Drop Down Menu in c# (position and use) - c#

For my project in school, I have to create a window and program that has a menu, and for the menu, I need to have a drop down menu.
The drop down menu works and all, however, I cannot seem to get it to go into the lower part of my window.
Here is my code:
var MenuWindow = new Form();
MenuWindow.Height = 300;
MenuWindow.Width = 300;
MenuWindow.Text = "Menu";
ToolBarButton Numbers = new ToolBarButton("Number of players");
ToolBar DropDownMenu = new ToolBar();
MenuItem menuItem1 = new MenuItem("1");
MenuItem menuItem2 = new MenuItem("2");
ContextMenu ContentsOfMenu = new ContextMenu(new MenuItem[] { menuItem1, menuItem2 });
DropDownMenu.Buttons.Add(Numbers);
Numbers.Style = ToolBarButtonStyle.DropDownButton;
Numbers.DropDownMenu = ContentsOfMenu;
DropDownMenu.Left = 95;
DropDownMenu.Top = 215;
DropDownMenu.Width = 100;
DropDownMenu.Height = 10;
MenuWindow.Controls.Add(DropDownMenu);
MenuWindow.Show();
As you can see I have tried to add the Height, Width, Left and Top coordinates. However, this has done no difference to where the position of this drop down menu.
I have used a ToolBar and a ToolStrip and the result is the same; I cannot move the position of the button/drop down menu.
Also if you have any suggestions on how to improve my code, please do as I am new to this part of c#.

The first thing to consider is that the name of your variable "DropDownMenu" is misleading. That variable is a ToolBar, not a drop down menu. When you're actually selecting from the drop down on your form, the control you are using is "Numbers". "Numbers" is really what should be called "DropDownMenu".
Given this, I suspect the reason you can't change the Top and Left properties of your toolbar is because it is in fact a toolbar. Toolbars just go at the extremes of their containers. It never makes sense to put them in the middle. It's odd that they even have this property, but I'm guessing that it's because they inherit from "Control". The rendering engine must simply ignore these properties. If you really must have this, take a look at Hans Passant's comment under your question.
I don't work too much with Windows Forms Controls, but I do recall that typically you're more likely to want "ComboBox" for this. And put the combo box straight on your form, bypassing any toolbars. Like this:
var label =
new Label() {
Text = "Players",
Top = 20,
Left = 20,
Width = 75
};
var combo =
new ComboBox() {
Left = label.Left + label.Width,
Top = label.Top,
Width = 150,
Height = 10
};
combo.Items.Add("1");
combo.Items.Add("2");
var MenuWindow =
new Form() {
Height = 100,
Width = 300,
Text = "Menu"
};
MenuWindow.Controls.Add(combo);
MenuWindow.Controls.Add(label);
MenuWindow.Show();
Also, since you're new, note the different style. It's not particularly better, but it's worth knowing about. Setting properties in this manner helps me block things together better. Also, it's generally okay to use the "var" keyword when it's painfully obvious what kind of variable you have. So, for instance, it is very clear that combo is a ComboBox. Consequently I just use "var". When it's even a little unclear, then write out the actual type.

