TextBox expanding with surrounding Grid but not with text - wpf

A window has a Grid with two columns. The left column contains a control with a constant width but with a height that adapts. The right column contains a TextBox that takes up all remaining space in the Grid (and thereby in the Window).
The Grid is given a minimal width and height and is wrapped within a ScrollViewer. If the user resizes the window to be smaller than the minimal width/height of the Grid, scrollbars are displayed.
This is exactly how I want it to be. However, a problem occurs when the user starts typing text. If the text is to long to fit in one line in the TextBox, I want the text to wrap. Therefore I set TextWrapping="Wrap" on the TextBox. But since the TextBox has an automatic width and is wrapped in a ScrollViewer (its actually the whole Grid that is wrapped), the TextBox just keeps expanding to the right.
I do want the TextBox to expand if the window is expanded, but I don't want the TextBox to expand by the text. Rather the text should wrap inside the available TextBox. If the text don't fit within the TextBox height, a scrollbar should be displayed within the TextBox.
Is there a way to accomplish this?
Below is some code that shows my problem:
<Window x:Class="AdaptingTextBoxes.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="MainWindow" Height="300" Width="400" Background="DarkCyan">
<Grid Margin="10" Name="LayoutRoot">
<ScrollViewer HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto">
<Grid MinWidth="300" MinHeight="200">
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="auto" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Button Grid.Column="0" Margin="0,0,10,0" Content="Button" Width="100" />
<TextBox Grid.Column="1" AcceptsReturn="True" TextWrapping="Wrap" ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Disabled" ScrollViewer.VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" />
</Grid>
</ScrollViewer>
</Grid>
</Window>

You could use an invisible border (its hacky but it works - its how I tend to sort out dynamic textbox sizes in Xaml):
<Border BorderThickness="0" x:Name="border" Grid.Column="1" Margin="0.5" />
<TextBox Grid.Column="1" AcceptsReturn="True" TextWrapping="Wrap" Width="{Binding ActualWidth, ElementName=border}" Height="{Binding ActualHeight, ElementName=border}" />

Have you tried setting the MaxWidth property on just the TextBox?
Edit after OP's comment
I would try getting rid of the ScrollViewer. The sizing used in the Grid's layout should take care of re-sizing and the scroll bar settings on the TextBox should take care of the rest.

The answer is based on Leom's answer.
The solution works great when you enlarge the window, but the resizing is not smooth when you make the window smaller. As the textbox participates in the grid's layout, it has to perform layout process multiple times. You can fix that by putting the texbox in the canvas, so the change of the size of the textbox no longer triggers the grid's re-layout.
The updated code:
<Border BorderThickness="0" x:Name="border" Grid.Column="1" Margin="0.5" />
<Canvas Grid.Column="1">
<TextBox AcceptsReturn="True" TextWrapping="Wrap" Width="{Binding ActualWidth, ElementName=border}" Height="{Binding ActualHeight, ElementName=border}" />
</Canvas>

Related

Having issues with the scroll bar in WPF

So im trying to get my scroll bar to A only show up as needed and B show up only around my description text
Right now the scroll view is going from the top of the window to the bottom
<Window x:Class="WpfApplication3.DataWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="DataWindow" Height="300" Width="300">
<Grid>
<Label x:Name="lblTitle" Content="Label" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="96,25,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="186"/>
<Label x:Name="lblPublishDate" Content="Label" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="96,53,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="186"/>
<Image x:Name="imgPic" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="81" Margin="10,10,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="81"/>
<ScrollViewer>
<TextBlock x:Name="tbDesc" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="10,96,0,0" TextWrapping="Wrap" VerticalAlignment="Top" Height="167" Width="272" Text="TextBlock" ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Disabled" ScrollViewer.VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" />
</ScrollViewer>
</Grid>
A grid tries to let it's children take up all availble space.
Your ScrollViewer is one of the children, so it will fill all available space by default.
There are a number of ways around this.
You could use a different panel type, one that doesn't try to stretch it's children to fill all available space. Based on what you're doing with excessively large margins, a Canvas might be suitable.
I would suggest reading this for a quick understanding of WPF's available Layout Panels : WPF Layouts - A Visual Quick Start
Another alternative is to give your Grid some Row Definitions, and specify that the row containing the ScrollViewer should be of a fixed size, or should be sized so it fits whatever size the child object wants (Height="Auto")
Or you could give your ScrollViewer a fixed height, and set it's VerticalAlignment property so it gets docked to either the top or bottom of the Grid.
Personally I would recommend the first option - reviewing WPF's layout system and determining a more approrpiate panel type for your layout. And if the most appropriate panel type is a Grid, then I would highly recommend using the RowDefinitions and ColumnDefinitions to give your Grid some structure, rather than trying to use excessively large Margins to position your controls.
You're pretty close, the problem appears to be an issue of layout. Because the controls are arranged in the grid without row and column definitions the scrollviewer is attempting to resize to the full size of the grid while the textblock is adhereing to its fixed size and margin. Try the following starting point and see if it helps:
<Grid>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="150"/>
<RowDefinition/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<StackPanel Grid.Row="0">
<Label x:Name="lblTitle" Content="Label" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Width="186"/>
<Label x:Name="lblPublishDate" Content="Label" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Width="186"/>
<Image x:Name="imgPic" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="81" Width="81"/>
</StackPanel>
<ScrollViewer Grid.Row="1" HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Disabled" VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto">
<TextBlock x:Name="tbDesc" HorizontalAlignment="Left" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="TextBlock"/>
</ScrollViewer>
</Grid>

