Avoid scrolling to the top in TabControl - c#

I have a TabControl with AutoScroll set to true on tabpages. The tabpage contains a RichTextBox, which is bigger in height that the page, so vertical scrollbar appears on a TabPage. If I scroll the page down and then click on the RichTextBox, the page scrolls back to top. Any ideas on how to prevent such behaviour?
UPD: Here is a sample project which can reproduce the issue. The issue occurs when the RichTextBox receives focus. E.g. scroll tabPage1 down, then select tabPage2, return to tabPage1 and click on the RichTextBox.

Well, after a bit of struggling I've finally found a solution here. All I had to do was to create my own class inherited from TabPage and override the ScrollToControl method, making it return DisplayRectangle.Location.

This happens due to the fact that once you select the richTextBox and it is "out of sight" it goes to the current position(which in your case is not visible or at the top). If you select the richTextBox first and then scroll you will avoid this. One way you can do this is to Select() the richTextBox on application start.
Add this:
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
richTextBox1.Select();
}
EDIT:
You can also add the Select() on TabIndexChanged as the behavior will reoccur if you change Tabs.

The answer while correct was difficult for me to initially understand without seeing the code.
Perhaps this helps others.
public class CustomTabPage : System.Windows.Forms.TabPage
{
protected override System.Drawing.Point ScrollToControl(System.Windows.Forms.Control activeControl)
{
//return base.ScrollToControl(activeControl);
return activeControl.DisplayRectangle.Location;
}
}
After defining your custom tabpage class, inherit now from this class in your form with your TabControl.
private CustomTabPage tpJobSetup;

Related

Tab system using panels

I'm trying to make it to where a panel becomes visible and it sent to the front so it can be seen and interacted with, like this.
private void SettingsButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
SettingsPanel.Visible = true;
SettingsPanel.BringToFront();
}
The problem is that after clicking a few of the buttons, it will either display the wrong panel or none at all. Is there a way to fix this?
EDIT: Before y'all ask, i'm using WinForms.
OK, so I was wrong, WinForms is smarter than I thought. Here's a test you can do. I'm not exactly sure what you are trying to do, but this should help you along. To start, we're going to build a small WinForms app. With one exception, we aren't going to set any properties of the controls we drop on the screen:
Create a new WinForms app
In the designer, drop a Panel (which will be named panel1) on the form
In the properties pane, set the BorderStyle to FixedSingle (that's the only property we are going to set)
Make two copies of that panel (panel2 and panel3). Position them so that panels do not overlap at all.
On each panel drop a couple of controls (I put labels (labels 1-3) and textboxes (also 1-3)) on each one
Beside each panel (arranged so that there is no overlap) drop three buttons on the form (buttons 1-3) make it so that visually, each button is associated with the similarly numbered panel
Duplicate panel3 including its contained controls (so that you get panel4, label4 and textbox4). Position the duplicate so that it significantly overlaps panel 3
Now we're going to look at the code that the designer creates for your form. Don't mess with this code (you can, but if you don't know what you are doing, it can turn out bad - and, we're keeping this simple).
In the Solution Explorer click the unfilled triangle to the left of Form1.cs. Note that it rotates and turns solid. Also note that Form1.Designer.cs is displayed. That's a normally hidden source file that contains all the designer created code that corresponds with the form and the controls you dropped on it.
Open Form1.Designer.cs
Click the little grey plus sign icon next to Windows Form Designer generated code
Inspect the file. Note that every action you did in the designer has a corresponding line of code in the Designer.cs file (more or less)
Look at the code for one of the panels (say panel1).
See that it includes:
this.panel1.Controls.Add(this.textBox1);
this.panel1.Controls.Add(this.label1);
Scroll all the way down to the Form1 code and see that the panels and buttons get added to the Form's Controls collection:
Like:
this.Controls.Add(this.button3);
this.Controls.Add(this.button2);
this.Controls.Add(this.button1);
this.Controls.Add(this.panel4);
this.Controls.Add(this.panel3);
this.Controls.Add(this.panel2);
this.Controls.Add(this.panel1);
Note that the order is reversed. The order is important, it sets the Z-Order (i.e., what overlaps what) for the form and the controls on the form.
Wiring up the buttons
Select all three buttons and press <Enter>. This will open the Form1.cs file and generate three button click handlers that you can fill in.
Use this code for the three button handlers:
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {
var wasVisible = panel1.Visible;
panel1.Visible = !wasVisible;
}
private void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {
panel2.BringToFront();
}
private void button3_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) {
panel3.BringToFront();
}
The first one will toggle the first panel's visibility (I put in an extra variable so you can set a breakpoint and see what's going on). The second one brings panel2 to the front, changing its Z-Order (it's called Z-Order because the position on the screen is measure in X and Y, which the overlap position is related to the "depth" of the screen, or the Z-coordinate). The last one does the same thing to panel3.
Run the program.
When you press the first button, the first panel and its controls disappear (this surprised me, WinForms is smarter than I thought)
When you press the second button, nothing appears to happen. This is because the only thing that panel2 intersects is the form, and panel2 already covers the form, so you don't see any effect. (and because WinForms is smarter than I thought)
When you press the third button, panel2 (and it's controls) jump to the front of the stack of controls, covering the intersecting part of panel4.
Does this help you understand how Visible and BringToFront() work?
What you're describing is similar to a TabControl alternative. Here's an example:
You can manage the current panel simply by making it visible and docked to fill. Hide the other panels.
public partial class FormTabsAlternative
: Form
{
int m_current = 0;
List<Panel> m_tabs = new List<Panel>();
public FormTabsAlternative()
{
InitializeComponent();
AddTab(pnl1);
AddTab(pnl2);
AddTab(pnl3);
AddTab(pnl4);
SetUpTabsAndButtons();
}
private void AddTab(Panel pnl)
{
m_tabs.Add(pnl);
pnl.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
}
private void OnLeftClick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (m_current > 0)
{
m_current--;
SetUpTabsAndButtons();
}
}
private void OnRightClick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (m_current < m_tabs.Count - 1)
{
m_current++;
SetUpTabsAndButtons();
}
}
private void SetUpTabsAndButtons()
{
for (int index = 0; index < m_tabs.Count; index++)
{
var panel = m_tabs[index];
panel.Visible = index == m_current;
}
btnLeft .Enabled = m_current > 0;
btnRight.Enabled = m_current < m_tabs.Count - 1;
}
}

