I'm looking for a way to find all controls on Window by their type,
for example: find all TextBoxes, find all controls implementing specific interface etc.
This should do the trick:
public static IEnumerable<T> FindVisualChilds<T>(DependencyObject depObj) where T : DependencyObject
{
if (depObj == null) yield return (T)Enumerable.Empty<T>();
for (int i = 0; i < VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(depObj); i++)
{
DependencyObject ithChild = VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(depObj, i);
if (ithChild == null) continue;
if (ithChild is T t) yield return t;
foreach (T childOfChild in FindVisualChilds<T>(ithChild)) yield return childOfChild;
}
}
then you enumerate over the controls like so
foreach (TextBlock tb in FindVisualChildren<TextBlock>(window))
{
// do something with tb here
}
This is the easiest way:
IEnumerable<myType> collection = control.Children.OfType<myType>();
where control is the root element of the window.
EDIT - As pointed out in the comments. This only goes one level deep. See the accepted answer for an option that goes deeper.
I adapted #Bryce Kahle's answer to follow #Mathias Lykkegaard Lorenzen's suggestion and use LogicalTreeHelper.
Seems to work okay. ;)
public static IEnumerable<T> FindLogicalChildren<T> ( DependencyObject depObj ) where T : DependencyObject
{
if( depObj != null )
{
foreach( object rawChild in LogicalTreeHelper.GetChildren( depObj ) )
{
if( rawChild is DependencyObject )
{
DependencyObject child = (DependencyObject)rawChild;
if( child is T )
{
yield return (T)child;
}
foreach( T childOfChild in FindLogicalChildren<T>( child ) )
{
yield return childOfChild;
}
}
}
}
}
(It still won't check tab controls or Grids inside GroupBoxes as mentioned by #Benjamin Berry & #David R respectively.)
(Also followed #noonand's suggestion & removed the redundant child != null)
Use the helper classes VisualTreeHelper or LogicalTreeHelper depending on which tree you're interested in. They both provide methods for getting the children of an element (although the syntax differs a little). I often use these classes for finding the first occurrence of a specific type, but you could easily modify it to find all objects of that type:
public static DependencyObject FindInVisualTreeDown(DependencyObject obj, Type type)
{
if (obj != null)
{
if (obj.GetType() == type)
{
return obj;
}
for (int i = 0; i < VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(obj); i++)
{
DependencyObject childReturn = FindInVisualTreeDown(VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(obj, i), type);
if (childReturn != null)
{
return childReturn;
}
}
}
return null;
}
I found that the line, VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(depObj);, used in several examples above does not return a non-zero count for GroupBoxes, in particular, where the GroupBox contains a Grid, and the Grid contains children elements. I believe this may be because the GroupBox is not allowed to contain more than one child, and this is stored in its Content property. There is no GroupBox.Children type of property. I am sure I did not do this very efficiently, but I modified the first "FindVisualChildren" example in this chain as follows:
public IEnumerable<T> FindVisualChildren<T>(DependencyObject depObj) where T : DependencyObject
{
if (depObj != null)
{
int depObjCount = VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(depObj);
for (int i = 0; i <depObjCount; i++)
{
DependencyObject child = VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(depObj, i);
if (child != null && child is T)
{
yield return (T)child;
}
if (child is GroupBox)
{
GroupBox gb = child as GroupBox;
Object gpchild = gb.Content;
if (gpchild is T)
{
yield return (T)child;
child = gpchild as T;
}
}
foreach (T childOfChild in FindVisualChildren<T>(child))
{
yield return childOfChild;
}
}
}
}
Here is yet another, compact version, with the generics syntax:
public static IEnumerable<T> FindLogicalChildren<T>(DependencyObject obj) where T : DependencyObject
{
if (obj != null) {
if (obj is T)
yield return obj as T;
foreach (DependencyObject child in LogicalTreeHelper.GetChildren(obj).OfType<DependencyObject>())
foreach (T c in FindLogicalChildren<T>(child))
yield return c;
}
}
To get a list of all childs of a specific type you can use:
private static IEnumerable<DependencyObject> FindInVisualTreeDown(DependencyObject obj, Type type)
{
if (obj != null)
{
if (obj.GetType() == type)
{
yield return obj;
}
for (var i = 0; i < VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(obj); i++)
{
foreach (var child in FindInVisualTreeDown(VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(obj, i), type))
{
if (child != null)
{
yield return child;
}
}
}
}
yield break;
}
Small change to the recursion to so you can for example find the child tab control of a tab control.
