TextBox AttachedProperty to Select All text not working as expected? - wpf

Question

I have an attached property called "SelectAllOnFocus". Values of true/false.
public static class TextBoxProps
{
private static void MyTextBoxKeyUp(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Key == Key.Escape)
{
((TextBox)sender).Text = string.Empty;
}
}
public static void SetSelectAllOnFocus(DependencyObject dependencyObject, bool selectAllOnFocus)
{
if (!ReferenceEquals(null, dependencyObject))
{
dependencyObject.SetValue(SelectAllOnFocus, selectAllOnFocus);
}
}
public static bool GetSelectAllOnFocus(DependencyObject dependencyObject)
{
if (!ReferenceEquals(null, dependencyObject))
{
return (bool)dependencyObject.GetValue(SelectAllOnFocus);
}
else
{
return false;
}
}
private static void OnSelectAllOnFocus(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
bool selectAllOnFocus = (bool)e.NewValue == true;
var theTextBox = d as TextBox;
if (selectAllOnFocus && theTextBox != null)
{
theTextBox.PreviewMouseDown -= MyTextBoxMouseEnter; theTextBox.PreviewMouseDown += MyTextBoxMouseEnter;
}
}
private static void MyTextBoxMouseEnter(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
((TextBox)sender).SelectAll();
e.Handled = false;
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty SelectAllOnFocus
= DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached("SelectAllOnFocus", typeof(bool), typeof(TextBoxEscapeProperty),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(false, new PropertyChangedCallback(OnSelectAllOnFocus)));
}
What happens is the following:
The PreviewMouseDown event gets triggered.
The MyTextBoxMouseEnter method gets called.
The SelectAll() Method gets called.
When I do a "watch" on ((TextBox)sender).SelectedText, the value is correct (meaning whatever is in the textbox is showing up as selectedText).
The textbox itself is unchanged. No text is selected.
This is part of a general WPF style. All textboxes in the application should receive this property and it's associated behavior.
I'm stumped. Any ideas?
Thanks

Answer 1

What happens if you call ((TextBox)sender).UpdateLayout(); immediately after the SelectAll command? Or maybe you need to set the Keyboard focus to the text box.
It might be a better option to use something like this, which works if the text box is being selected with the mouse or the keyboard. (You'll need to modify it to check your "SelectAllOnFocus" property)
In your App.xaml.cs
protected override void OnStartup(StartupEventArgs e)
{
// Select the text in a TextBox when it receives focus.
EventManager.RegisterClassHandler(typeof(TextBox), TextBox.PreviewMouseLeftButtonDownEvent, new MouseButtonEventHandler(SelectivelyIgnoreMouseButton));
EventManager.RegisterClassHandler(typeof(TextBox), TextBox.GotKeyboardFocusEvent, new RoutedEventHandler(SelectAllText));
EventManager.RegisterClassHandler(typeof(TextBox), TextBox.MouseDoubleClickEvent, new RoutedEventHandler(SelectAllText));
base.OnStartup(e);
}
void SelectivelyIgnoreMouseButton(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)
{
// Find the TextBox
DependencyObject parent = e.OriginalSource as UIElement;
while (parent != null && !(parent is TextBox))
parent = VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(parent);
if (parent != null)
{
var textBox = (TextBox)parent;
if (!textBox.IsKeyboardFocusWithin)
{
// If the text box is not yet focused, give it the focus and
// stop further processing of this click event.
textBox.Focus();
e.Handled = true;
}
}
}
void SelectAllText(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
var textBox = e.OriginalSource as TextBox;
if (textBox != null)
textBox.SelectAll();
}