Make ComboBox stretch to available space with maxwidth and right-aligned parent - wpf

I'm having a problem achieving the layout i want.
This is my code:
<DockPanel DockPanel.Dock="Bottom" HorizontalAlignment="Right" LastChildFill="True">
<Label DockPanel.Dock="Left" Content="Add new:"/>
<Button DockPanel.Dock="Right" Content="Add" VerticalAlignment="Center"/>
<ComboBox VerticalAlignment="Center" MaxWidth="150" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch">
<System:String>Item1</System:String>
<System:String>Item2</System:String>
<System:String>Item3</System:String>
</ComboBox>
</DockPanel>
What I want is to have the three elements aligned to the right, in the order Label, ComboBox, Button. The Label and the button should take as much space as needed, but I want the ComboBox to take as much space as possible up to 150 px.
It kind of works when the DockPanel is not set to HorizontalAlignment=Right.
Any tips/solutions?
Thanks.

Use the RightToLeft setting, like this:
<Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot">
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"></RowDefinition>
<RowDefinition></RowDefinition>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Grid FlowDirection="RightToLeft">
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"></ColumnDefinition>
<ColumnDefinition MaxWidth="150"></ColumnDefinition>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"></ColumnDefinition>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Label FlowDirection="LeftToRight" Grid.Column="2" Content="Add new:"/>
<ComboBox FlowDirection="LeftToRight" Grid.Column="1" VerticalAlignment="Center" MaxWidth="150" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch">
<ComboBoxItem>Test</ComboBoxItem>
<ComboBoxItem>Test</ComboBoxItem>
<ComboBoxItem>Test</ComboBoxItem>
</ComboBox>
<Button FlowDirection="LeftToRight" Grid.Column="0" DockPanel.Dock="Right" Content="Add" VerticalAlignment="Center"/>
</Grid>
</Grid>
Here is is running:

Related

WPF How to make control resize relative to next control

I have defined the following XAML:
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition MinWidth="200" />
<ColumnDefinition MinWidth="200" />
<ColumnDefinition MinWidth="500" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<StackPanel Grid.Column="0" Margin="2,2,5,2">
<GroupBox Header="Computer">
<DockPanel>
<ComboBox MinWidth="100" Name="cmbComputerNames" IsEditable="True" DockPanel.Dock="Left" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" Width="auto" />
<Button Content="Connect" Name="bConnect" Width="65" HorizontalAlignment="Right" />
</DockPanel>
</GroupBox>
</StackPanel>
<Button Grid.Column="1" Content="Two" Margin="1,2,5,2" />
<Button Grid.Column="2" Content="Three" Margin="1,2,2,2" />
<GridSplitter Height="100" Width="4" Grid.Column="0"/>
<GridSplitter Height="100" Width="4" Grid.Column="1"/>
</Grid>
So, the left grid column is resizable. I want the "Connect" button to remain right-aligned and with same width. The combobox however, should be left-aligned and the width should grow as the column is resized, so the distance to the connect button remains the same.
Doesn't work:
Can anyone tell me how I can achieve that?
Since this is too long for a comment
Replace DockPanel with Grid and try this:
<Grid>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
<RowDefinition/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
<ColumnDefinition/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<GroupBox Header="Some text here">
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ComboBox MinWidth="100"/>
<Button Grid.Column="1" Content="A button" Margin="5"/>
</Grid>
</GroupBox>
<GridSplitter Grid.Column="1" Grid.RowSpan="2" ResizeDirection="Columns" ResizeBehavior="PreviousAndNext" Width="10"/>
<Button Content="some button" Grid.Column="2"/>
</Grid>
#Andy, if you could produce an answer then I will delete mine.

Two groupboxes in dockpanel, how to set resizing (strech & fixed) correctly?

