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Winforms Listbox or Listview image and text

I'm not very experienced on c#. I'm working with winforms and I'm looking for a way to create something like a list of elements with this template , something like the autocompletion list of visual studio.
Is it possible to do? Shall I use listbox or listview?
EDIT
Sorry my question wasn't clear I don't want to create an autocomplete but what i want to create is something like this a list of things with an icon next to the text of that thing.

As I understand from your question, you can create custom UserControl or create a Form and put ListBox in it. If you use From be sure that you change border style layout, just set it to none. After creation for use it you should create form and show it where you want like this:
FrmAutoComplete x = new FrmAutoComplete();
x.Show();
you can put this form in ToolTipItem and show it.
Good luck.

THis is a quick and dirty example of using images in your Listview control. Since I don;t have a lot of information about what you plan to do, I tried to keep is simple.
In short, you need to load some images into one of the ImageLists (Large or Small) built into the Listview control and assign them keys so that you can assign them to specific list items as you add them.
The trick to this is determining which image to use for a specific list item (assuming there are different images assigned to different list items depending on some differentiating factor. For this example, I used an arbitrary assignment of "cars" or "trucks," and simply decided that the first five items in the list would be cars, and the last five would be trucks. I then assigned each image appropriately, using the image key as I added each listview item. You can do this for more complex scenarios, and when using the image key, it does not matter what order the items are added.
For this use case, you will want to create or use images with dimensions of 16 x 16 pixels. I went ahead and added two images to my project resource file, then simply accessed them using the project Properties.Resources name space. There are other ways to do this as well, but this is the most convenient for me.
Hope that helps.
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
static string CAR_IMAGE_KEY = "Car";
static string TRUCK_IMAGE_KEY = "Truck";
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
this.SetupListview();
this.LoadListView();
}
private void SetupListview()
{
var imgList = new ImageList();
imgList.Images.Add("Car", Properties.Resources.jpgCarImage);
imgList.Images.Add("Truck", Properties.Resources.jpgTruckImage);
var lv = this.listView1;
lv.View = View.List;
lv.SmallImageList = imgList;
}
private void LoadListView()
{
for(int i = 1; i <= 10; i++)
{
string currentImageKey = CAR_IMAGE_KEY;
if(i > 5) currentImageKey = TRUCK_IMAGE_KEY;
var item = this.listView1.Items.Add("Item" + i.ToString(), currentImageKey);
}
}

how to avoid rebinding grid each time the control is initialized?

I've created a custom user control with a grid. I'd like to bind this grid once, and use it over and over again in my app. If I put the binding within the control, the data is retrieved as many times as I use the control. How do I bind it only once??
public ClientLookUp()
{
InitializeComponent();
vw_clientsTableAdapter.Fill(dsclientlkup.vw_clients); //This occurs as many times as I have the user control, instead of just once.
}

Well anything you put in the constructor will be executed every time you construct the object!
What about providing an Initialize method that you can call whenever you need to reload the data??

If you want to load the data only once, then load it either into a static variable or a separate class that is referenced by the control.

If you really want to use the same single grid in your control over and over, you could create a single, static grid, and have your ClientLookUp constructor add it to the right place—Panel, or whatever—whenever a new one is created.
Before you go do this road however, ask yourself if this is really what you want to do. Having the same identical grid existing in many places may cause you problems down the road. If you want to support in-grid editing, you'll find that changing one value changes the identical value in all your other grids..
EDIT
I tried getting the below code to work, but I'm not sure this approach will be possible. It seems as though the minute you try to attach the same UI element into more than one place, it gets moved out of the last place you put it; it doesn't look like you can have the same grid being in more than one place at once. This makes sense when you think about it.
Here's the code I tried. Maybe it will be of some use to you.
public UserControl1()
{
InitializeComponent();
this.Controls.Add(myStaticGridView);
myStaticGridView.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
}
static DataGridView _staticGrid;
public DataGridView myStaticGridView
{
get
{
if (_staticGrid != null)
return _staticGrid;
_staticGrid = new DataGridView();
_staticGrid.Columns.Add("A", "A");
_staticGrid.Columns.Add("B", "B");
_staticGrid.Columns.Add("C", "C");
_staticGrid.Columns[0].DataPropertyName = "A";
_staticGrid.Columns[1].DataPropertyName = "B";
_staticGrid.Columns[2].DataPropertyName = "C";
_staticGrid.DataSource = new[] {
new { A = "someA", B = "someB", C = "someC"},
new { A = "someA", B = "someB", C = "someC"},
new { A = "someA", B = "someB", C = "someC"},
new { A = "someA", B = "someB", C = "someC"},
};
return _staticGrid;
}
}
And then loading the control like this:
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
flowLayoutPanel1.Controls.Add(new UserControl1());
}