Constraining a ListView's width to parent to force child text to wrap

I'm trying to get a window similar to a chat window, where a list of text items is drawn. The window should be resizable and each text item should wrap if it does not fit on one line.
What I have so far:
MessageItem - A user control, multiline TextBlock in a Border
<Grid VerticalAlignment="Stretch" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch">
<Border BorderBrush="Silver" BorderThickness="1" Height="Auto" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="0,10,0,10" Name="messageContainer" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="Auto">
<TextBlock Height="Auto" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" Margin="0" Name="messageContent" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Width="Auto" Text="This is some longer text. Wow that wasn't as long as I thought." TextWrapping="Wrap" Padding="10" />
</Border>
</Grid>
MessageBox - A user control with a ListView that holds MessageItems
<Grid Name="messageGrid" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch">
<ScrollViewer VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto">
<!--<StackPanel Height="Auto" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" Margin="0" Name="messagePanel" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Width="Auto">
</StackPanel> -->
<ListView HorizontalContentAlignment="Stretch" VerticalContentAlignment="Stretch">
<local:MessageItem></local:MessageItem>
</ListView>
</ScrollViewer>
</Grid>
The Problem:
If I use the commented out StackPanel for holding MessageItems, It will shrink the MessageItem (and cause the text to wrap) correctly. If I use the ListView, it does not shrink.
I've more or less figured out why from research, but I haven't been able to figure out how to get around it. As far as I can tell I need to override MeasureOverride and/or ArrangeOverride, but I'm far too new to WPF to know WTF I'm doing. (rimshot)
I'm not sure why you're putting the ListView inside a ScrollViewer since the ListView has its own ScrollView internally.
In order to get your MessageItems to wrap you need to turn off any horizontal scrollbars, otherwise the container (ListView or ScrollViewer) will give the MessageItem as much space as it requires and show a scrollbar.
Try
<ScrollViewer ... ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Disabled"/>
and
<ListView ... ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Disabled"/>
although I'm not sure you even need the ScrollViewer.
You would probably be better off using a ListBox and an ItemTemplate instead of the ListView and user control

Limit width of TextBox to the width of the ListView that contains it

I am working on a MVVM app (the examples here are not very MVVM though, its just a mockup).
I have a ListView, that binds to a collection of TextItemViewModel instances, the view for these are defined in TextItemView. Each TextItemView contains a Grid with one Auto column and on * column to fill. The fill column contains a TextBox where the user can enter text.
I want the TextItemViews to fill the horizontal space of the ListView (this works), like so:
However, when a user enters long text in a box, I want it to expand in Height but not in Width. At the moment, the Width increases and the ListView gets a scrollbar, like so:
My ListView code looks like this: (I've taken out the MVVM Binding code and set the ItemsSource in the code-behind for this example)
<ListView Name="listview"
SelectionMode="Single"
Margin="5"
MinHeight="50"
HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"
HorizontalContentAlignment="Stretch" />
And my TextItemView code looks like this:
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Button Content="SomeButton"
HorizontalAlignment="Left"
VerticalAlignment="Top"
Margin="5"
Grid.Column="0" />
<TextBox Text="{Binding Path=NoteText}"
TextWrapping="Wrap"
AcceptsReturn="True"
AcceptsTab="True"
VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto"
HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Disabled"
HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"
Margin="5"
Grid.Column="1" />
</Grid>
Can anyone advise me on how to force the TextItemView to fill the width of the ListView (as it does), but to then wrap the TextBox and expand TextItemView in Height when the TextBox fills up?
OK I got this now thanks to WPF - How to stop TextBox from autosizing?
Trick is to add the following to ListView definition:
ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Disabled"