public static DependencyObject FindInVisualTreeDown(DependencyObject obj, Type type)
{
if (obj != null)
{
for (int i = 0; i < VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(obj); i++)
{
DependencyObject child = VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(obj, i);
if (child.GetType() == type)
{
return child;
}
DependencyObject childReturn = FindInVisualTreeDown(child, type);
if (childReturn != null)
{
return childReturn;
}
}
}
return null;
}
And this is how it works upwards
private T FindParent<T>(DependencyObject item, Type StopAt) where T : class
{
if (item is T)
{
return item as T;
}
else
{
DependencyObject _parent = VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(item);
if (_parent == null)
{
return default(T);
}
else
{
Type _type = _parent.GetType();
if (StopAt != null)
{
if ((_type.IsSubclassOf(StopAt) == true) || (_type == StopAt))
{
return null;
}
}
if ((_type.IsSubclassOf(typeof(T)) == true) || (_type == typeof(T)))
{
return _parent as T;
}
else
{
return FindParent<T>(_parent, StopAt);
}
}
}
}
Do note that using the VisualTreeHelper does only work on controls that derive from Visual or Visual3D. If you also need to inspect other elements (e.g. TextBlock, FlowDocument etc.), using VisualTreeHelper will throw an exception.
Here's an alternative that falls back to the logical tree if necessary:
http://www.hardcodet.net/2009/06/finding-elements-in-wpf-tree-both-ways
My version for C++/CLI
template < class T, class U >
bool Isinst(U u)
{
return dynamic_cast< T >(u) != nullptr;
}
template <typename T>
T FindVisualChildByType(Windows::UI::Xaml::DependencyObject^ element, Platform::String^ name)
{
if (Isinst<T>(element) && dynamic_cast<Windows::UI::Xaml::FrameworkElement^>(element)->Name == name)
{
return dynamic_cast<T>(element);
}
int childcount = Windows::UI::Xaml::Media::VisualTreeHelper::GetChildrenCount(element);
for (int i = 0; i < childcount; ++i)
{
auto childElement = FindVisualChildByType<T>(Windows::UI::Xaml::Media::VisualTreeHelper::GetChild(element, i), name);
if (childElement != nullptr)
{
return childElement;
}
}
return nullptr;
};
#Bryce, really nice answer.
VB.NET version:
Public Shared Iterator Function FindVisualChildren(Of T As DependencyObject)(depObj As DependencyObject) As IEnumerable(Of T)
If depObj IsNot Nothing Then
For i As Integer = 0 To VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(depObj) - 1
Dim child As DependencyObject = VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(depObj, i)
If child IsNot Nothing AndAlso TypeOf child Is T Then
Yield DirectCast(child, T)
End If
For Each childOfChild As T In FindVisualChildren(Of T)(child)
Yield childOfChild
Next
Next
End If
End Function
Usage (this disables all TextBoxes in a window):
For Each tb As TextBox In FindVisualChildren(Of TextBox)(Me)
tb.IsEnabled = False
Next
For this and more use cases you can add flowing extension method to your library:
public static List<DependencyObject> FindAllChildren(this DependencyObject dpo, Predicate<DependencyObject> predicate)
{
var results = new List<DependencyObject>();
if (predicate == null)
return results;
for (int i = 0; i < VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(dpo); i++)
{
var child = VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(dpo, i);
if (predicate(child))
results.Add(child);
var subChildren = child.FindAllChildren(predicate);
results.AddRange(subChildren);
}
return results;
}
Example for your case:
var children = dpObject.FindAllChildren(child => child is TextBox);
I wanted to add a comment but I have less than 50 pts so I can only "Answer".
