WPF: Problem with overlapping controls and grid column widths - wpf

I have a problem regarding a parent grid with a control in it that overlaps a tabcontrol.
I need the child grid (in the tab control) to resize its columns according to the overlapping control.
Specifically, when the overlapping control is resized (due to resize of the window for example) the child grid inside the tabcontrol needs to resize its columns so that the child controls inside the tabcontrol grid isn't overlapped by the control that overlaps the tabcontrol.
I sincerely hope someone here knows a solution for this problem, I've been fighting with it for days :)
Thanks in advance!
Best regards,
Req
edit: In response to the comments below:
Absolutely - I figured I should have, but seeing that I was/am at work I didn't have the code handy. But I can write up a similar example of the XAML.
<Grid Name="parentGrid" >
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="1*" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="1*" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="1*" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="1*" />
<RowDefinition Height="1*" />
<RowDefinition Height="1*" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<TabControl Name="tabCtrl" Grid.Column="1" Grid.ColumnSpan="2" Grid.Row="1" Grid.RowSpan="2">
<TabItem Name="tabItem1">
<Grid Name="tabCtrlGrid">
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="1*" /> <!-- This is the column I want to resize according to the overlapping image control below -->
<ColumnDefinition Width="1*" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="1*" />
<RowDefinition Height="1*" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Button Name="someChildControl" Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="0" />
</Grid>
</TabItem>
</TabControl>
<Image Name="overlappingImg" Grid.Column="0" Grid.ColumnSpan="2" Grid.Row="0" Grid.RowSpan="2" /> <!-- whenever the screen/window is resized, the parentGrid resizes, and thus resizing this overlapping image. -->
</Grid>
What needs to happen is that column 0 in the tabCtrlGrid needs to resize its width to fit the width of the overlapping area of the image. That way someChildControl is never overlapped by the image, regardless of how it's resized.
Hopefully that makes it a little more clear :)

How does this look?
<Grid Name="parentGrid" Background="LightGray">
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="100" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="100" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Rectangle HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Fill="Aqua"/>
<TextBlock Text="Tab controller" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Bottom"/>
<Rectangle Grid.Column="2" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Fill="Aqua"/>
<TextBlock Text="Up down nav" Grid.Column="2" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch"/>
<Grid Grid.ColumnSpan="2">
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Rectangle HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="130" Height="160" Fill="BlanchedAlmond"/>
<TextBlock Text="CoverArt" HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="130" Height="160"/>
<Rectangle Grid.Column="1" Fill="LightGray" />
<TextBlock Text="Tab content" Grid.Column="1" />
</Grid>
</Grid>

Related

WPF grid layout bug

In the WPF grid below, the middle column is not 6. Text B is all the way to the right instead of 6 away from Text A. I have tried * instead of Auto for the other columns but the result is the same.
How do I make the middle column 6? Is there a workaround? Why is it happening? Is it intended behaviour or a bug?
I make my grids this way so that I don't have to set a margin on every element.
<ScrollViewer HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Auto">
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="6" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
<RowDefinition Height="6" />
<RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<TextBlock Grid.ColumnSpan="3" Grid.Column="0" HorizontalAlignment="Left">xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx</TextBlock>
<TextBlock Grid.Row="2">Text A</TextBlock>
<Rectangle Fill="YellowGreen" Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="2" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" />
<TextBlock Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="2" Background="LightCoral">Text B</TextBlock>
</Grid>
</ScrollViewer>
Note: My window width is Auto.
Edit:
Using #flq's solution but added a scrollviewer with horizontal scrolling, the problem is back. It's probably the same reason as why the solution doesn't show properly in the designer, something to do with WPF not knowing how to calculate widths without a constraining width.
I cannot confirm that setting the third column to * does not work. With the following XAML:
<Grid HorizontalAlignment="Left">
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="6" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
<RowDefinition Height="6" />
<RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<TextBlock Grid.ColumnSpan="3" Grid.Column="0" HorizontalAlignment="Left">xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx</TextBlock>
<TextBlock Grid.Row="2">Text A</TextBlock>
<Rectangle Fill="YellowGreen" Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="2" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" />
<TextBlock Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="2" Background="LightCoral">Text B</TextBlock>
</Grid>
I get this:
I think you want to use "*" on the other columns that are not a fixed length
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="6" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
How do I make the middle column 6? Is there a workaround?
Solved by setting a MaxWidth inside the ScrollViewer (I used the largest double value).
Why is it happening? Is it intended behaviour or a bug?
In a ScrollViewer (or the designer), there is no maximum width. Somewhere in the layout calculations it is assigning the column width as 6 + *.
I think ultimately it is a bug because the column width can be calculated without needing a max width (it is specified as a fixed value and does not even need to be calculated).
<ScrollViewer HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Auto">
<Grid MaxWidth="1.79769E308">
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="6" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
<RowDefinition Height="6" />
<RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<TextBlock Grid.ColumnSpan="4">xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx</TextBlock>
<TextBlock Grid.Row="2">Text A</TextBlock>
<Rectangle Fill="YellowGreen" Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="2" />
<TextBlock Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="2" Background="LightCoral">Text B</TextBlock>
</Grid>
</ScrollViewer>

