; }
}
public KeyPressSelectionBehavior() { }
/// <summary>
/// Attaches to the specified object: subscribe on KeyDown event
/// </summary>
protected override void OnAttached()
{
base.OnAttached();
this.AssociatedObject.KeyDown += DoKeyDown;
}
void DoKeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
// Create a list of strings and indexes
int index = 0;
IEnumerable<Item> list = null;
var path = SelectionMemberPath ??
this.AssociatedObject.DisplayMemberPath;
var evaluator = new BindingEvaluator();
if (path != null)
{
list = this.AssociatedObject.Items.OfType<object>()
.Select(item =>
{
// retrieve the value using the supplied Path
var binding = new Binding();
binding.Path = new PropertyPath(path);
binding.Source = item;
BindingOperations.SetBinding(evaluator,
BindingEvaluator.TargetProperty, binding);
var value = evaluator.Target;
return new Item
{
Index = index++,
Text = Convert.ToString(value)
};
});
}
else
{
list = this.AssociatedObject.Items.OfType<ListBoxItem>()
.Select(item => new Item
{
Index = index++,
Text = Convert.ToString(item.Content)
});
}
// Sort the list starting at next selectedIndex to the end and
// then from the beginning
list = list.OrderBy(item => item.Index <=
this.AssociatedObject.SelectedIndex ?
item.Index + this.AssociatedObject.Items.Count : item.Index);
// calculate how long has passed since the user typed a letter
var elapsedTime = DateTime.Now - this.LastKeyDownTime;
if (elapsedTime.TotalMilliseconds <= this.KeyDownTimeout)
{ /* if it's less than the timeout, add to the search string */
this.keyDownHistory += GetKeyValue(e);
}
else
{ /* otherwise replace it */
this.keyDownHistory = GetKeyValue(e);
}
// Find first starting with the search string
var searchText = this.keyDownHistory;
var first = list.FirstOrDefault(item =>
item.Text.StartsWith(searchText, StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase));
if (first != null)
{ /* found */
this.AssociatedObject.SelectedIndex = first.Index;
}
else
{ /* not found - so reset the KeyDownHistory */
this.keyDownHistory = string.Empty;
}
// reset the last time a key was pressed
this.LastKeyDownTime = DateTime.Now;
}
/// <summary>
/// Gets the value of the pressed key,
/// specifically converting number keys from their "Dx" value to their expected "x" value
/// </summary>
/// <param name="e"></param>
/// <returns></returns>
private static string GetKeyValue(KeyEventArgs e)
{
string rValue = string.Empty;
switch (e.Key)
{
default:
rValue = e.Key.ToString();
break;
case Key.D0:
case Key.NumPad0:
rValue = (0).ToString();
break;
case Key.D1:
case Key.NumPad1:
rValue = (1).ToString();
break;
case Key.D2:
case Key.NumPad2:
rValue = (2).ToString();
break;
case Key.D3:
case Key.NumPad3:
rValue = (3).ToString();
break;
case Key.D4:
case Key.NumPad4:
rValue = (4).ToString();
break;
case Key.D5:
case Key.NumPad5:
rValue = (5).ToString();
break;
case Key.D6:
case Key.NumPad6:
rValue = (6).ToString();
break;
case Key.D7:
case Key.NumPad7:
rValue = (7).ToString();
break;
case Key.D8:
case Key.NumPad8:
rValue = (8).ToString();
break;
case Key.D9:
case Key.NumPad9:
rValue = (9).ToString();
break;
}
return rValue;
}
/// <summary>
/// Helper class
/// </summary>
private class Item
{
public int Index;
public string Text;
}
/// <summary>
/// Helper class used for property path value retrieval
/// </summary>
private class BindingEvaluator : FrameworkElement
{
public static readonly DependencyProperty TargetProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register(
"Target",
typeof(object),
typeof(BindingEvaluator), null);
public object Target
{
get { return GetValue(TargetProperty); }
set { SetValue(TargetProperty, value); }
}
}
}

Formatting text in WinForm Label

Is it possible to format certain text in a WinForm Label instead of breaking the text into multiple labels? Please disregard the HTML tags within the label's text; it's only used to get my point out.
For example:
Dim myLabel As New Label
myLabel.Text = "This is <b>bold</b> text. This is <i>italicized</i> text."
Which would produce the text in the label as:
This is bold text. This is
italicized text.
That's not possible with a WinForms label as it is. The label has to have exactly one font, with exactly one size and one face. You have a couple of options:
Use separate labels
Create a new Control-derived class that does its own drawing via GDI+ and use that instead of Label; this is probably your best option, as it gives you complete control over how to instruct the control to format its text
Use a third-party label control that will let you insert HTML snippets (there are a bunch - check CodeProject); this would be someone else's implementation of #2.