Be aware that if you use the "VisualTreeHelper" method to retrieve XAML "TextBlock" objects then it will also grab XAML "Button" objects. If you re-initialize the "TextBlock" object by writing to the Textblock.Text parameter then you will no longer be able to change the Button text using the Button.Content parameter. The Button will permanently show the text written to it from the Textblock.Text write action (from when it was retrieved --
foreach (TextBlock tb in FindVisualChildren<TextBlock>(window))
{
// do something with tb here
tb.Text = ""; //this will overwrite Button.Content and render the
//Button.Content{set} permanently disabled.
}
To work around this, you can try using a XAML "TextBox" and add methods (or Events) to mimic a XAMAL Button. XAML "TextBox" is not gathered by a search for "TextBlock".
For some reason, none of the answers posted here helped me to get all controls of given type contained in a given control in my MainWindow.
I needed to find all menu items in one menu to iterate them. They were not all direct descendants of the menu, so i managed to collect only the first lilne of them using any of the code above.
This extension method is my solution for the problem for anyone who will continue to read all the way down here.
public static void FindVisualChildren<T>(this ICollection<T> children, DependencyObject depObj) where T : DependencyObject
{
if (depObj != null)
{
var brethren = LogicalTreeHelper.GetChildren(depObj);
var brethrenOfType = LogicalTreeHelper.GetChildren(depObj).OfType<T>();
foreach (var childOfType in brethrenOfType)
{
children.Add(childOfType);
}
foreach (var rawChild in brethren)
{
if (rawChild is DependencyObject)
{
var child = rawChild as DependencyObject;
FindVisualChildren<T>(children, child);
}
}
}
}
Hope it helps.
I found it easier without Visual Tree Helpers:
foreach (UIElement element in MainWindow.Children) {
if (element is TextBox) {
if ((element as TextBox).Text != "")
{
//Do something
}
}
};
The accepted answer returns the discovered elements more or less unordered, by following the first child branch as deep as possible, while yielding the discovered elements along the way, before backtracking and repeating the steps for not yet parsed tree branches.
If you need the descendent elements in descending order, where the direct children will be yielded first, then their children and so on, the following algorithm will work:
public static IEnumerable<T> GetVisualDescendants<T>(DependencyObject parent, bool applyTemplates = false)
where T : DependencyObject
{
if (parent == null || !(child is Visual || child is Visual3D))
yield break;
var descendants = new Queue<DependencyObject>();
descendants.Enqueue(parent);
while (descendants.Count > 0)
{
var currentDescendant = descendants.Dequeue();
if (applyTemplates)
(currentDescendant as FrameworkElement)?.ApplyTemplate();
for (var i = 0; i < VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(currentDescendant); i++)
{
var child = VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(currentDescendant, i);
if (child is Visual || child is Visual3D)
descendants.Enqueue(child);
if (child is T foundObject)
yield return foundObject;
}
}
}
The resulting elements will be ordered from nearest to farthest.
This will be useful e.g. if you are looking for the nearest child element of some type and condition:
var foundElement = GetDescendants<StackPanel>(someElement)
.FirstOrDefault(o => o.SomeProperty == SomeState);
My code is as follows:
void mainDataContextObj_CutSelectedColumnEvent(string columnId)
{
IList<DataGridColumn> columns = dg.Columns;
for(int i=2; i<dg.Columns.Count; i++)
{
DataGridColumnHeader headerObj = dg.Columns[i].Header as DataGridColumnHeader;
//This always returns headerObj as null!!!
}
}
I need DataGridColumnHeader from the column. Where am I going wrong?
The Header object of the DataGridColumn is actually the visible header of that column, whatever you set it to be. DataGridColumn is not part of the Visual Tree so there is not direct way to access the DataGridColumnHeader for it (we can't even be sure it exists yet). But you can do something like this to try and access it
DataGridColumnHeader headerObj = GetColumnHeaderFromColumn(column);
private DataGridColumnHeader GetColumnHeaderFromColumn(DataGridColumn column)
{
// dataGrid is the name of your DataGrid. In this case Name="dataGrid"
List<DataGridColumnHeader> columnHeaders = GetVisualChildCollection<DataGridColumnHeader>(dataGrid);
foreach (DataGridColumnHeader columnHeader in columnHeaders)
{
if (columnHeader.Column == column)
{
return columnHeader;
}
}
return null;
}
public List<T> GetVisualChildCollection<T>(object parent) where T : Visual
{
List<T> visualCollection = new List<T>();
GetVisualChildCollection(parent as DependencyObject, visualCollection);
return visualCollection;
}
private void GetVisualChildCollection<T>(DependencyObject parent, List<T> visualCollection) where T : Visual
{
int count = VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(parent);
for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)
{
DependencyObject child = VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(parent, i);
if (child is T)
{
visualCollection.Add(child as T);
}
else if (child != null)
{
GetVisualChildCollection(child, visualCollection);
}
}
}
While Fredrik's answer provides a refactored approach with additional method that could potentially be reused in other parts of the code, I preferred to consolidate his methods in to one single method. There may also be some small performance gain because it can end the search as soon as it finds the header and it does not need to continue to search through all the children in the visual tree (this is most likely negligible for most cases).