Make a TextBlock wrap inside Grid Column

I have the following XAML which shows a textblock in a grid. The problem is that it just stretches out, it even stretches itself greater than the windows width.
<Grid Background="Gray">
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
<RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Label Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="0" Padding="0" FontWeight="Bold" Margin="0,0,5,0">Description:</Label>
<TextBlock Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="1" Text="{Binding Description}" TextWrapping="Wrap" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" />
</Grid>
You need to restrict the width of the second column to make the text wrap -
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>

Make TextBlock FIT in stack panel so I can make ellipsis

How do I make TextBlock to resize to accomodate only available space in StackPanel?
StackPanel limited to my Grid layout. I just illustrated issue but in my real project it's little more complex, so ideally solution should be simple :)
<Grid>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="200" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<StackPanel Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1"
Orientation="Horizontal">
<Button Content="Test" />
<TextBlock Text="Test test" />
<Button Content="Test 2" />
<TextBlock Width="Auto">
Some text that I want to trim with ellipse
</TextBlock>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
You would better make the StackPanel another Grid:
<Grid>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="1*" />
<RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="1*" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="200" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1">
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="1*"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Button Grid.Column="0" Content="Test" />
<TextBlock Grid.Column="1" Text="Test test" />
<Button Grid.Column="2" Content="Test 2" />
<TextBlock Grid.Column="3" Text="Some text that I want to trim with ellipse"/>
</Grid>
</Grid>
I changed your 'main' grid some because it looks odd having only one row and column (starting at index=0) and setting the StackPanel to Grid.Row="1" and Grid.Column="1"
Proper answer is to use DockPanel instead of StackPanel. Last item in DockPanel will be sized to fit remaining space which is exactly what I needed.

How do I retrieve column width in a WPF Grid using a GridSplitter?

I need to display to the user two listboxes - one on either side of the window - and allow the user to choose how much screen space is devoted to each. I have achieved that much with the following code:
<Grid VerticalAlignment="Stretch" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch">
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="{Binding FirstColumnWidth}" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="*" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<ListBox Name="FirstColumn" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" />
<GridSplitter Name="gridSplitter1" Width="3" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="1" />
<ListBox Name="SecondColumn" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="2" />
</Grid>
However, whilst the binding will retrieve an initial width for the first column and size them both accordingly, using the GridSplitter to resize them simply replaces the binding with the new value. How can I retrieve the new value so that I can persist it?
Ideally, the solution needs to play nicely with MVVM - I'm using Caliburn and trying to keep the code as clean as possible (my view model contains the FirstColumnWidth property that is currently being bound).
There are two solutions that I can think of.
1. Use the different binding modes available and the Width and ActualWidth properties.
Example
<Grid VerticalAlignment="Stretch" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch">
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="{Binding Path=FirstColumnWidth, Mode=OneTime}" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="3" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="{Binding Path=SecondColumnWidth, Mode=OneTime}" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="*" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Grid Grid.Column="0" ActualWidth="{Binding Path=FirstColumnWidth, Mode=OneWayToSource}">
<ListBox HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch"/>
</Grid>
<GridSplitter Grid.Column="1" Width="3" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch"/>
<Grid Grid.Column="2" ActualWidth="{Binding Path=SecondColumnWidth, Mode=OneWayToSource}">
<ListBox HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch"/>
</Grid>
</Grid>
or
2. Override the current/default behaviour of the grid splitter using the attached behaviour pattern (tutorial on CodeProject). I will post of code sample for this tomorrow when I'm at my desk.

How to organize elements inside a Button

i'm new to wpf .
i got a wpf button ,
in it i need to place 2 elements a textblock and a viewbox encapsulating a canvas
the problem is i can't seem to see the canvas at all , unless i give it static values for its size
<Button Margin="10,30,10,10" Padding="0">
<Grid>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="*" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="1*"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="2*"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<TextBlock Text="Me" Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"></TextBlock>
<Viewbox Margin="0,0,0,5">
<Canvas Background="red" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="1" >
<Ellipse HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Stroke="Black" StrokeThickness="4" ></Ellipse>
</Canvas>
</Viewbox>
</Grid>
</Button>
iv'e also attempted this using a stack panel with an horizontal orintation
in any case the canvas does not show
any thoughts of what i'm doing wrong ?
thanks.
Attached Grid properties only work when at the Grid-child-level, i.e. the properties set on the canvas do not take effect they should be set on the container, the ViewBox which is a direct child of the Grid.
Viewboxes only work if the content has a concrete size, you probably need neither the ViewBox nor the Canvas. If you want the Ellipse to be a circle set Stretch="Uniform"
The contents of Buttons do not stretch by default you should set HorizontalContentAligment and its vertical counterpart to Stretch.
e.g.
<Button Margin="10,30,10,10" Padding="0" HorizontalContentAlignment="Stretch" VerticalContentAlignment="Stretch">
<Grid>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="*" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="1*" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="2*" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<TextBlock Text="Me" Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"></TextBlock>
<Ellipse Stretch="Uniform" Grid.Column="1" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch"
Stroke="Black" StrokeThickness="4"></Ellipse>
</Grid>
</Button>

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