c# - Manually scroll Control with AutoScroll=true

I have a Panel with AutoScroll=true. I'd like to manually scroll the panel's VerticalScroll. I've tried both setting VerticalScroll.Value and Panel.ScrollControlIntoView(...).
However, both cases yielded the following result: The scrollbar does appear to have scrolled to the value but the panel's contents remain unmoved. Scrolling upwards shows an empty panel.
I'm trying to do this during startup. If I scroll directly to the control after a delay (from a thread), it works (though setting the scrollbar value doesn't).
Is there a better (synchronous) way of achieving what I'm looking for?
Use Shown event, for example:
private void Form1_Shown(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
this.panel1.ScrollControlIntoView(this.button1);
//Or if you need a special location:
//this.panel1.AutoScrollPosition = new Point(100, 100);
}

Remove dotted line on button

How do you remove the dotted line that appears on buttons when they are selected (either via tab or by clicking them)?
This question is for winforms - any help is appreciated.
Edit: I apologize for the duplicate question. I did search for an answer, but I did not know this issue was due to the 'focus' of the button. As I result I was not finding the appropriate answers.
This happens because your Button gains focus. It is possible to remove it but that means giving the focus to something else when your button's focus Enter event is triggered.
private void button1_Enter(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// give focus to something else
}
The problem with that is that you lose the ability to use the keyboard in order to select the button (using tab).
Moreover, a more correct approach would be to give focus to the last control that had focus instead of passing it fixed one.
have you tried to remove the focus from the button.
just call Focus(); when the button is clicked.
create custom control add ShowFocusCues and build to use
Example
public class button : System.Windows.Forms.Button
{
protected override bool ShowFocusCues
{
get
{
return false;
}
}
}
Look for button border settings.
I do not get this border, if I set the BorderSize to 0 in the FlatAppearance section
From Remove button border on tab c# winforms
You can set the ShowFocusRectangle peoperty to false.
The only answer here that really works without having to hack (moving focus to another control) is Wongsathon Tuntanakan's answer.
I refer to his answer and, as a bit of extra, I've converted his code to VB:
Public Class YourButtonClass
Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Button
Protected Overrides ReadOnly Property ShowFocusCues As Boolean
Get
Return False
End Get
End Property
End Class

How do I click a usercontrols child in designer?

I'm having a bit of trouble with creating one of my custom controls.
What I've got is a listbox within a usercontrol, and I need to be able to click on the lists items while still in the designer. This would make it act much like the tabcontrol.
I haven't dealt much with usercontrols but I've tried catching some overide events without success.
protected override void OnClick(EventArgs e)
{
if (DesignMode)
{
InvokeOnClick(listBox1, e);
}
base.OnClick(e);
}
I haven't been able to find anything on the web.. Any ideas on how I can do this?
Thanks in advance =)
#Bradley: thanks for pointing me in the right direction
You will need to write a ControlDesigner class, then use it in a [Designer( ... )] attribute on your UserControl.
See the example here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/sycctd1z(v=VS.90).aspx
For the actual click:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.forms.design.controldesigner.gethittest(v=VS.90).aspx
The ControlDesigner has a protected bool GetHitTest(Point point) method - you can implement this in your ControlDesigner and return true when you want your control to handle a click, based on the click's location on the screen.
I found this link that says you need to implement a custom designer to get the desired behavior, and explains how to make it happen.
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/pl-PL/winforms/thread/0b6ed0cb-907c-4733-b245-ae5d0b0e6606
You may be able to get away with catching the MouseDown event in the custom control and forwarding it on to the inner control. I'm not sure how MouseDown behaves in design mode though.