private DataGridColumnHeader GetHeader(DataGridColumn column, DependencyObject reference)
{
for (int i = 0; i < VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(reference); i++)
{
DependencyObject child = VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(reference, i);
DataGridColumnHeader colHeader = child as DataGridColumnHeader;
if ((colHeader != null) && (colHeader.Column == column))
{
return colHeader;
}
colHeader = GetHeader(column, child);
if (colHeader != null)
{
return colHeader;
}
}
return null;
}
And it is used like so:
DataGridColumnHeader colHeader = GetHeader(column, myDataGrid);
if (colHeader == null) { /* Not found */ }
I need to search a WPF control hierarchy for controls that match a given name or type. How can I do this?
I combined the template format used by John Myczek and Tri Q's algorithm above to create a findChild Algorithm that can be used on any parent. Keep in mind that recursively searching a tree downwards could be a lengthy process. I've only spot-checked this on a WPF application, please comment on any errors you might find and I'll correct my code.
WPF Snoop is a useful tool in looking at the visual tree - I'd strongly recommend using it while testing or using this algorithm to check your work.
There is a small error in Tri Q's Algorithm. After the child is found, if childrenCount is > 1 and we iterate again we can overwrite the properly found child. Therefore I added a if (foundChild != null) break; into my code to deal with this condition.
/// <summary>
/// Finds a Child of a given item in the visual tree.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="parent">A direct parent of the queried item.</param>
/// <typeparam name="T">The type of the queried item.</typeparam>
/// <param name="childName">x:Name or Name of child. </param>
/// <returns>The first parent item that matches the submitted type parameter.
/// If not matching item can be found,
/// a null parent is being returned.</returns>
public static T FindChild<T>(DependencyObject parent, string childName)
where T : DependencyObject
{
// Confirm parent and childName are valid.
if (parent == null) return null;
T foundChild = null;
int childrenCount = VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(parent);
for (int i = 0; i < childrenCount; i++)
{
var child = VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(parent, i);
// If the child is not of the request child type child
T childType = child as T;
if (childType == null)
{
// recursively drill down the tree
foundChild = FindChild<T>(child, childName);
// If the child is found, break so we do not overwrite the found child.
if (foundChild != null) break;
}
else if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(childName))
{
var frameworkElement = child as FrameworkElement;
// If the child's name is set for search
if (frameworkElement != null && frameworkElement.Name == childName)
{
// if the child's name is of the request name
foundChild = (T)child;
break;
}
}
else
{
// child element found.
foundChild = (T)child;
break;
}
}
return foundChild;
}
Call it like this:
TextBox foundTextBox =
UIHelper.FindChild<TextBox>(Application.Current.MainWindow, "myTextBoxName");
Note Application.Current.MainWindow can be any parent window.
You can also find an element by name using FrameworkElement.FindName(string).
Given:
<UserControl ...>
<TextBlock x:Name="myTextBlock" />
</UserControl>
In the code-behind file, you could write:
var myTextBlock = (TextBlock)this.FindName("myTextBlock");
Of course, because it's defined using x:Name, you could just reference the generated field, but perhaps you want to look it up dynamically rather than statically.
This approach is also available for templates, in which the named item appears multiple times (once per usage of the template).
You can use the VisualTreeHelper to find controls. Below is a method that uses the VisualTreeHelper to find a parent control of a specified type. You can use the VisualTreeHelper to find controls in other ways as well.
public static class UIHelper
{
/// <summary>
/// Finds a parent of a given item on the visual tree.