I have a very basic layout, but still not able to get the behaviour I want. Stupid me...
My grid has two columns, dynamic sized column left and fixed sized column right. This is working. Inside the right column I have stackpanel containing two buttons, they follow the window resizing correctly.
Inside the left column I have dockpanel containing two groupboxes, the lower has fixed height and is docked to the bottom. This groupbox follows the window resizing correctly, just like I want.
But I'm not able to get the upper groupbox to fill the upper section of the dockpanel. I can only set its height as fixed or when setting it "Auto" it gets strange height of 23...? I want it to fill the area and follow window resizing. I tried using stackpanel also in this column, but no success.
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="220"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<DockPanel x:Name="GroupPanel" Grid.Column="0" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch">
<GroupBox x:Name="AlarmGroup" Header="Alarms" Margin="10" DockPanel.Dock="Top" />
<GroupBox x:Name="LogGroup" Header="Log" Height="188" Margin="10" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" />
</DockPanel>
<StackPanel x:Name="ButtonPanel" Width="190" Grid.Column="1">
<Button x:Name="StartButton" DockPanel.Dock="Right" Width="150" Height="40" VerticalAlignment="Top" Margin="0,20,10,0">Start</Button>
<Button x:Name="StopButton" DockPanel.Dock="Right" Width="150" Height="40" VerticalAlignment="Top" Margin="0,10,10,0">Stop</Button>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
By default, DockPanel fills its remaining space with its last child.
You've set the AlarmGroup GroupBox as the first child, so it takes up only the space it needs; it's default. The second child has a fixed height, so it does not take up the remainder of the space.
To achieve the layout you are looking for, move LogGroup to be the first child of GroupPanel and set its DockPanel.Dock property to Bottom.
Example
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="220"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<DockPanel x:Name="GroupPanel">
<GroupBox x:Name="LogGroup" Header="Log"
DockPanel.Dock="Bottom"
Height="188" Margin="10"/>
<GroupBox x:Name="AlarmGroup" Header="Alarms"
DockPanel.Dock="Top"
Margin="10"/>
</DockPanel>
<StackPanel x:Name="ButtonPanel"
Width="190"
Grid.Column="1">
<Button x:Name="StartButton"
Width="150" Height="40"
VerticalAlignment="Top"
Margin="0,20,10,0">Start</Button>
<Button x:Name="StopButton"
Width="150" Height="40"
VerticalAlignment="Top"
Margin="0,10,10,0">Stop</Button>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
Result
Is this working for you ?
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="220"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<DockPanel x:Name="GroupPanel" Grid.Column="0" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Stretch">
<GroupBox x:Name="LogGroup" Header="Log" Height="188" Margin="10" DockPanel.Dock="Bottom"/>
<GroupBox x:Name="AlarmGroup" Header="Alarms" Margin="10" DockPanel.Dock="Top" />
</DockPanel>
<StackPanel x:Name="ButtonPanel" Width="190" Grid.Column="1">
<Button x:Name="StartButton" DockPanel.Dock="Right" Width="150" Height="40" VerticalAlignment="Top" Margin="0,20,10,0">Start</Button>
<Button x:Name="StopButton" DockPanel.Dock="Right" Width="150" Height="40" VerticalAlignment="Top" Margin="0,10,10,0">Stop</Button>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
In a DockPanel there is a property LastChildFill set to true by default which means that the last coltrol you put will take all the space. I also changed VerticalAligment="Bottom" to DockPanel.Dock="Bottom"
Depending on the screen size, Log and Alarm screens get smaller equally. I tried to do it by dividing it into partitions in a Grid. Is it enough for you ?
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="220"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid x:Name="GroupPanel" Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="0" Grid.RowSpan="3">
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="1*"/>
<RowDefinition Height="10"/>
<RowDefinition Height="1*"/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<GroupBox x:Name="LogGroup" Header="Log" Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="0" Margin="10"/>
<GroupBox x:Name="AlarmGroup" Header="Alarms" Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="2" Margin="10"/>
</Grid>
<StackPanel x:Name="ButtonPanel"
Width="190"
Grid.Column="1">
<Button x:Name="StartButton"
Width="150" Height="40"
VerticalAlignment="Top"
Margin="0,20,10,0">Start</Button>
<Button x:Name="StopButton"
Width="150" Height="40"
VerticalAlignment="Top"
Margin="0,10,10,0">Stop</Button>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>

How to align to a control in the same screen?

