Combining ClearAll with Watermark on textbox in WPF - c#

After trying numerous methods to get watermarking to work for me, I finally found the one modified by #Beej on this page:
Watermark / hint text / placeholder TextBox in WPF
I got it placed in my project, and it works fine, with one exception. I have multiple textboxes on each tab of a tabcontrol. At the bottom is a clear button that works to clear all the textboxes on the tab. The clear button works fine, the watermark works fine, but I can't get them to work together. The window loads with the watermarks in place, and pressing the clear button clears all the boxes, but the watermarks don't reappear until after I move through the textboxes (each one gaining and losing focus.) I have tried numerous ways to solve this, such as placing a method call to the ShowWatermark function in the button MouseUp event, but nothing has worked...Help?!
This is the Clear button method I'm using:
public void ClearTextBoxes()
{
ChildControls ccChildren = new ChildControls();
foreach (object o in ccChildren.GetChildren(rvraDockPanel, 2))
{
if (o.GetType() == typeof(TextBox))
{
TextBox txt = (TextBox)o;
txt.Text = "";
}
if (o.GetType() == typeof(DigitBox))
{
DigitBox digit = (DigitBox)o;
digit.Text = "";
}
if (o.GetType() == typeof(PhoneBox))
{
PhoneBox phone = (PhoneBox)o;
phone.Text = "";
}
if (o.GetType() == typeof(DateBox))
{
DateBox date = (DateBox)o;
date.Text = "";
}
if (o.GetType() == typeof(TextBoxWatermarked))
{
TextBoxWatermarked water = (TextBoxWatermarked)o;
water.Text = "";
}
}
}
class ChildControls
{
private List<object> listChildren;
public List<object> GetChildren(Visual p_vParent, int p_nLevel)
{
if (p_vParent == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException("Element {0} is null!", p_vParent.ToString());
}
this.listChildren = new List<object>();
this.GetChildControls(p_vParent, p_nLevel);
return this.listChildren;
}
private void GetChildControls(Visual p_vParent, int p_nLevel)
{
int nChildCount = VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(p_vParent);
for (int i = 0; i <= nChildCount - 1; i++)
{
Visual v = (Visual)VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(p_vParent, i);
listChildren.Add((object)v);
if (VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(v) > 0)
{
GetChildControls(v, p_nLevel + 1);
}
}
}
}
Both the ChildControls class and the TextboxWatermarked class (from the above link) are in seperate class files.

The problem is not with your code, it's with the chosen watermarked text box. It only updates the watermark when it gains or loses focus, which is an obvious flaw. You'll need to find a better implementation. Have you tried the one in extended WPF toolkit?