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T">The type of the queried item.</typeparam>
/// <param name="child">A direct or indirect child of the queried item.</param>
/// <returns>The first parent item that matches the submitted type parameter.
/// If not matching item can be found, a null reference is being returned.</returns>
public static T FindVisualParent<T>(DependencyObject child)
where T : DependencyObject
{
// get parent item
DependencyObject parentObject = VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(child);
// we’ve reached the end of the tree
if (parentObject == null) return null;
// check if the parent matches the type we’re looking for
T parent = parentObject as T;
if (parent != null)
{
return parent;
}
else
{
// use recursion to proceed with next level
return FindVisualParent<T>(parentObject);
}
}
}
Call it like this:
Window owner = UIHelper.FindVisualParent<Window>(myControl);
I may be just repeating everyone else but I do have a pretty piece of code that extends the DependencyObject class with a method FindChild() that will get you the child by type and name. Just include and use.
public static class UIChildFinder
{
public static DependencyObject FindChild(this DependencyObject reference, string childName, Type childType)
{
DependencyObject foundChild = null;
if (reference != null)
{
int childrenCount = VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(reference);
for (int i = 0; i < childrenCount; i++)
{
var child = VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(reference, i);
// If the child is not of the request child type child
if (child.GetType() != childType)
{
// recursively drill down the tree
foundChild = FindChild(child, childName, childType);
if (foundChild != null) break;
}
else if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(childName))
{
var frameworkElement = child as FrameworkElement;
// If the child's name is set for search
if (frameworkElement != null && frameworkElement.Name == childName)
{
// if the child's name is of the request name
foundChild = child;
break;
}
}
else
{
// child element found.
foundChild = child;
break;
}
}
}
return foundChild;
}
}
Hope you find it useful.
If you want to find ALL controls of a specific type, you might be interested in this snippet too
public static IEnumerable<T> FindVisualChildren<T>(DependencyObject parent)
where T : DependencyObject
{
int childrenCount = VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(parent);
for (int i = 0; i < childrenCount; i++)
{
var child = VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(parent, i);
var childType = child as T;
if (childType != null)
{
yield return (T)child;
}
foreach (var other in FindVisualChildren<T>(child))
{
yield return other;
}
}
}
My extensions to the code.
Added overloads to find one child by type, by type and criteria (predicate), find all children of type which meet the criteria
the FindChildren method is an iterator in addition to being an extension method for DependencyObject
FindChildren walks logical sub-trees also. See Josh Smith's post linked in the blog post.
Source:
https://code.google.com/p/gishu-util/source/browse/#git%2FWPF%2FUtilities
Explanatory blog post :
http://madcoderspeak.blogspot.com/2010/04/wpf-find-child-control-of-specific-type.html
This will dismiss some elements - you should extend it like this in order to support a wider array of controls. For a brief discussion, have a look here
/// <summary>
/// Helper methods for UI-related tasks.
/// </summary>
public static class UIHelper
{
/// <summary>
/// Finds a parent of a given item on the visual tree.
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T">The type of the queried item.</typeparam>
/// <param name="child">A direct or indirect child of the
/// queried item.</param>
/// <returns>The first parent item that matches the submitted
/// type parameter. If not matching item can be found, a null
/// reference is being returned.</returns>
public static T TryFindParent<T>(DependencyObject child)
where T : DependencyObject
{
//get parent item
DependencyObject parentObject = GetParentObject(child);
//we've reached the end of the tree
if (parentObject == null) return null;
//check if the parent matches the type we're looking for
T parent = parentObject as T;
if (parent != null)
{
return parent;
}
else
{
//use recursion to proceed with next level
return TryFindParent<T>(parentObject);
}
}
/// <summary>
/// This method is an alternative to WPF's
/// <see cref="VisualTreeHelper.GetParent"/> method, which also
/// supports content elements. Do note, that for content element,
/// this method falls back to the logical tree of the element!