In XAML, we typically have <Grid> layout which contains different elements. How do I align a control in one cell of grid to a control in a different cell like below?
(This used to be rather common in traditional applications where controls maybe in different group boxes etc but we still want to align them horizontally in one plane)
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width=".5*"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width=".5*"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<StackPanel Grid.Column ="0">
<TextBox x:Name="name" Height="50"/>
<Label Content="John"/>
</StackPanel>
<StackPanel Grid.Column ="2">
<RadioButton Content="Option1"/>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
The result is below which is ugly:
In this case, I just want to option1 to aligned centered with the TextBox (which does have custom height).
I can use margins to bring it to the desired position but that's kind of hard coded and not too WPFish.
Should I use binding to tie them directly? Is there a better way? Another way I can think of is to keep making grids within grids but seems like that will over complicate for this simple thing?
Try putting them both in another Grid or a horizontal StackPanel, and put that in one of the parent Grid cells.
The following did the trick, basically wrap the <RadioButton> around in <Border>
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width=".5*"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width=".5*"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<StackPanel Grid.Column ="0">
<TextBox x:Name="name" Height="50"/>
<Label Content="John"/>
</StackPanel>
<StackPanel Grid.Column="1" VerticalAlignment="Top">
<Border BorderBrush="{x:Null}" Height="50">
<RadioButton Content="Option1" Margin="10,0,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Center"/>
</Border>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
This answer helped.
Now the result is:
Three variants.
The first - I will supplement #zar: I use size binding instead of explicitly assigning a value to the size.
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width=".5*"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width=".5*"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<StackPanel Grid.Column ="0">
<TextBox x:Name="name" Height="50"/>
<Label Content="John"/>
</StackPanel>
<StackPanel Grid.Column="1" VerticalAlignment="Top">
<Border BorderBrush="{x:Null}" Height="{Binding ActualHeight, ElementName=name, Mode=OneWay}">
<RadioButton Content="Option1" Margin="10,0,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Center"/>
</Border>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
Second - I am implementing #Mark Feldman proposal: Delete StaskPanel and add lines to the grid.
<Grid>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width=".5*"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width=".5*"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<TextBox x:Name="name" Height="50"/>
<Label Content="John"
Grid.Row="1"/>
<RadioButton Content="Option1" Margin="10,0,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Center"
Grid.Column="1"/>
</Grid>
The third - analogous to the first, but without the Border.
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width=".5*"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width=".5*"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<StackPanel Grid.Column ="0">
<TextBox x:Name="name" Height="50"/>
<Label Content="John"/>
</StackPanel>
<StackPanel Grid.Column="1" VerticalAlignment="Top">
<RadioButton Content="Option1" Margin="10,0,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Center" VerticalContentAlignment="Center"
Height="{Binding ActualHeight, ElementName=name, Mode=OneWay}"/>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>

DockPanel LastChildFill resizing to MinWidth?