Related

Resizing and Collapsing label in winforms

first time poster, sorry if something isn't as it should be.
I'm new to Winforms and am trying to build a simple application that will display multiple features of an item (like Size, Composition, etc.). Each Characteristic has a Name, can have a Descritpion, and some can have sub-characteristics (having also a name and sometimes a descritpion).
I want to display them one under the other, with the Name of the feature on a blue background that span the whole width of the container, with the description underneath. The name will be (or have) a button (or similar) that when clicked collapse or expand the description. This must be created at run time because I don't know how many feature an object has until the user generate it.
The issues I'm running in are that either I can't span the blue background the whole width of the container (if using a FlowLayoutPanel), or I have some issue with the Description text being not the right size (either it wraps but is too big, or it doesn't wrap and then I can't see the whole text).
Some things are fixed, mainly the number of main sections (like Size, Composition, Weather, etc.), so I can prepare the skeleton before runtime.
The closest i've been to making it work gives this. This issue here is that the height of the Panel which the description label is embded in is fixed, and if I put in in Autosize, the text don't show (probably because the label is in Fill dock style). Just as information, this is what it looks like when collapsed (this is indeed what I'm looking for)
I know some library exists with collapsible panels, but I'd rather try to make it work without external libraries. Thanks in advance for any help !
This is the code that produces the results in the screenshots :
Panel SizeDescrPanel = new Panel();
SizeDescrPanel.Dock = DockStyle.Top;
//SizeDescrPanel.AutoSize = true;
SizeDescrPanel.AutoSizeMode = AutoSizeMode.GrowAndShrink;
SizeDescrPanel.BackColor = Color.Bisque;
SizePanel.Controls.Add(SizeDescrPanel);
Label SizeDescrLbl = new Label();
SizeDescrLbl.Text = Lorem;
SizeDescrLbl.AutoSize = false;
SizeDescrLbl.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
SizeDescrLbl.BackColor = Color.BurlyWood;
SizeDescrPanel.Controls.Add(SizeDescrLbl);
/*using(Graphics g = CreateGraphics())
{
SizeF size = g.MeasureString(SizeDescrLbl.Text, SizeDescrLbl.Font, SizePanel.Width);
SizeDescrPanel.Height = (int) Math.Ceiling(size.Height);
}*/
Panel SizeNamePanel = new Panel();
SizeNamePanel.Dock = DockStyle.Top;
SizeNamePanel.BackColor = Color.Cyan;
SizeNamePanel.AutoSize = true;
SizePanel.Controls.Add(SizeNamePanel);
Button SizeNameBtn = new Button();
SizeNameBtn.Text = "<Size Name> ..." + SizeDescrLbl.Height;
SizeNameBtn.TextAlign = ContentAlignment.MiddleLeft;
SizeNameBtn.FlatStyle = FlatStyle.Flat;
SizeNameBtn.AutoSize = true;
SizeNamePanel.Controls.Add(SizeNameBtn);
SizeNameBtn.Click += delegate { HideShowPanel(SizeDescrPanel); };
It,s a test project, so later I'll put that in different methods. What isn't shown here :
I have a main panel set to Fill containing everything.
The text "SIZE" is a label set to Top
Under it is another Panel (SizePanel) that is set to Top and Autosize is at True. This is the Panel inside which I'm puttin my size name and my size description. If I had a subfeature, it would be included (ideally) inside descritpion with the same configuration (button expanding/collapsing the descritpion of the SubFeature)

Getting list of checked radiobuttons in .net

TLDR; Looking for a method to retrieve all radiobuttons by means of something like this... (psudo)
List<RadioButton> btn = new List<RadioButton>;
btn = stackPanel.getAllRadioButtons()
I am currently building a little quiz application in C#. I have functions that add the required GUI elements to a groupbox. I would like to know if there is any way that I can loop through the created elements (for instance radio buttons) to see which are checked.
Here is one of the functions along with how they are added to the window.
private void tfQ(string questionBody)
{
StackPanel questionPanel = new StackPanel{Orientation = Orientation.Vertical};
questionPanel.Children.Add(new Label { Content = questionBody });
GroupBox group = new GroupBox();
RadioButton trueRadio = new RadioButton();
trueRadio.Content = "True";
RadioButton falseRadio = new RadioButton();
falseRadio.Content = "False";
questionPanel.Children.Add(trueRadio);
questionPanel.Children.Add(falseRadio);
group.Content = questionPanel;
mainStack.Children.Add(group);
}
Constructor:
public quiz()
{
tfQ("This is a true/false question");
Window w = new Window();
w.Content = mainStack;
w.Show();
}
I have found many ways to do it in the C# scripting format
(using the Control function ...)
var checkedButton = container.Controls.OfType<RadioButton>()
.FirstOrDefault(r => r.Checked);
but I have not yet found a "programmatic" way of doing it. I have considered changing the type of void tfQ to a StackPanel, but that only helps me to easier loop through the stack panels, althought that only partly solves me problem - allows me to easier loop through the StackPanels but I still don't know how to get the RadioButtons on a panel.
P.S I am very new to C# - with experience in Java/C/C++/Python
I made use of the following code to cast the content into a new groupbox and stackpanel, respectively.
if (child is GroupBox)
{
if ((child as GroupBox).Content is StackPanel)
{
StackPanel d = (StackPanel)((GroupBox)child).Content;
}
}
This allowed me to cast the content into a local copy of a control. It may not be the best way - I'm sure it is very inefficient to be honest. Solved the problem.