/// </summary>
/// <param name="child">The item to be processed.</param>
/// <returns>The submitted item's parent, if available. Otherwise
/// null.</returns>
public static DependencyObject GetParentObject(DependencyObject child)
{
if (child == null) return null;
ContentElement contentElement = child as ContentElement;
if (contentElement != null)
{
DependencyObject parent = ContentOperations.GetParent(contentElement);
if (parent != null) return parent;
FrameworkContentElement fce = contentElement as FrameworkContentElement;
return fce != null ? fce.Parent : null;
}
//if it's not a ContentElement, rely on VisualTreeHelper
return VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(child);
}
}
I edited CrimsonX's code as it was not working with superclass types:
public static T FindChild<T>(DependencyObject depObj, string childName)
where T : DependencyObject
{
// Confirm obj is valid.
if (depObj == null) return null;
// success case
if (depObj is T && ((FrameworkElement)depObj).Name == childName)
return depObj as T;
for (int i = 0; i < VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(depObj); i++)
{
DependencyObject child = VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(depObj, i);
//DFS
T obj = FindChild<T>(child, childName);
if (obj != null)
return obj;
}
return null;
}
Whilst I love recursion in general, it's not as efficient as iteration when programming in C#, so perhaps the following solution is neater than the one suggested by John Myczek? This searches up a hierarchy from a given control to find an ancestor control of a particular type.
public static T FindVisualAncestorOfType<T>(this DependencyObject Elt)
where T : DependencyObject
{
for (DependencyObject parent = VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(Elt);
parent != null; parent = VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(parent))
{
T result = parent as T;
if (result != null)
return result;
}
return null;
}
Call it like this to find the Window containing a control called ExampleTextBox:
Window window = ExampleTextBox.FindVisualAncestorOfType<Window>();
Here's my code to find controls by Type while controlling how deep we go into the hierarchy
(maxDepth == 0 means infinitely deep).
public static class FrameworkElementExtension
{
public static object[] FindControls(
this FrameworkElement f, Type childType, int maxDepth)
{
return RecursiveFindControls(f, childType, 1, maxDepth);
}
private static object[] RecursiveFindControls(
object o, Type childType, int depth, int maxDepth = 0)
{
List<object> list = new List<object>();
var attrs = o.GetType()
.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(ContentPropertyAttribute), true);
if (attrs != null && attrs.Length > 0)
{
string childrenProperty = (attrs[0] as ContentPropertyAttribute).Name;
foreach (var c in (IEnumerable)o.GetType()
.GetProperty(childrenProperty).GetValue(o, null))
{
if (c.GetType().FullName == childType.FullName)
list.Add(c);
if (maxDepth == 0 || depth < maxDepth)
list.AddRange(RecursiveFindControls(
c, childType, depth + 1, maxDepth));
}
}
return list.ToArray();
}
}
exciton80... I was having a problem with your code not recursing through usercontrols. It was hitting the Grid root and throwing an error. I believe this fixes it for me:
public static object[] FindControls(this FrameworkElement f, Type childType, int maxDepth)
{
return RecursiveFindControls(f, childType, 1, maxDepth);
}
private static object[] RecursiveFindControls(object o, Type childType, int depth, int maxDepth = 0)
{
List<object> list = new List<object>();
var attrs = o.GetType().GetCustomAttributes(typeof(ContentPropertyAttribute), true);
if (attrs != null && attrs.Length > 0)
{
string childrenProperty = (attrs[0] as ContentPropertyAttribute).Name;
if (String.Equals(childrenProperty, "Content") || String.Equals(childrenProperty, "Children"))
{
var collection = o.GetType().GetProperty(childrenProperty).GetValue(o, null);
if (collection is System.Windows.Controls.UIElementCollection) // snelson 6/6/11
{
foreach (var c in (IEnumerable)collection)
{
if (c.GetType().FullName == childType.FullName)
list.Add(c);
if (maxDepth == 0 || depth < maxDepth)
list.AddRange(RecursiveFindControls(
c, childType, depth + 1, maxDepth));
}
}
else if (collection != null && collection.GetType().BaseType.Name == "Panel") // snelson 6/6/11; added because was skipping control (e.g., System.Windows.Controls.Grid)
{
if (maxDepth == 0 || depth < maxDepth)
list.AddRange(RecursiveFindControls(
collection, childType, depth + 1, maxDepth));
}
}
}
return list.ToArray();
}
I have a sequence function like this (which is completely general):
public static IEnumerable<T> SelectAllRecursively<T>(this IEnumerable<T> items, Func<T, IEnumerable<T>> func)
{
return (items ?? Enumerable.Empty<T>()).SelectMany(o => new[] { o }.Concat(SelectAllRecursively(func(o), func)));
}
Getting immediate children:
public static IEnumerable<DependencyObject> FindChildren(this DependencyObject obj)
{
return Enumerable.Range(0, VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(obj))
.Select(i => VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(obj, i));
}
Finding all children down the hiararchical tree:
public static IEnumerable<DependencyObject> FindAllChildren(this DependencyObject obj)
{
return obj.FindChildren().SelectAllRecursively(o => o.FindChildren());
}
You can call this on the Window to get all controls.