Not really, but you could fake it with a read-only RichTextBox without borders. RichTextBox supports Rich Text Format (rtf).
Another workaround, late to the party: if you don't want to use a third party control, and you're just looking to call attention to some of the text in your label, and you're ok with underlines, you can use a LinkLabel.
Note that many consider this a 'usability crime', but if you're not designing something for end user consumption then it may be something you're prepared to have on your conscience.
The trick is to add disabled links to the parts of your text that you want underlined, and then globally set the link colors to match the rest of the label. You can set almost all the necessary properties at design-time apart from the Links.Add() piece, but here they are in code:
linkLabel1.Text = "You are accessing a government system, and all activity " +
"will be logged. If you do not wish to continue, log out now.";
linkLabel1.AutoSize = false;
linkLabel1.Size = new Size(365, 50);
linkLabel1.TextAlign = ContentAlignment.MiddleCenter;
linkLabel1.Links.Clear();
linkLabel1.Links.Add(20, 17).Enabled = false; // "government system"
linkLabel1.Links.Add(105, 11).Enabled = false; // "log out now"
linkLabel1.LinkColor = linkLabel1.ForeColor;
linkLabel1.DisabledLinkColor = linkLabel1.ForeColor;
Result:
Worked solution for me - using custom RichEditBox. With right properties it will be looked as simple label with bold support.
1) First, add your custom RichTextLabel class with disabled caret :
public class RichTextLabel : RichTextBox
{
public RichTextLabel()
{
base.ReadOnly = true;
base.BorderStyle = BorderStyle.None;
base.TabStop = false;
base.SetStyle(ControlStyles.Selectable, false);
base.SetStyle(ControlStyles.UserMouse, true);
base.SetStyle(ControlStyles.SupportsTransparentBackColor, true);
base.MouseEnter += delegate(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
this.Cursor = Cursors.Default;
};
}
protected override void WndProc(ref Message m)
{
if (m.Msg == 0x204) return; // WM_RBUTTONDOWN
if (m.Msg == 0x205) return; // WM_RBUTTONUP
base.WndProc(ref m);
}
}
2) Split you sentence to words with IsSelected flag, that determine if that word should be bold or no :
private void AutocompleteItemControl_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
RichTextLabel rtl = new RichTextLabel();
rtl.Font = new Font("MS Reference Sans Serif", 15.57F);
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
sb.Append(#"{\rtf1\ansi ");
foreach (var wordPart in wordParts)
{
if (wordPart.IsSelected)
{
sb.Append(#"\b ");
}
sb.Append(ConvertString2RTF(wordPart.WordPart));
if (wordPart.IsSelected)
{
sb.Append(#"\b0 ");
}
}
sb.Append(#"}");
rtl.Rtf = sb.ToString();
rtl.Width = this.Width;
this.Controls.Add(rtl);
}
3) Add function for convert you text to valid rtf (with unicode support!) :
private string ConvertString2RTF(string input)
{
//first take care of special RTF chars
StringBuilder backslashed = new StringBuilder(input);
backslashed.Replace(#"\", #"\\");
backslashed.Replace(#"{", #"\{");
backslashed.Replace(#"}", #"\}");
//then convert the string char by char
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
foreach (char character in backslashed.ToString())
{
if (character <= 0x7f)
sb.Append(character);
else
sb.Append("\\u" + Convert.ToUInt32(character) + "?");
}
return sb.ToString();
}
Works like a charm for me!
Solutions compiled from :
How to convert a string to RTF in C#?
Format text in Rich Text Box
How to hide the caret in a RichTextBox?
Create the text as a RTF file in wordpad
Create Rich text control with no borders and editable = false
Add the RTF file to the project as a resource
In the Form1_load do
myRtfControl.Rtf = Resource1.MyRtfControlText
AutoRichLabel
I was solving this problem by building an UserControl that contains a TransparentRichTextBox that is readonly. The TransparentRichTextBox is a RichTextBox that allows to be transparent:
TransparentRichTextBox.cs:
public class TransparentRichTextBox : RichTextBox
{
[DllImport("kernel32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto)]
static extern IntPtr LoadLibrary(string lpFileName);
protected override CreateParams CreateParams
{
get
{
CreateParams prams = base.CreateParams;
if (TransparentRichTextBox.LoadLibrary("msftedit.dll") != IntPtr.Zero)
{
prams.ExStyle |= 0x020; // transparent
prams.ClassName = "RICHEDIT50W";
}
return prams;
}
}
}
The final UserControl acts as wrapper of the TransparentRichTextBox. Unfortunately, I had to limit it to AutoSize on my own way, because the AutoSize of the RichTextBox became broken.