Related

TabPage from tabcontrol does not show data in C# Winforms

I am facing issue in tabcontrol of Windows application.
We have a tabcontrol on 1 windows form on which first tab is by default and other tabs we are adding dynamically at runtime.
In first case while we opening the form, we able to see all the controls in both the tabs i.e. (Default and other tabs)
Although, when we try opening the form for second time, data is being getting added into the form if we debug but while showing, it shows blank in other tabs which are getting added dynamically.
In CustomgroupControl class, i am adding controls dynamically like textbox, dropdown, grid and etc. Although this is working in first case, but not showing controls in second case. (Flow of code is same for both the cases)
Below is attached screenshot in link and shown sample source code
Screenshot for above query
public void renderTabpage(Dictionary<string, List<Field>> subHeaderMap, TabPage currentTabPage, AsynchTabRenderer asynchTabRenderer, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
currentTabPage.SuspendLayout();
TableLayoutPanel headerTableLayout = createNewheaferTableLayoutPanel(currentTabPage.Name + TABLE_LAYOUT_NAME_SUFFIX);
currentTabPage.Controls.Add(headerTableLayout);
headerTableLayout.ColumnCount = 1;
headerTableLayout.ColumnStyles.Add(new ColumnStyle(SizeType.Percent, 100F));
headerTableLayout.RowCount = 0;
headerTableLayout.SuspendLayout();
foreach (string subHeaderName in subHeaderMap.Keys)
{
if (asynchTabRenderer != null && asynchTabRenderer.CancellationPending == true)
{
e.Cancel = true;
return;
}
else
{
CustomGroupControl customGroupControl = createAndPopulateSubheaderGroupControl(subHeaderMap[subHeaderName], subHeaderName);
headerTableLayout.RowCount = headerTableLayout.RowCount + 1;
headerTableLayout.RowStyles.Add(new RowStyle(SizeType.AutoSize));
headerTableLayout.Controls.Add(customGroupControl, 0, ++headerTableLayout.RowCount);
}
}
headerTableLayout.ResumeLayout(false);
headerTableLayout.PerformLayout();
currentTabPage.ResumeLayout(false);
currentTabPage.PerformLayout();
}
private void detailsTabControl_TabIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
tabIndexChangedEvent(((TabControl)sender).SelectedTab);
}
private void tabIndexChangedEvent(TabPage tabPage)
{
try
{
//WordApp.ScreenUpdating = false;
//WordApp.System.Cursor = Word.WdCursorType.wdCursorWait;
if (tabPage.Name == TabName.Replace(" ", "_").ToUpper())
{
FileUtilService service = FileUtilFactory.getInstance();
// service.clearIENetCache();
showForm(Window, forms);
}
//TabPage tabPage = ((TabControl)sender).SelectedTab;
if ((tabPage.Tag == null || true == (Boolean)tabPage.Tag) && !string.Equals(tabPage.Name, FieldConstants.TAB, StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase))
{
var controls = WindowsFormControlUtils.GetControlHierarchy(tabPage);
foreach (Control control in controls)
{
if (control is CustomGroupControl)
{
CustomGroupControl customGroupControl = (CustomGroupControl)control;
customGroupControl.fieldRenderDelegater();
}
else
continue;
}
tabPage.Tag = false;
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
logger.Error(ex.Message);
}
}
internal TableLayoutPanel createNewheaferTableLayoutPanel(string headerName)
{
TableLayoutPanel subHeaderTableLayout = new TableLayoutPanel();
// resources.ApplyResources(subHeaderTableLayout, headerName.Replace(" ", "_").ToUpper());
subHeaderTableLayout.Name = headerName.Replace(" ", "_").ToUpper() + TABLE_LAYOUT_NAME_SUFFIX;
subHeaderTableLayout.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
subHeaderTableLayout.AutoSize = true;
subHeaderTableLayout.AutoScroll = true;
subHeaderTableLayout.AutoSizeMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoSizeMode.GrowOnly;
subHeaderTableLayout.GrowStyle = TableLayoutPanelGrowStyle.AddRows;
return subHeaderTableLayout;
}
#Jimi & #Lucky
It works. Got the correct direction. Thanks.
Hint - Don't create controls on worker thread
Tried solution and worked - Removed creation of controls from parameterized constructor and added on form_load event.

How to find a programatically created button by text?