After you have the collection, you can use LINQ (i.e. OfType, Where).
Since the question is general enough that it might attract people looking for answers to very trivial cases: if you just want a child rather than a descendant, you can use Linq:
private void ItemsControlItem_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
if (SomeCondition())
{
var children = (sender as Panel).Children;
var child = (from Control child in children
where child.Name == "NameTextBox"
select child).First();
child.Focus();
}
}
or of course the obvious for loop iterating over Children.
These options already talk about traversing the Visual Tree in C#.
Its possible to traverse the visual tree in xaml as well using RelativeSource markup extension. msdn
find by type
Binding="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Mode=FindAncestor, AncestorType={x:Type <TypeToFind>}}}"
Here is a solution that uses a flexible predicate:
public static DependencyObject FindChild(DependencyObject parent, Func<DependencyObject, bool> predicate)
{
if (parent == null) return null;
int childrenCount = VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(parent);
for (int i = 0; i < childrenCount; i++)
{
var child = VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(parent, i);
if (predicate(child))
{
return child;
}
else
{
var foundChild = FindChild(child, predicate);
if (foundChild != null)
return foundChild;
}
}
return null;
}
You can for example call it like this:
var child = FindChild(parent, child =>
{
var textBlock = child as TextBlock;
if (textBlock != null && textBlock.Name == "MyTextBlock")
return true;
else
return false;
}) as TextBlock;
To find an ancestor of a given type from code, you can use:
[CanBeNull]
public static T FindAncestor<T>(DependencyObject d) where T : DependencyObject
{
while (true)
{
d = VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(d);
if (d == null)
return null;
var t = d as T;
if (t != null)
return t;
}
}
This implementation uses iteration instead of recursion which can be slightly faster.
If you're using C# 7, this can be made slightly shorter:
[CanBeNull]
public static T FindAncestor<T>(DependencyObject d) where T : DependencyObject
{
while (true)
{
d = VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(d);
if (d == null)
return null;
if (d is T t)
return t;
}
}
I can't find my control with #CrimsonX or #Drew Noakes methods, because my ControlTemplate is located in a separated XAML file.
I have found the control using the following method:
private Image backImage;
private void Diagram_Loaded(object sender, System.Windows.RoutedEventArgs e)
{
// here is the example of the ControlTemplate declaration
//<ControlTemplate x:Key="DiagramControlTemplate1" TargetType="{x:Type Diagram}">
var ctrlTemplate = (ControlTemplate)FindResource("DiagramControlTemplate1");
// diagram is the x:Name of TemplatedControl and, "backImage" is the name of control that I want to find.
var imageControl = ctrlTemplate.FindName("backImage", diagram);
if (imageControl != null)
{
this.backImage = (Image)imageControl;
}
}
This is working for me.
This code just fixes #CrimsonX answer's bug:
public static T FindChild<T>(DependencyObject parent, string childName)
where T : DependencyObject
{
// Confirm parent and childName are valid.
if (parent == null) return null;
T foundChild = null;
int childrenCount = VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(parent);
for (int i = 0; i < childrenCount; i++)
{
var child = VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(parent, i);
// If the child is not of the request child type child
T childType = child as T;
if (childType == null)
{
// recursively drill down the tree
foundChild = FindChild<T>(child, childName);
// If the child is found, break so we do not overwrite the found child.
if (foundChild != null) break;
}
else if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(childName))
{
var frameworkElement = child as FrameworkElement;
// If the child's name is set for search
if (frameworkElement != null && frameworkElement.Name == childName)
{
// if the child's name is of the request name
foundChild = (T)child;
break;
}
// recursively drill down the tree
foundChild = FindChild<T>(child, childName);
// If the child is found, break so we do not overwrite the found child.
if (foundChild != null) break;
else
{
// child element found.
foundChild = (T)child;
break;
}
}
return foundChild;
}
You just need to continue calling the method recursively if types are matching but names don't (this happens when you pass FrameworkElement as T). otherwise it's gonna return null and that's wrong.
