Relative positioning in WPF xaml - wpf

Is it possible to position a control in the XAML definiton relative to another control?
for example if I want to place a control exactly in the middle of another wider control.
and if so - how?

If you want to center the controls you could wrap them in a grid:
<Grid>
<TextBox Height="132" Width="229" VerticalAlignment="Center" HorizontalAlignment="Center" />
<Button Content="Button" Height="23" Width="75" VerticalAlignment="Center" HorizontalAlignment="Center" />
</Grid>
Other positioning can be accomplished by other panels like StackPanel etc. Grid beeing the most flexible choice.
Edit: updated with grid and columns for controlling position:
<Grid Height="50" Width="200">
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="50*" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="20*" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="75*" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<TextBox Grid.Column="0" Background="Red" />
<Button Content="Button" Grid.Column="2" />
</Grid>

Related

Gridsplitter in statusbar

I am attempting to put grid splitters in a statusbar. I have overridden the item panel template to place a grid in the status bar. I want to be able to slide the grid columns back and forth. Unfortunately I can't get the grid splitters to appear. I am using the xaml code below. Thanks for your time in advance.
<StatusBar>
<StatusBar.ItemsPanel>
<ItemsPanelTemplate>
<Grid IsItemsHost="True">
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="10" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="10" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="10" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
</Grid>
</ItemsPanelTemplate>
</StatusBar.ItemsPanel>
<StatusBarItem Grid.Column="0">
<Label Content="blah" />
</StatusBarItem>
<StatusBarItem Grid.Column="1">
<GridSplitter Width="10" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" />
</StatusBarItem>
<StatusBarItem Grid.Column="2">
<Label Content="blah1" />
</StatusBarItem>
<StatusBarItem Grid.Column="3">
<GridSplitter Width="10" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" />
</StatusBarItem>
<StatusBarItem Grid.Column="4">
<Label Content="blah2" />
</StatusBarItem>
<StatusBarItem Grid.Column="5">
<GridSplitter Width="10" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" />
</StatusBarItem>
<StatusBarItem Grid.Column="6">
<Label Content="blah3" />
</StatusBarItem>
</StatusBar>
Your GridSplitter is not a direct descendant of the Grid. It is wrapped in a StatusBarItem. Therefore this can't work in that configuration.
You could just use a Grid instead and style the background and borders to make it look like a StatusBar. The StatusBar is a relatively simple looking control, so it shouldn't be a too big of a deal to make something that looks like it.

WPF: why is the button stays on the left side?

I have this WPF button in my StackPanel:
<StackPanel Grid.ColumnSpan="6" Grid.Row="12" Orientation="Horizontal" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Center" Background="LightGray" Height="40">
<Button x:Name="btnSave" Click="btnSave_Click" Content="{x:Static res:Strings.ToolPanelEditView_Button_Save}" HorizontalAlignment="Right" />
</StackPanel>
For some reason, the button shows on the left although I set its HorizontalAlignment to Right:
How can I make my save button show on the right?
P.S. when I change the StackPanel's HorizontalAlignment to Right instead of Stretch, the button does show on the right like it should (but then the gray background of the StackPanel does not stretch either...
I think that a Grid is more appropriate for your case
<Grid HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Center" Background="LightGray" Height="40">
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Button x:Name="btnSave" Grid.Column="1" Content="Save" HorizontalAlignment="Right" />
<!--Your Other Button Grid.Column="2"-->
</Grid>
or you could as well replace the stackPanel with a DockPanel
You can use DockPanel as container, stretch it and dock your button to the right side
<DockPanel Grid.ColumnSpan="6" Grid.Row="12" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Center" Background="LightGray" Height="40">
<Button Content="Save" DockPanel.Dock="Right"/>
<Button Content="Cancel" DockPanel.Dock="Right"/>
</DockPanel>