Listbox height binding not working properly & Image control proportional resizing

During developement of some program I've encountered some problems. The first is that I've bound the 'Height' property of listbox control to 'ActualHeight' of my stackPanel. Here's some XAML code I have:
<ListBox Name="listQuotes" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"
Width="{Binding ElementName=stackPanelQuotes, Path=ActualWidth}"
Height="{Binding ElementName=stackPanelQuotes, Path=ActualHeight}"
ItemsSource="{Binding}" ItemTemplate="{StaticResource quotesFeedTemplate}"
Background="Transparent" ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Disabled">
</ListBox>
When I'm expanding my window, size of listbox changes, but when I make it smaller again, the listbox itself doesn't change back, in fact even scrollbar remains the same range...
So how am I supposed to get this work properly?
Second thing is that my program consists of two parts - header and the main part
Header must remain static, while the the main part (two listboxes in two colums) must resize with the window. By resizing I mean that width should affect both, the header and main part, and height should only affect the main part
Normal view
Corrupted view
And the third thing. How can I make my image resize propotionally (lets say 3:4) whe I'm resing the window (no matter wich - width or height)
You couldget the effect you want by removing the height and width bindings and leaving them as automatic.
<Grid Name="Quotes">
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="3*" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="4*" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ListBox Grid.Column="0" MinWidth="250" Name="listQuotes" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"
ItemsSource="{Binding QuotesList}"
Background="Transparent" ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Disabled">
</ListBox>
<ListBox Grid.Column ="1" MinWidth="250" Name="listQuotes2" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"
ItemsSource="{Binding QuotesList}"
Background="Transparent" ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Disabled">
</ListBox>
</Grid>
You can get the proportional sizing you want by using a grid with the Columnn definitions I posted. Those will stay in proportion as you resize.

WPF Listbox wont scroll Vertical

Within a Groupbox I have a Listbox, ListboxItems are defined in the XAML as well. The Listbox is defined:
<ListBox Name="lvAvoidCountry" Margin="5,5,5,5"
Background="Transparent"
ScrollViewer.VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Visible"
ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Disabled" >
Items are defined like this:
<ListViewItem >
<CheckBox Name="chkAlbanien" Tag="55">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<Image Source="images/flag_albania.png" Height="30"></Image>
<TextBlock Text="Albanien" Margin="5,0,0,0"></TextBlock>
</StackPanel>
</CheckBox>
</ListViewItem>
If I remove the Scrollviewer Settings I get horizontal scrolling and the Items are well formatted - correct width. If I use the scrollviewer settings the items get cut off so that all items are placed on the listbox. (eg. the flag is shown, the checkbox is shown but the text is just "Alba").
Thanks for any hints!
As the name implies, ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Disabled" disables horizontal scrolling. If you do that, but your ListBoxItems are too long, they'll get cut off. The StackPanel won't grow or shrink to fit into the ListBox, and it won't "wrap" your items to fit into the ListBox if it's too narrow, even if you add TextWrapping to the TextBlock. It's very stubborn. I think your main problem is that StackPanel.
Instead of a StackPanel, try using a Grid with 2 columns defined like so:
<ListViewItem >
<CheckBox Name="chkAlbanien" Tag="55">
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Image Grid.Column="0" Source="images/flag_albania.png" Height="30"/>
<TextBlock Grid.Column="1"
TextWrapping="Wrap"
Text="Albanien" Margin="5,0,0,0"/>
</Grid>
</CheckBox>
</ListViewItem>
Auto will "shrinkwrap" the image columns, and * will give the text all remaining space. Then add TextWrapping to your textblock in case it's still too long.
Edited: added more complete code example and changed my answer slightly.
if you want vertical scrolling in a listbox then don't put it in a stackpanel,instead use a grid.

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