Here are some methods that I use frequently..
Usage:
// Starts the search from thisUiElement (might be a UserContol, Window, etc..)
var combobox = thisUiElement.ChildOfType<ComboBox>();
var employeesListBox = thisUiElement.ChildOfName("EmployeesListBox");
// Starts the search from MainWindow to find the first DataGrid
var dataGrid = WpfUtils.ChildOfType<DataGrid>();
// Starts the search from MainWindow to find the all ListViews
List<ComboBox> allListViews = WpfUtils.ChildOfType<ListView>();
// Starts the search from MainWindow to find the element of name EmployeesComboBox
var combobox = WpfUtils.ChildOfName("EmployeesComboBox");
Implementation:
/*
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Media;
namespace WpfUtilities;
*/
public static class WpfUtils{
public static Window AppMainWindow =>
Application.Current?.MainWindow;
#region Find By Type
// Start the search from MainWindow, example usage: var combobox = WpfUtils.ChildOfType<ComboBox>();
public static T ChildOfType<T>() where T : DependencyObject =>
ChildOfType<T>(AppMainWindow);
/// This will return the first child of type T
public static T ChildOfType<T>(this DependencyObject parent)
where T : DependencyObject
{
if (parent == null) return null;
T child = default;
var numVisuals = VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(parent);
for (var i = 0; i < numVisuals; i++)
{
var v = VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(parent, i);
child = v as T ?? v.ChildOfType<T>();
if (child != null)
break;
}
return child;
}
// Start the search from MainWindow, example usage: List<ComboBox> comboboxes = WpfUtils.ChildOfType<ComboBox>();
public static IEnumerable<T> ChildrenOfType<T>() where T : DependencyObject =>
ChildrenOfType<T>(AppMainWindow);
/// This will not break the search when finding the first kid of type T, but it will keep searching to return all kids of type T
public static IEnumerable<T> ChildrenOfType<T>(
this DependencyObject parent) where T : DependencyObject
{
if (parent == null) yield break;
var numVisuals = VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(parent);
for (var i = 0; i < numVisuals; i++)
{
var child = VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(parent, i);
if (child is T dependencyObject)
yield return dependencyObject;
foreach (var childOfChild in child.ChildrenOfType<T>())
yield return childOfChild;
}
}
#endregion
#region Find By Name
/// If parent is null, the search will start from MainWindow, example usage: var combobox = WpfUtils.ChildOfName("EmployeesCombobox");
public static FrameworkElement ChildOfName(string childName,
DependencyObject parent = null)
{
parent ??= AppMainWindow;
object child = null;
var numVisuals = VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(parent);
for (var i = 0; i < numVisuals; i++)
{
var v = VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(parent, i);
child = v is FrameworkElement f && f.Name == childName
? f
: ChildOfName(childName, v);
if (child != null)
break;
}
return child as FrameworkElement;
}
#endregion
#region
// Yet another useful method, if you are writing code in a .xaml.cs file and you want to get the parent of a type.. example usage: this.ParentOfType<Grid>(); this.ParentOfType<UserControl>(); this.ParentOfType<Window>();
public static T ParentOfType<T>(this DependencyObject child) where T : DependencyObject
{
var parentDepObj = child;
do
{
parentDepObj = VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(parentDepObj);
if (parentDepObj is T parent) return parent;
} while (parentDepObj != null);
return null;
}
#endregion
}
I was able to find objects by name using below code.
stkMultiChildControl = stkMulti.FindChild<StackPanel>("stkMultiControl_" + couter.ToString());
Try this
<TextBlock x:Name="txtblock" FontSize="24" >Hai Welcom to this page
</TextBlock>
Code Behind
var txtblock = sender as Textblock;
txtblock.Foreground = "Red"