So my program is generating a bunch of buttons like so:
foreach (var subdir in dir.GetDirectories()) {
var path = subdir.Name;
var button = new Button {
Text = getFlavor(path) + "\t(" + path + ")",
Width = Width,
Height = 35,
Top = y
};
button.Click += buttonClick;
Controls.Add(button);
if (button.Text.Contains("Kittens")
i++;
}
I want to try something like this
if (i == 1) {
[Button.ThatContains("Kitten)].Click;
}
"ThatContains" is not a real method. How do I get references to buttons I've created programmatically ?
You could use OfType<Button> to find all buttons in the container control where you've added them(f.e. a Panel). Then a liitle bit LINQ power gives you the correct button(s):
var kittenButtons = panel.Controls.OfType<Button>()
.Where(btn => btn.Text.Contains("Kittens"));
foreach(Button btn in kittenButtons)
btn.PerformClick();
If you just want to click the first:
Button kittenButton = panel.Controls.OfType<Button>()
.FirstOrDefault(btn => btn.Text.Contains("Kittens"));
if(kittenButton != null)
kittenButton.PerformClick();
For what it's worth, here is also an extension method that returns controls recursively via deferred execution which allows to use only the first found Buttton or consume all down the road:
public static IEnumerable<T> GetChildControlsRecursive<T>(this Control root) where T : Control
{
if (root == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("root");
var stack = new Stack<Control>();
stack.Push(root);
while (stack.Count > 0)
{
Control parent = stack.Pop();
foreach (Control child in parent.Controls)
{
if (child is T)
yield return (T)child;
stack.Push(child);
}
}
yield break;
}
Now you can use similar code as above to get for example the first matching button or all:
var kittenButtons = this.GetChildControlsRecursive<Button>()
.Where(b => b.Text.Contains("Kittens"));
// search just until the first button is found
Button firstKittenButton = kittenButtons.FirstOrDefault();
if(firstKittenButton != null) firstKittenButton.PerformClick;
// loop all
foreach(Button btn in kittenButtons)
btn.PerformClick();
Either create a subclass of Button to store the information you want and instantiate that instead or use the Tag property
public class MyButton : Button
{
public int ButtonID { get; set; }
}
public class MyApplication
{
public void DoSomething()
{
int i; // todo: loop stuff
var button = new MyButton
{
Text = getFlavor(path) + "\t(" + path + ")",
Width = Width,
Height = 35,
Top = y,
ButtonID = i
};
}
}
Or why not cast the sender parameter of the button click event as a Button and check the text?
public class MyApplication
{
public void DoSomething()
{
var b = new Button();
b.Click += b_Click;
}
public void b_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Button b = (Button)sender;
switch (b.Text) {
case "Kittens":
return;
default:
return;
}
}
}
Something like this
var button = FirstOrDefault(y => y is Button && y.Text.Contains("Kittens"));
if(button != null)
button.PerformClick();
In order to get the references, you may need to what you would do with getting references of any other type - store them somewhere, which does not seem to be the case here at all. Normally, you would register your buttons for interaction from a user by attaching them to a Form. Assuming you're not doing this by the looks of your sample code, I'm going to recommend storing them into a Dictionary<string, Button>.
You could use a dictionary or you could use a simple recursive loop (in case you are sticking the buttons into different containers).
private bool ClickButton(string buttonName, Control control) {
if (control is Button && control.Text.Contains(buttonName) {
((Button)control)PerformClick();
return true;
}
if (control.HasChildren) {
foreach (Control childControl in control.Controls) {
if (ClickButton(buttonName, childControl)) {
return true;
}
}
}
return false;
}
Usage: ClickButton("Kittens", this);
Or you could use a dictionary, as some have suggested.
private Dictionary<string, Button> DynamicButtons = new Dictionary<string, Button>();
private void ClickDictionaryButton(string buttonName) {
var matches = DynamicButtons.Where(x => x.Key.Contains(buttonName));
foreach (var match in matches) {
match.Value.PerformClick();
}
}
Usage: ClickDictionaryButton("Kittens", this);