window resize when textbox resize

Here is the code for Textbox available in my window(form1.xaml),My requirement is when i am resizing my window i want to resize the textbox width also, How can i able to achieve this....
<TextBox Width="500" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="5,0,0,5" TextWrapping="Wrap" AcceptsReturn="True" Text="{Binding Result,UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged,ValidatesOnDataErrors=True}" IsEnabled="{Binding OpenMode,Converter={StaticResource EnableModeConverter}}" Height="70" />
In WPF you typically place TextBox control within layout Grid control and set the ColumnDefinition Width property of that Grid cell to some relative value "*", so it will resize with the Window. Do NOT use a fixed Width="500" as per your sample: also, remove that "HorizontalAlignment="Left" (the default value is HorizontalAlignment="Stretch", so you can just omit it to simplify your XAML). See the following sample code snippet:
<Grid Name="Grid1">
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="2*" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="*"/>
<RowDefinition Height="4*"/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<TextBox Name="TextBox1" Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" Height="70" Margin="5,0,0,5" TextWrapping="Wrap" AcceptsReturn="True" (...Rest of Your code) />
</Grid>
Note: The same technique could be applied to a vertical "Height" property in case you need to make it also resizable.
Hope this will help. Best regards,
Set HorizontalAlignment to Stretch, and don't set the Width
<Grid>
<TextBox HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"
Margin="5,0,0,5"
TextWrapping="Wrap"
AcceptsReturn="True"
Height="70" />
</Grid>
Layout in WPF is heavily depend on the parent container. For example, create a form with labels and input fields, consider using a Grid panel. Controls in WPF by default resize according to the layout behavior of their parent. Here is an example of a window with two labeled text boxes and two buttons that resize along with the window.
<Window>
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
<RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
<RowDefinition Height="*" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Label Content="Contact Name" Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" />
<TextBox Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="1" />
<Label Content="Contact Location" Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="0" />
<TextBox Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="1" />
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal" HorizontalAlignment="Right"
VerticalAlignment="Bottom" Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="1">
<Button Content="OK" Width="75" Height="24" Margin="3" />
<Button Content="Cancel" Width="75" Height="24" Margin="3" />
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
</Window>

Border wrapping wrong element in WPF

I'm trying to add a border to some controls in XAML - the problem is, whenever I apply wrapping a certain element it wraps the whole window, probably on the first grid element?
This also happens when I try to use it around the WebBrowser. Any suggestions?
<Window x:Class="WpfApplication2.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="RAT-t00l" Height="850" Width="700">
<Grid x:Name="BigGrid" HorizontalAlignment="Right" Width="682">
<TextBox Name="txt_Log" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="657" Margin="4,10,0,0" TextWrapping="Wrap" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="417" IsReadOnly="True"/>
<Button Name="btn" Click="btn_Connect_Click" Background="LightGreen" Content="Connect" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="266,680,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="75"/>
<Button Name="btn_disc" Click="btn_Disconnect_Click" Background="Pink" Content="Disconnect" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="346,680,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="75"/>
<Button Name="btn_fetch" Click="btn_Fetch_Click" Content="Fetch data" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="266,707,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="155" Height="24"/>
<Button Name="btn_eraseLog" Click="btn_EraseLog_Click" Content="Erase log from target" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="266,736,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="155" Height="25"/>
<WebBrowser
Name="map"
HorizontalAlignment="Left"
Height="347"
Margin="426,10,0,0"
VerticalAlignment="Top"
Width="246"
LoadCompleted="wb_LoadCompleted"
/>
Here's the border. Meaning to wrap only the grid inside.
<Border Name="mask" CornerRadius="20" Height="auto" Width="auto" BorderThickness="1" BorderBrush="Black">
<Grid x:Name ="GeneralGrid" Margin="426,362,10,291" ShowGridLines="True" Background="LightGray">
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="61*" ></ColumnDefinition>
<ColumnDefinition Width="185*"></ColumnDefinition>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition></RowDefinition>
<RowDefinition></RowDefinition>
<RowDefinition></RowDefinition>
<RowDefinition></RowDefinition>
<RowDefinition></RowDefinition>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<TextBlock Name="IP">IP</TextBlock>
<TextBlock Name="ISP" Grid.Row="1">ISP</TextBlock>
<TextBlock Name="Location" Grid.Row="2">Location</TextBlock>
<TextBlock Name="Longitude" Grid.Row="3">Longitude</TextBlock>
<TextBlock Name="Latitude" Grid.Row="4">Latitude</TextBlock>
</Grid>
</Border>
</Grid>
</Window>
I would recommend that you do NOT continue to use the Visual Studio Designer as you have been. It does a very poor job of creating the XAML that we actually want. For example, your UI elements have all got an exact Margin set on them (thanks to the VS Designer I imagine) and this can make things awkward for you later on.
WPF was really designed to enable developer to use resizable controls so that the UI can resize itself when the user resizes the application. Different Panels provide different sizing abilities to their child controls and you can find out more about that from the Panels Overview page on MSDN. However, back to your question regarding the Grid class.
Because you have used the Visual Studio Designer, your controls have not ended up in the Grid cells that you wanted, instead just being placed 'on top of', or 'in front of' them. In order to place a control into a particular Grid cell, you need to set the Grid.Row and/or Grid.Column Attached Properties. See this example taken from the last linked page from MSDN:
<Grid VerticalAlignment="Top" HorizontalAlignment="Left" ShowGridLines="True" Width="250" Height="100">
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition />
<ColumnDefinition />
<ColumnDefinition />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition />
<RowDefinition />
<RowDefinition />
<RowDefinition />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<TextBlock FontSize="20" FontWeight="Bold" Grid.ColumnSpan="3" Grid.Row="0">2005 Products Shipped</TextBlock>
<TextBlock FontSize="12" FontWeight="Bold" Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="0">Quarter 1</TextBlock>
<TextBlock FontSize="12" FontWeight="Bold" Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="1">Quarter 2</TextBlock>
<TextBlock FontSize="12" FontWeight="Bold" Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="2">Quarter 3</TextBlock>
<TextBlock Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="0">50000</TextBlock>
<TextBlock Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="1">100000</TextBlock>
<TextBlock Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="2">150000</TextBlock>
<TextBlock FontSize="16" FontWeight="Bold" Grid.ColumnSpan="3" Grid.Row="3">Total Units: 300000</TextBlock>
</Grid>
You appear to have placed all your BigGrid elements into a single cell of that layout grid, and the only thing stopping them from appearing on top of each other is the fact you've defined margins. You have not defined a margin for your border, but then defined margins for its children, which means they'll be offset.
Really, for best layout, you want to avoid margins as much as possible and divide your BigGrid into rows and columns. Then place your UI into those cells. If your border is within its own cell you will not have it appear to wrap everything.