Common class for WPF Containers (Canvas, Grid, etc)

I am creating a method that is invoked by a button. The method then adds a canvas to the button's parent container control. So, e.g., the button is on a grid. Then the method creates a canvas that is shown just below the button. But I have 2 issues:
How can I get a reference to the button's parent container?
Is there a class for container controls? I don't care if the button is in a grid, a canvas, a Stackpanel, etc. So I am looking for an interface that all types of contianers implement or a class that they inherit.
The second aspect is more important as I could pass a reference to the container manually.
EDIT:
It should look like this (minus the colors, those are only to show the different elements.
The red canvas is supposed to pop up to handle a confirmation. Maybe even with a nice animation. My idea was to create a class that can be invoked similar to this:
MyPopup popup = new MyPopup("Are you sure?", "Yes", "No", delegateFirstButton, delegateSecondButton);
popup.Show();
My code so far is not yet a class but only a method. The text parts are hard coded for the moment. The marked line needs to be more flexible and is the reason for my question.
public void ShowPopup(Control senderControl)
{
//I need to have a parameter that accepts all containers instead of this line:
this.myGrid.Children.Add(popup);
Border border = new Border();
popup.Children.Add(border);
border.Margin = new Thickness() { Top = 10 };
border.Child= text;
text.Text = "Are you sure?";
text.HorizontalAlignment = System.Windows.HorizontalAlignment.Center;
popup.SizeChanged += delegate { border.Width = popup.ActualWidth; };
popup.Children.Add(btn1);
btn1.Content = "Yes";
btn1.Height = 22;
btn1.Padding = new Thickness(10, 0, 10, 0);
btn1.Margin = new Thickness() { Left = 15, Top = 35 };
popup.Children.Add(btn2);
btn2.Content = "No";
btn2.Height = 22;
btn2.Padding = new Thickness(10, 0, 10, 0);
btn1.SizeChanged += delegate { btn2.Margin = new Thickness() { Left = 30 + btn1.ActualWidth, Top = 35 }; };
popup.Height = 70;
btn2.SizeChanged += delegate
{
popup.Width = 45 + btn1.ActualWidth + btn2.ActualWidth;
updatePositions(senderControl);
};
popup.Background = Brushes.Red;
popup.VerticalAlignment = System.Windows.VerticalAlignment.Top;
popup.HorizontalAlignment = System.Windows.HorizontalAlignment.Left;
}
public void updatePositions(Control senderControl)
{
Point location = senderControl.TranslatePoint(new Point(0, 0), this.myGrid);
popup.Margin = new Thickness()
{
Left = location.X + (senderControl.ActualWidth / 2) - (popup.Width / 2),
Top = location.Y + senderControl.ActualHeight + 15
};
}
Sounds like you're choosing the hard way to do that.
If you need a popup, then use a Popup.
Otherwise, if for whatever reasons you don't want to use that, You'd better place a grid somewhere near the root of your XAML, and ALWAYS use that as a container:
<Window>
<Grid x:Name="MainUI"/>
<Grid x:Name="PopupContainer"/>
</Window>
Otherwise, you'll almost invariably encounter Z-Index problems (if you follow your current approach).
Also, it's a really bad idea to create all that UI stuff in code. Either encapsulate your Yes/No dialog in a UserControl or create a proper Template for that.
As I said before, avoid at all costs creating/manipulating UI elements in code, as it creates a lot of maintainability issues.