problems updating picture box control

I have two controls on the same form. Both controls contain an ObjectListView control. The one listview was created with the graphical editor in visual studio. This one is not causing any issues. The other listview is created programmatically at run-time. I have defined an event handler for each control that gets called when the hot item changes and they are both firing when they should. Both event handlers call the same code to update a picturebox control. The problem is that the picturebox does not get updated when the programmatically defined listview is asking it to. I am positive the event handler is getting called because my code writes to a text file as well as updating the picture box. The text file gets updated but the picture box does not. I have tried updating, invalidating, and refreshing the PicutureBox as well as the parent form, but I just can not get it to update.
I am not sure if this is an ObjectListView issue or a standard WinForms problem. I realize my question is very vague but I am not sure how to clarify it without posting all my code. Any advice would be appreciated.
Here is the code that the event handler calls:
public void ShowBitmap(object sender, HotItemChangedEventArgs e, ObjectListView lv, string type)
{
ObjectListView olv = sender as ObjectListView;
if (sender == null)
{
return;
}
switch (e.HotCellHitLocation)
{
case HitTestLocation.Nothing:
break;
case HitTestLocation.Group:
break;
case HitTestLocation.GroupExpander:
break;
default:
if (e.HotColumnIndex == 0)
{
pictureBox1.Hide();
pictureBox1.BorderStyle = BorderStyle.FixedSingle;
int rowIndex = e.HotRowIndex;
string text = "";
if (type == "Main Parts")
{
TypedObjectListView<MainRadanProjectPartsPart> tlist = new TypedObjectListView<MainRadanProjectPartsPart>(lv);
text = tlist.Objects[rowIndex].Symbol;
}
else if (type == "Parts")
{
TypedObjectListView<RadanProjectPartsPart> tlist = new TypedObjectListView<RadanProjectPartsPart>(lv);
text = tlist.Objects[rowIndex].Symbol;
}
else if (type == "Nests")
{
TypedObjectListView<MainRadanProjectNestsNest> tlist = new TypedObjectListView<MainRadanProjectNestsNest>(lv);
text = tlist.Objects[rowIndex].FileName;
}
if (text != null)
{
Point screenCoords = Cursor.Position;
Point controlRelatedCoords = lv.PointToClient(screenCoords);
if (controlRelatedCoords.Y < oldCursorPosition.Y)
{
pictureBox1.Location = controlRelatedCoords;
int xPos = controlRelatedCoords.X;
int yPos = controlRelatedCoords.Y + 60;
pictureBox1.Location = new Point(xPos, yPos);
}
else if (controlRelatedCoords.Y > oldCursorPosition.Y)
{
pictureBox1.Location = controlRelatedCoords;
int xPos = controlRelatedCoords.X;
//int yPos = controlRelatedCoords.Y - pictureBox1.Height;
int yPos = controlRelatedCoords.Y - pictureBox1.Height + 30;
pictureBox1.Location = new Point(xPos, yPos);
}
pictureBox1.Show();
pictureBox1.BringToFront();
olvTreeViewMainParts.Focus();
lv.Focus();
pictureBox1.Visible = true;
DrawSymbol(text);
oldCursorPosition = controlRelatedCoords; // save the cursor position to track cursor direction between calls
}
else
{
DrawSymbol("");
}
}
else
{
pictureBox1.Hide();
}
break;
}
}
Here is the event handler for the programmaticaly defined listview:
// track the cursor as it moves over the items in the listview
private void olvPartsListView_HotItemChanged(object sender, HotItemChangedEventArgs e)
{
ShowBitmap(sender, e, olvPartsListView, "Parts");
}