How to cut TextBox width to prevent out of the Grid?

I have the next layout
<Grid>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
<RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="60" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Image Grid.Row="0" Grid.RowSpan="2" Grid.Column="0" Width="60" Height="60" />
<StackPanel Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="1" Grid.ColumnSpan="2" Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBlock Text="Title should be long" HorizontalAlignment="Left" />
<Ellipse Fill="White" Stroke="White" Width="7" Height="7" />
</StackPanel>
<TextBlock Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="1" Text="Message" />
<TextBlock Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="2" Text="Info" />
</Grid>
I have an issue in the StackPanel which hosts a Title and Ellipse, the goal is the Online marker by the ellipse whitch should be placed at the end off the title. But it shouldn't out of a view part.
I have tried to put TextBox and Ellipse into cells of the Grid unfortunatly it doesn't help.
<Grid Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="1" Grid.ColumnSpan="2">
<Grid.ColumnsDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
</Grid.ColumnsDefinitions>
<TextBlock Grid.Column="0" Text="Title should be long" HorizontalAlignment="Left" />
<Ellipse Grid.Column="1" Fill="White" Stroke="White" Width="7" Height="7" />
</Grid>
In my mind it should render correct, but the ellipse is out of view port again.
This is a Expression Blend layout scrinshots, the same layout is rendering in runtime.
The Grid bounds:
The TextBox bounds:
The Ellipse bounds:
So the TextBox and Ellipse is out of the grid :(
Update: I need the next behaviour of layout
1) Short title, the ellipse attached to the title end
2) Long title, the ellipse attached to the right side of container
I tried your code and it renders fine (in other terms it renders in the viewport. See red arrow). Please find attached a screenshot of the results. (I added the showgridlines just to illustrates the rows and cols)
//--- Changed testing and fixed code for intended effect ---//
Code changes in XAML: Swapped the width values for the columndefinitions. Added Textwrapping to textblock in order to see entire text. (You could opt for texttrimming instead depending on your aesthetics.)
<Grid Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="1" Grid.ColumnSpan="2">
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<TextBlock Grid.Column="0" Text="Title should be really really really really really long" HorizontalAlignment="Left" TextWrapping="Wrap" />
<Ellipse Grid.Column="1" Fill="White" Stroke="White" Width="7" Height="7"/>
</Grid>
Outcome:

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