AutoRichLabel.designer.cs:
partial class AutoRichLabel
{
/// <summary>
/// Required designer variable.
/// </summary>
private System.ComponentModel.IContainer components = null;
/// <summary>
/// Clean up any resources being used.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="disposing">true if managed resources should be disposed; otherwise, false.</param>
protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
{
if (disposing && (components != null))
{
components.Dispose();
}
base.Dispose(disposing);
}
#region Component Designer generated code
/// <summary>
/// Required method for Designer support - do not modify
/// the contents of this method with the code editor.
/// </summary>
private void InitializeComponent()
{
this.rtb = new TransparentRichTextBox();
this.SuspendLayout();
//
// rtb
//
this.rtb.BorderStyle = System.Windows.Forms.BorderStyle.None;
this.rtb.Dock = System.Windows.Forms.DockStyle.Fill;
this.rtb.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(0, 0);
this.rtb.Margin = new System.Windows.Forms.Padding(0);
this.rtb.Name = "rtb";
this.rtb.ReadOnly = true;
this.rtb.ScrollBars = System.Windows.Forms.RichTextBoxScrollBars.None;
this.rtb.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(46, 30);
this.rtb.TabIndex = 0;
this.rtb.Text = "";
this.rtb.WordWrap = false;
this.rtb.ContentsResized += new System.Windows.Forms.ContentsResizedEventHandler(this.rtb_ContentsResized);
//
// AutoRichLabel
//
this.AutoScaleDimensions = new System.Drawing.SizeF(6F, 13F);
this.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Font;
this.AutoSizeMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoSizeMode.GrowAndShrink;
this.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Transparent;
this.Controls.Add(this.rtb);
this.Name = "AutoRichLabel";
this.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(46, 30);
this.ResumeLayout(false);
}
#endregion
private TransparentRichTextBox rtb;
}
AutoRichLabel.cs:
/// <summary>
/// <para>An auto sized label with the ability to display text with formattings by using the Rich Text Format.</para>
/// <para>­</para>
/// <para>Short RTF syntax examples: </para>
/// <para>­</para>
/// <para>Paragraph: </para>
/// <para>{\pard This is a paragraph!\par}</para>
/// <para>­</para>
/// <para>Bold / Italic / Underline: </para>
/// <para>\b bold text\b0</para>
/// <para>\i italic text\i0</para>
/// <para>\ul underline text\ul0</para>
/// <para>­</para>
/// <para>Alternate color using color table: </para>
/// <para>{\colortbl ;\red0\green77\blue187;}{\pard The word \cf1 fish\cf0 is blue.\par</para>
/// <para>­</para>
/// <para>Additional information: </para>
/// <para>Always wrap every text in a paragraph. </para>
/// <para>Different tags can be stacked (i.e. \pard\b\i Bold and Italic\i0\b0\par)</para>
/// <para>The space behind a tag is ignored. So if you need a space behind it, insert two spaces (i.e. \pard The word \bBOLD\0 is bold.\par)</para>
/// <para>Full specification: http://www.biblioscape.com/rtf15_spec.htm </para>
/// </summary>
public partial class AutoRichLabel : UserControl
{
/// <summary>
/// The rich text content.
/// <para>­</para>
/// <para>Short RTF syntax examples: </para>
/// <para>­</para>
/// <para>Paragraph: </para>
/// <para>{\pard This is a paragraph!\par}</para>
/// <para>­</para>
/// <para>Bold / Italic / Underline: </para>
/// <para>\b bold text\b0</para>
/// <para>\i italic text\i0</para>
/// <para>\ul underline text\ul0</para>
/// <para>­</para>
/// <para>Alternate color using color table: </para>
/// <para>{\colortbl ;\red0\green77\blue187;}{\pard The word \cf1 fish\cf0 is blue.\par</para>
/// <para>­</para>
/// <para>Additional information: </para>
/// <para>Always wrap every text in a paragraph. </para>
/// <para>Different tags can be stacked (i.e. \pard\b\i Bold and Italic\i0\b0\par)</para>
/// <para>The space behind a tag is ignored. So if you need a space behind it, insert two spaces (i.e. \pard The word \bBOLD\0 is bold.\par)</para>
/// <para>Full specification: http://www.biblioscape.com/rtf15_spec.htm </para>
/// </summary>
[Browsable(true)]
public string RtfContent
{
get
{
return this.rtb.Rtf;
}
set
{
this.rtb.WordWrap = false; // to prevent any display bugs, word wrap must be off while changing the rich text content.
this.rtb.Rtf = value.StartsWith(#"{\rtf1") ? value : #"{\rtf1" + value + "}"; // Setting the rich text content will trigger the ContentsResized event.
this.Fit(); // Override width and height.
this.rtb.WordWrap = this.WordWrap; // Set the word wrap back.
