Stopping WPF TextBox from growing with text - wpf

Question

I am trying to modify my simple control so that the text box does not grow as the user types in long text. I took a look at some solutions posted here at Stackoverflow that suggest using a Grid and an invisible Border and binding the Width of the text box to the ActualWidth of the Border, but I can't seem to get it to work in my setup.
Here is the xaml of my control:
<StackPanel Margin="5,0">
<WrapPanel Margin="0,0,0,5">
<TextBlock Foreground="White" Margin="0,0,2,0">TEXT</TextBlock>
<TextBlock Foreground="#FF0099CC" FontWeight="Bold">MORE TEXT</TextBlock>
</WrapPanel>
<Border Margin="2,4,0,4" BorderThickness="1" SnapsToDevicePixels="True" Background="Black"
BorderBrush="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.ControlDarkBrushKey}}">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<Image Source="..\Resources\zoom.png" Width="13"/>
<TextBox Foreground="White" Background="Black" BorderBrush="Transparent">THIS IS SOME TEXT</TextBox>
</StackPanel>
</Border>
</StackPanel>
Any ideas? I need the zoom.png to appear "inside" of the text box so I use a horizontal stack panel and just place the image and text box side by side, both surrounded by the same border.
Is there a way for me to stop my text box from auto growing as text is typed?
Thanks.
UPDATE:
Below is the xaml I am testing with.
<Window x:Class="Desktop.Shell"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:composite="http://www.codeplex.com/CompositeWPF"
Title="MyShell" Height="50" Width="900"
WindowStyle="None"
ShowInTaskbar="False"
AllowsTransparency="True"
Background="Transparent"
ResizeMode="CanResizeWithGrip"
WindowStartupLocation="CenterScreen">
<Border BorderBrush="Black"
BorderThickness="1.5"
CornerRadius="5"
Background="Gray">
<ItemsControl composite:RegionManager.RegionName="MainRegion">
<ItemsControl.ItemsPanel>
<ItemsPanelTemplate>
<WrapPanel></WrapPanel>
</ItemsPanelTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemsPanel>
</ItemsControl>
</Border>
</Window>
<UserControl x:Class="Desktop.SearchTextBox"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Height="50" Margin="0">
<StackPanel Margin="5,0">
<WrapPanel Margin="0,0,0,5">
<TextBlock Foreground="White" Margin="0,0,2,0">TEXT</TextBlock>
<TextBlock Foreground="#FF0099CC" FontWeight="Bold">MORE TEXT</TextBlock>
</WrapPanel>
<Border Margin="2,4,0,4" BorderThickness="1" SnapsToDevicePixels="True" Background="Black"
BorderBrush="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.ControlDarkBrushKey}}">
<Grid x:Name="grdTest">
<Image HorizontalAlignment="Left" Source="..\Resources\zoom.png" Width="13"/>
<TextBox Margin="16,0,0,0" Foreground="White" Background="Black" BorderBrush="Transparent" Width="{Binding ElementName=grdTest, Path=ActualWidth}">THIS IS SOME TEXT</TextBox>
</Grid>
</Border>
</StackPanel>
</UserControl>
I just add my user control to the Window's MainRegion.

Answer 1

I did some more searching and found the solution. I used the below Grid to replace the grid in my original post and now the text box keeps its original size and does not auto grow on long user input. Thanks to all who looked into this.
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
<ColumnDefinition/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Image Source="..\Resources\zoom.png" Width="13"/>
<Border x:Name="b" Grid.Column="1"/>
<TextBox Width="{Binding ActualWidth, ElementName=b}" Foreground="White" Background="Black" BorderBrush="Transparent"
Grid.Column="1"
VerticalAlignment="Center"
Text="THIS IS SOME TEXT"/>
</Grid>

Answer 2

Try to put ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Disabled" inside Grid.

Answer 3

Name the Grid as x:Name="grdTest" and try this
<Grid x:Name="grdTest">
<Image HorizontalAlignment="Left" Source="..\Resources\zoom.png" Width="13"/>
<TextBox Margin="16,0,0,0" Foreground="White" Background="Black" BorderBrush="Transparent"
Width="{Binding ElementName=grdTest, Path=ActualWidth}">THIS IS SOME TEXT</TextBox>
</Grid>

Answer 4

To stop the grow behavior set an explicit size to the TextBox or place it in a grid with the HorizontalAlignment set to stretch
Option 1:
<TextBox Width="60">THIS IS SOME TEXT</TextBox>
Option 2:
<TextBox HorizontalAlignment="Stretch">THIS IS SOME TEXT</TextBox>

Answer 5

I had a very similar issue, and it turned out that my Window property "SizeToContent" was set to "WidthAndHeight", I removed setting that property, (which then defaults to "Manual") and this fixed my similar issue.

Answer 6

To scale the border containing the textbox to the width of the outter stack panel, change the inner stack panel to a grid and set a left margin on the text box so it doesn't overlap with the image. Also set the image's horizontal alignment to left (if that is where you want it) or it will default to the center of the border.
<StackPanel Margin="5,0">
<WrapPanel Margin="0,0,0,5">
<TextBlock Foreground="White" Margin="0,0,2,0">TEXT</TextBlock>
<TextBlock Foreground="#FF0099CC" FontWeight="Bold">MORE TEXT</TextBlock>
</WrapPanel>
<Border Margin="2,4,0,4" BorderThickness="1" SnapsToDevicePixels="True" Background="Black"
BorderBrush="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.ControlDarkBrushKey}}">
<Grid>
<Image HorizontalAlignment="Left" Source="..\Resources\zoom.png" Width="13"/>
<TextBox Margin="16,0,0,0" Foreground="White" Background="Black" BorderBrush="Transparent">THIS IS SOME TEXT</TextBox>
</Grid>
</Border>
</StackPanel>

Answer 7

This article shows a solution for a textbox that is displayed inside a scrollviewer's viewport (in treeview or listbox). A PART_MeasureTextBlock is used (bound to the textbox) to determine the available size and set it to the textbox.
Please have look here and tell me what you think about it:
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/802385/A-WPF-MVVM-In-Place-Edit-TextBox-Control