Manage windows inside a panel with a 'Windows'-like menu

I've a panel.
I add WinForms inside it. The WinForms added have the TopLevel and Visible properties set to FALSE and TRUE.
I can do a panel.SetChildIndex(WinForm1,0) to bring WinForm1 to front.
What I've not managed to do is keep a track of the actual ChildIndex of the panel.
The idea is to have buttons that opens forms inside the panel, and that when the panel opens a new button is added in a Windows menu.
Something like when many files are open on a VS Project, you can go to Window menu and select one. Also, if you change the active page by clicking the page, the Window menu auto-updates and checks the actual active page.
I want to do this, but with a panel container. I've managed to get done everithing, but not the the Window menu auto-updates and checks the actual active page part.
Isn't there an event fired when BringToFront() or SetChildIndex(form, index) are called? Any event when I click another form that's inside the panel and it becomes the "active one"? Or some property of the panel that I can keep track of that changes when active form changes?
It is taken from here
When Control's ZOrder is chaged layout operation is always performed
in control's container control.
When I subscribed to container's Layout event and called
BringToFront() it showed me Control that changed its
ZOrder(LayoutEventArgs.AffectedControl) and changed property
(LayoutEventArgs.AffectedProperty).
Found that when a form inside a panel is closed, the Controls property of the panel gets reindexed, where the index zero is the form that gets the new focus. Now that I've a way to check the form that's in front when I close another one, windows administration in panels is done.
Going to put the source code, maybe it can help someone :)
Please note that I'm using a RadRibbonForm, a standard panel, and RadForms inside the panel. Rad's are from Telerik. Some things should change to make this work on standardWinForms, but the changes are minimal.
Also, I'm not using a menu that shows the forms, I'm using RadButtonElement's in a page of the ribbon menu instead.
AddRadFormWindow must be called to put a window and manage it automatically.
Example of adding a window:
AddRadFormWindow(typeof (MyRadForm))
Now, the source. It must be inside the code of the RadRibbonForm's class.
public static class ExtensionsRadForm
{
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
private static extern int ShowWindow(IntPtr hWnd, uint msg);
public static void Deminimize(this RadForm form)
{
if (form.WindowState == FormWindowState.Minimized)
ShowWindow(form.Handle, 9);
}
}
private void RefreshButtonsChecks(string windowName)
{
if (windowName != null)
{
principalPanel.Controls[windowName].BringToFront();
}
if (principalPanel.Controls.Count > 0)
{
if (principalPanel.Controls.Cast<RadForm>().Any(radForm => radForm.WindowState != FormWindowState.Minimized))
{
foreach (RadItem item in radRibbonBarGroupOpenWindows.Items)
{
var buttonBorder = ((RadButtonElement) item).BorderElement;
if (item.Name == panelPrincipal.Controls[0].Name + "Button")
{
buttonBorder.ForeColor = Color.LimeGreen;
buttonBorder.BottomColor = Color.LimeGreen;
buttonBorder.TopColor = Color.LimeGreen;
buttonBorder.LeftColor = Color.LimeGreen;
buttonBorder.RightColor = Color.LimeGreen;
principalPanel.Controls[0].Focus();
}
else
{
buttonBorder.ForeColor = Color.Transparent;
buttonBorder.BottomColor = Color.Transparent;
buttonBorder.TopColor = Color.Transparent;
buttonBorder.LeftColor = Color.Transparent;
buttonBorder.RightColor = Color.Transparent;
}
}
}
else
{
foreach (RadItem item in radRibbonBarGroupAbiertas.Items)
{
var buttonBorder = ((RadButtonElement)item).BorderElement;
buttonBorder.ForeColor = Color.Transparent;
buttonBorder.BottomColor = Color.Transparent;
buttonBorder.TopColor = Color.Transparent;
buttonBorder.LeftColor = Color.Transparent;
buttonBorder.RightColor = Color.Transparent;
}
}
}
}
private void PrincipalPanelLayout(object sender, LayoutEventArgs e)
{
RefreshButtonsChecks(null);
}
private void RadButtonElementCloseAllWindowsClick(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
int limitButtons = radRibbonBarGroupOpenWindows.Items.Count;
for (int index = 0; index < limitButtons; index++)
{
RadItem radItem = radRibbonBarGroupOpenWindows.Items[0];
radItem.Dispose();
}
int limitControls = principalPanel.Controls.Count;
for (int index = 0; index < limitControls; index++)
{
Control control = principalPanel.Controls[0];
control.Dispose();
}
Update();
GC.Collect();
}
private void AddRadFormWindow(Type windowToAdd)
{
if (!principalPanel.Controls.ContainsKey(windowToAdd.Name))
{
var window = (RadForm) Activator.CreateInstance(windowToAdd);
window.TopLevel = false;
window.Visible = true;
window.FormClosing += (method, args) =>
{
radRibbonBarGroupOpenWindows.Items[window.Name + "Button"].Dispose();
GC.Collect();
};
window.Enter += (method, args) => RefreshButtonsChecks(window.Name);
var closeMenuItem = new RadMenuItem("Close");
closeMenuItem.MouseDown += (method, args) =>
{
panelPrincipal.Controls[window.Name].Dispose();
radRibbonBarGroupOpenWindows.Items[window.Name + "Button"].Dispose();
};
var contextMenu = new RadContextMenu();
contextMenu.Items.Add(closeMenuItem);
var button = new RadButtonElement(window.Text) {Name = window.Name + "Button"};
button.MouseDown += (method, args) =>
{
switch (args.Button)
{
case MouseButtons.Left:
if (((RadForm) principalPanel.Controls[window.Name]).WindowState ==
FormWindowState.Minimized)
((RadForm) principalPanel.Controls[window.Name]).Deminimize();
principalPanel.Controls[window.Name].BringToFront();
principalPanel.Controls[window.Name].Focus();
break;
case MouseButtons.Right:
contextMenu.Show(MousePosition);
break;
}
};
radRibbonBarGroupOpenWindows.Items.Add(button);
principalPanel.Controls.Add(window);
principalPanel.Controls[window.Name].BringToFront();
principalPanel.Controls[window.Name].Focus();
}
principalPanel.Controls[windowToAdd.Name].BringToFront();
principalPanel.Controls[windowToAdd.Name].Focus();
Update();
GC.Collect();
}
public Constructor()
{
panelPrincipal.Layout += PanelPrincipalLayout;
}