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Dynamic width of the control.
/// </summary>
[Browsable(false)]
public new int Width
{
get
{
return base.Width;
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Dynamic height of the control.
/// </summary>
[Browsable(false)]
public new int Height
{
get
{
return base.Height;
}
}
/// <summary>
/// The measured width based on the content.
/// </summary>
public int DesiredWidth { get; private set; }
/// <summary>
/// The measured height based on the content.
/// </summary>
public int DesiredHeight { get; private set; }
/// <summary>
/// Determines the text will be word wrapped. This is true, when the maximum size has been set.
/// </summary>
public bool WordWrap { get; private set; }
/// <summary>
/// Constructor.
/// </summary>
public AutoRichLabel()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
/// <summary>
/// Overrides the width and height with the measured width and height
/// </summary>
public void Fit()
{
base.Width = this.DesiredWidth;
base.Height = this.DesiredHeight;
}
/// <summary>
/// Will be called when the rich text content of the control changes.
/// </summary>
private void rtb_ContentsResized(object sender, ContentsResizedEventArgs e)
{
this.AutoSize = false; // Disable auto size, else it will break everything
this.WordWrap = this.MaximumSize.Width > 0; // Enable word wrap when the maximum width has been set.
this.DesiredWidth = this.rtb.WordWrap ? this.MaximumSize.Width : e.NewRectangle.Width; // Measure width.
this.DesiredHeight = this.MaximumSize.Height > 0 && this.MaximumSize.Height < e.NewRectangle.Height ? this.MaximumSize.Height : e.NewRectangle.Height; // Measure height.
this.Fit(); // Override width and height.
}
}
The syntax of the rich text format is quite simple:
Paragraph:
{\pard This is a paragraph!\par}
Bold / Italic / Underline text:
\b bold text\b0
\i italic text\i0
\ul underline text\ul0
Alternate color using color table:
{\colortbl ;\red0\green77\blue187;}
{\pard The word \cf1 fish\cf0 is blue.\par
But please note: Always wrap every text in a paragraph. Also, different tags can be stacked (i.e. \pard\b\i Bold and Italic\i0\b0\par) and the space character behind a tag is ignored. So if you need a space behind it, insert two spaces (i.e. \pard The word \bBOLD\0 is bold.\par). To escape \ or { or }, please use a leading \.
For more information there is a full specification of the rich text format online.
Using this quite simple syntax you can produce something like you can see in the first image. The rich text content that was attached to the RtfContent property of my AutoRichLabel in the first image was:
{\colortbl ;\red0\green77\blue187;}
{\pard\b BOLD\b0 \i ITALIC\i0 \ul UNDERLINE\ul0 \\\{\}\par}
{\pard\cf1\b BOLD\b0 \i ITALIC\i0 \ul UNDERLINE\ul0\cf0 \\\{\}\par}
If you want to enable word wrap, please set the maximum width to a desired size. However, this will fix the width to the maximum width, even when the text is shorter.
Have fun!
There is an excellent article from 2009 on Code Project named "A Professional HTML Renderer You Will Use" which implements something similar to what the original poster wants.
I use it successfully within several projects of us.
Very simple solution:
Add 2 labels on the form, LabelA and LabelB
Go to properties for LabelA and dock it to left.
Go to properties for LabelB and dock it to left as well.
Set Font to bold for LabelA .
Now the LabelB will shift depending on length of text of LabelA.
That's all.
I Would also be interested in finding out if it is possible.
When we couldn't find a solution we resorted to Component Ones 'SuperLabel' control which allows HTML markup in a label.
Realising this is an old question, my answer is more for those, like me, who still may be looking for such solutions and stumble upon this question.
Apart from what was already mentioned, DevExpress's LabelControl is a label that supports this behaviour - demo here. Alas, it is part of a paid library.
If you're looking for free solutions, I believe HTML Renderer is the next best thing.
A FlowLayoutPanel works well for your problem. If you add labels to the flow panel and format each label's font and margin properties, then you can have different font styles. Pretty quick and easy solution to get working.
Yeah.
You can implements, using HTML Render.
For you see, click on the link: https://htmlrenderer.codeplex.com/
I hope this is useful.

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