How to inherit base Textbox to provide colored borders

I have a winform app that we use in house. It has many individual controls on each of it's 25 "pages"(usercontrols). Our user base prefers very technicolor apps...they want a TextBox to be outlined Blue if it is a required field (color should go away if data entered). They want a TextBox to change to outlined Green if data has been changed in it to remind them to save. They want a currently highlighted TextBox to be outlined RedOrange.
I have been trying to come at this from many different angles (some of you have probably seen similar posts by me lately). Non of them work... So one way I KNOW will work is to register the paint event for every control and check for a "required" tag for the required portion. The OnFocus for the current field portion and finally the Validate event for the data changed portion.
I know this is not the best way or at least I STRONGLY suspect it isn't but I am out of time, nearly, and nearing my point of frustration. That being said, will that DESTROY my app's responsiveness? Is there a better way? Can I override the base control to color on different premises so that I don't have to go to each of the 100+ controls?
Any idea would be welcome because I am between my stupid Paint_Event idea and rewriting all the controls in WPF... :)
I will be rewarding a solution that works for me and that I can implement shortly with a Bounty.
I am so sick of colors...
Here is my attempt based on suggestions.
public class MyTextBox : TextBox
{
private bool _isRequired;
public bool isRequired
{
get
{
return _isRequired;
}
set
{
_isRequired = value;
}
}
protected override void OnPaint(PaintEventArgs e)
{
base.OnPaint(e);
if (isRequired && base.Text.Equals(string.Empty))
{
HighlightControl(e.Graphics);
}
}
private void HighlightControl(Graphics graphics)
{
ControlPaint.DrawBorder(
graphics,
this.ClientRectangle,
Properties.Settings.Default.RequiredFieldColor,
Properties.Settings.Default.BorderWidth,
Properties.Settings.Default.BorderStyle,
Properties.Settings.Default.RequiredFieldColor,
Properties.Settings.Default.BorderWidth,
Properties.Settings.Default.BorderStyle,
Properties.Settings.Default.RequiredFieldColor,
Properties.Settings.Default.BorderWidth,
Properties.Settings.Default.BorderStyle,
Properties.Settings.Default.RequiredFieldColor,
Properties.Settings.Default.BorderWidth,
Properties.Settings.Default.BorderStyle);
}
}
I don't know the particulars of your app, but you could derive your own control from the base TextBox and let it handle much of this for you. Some thoughts:
Give it a bool Required property and some internal logic to color accordingly.
Have the textbox respond to its own
events - when text is entered, it can
do the right thing - change colors or
whatever is appropriate.
Provide your derived control with
properties to set the colors that get
used for each condition, then you can
switch them easily when the users
decide they want pink rather than
green.
You can utilize the focus events to "know" whether your TextBox (this is the one control you mentioned, so I'll assume this is the main control used here) has focus or lost it and the text change events can be used to drive all the color changes to the control.
You can certainly wire up all the
text boxes to control the
Apply/OK/whatever buttons to
determine if the buttons should be
enabled, assuming you have an Apply button or something like that which stores the data on click. There are a number of ways to communicate this. It's easy enough to iterate through the controls and ask their state.
Seems like this would work just fine.
What have you tried? You didn't really mention what you'd tried that didn't work.
You've got a problem, TextBox is, erm, special. Windows Forms leaves all painting to the native Windows EDITBOX control, the Paint event won't be raised. That can be fixed by setting the UserPaint control style to true:
using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
class MyTextBox : TextBox {
public MyTextBox() {
this.SetStyle(ControlStyles.UserPaint, true);
}
protected override void OnPaint(PaintEventArgs e) {
base.OnPaint(e);
// Paint something
//...
}
}
Copy and paste this into a new class, compile and drop the new control from the top of the toolbox. Try it out, you'll be quite disappointed. What you see is the result of close to 20 years of appcompat hacks on a control that dates back to Windows version 2. One of the grave crimes that EDITBOX commits is painting itself without generating a WM_PAINT message. That was important way back when Windows had to run on a 386SUX, keeping it compatible with old programs prevented Microsoft from fixing its behavior.
No happy answers here, you'll have to give up on the idea of customizing the border. What you can do is give the control a distinct BackColor when it has the focus. For example:
class MyTextBox : TextBox {
Color mBackColor;
protected override void OnEnter(EventArgs e) {
mBackColor = base.BackColor;
base.BackColor = Color.AliceBlue;
base.OnEnter(e);
}
protected override void OnLeave(EventArgs e) {
base.BackColor = mBackColor;
base.OnLeave(e);
}
}
You can inherit from base control classes and add your own drawing logic. That won't be very expensive performance-wise, but, if your app is of significant size, you'll have to replace each occurence of standard TextBox with your own implementation.

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