How to properly change the image of a button I just clicked?

Here is my dilemma. I have a set of 10 buttons that I use to rate something. They have a star image that when pressed gets changed from a grey one to a red one. If I press the star number 5 all the previous ones also get changed to red.
My problem is that the star that is clicked does not change its image so I found a workaround to introduce a pause inside a dispatcher block. I don't see this very elegant but it works and I was wondering if someone has a better approach.
Even if nobody finds a better way at least this code will help other people to do stuff with multiple buttons that do almost the same thing or browsing through controls in a panel.
Here is the code of the click event:
private void btnStar_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
//First we get the number of the star from the control name
String strNum = (sender as Button).Name;
strNum = strNum.Replace("btnStar", "");
int idxSelected = int.Parse(strNum);
Debug.WriteLine("Selected star #" + strNum);
//We store the image ON an OFF to be used later
ImageBrush imgbrON = new ImageBrush();
imgbrON.ImageSource = new BitmapImage(new Uri("images/estrella_on.png", UriKind.Relative));
imgbrON.Stretch = Stretch.None;
ImageBrush imgbrOFF = new ImageBrush();
imgbrOFF.ImageSource = new BitmapImage(new Uri("images/estrella_off.png", UriKind.Relative));
imgbrOFF.Stretch = Stretch.None;
//If we pressed the first star when only the first was selected we reset all
if (idxSelected == 1 && iCurrentNumberOfStars == 1)
{
idxSelected = 0; //In order to deselect all stars
Debug.WriteLine("Deselect all");
}
else
{
//Here is the code to do the WORKAROUND to select the clicked star
Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(() =>
{
Thread.Sleep(500);
(sender as Button).Background = imgbrON;
});
}
iCurrentNumberOfStars = idxSelected;
foreach (UIElement child in ContentPanel.Children)
{
Thread.Sleep(10);
if (child.GetType().Name == "Button")
{
Button tmpButton = (child as Button);
Image content = tmpButton.Content as Image;
strNum = tmpButton.Name;
if (strNum.StartsWith("btnStar") == true)
{
strNum = strNum.Replace("btnStar", "");
int idxtmp = int.Parse(strNum);
if (idxtmp > idxSelected )
{
Debug.WriteLine(tmpButton.Name + ":OFF");
tmpButton.Background = imgbrOFF;
}
else
{
Debug.WriteLine(tmpButton.Name +":ON");
tmpButton.Background = imgbrON;
}
}
}
}
}
}
The reason why it's happens - Button has a visual states which manipulate the background property. When you try to set the background to your own - animation overrides your changes. If you remove background animation from visual states - it will work without a Delay.

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