I try to achieve a simple menubar in WPF.
Here is the XAML:
<Page
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml">
<DockPanel>
<DockPanel Background="Black" VerticalAlignment="Top" LastChildFill="True" DockPanel.Dock="Top" Height="28">
<ToggleButton Content="--" Visibility="Collapsed" />
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<Button Content="Add" />
<Button Content="Expand" />
</StackPanel>
<StackPanel HorizontalAlignment="Right" Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBox Text="Search" MinWidth="80" Width="200" />
<Button Content="X" Margin="0,1,50,0" />
</StackPanel>
</DockPanel>
</DockPanel>
</Page>
It looks good, but when I resize the page to a smaller width, the last child (the Stackpanel with the search textbox) is hiding behind the left items.
Like this:
http://s9.postimage.org/m0tkrobwd/printscreen.png
It would be good if the textbox would resize itself if it has enough space to achieve its MinWidth...Is it possible?
The tricky thing is to give a Control (in your case the SearchTextBox) an alignment but still catch the available space up to MaxWidth. Thanks to this answer.
<DockPanel>
<DockPanel Background="Black" DockPanel.Dock="Top" Height="28">
<ToggleButton DockPanel.Dock="Left" Content="--" Visibility="Collapsed" />
<StackPanel DockPanel.Dock="Left" Orientation="Horizontal">
<Button Content="Add" />
<Button Content="Expand" />
</StackPanel>
<Button DockPanel.Dock="Right" Content="X" />
<Border Name="Container">
<TextBox Text="Search" HorizontalAlignment="Right"
Width="{Binding ElementName=Container, Path=ActualWidth}" MaxWidth="200" />
</Border>
</DockPanel>
</DockPanel>
Container could be another Control too.
<Grid>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="50"/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
<ColumnDefinition MaxWidth="200" MinWidth="80"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ToggleButton Content="--" Visibility="Collapsed" />
<Button Content="Add" Grid.Column="1"/>
<Button Content="Expand" Grid.Column="2"/>
<TextBox Text="Search" Grid.Column="4"/>
<Button Content="X" Margin="0,1,50,0" Grid.Column="5" />
</Grid>
Instead of giving MaxWidth and MinWidth to TextBox give it to Grid Column.I hope this will help.
Hi Set MaxWidth and MinWidth for the TextBox Not Width. If you will set the Width then it has highest precedence and hence MinWidth won'nt come into act.I hope this will help.
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ToggleButton Content="--" Visibility="Collapsed" />
<Button Content="Add" Grid.Column="1"/>
<Button Content="Expand" Grid.Column="2"/>
<TextBox Text="Search" MinWidth="80" MaxWidth="600" Grid.Column="3" ClipToBounds="True" />
<Button Content="X" Margin="0,1,50,0" Grid.Column="4"/>
</Grid>
Its just because of the size of page is not enough for showing both stackpanel on page. for this you can use the minimum size of the page. that will prevent the damages of the control hiding .
and its also up to you what design you want. you can either use grid rather then stackpanles.