WP7/8 changing InputScope dynamically after an event using C#

I'm making an app for Windows Phone, I've been trying for ages to get the InputScope of the main text box to change when the orientation is changed to landscape (so that the keyboard takes up less space in landscape without the autocorrect bar), and back again.
I experimented with a second text box and hiding the others upon an orientation change, but this did not work neatly. :P
Try as I might I can't get this to work and can find no way to change the InputScope value after the OrientationChangedEvent argument, which has worked nicely in changing the position of the elements of the page around orientations.
I'm still fairly new to developing apps with C# and XAML, and I hope there's a nice easy way to set the InputScope of my text box that one of you awesome people could show me!
-EDIT : Here's the event handler, everything inside there works absolutely fine, but any way I try to add anything to do with InputScope does not work :(
private void MainPage_OrientationChanged(object sender, OrientationChangedEventArgs e)
{
if ((e.Orientation & PageOrientation.Portrait) == (PageOrientation.Portrait))
{
//Portrait
PlaceholderText.FontSize = 29.333;
PlaceholderText.Padding = new Thickness (0,0,0,0);
MainTweet.FontSize = 29.333;
MainTweet.Padding = new Thickness (12,8,12,8);
Counter.Margin = new Thickness (0,212,28,0);
}
else
{
//Landscape
PlaceholderText.FontSize = 23;
PlaceholderText.Padding = new Thickness (8,0,0,0);
MainTweet.FontSize = 22;
MainTweet.Padding = new Thickness (16,8,180,0);
Counter.Margin = new Thickness (0,-18,28,0);
}
}
MainTweet.Text is the textbox that the keyboard is focusing on by default, when the page is changed to landscape I'd love to be able to change this from the "Search" InputScope to another, probably "URL". The stuff currently in there rearranges elements on the page nicely when the orientation is changed, I appreciate it might not look that neat...
There are multiple "orientation" states in the enumeration - not just Portrait and Landscape. The following worked for me to change the scope (on Windows Phone 7.5 emulator):
if (e.Orientation == PageOrientation.Landscape
|| e.Orientation == PageOrientation.LandscapeRight
|| e.Orientation == PageOrientation.LandscapeLeft)
{
InputScope inputScope = new InputScope();
InputScopeName inputScopeName = new InputScopeName();
inputScopeName.NameValue= InputScopeNameValue.Url;
inputScope.Names.Add(inputScopeName);
textBox1.InputScope = inputScope;
}
So you'd drop that into your MainPage_OrientationChanged event handler.

How do I orderly generate controls underneath eachother?

I have a class which generates a form and controls. The controls vary between buttons, radio controls, check boxes and labels. The idea is to neatly create the form with a label above each control. The problem is that I cannot seem to find the formula or way to neatly organise/space them. It works fine when I have just text boxes, but I'm not sure how to handle larger controls, like check box lists. Here's an example of how I handle text boxes:
case "Text":
TextBox tbx = new TextBox();
tbx.Name = df.Value.Name;
tbx.Text = (df.Value.DefValue != null) ? df.Value.DefValue : "";
tbx.Location = new Point(lbl.Location.X, lbl.Location.Y + 20);
f.Controls.Add(tbx);
break;
Mind that this is all in a foreach loop. This is the part that precedes it (label):
if (i == 0)
{
lbl.Location = new Point(10, 10);
}
else
{
lbl.Location = new Point(10, (i * 50) + 10);
}
This neatly sorts the text boxes and labels out with an even spacing. Can anyone offer me some advice on how to handle different controls? I want to place them underneath eachother but keep at least 10 pixels spacing from the bottom of each control to the top of the next label.
Thank you in advance.
Use a tablelayout. You can take a look at how the designer does it in the code behind file.
For the spacing, fill in the "margin" property of your controls. 5 on top and 5 at the bottom should do it.

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