WPF - Resizing Columns and Rows in a Grid

Ok, I'm using the grid to list various content. How can I get specific colums to resize while others stay fixed.
That is, form pops up with specifc Initial column sizes for the controls... if the user RESIZES the form... i want certain 'memo' like fields to expand. How to do that? i seem to only be able to get ALL 'second' columns to expand in height... not just 1 (last one)... or specific ones.
Thanks for any help!!
Here is the layout... how can i make the 'long' text resizeable with form resize, and keep the button glued to the bottom of the form??? tx
<DockPanel VerticalAlignment="Top">
<Grid DockPanel.Dock="Top" VerticalAlignment="Top" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" Grid.Column="0" Margin="10,10,10,10" >
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"></ColumnDefinition>
<ColumnDefinition MinWidth="150" ></ColumnDefinition>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition></RowDefinition>
<RowDefinition MinHeight="80" Height="Auto"></RowDefinition>
<RowDefinition ></RowDefinition>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Label Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="0" Content="Test1"/>
<Label Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="1" Content="Test2 -Long notes"/>
<Label Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="2" Content="Test3"/>
<TextBox Height="Auto" Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="0" />
<TextBox Height="Auto" Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1" TextWrapping="Wrap" AcceptsReturn="True" VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" />
<TextBox Height="Auto" Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="2" />
</Grid>
<StackPanel DockPanel.Dock="Bottom" Orientation="Horizontal" HorizontalAlignment="Right" MinHeight="20" Margin=" 0,0,10,10">
<Button Content="OK" Margin="0,0,10,0" Width="75" IsDefault="True"/>
<Button Content="Cancel" Width="75" IsCancel="True" />
</StackPanel>
</DockPanel>
(added after 1st 'answer')
Now, if i remove the bottom stackpanel (Ok, Cancel buttons) out of equation to make this easier and i set the 1st and 2nd rows to a fixed value... i seem to be able to get this working (don't want to have to set a max height though) ... oh and i need to change the verticalAlignment to 'stretch'. But as soon as i add the StackPanel for the buttons again... the stretching no longer works... so here is the next revised version...
<DockPanel VerticalAlignment="Stretch">
<Grid DockPanel.Dock="top" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Grid.Column="0" Margin="10,10,10,10" >
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"></ColumnDefinition>
<ColumnDefinition MinWidth="150" Width="*"></ColumnDefinition>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition MaxHeight="30"></RowDefinition>
<RowDefinition MinHeight="80" Height="*"></RowDefinition>
<RowDefinition MaxHeight="30"></RowDefinition>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Label Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="0" Content="Test1"/>
<Label Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="1" Content="Test2 -Long notes"/>
<Label Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="2" Content="Test3"/>
<TextBox Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="0" />
<TextBox Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1" TextWrapping="Wrap" AcceptsReturn="True" VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" />
<TextBox Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="2" />
</Grid>
<StackPanel DockPanel.Dock="Bottom" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" HorizontalAlignment="Right" Orientation="Horizontal" MinHeight="20" Margin=" 0,0,10,10">
<Button Content="OK" Margin="0,0,10,0" Width="75" IsDefault="True"/>
<Button Content="Cancel" Width="75" IsCancel="True" />
</StackPanel>
</DockPanel>
So I'm still having problems...
Use * for the column width instead of Auto, which tells the column to take up whatever space is left after the other columns are set.
If you need multiple columns to share the available space in different percentages, you can prefix the * with a number, as in "2*" and "3*". By default, "" means 1.
HTH,
Berryl
I seem to only be able to solve the problems by incorporting the StackPanel in its own grid row, and column. Here is my solution. Not sure if dock panel is necessary in this case... but without tinkering more ... that's my current solution. If any one can explain to me how to get it working with the stack panel OK, Cancel buttons 'outside' the grid, i'd love to know. Meanwhile, this solution is available for those of you looking into this sort of problem. As you see you need to use Auto in all the other row definitions. * where u want it to expand.
<DockPanel VerticalAlignment="Stretch">
<Grid DockPanel.Dock="top" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Grid.Column="0" Margin="10,10,10,10" >
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"></ColumnDefinition>
<ColumnDefinition MinWidth="150" Width="*"></ColumnDefinition>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"></RowDefinition>
<RowDefinition MinHeight="80" Height="*"></RowDefinition>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"></RowDefinition>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"></RowDefinition>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Label Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="0" Content="Test1"/>
<Label Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="1" Content="Test2 -Long notes"/>
<Label Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="2" Content="Test3"/>
<TextBox Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="0" />
<TextBox Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1" TextWrapping="Wrap" AcceptsReturn="True" VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" />
<TextBox Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="2" />
<StackPanel Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="3" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" HorizontalAlignment="Right" Orientation="Horizontal" MinHeight="20" Margin=" 0,10,0,0">
<Button Content="OK" Margin="0,0,10,0" Width="75" IsDefault="True"/>
<Button Content="Cancel" Width="75" IsCancel="True" />
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
</DockPanel>
If you want to be able to re-size only one of the squares made by the Row and Column Definitions you should add a Grid or whichever container element inside of one the squares. Then you'll make the Grid inside the square re-size accordingly. This way all the Definitions won't re-size, instead the grid and it's elements inside will re-size and thus not changing the other elements. It's not common but you can have as many stack panels and grids and set their visibility when needed. Sometimes when something doesn't work stick them inside something else and experiment with it. You might just get it by accident, but you'll still get it.

Resources