Click a custom control and show some variables related to it in another control

in my Win Forms app I create an array of dynamic custom controls inside a loop. These, lets call them 'boxes', are like my basic pieces of information. I also create string arrays in other parts of the code that contain the information of this 'boxes', so that for example string[3] is a variable of box[3] and so does stringa[3], stringb[3], stringc[3]... all the arrays with the same index are related to the box with that index. Hope I make myself clear.
Only 2 of this strings are shown in 2 labels inside each custom control 'box' in the array, but the others are there because I want to make something so that when the user clicks one of these controls the other strings can be shown in another control. Sort of something like "More Information...". All the 'boxes' in the array need to have the same event handler because I create +100.
To put it more into context, each custom control 'box' in the array shows the Symbol and the Price of a stock and I want that when the user clicks on each stock more quote information is shown on another special control which is like a placeholder for "More info".
I am thinking of 2 ways to do it:
If I could "detect" the index of the clicked control (which is the same in the strings related to it), I could just set this to an int j and all I have to do is show all the strings a,b,c... with index j. Unfortunately I cannot find a way to do this, maybe it is not even possible.
The other way I have thought is to create some properties for my custom control which "store" this variables, and in my app instead of assigning strings I would set properties for each control, which I could later retrieve when the control is clicked. I haven't tryed this because I don't know exactly how to do it.
What do you think? Do you know how can I achieve this or do you have a different idea that will work? Please help! Thanks in advance.

It's kind of a broad implementation question since there are countless ways you could implement something like this.
If you are creating two collections, one with the buttons and one with the information, you potentially could just assign each of the buttons 'Tag' properties to point to the corresponding info and assign a generic OnClick event handler that displays the info.. something like:
infoControl.text = ((InfoClass)((Button)Sender.Tag)).pieceOfInformation;
But again there are many ways to do this, and the choice comes down to how you store your information.

For your first method, you could have a property of your custom control that is the index.
public class Box : Control
{
// ...existing code
private int index;
public int Index
{
get
{
return index;
}
set
{
index = value;
}
}
}
OR
For your second method, you could have a property of your custom control that is the additional info string.
public class Box : Control
{
// ...existing code
private string extraInfo;
public string ExtraInfo
{
get
{
return extraInfo;
}
set
{
extraInfo = value;
}
}
}
In either case, you could then access the proper information right in your click handler for the "box".

i don't know about the first way - got to noodle around more, but in the second way you can extended your custom or built-in control: for example:
public class ExtendedLabel: Label
{
public string[] MoreInfo { get; set; }
}
and initialize it
public TestForm()
{
InitializeComponent();
ExtendedLabel label = new ExtendedLabel();
label.MoreInfo = new string[] { "test" };
this.Controls.Add(label);
label.AutoSize = true;
label.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(120, 87);
label.Name = "label1";
label.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(35, 13);
label.TabIndex = 0;
label.Text = label.MoreInfo[0];
}
And later in your event handler you can use the inside information

How to databind a Linq2SQL collection to winform textfields

I am a little bit puzzled as to how I can optimize my program by utlizing DataBindings. My program uses several Linq2SQL bound Objects storing the Data. All ORM objects are stored in a hierarchy. In a second GUI project I am displaying this data in some Text and Combo Box fields.
The data structure hierarchy is as follows:
JobManager contains a Dictionary of Jobs
Each Job contains a Dictionary of Jobitems
Each Jobitem contains exactly one Article
Job, Jobitem and Article each are Linq2SQL objects, representing a ORM.
Now I have a GUI with 2 list views and a tab pane. The tab pane displays the properties of jobs, jobitems and articles and offers the possibility to modify jobs and jobitems. The GUI should behave like this:
When a Job is selected in the first ListView, the related jobitems will be shown in the second ListView and detail information about the job are shown in the tab pane.
When a Jobitem is selected in the second ListView, the jobitem details and article details are shown in the tab pane, but only the Jobitem info is editable.
When changes are done, the user has to intentionally save them. Otherwise the changes should be discarded and not synced to the database.
How can I achieve this behaviour with DataBinding?
Especially, can I bind a complete collection to a single TextField once and shift through its position dictated by the selection in the ListViews? Or do I have to add and remove individual DataBindings on a per Job basis for every selection the user conducts?

Do you really mean "Dictionary"? Winform binding is OK with lists (IList/IListSource), but not with dictionary. Additionally, ListView isn't quite as easy to bind to as some other controls.
Other than that, it should work purely using the mapping names - I'll try to do a simple example...
Edit with basic example from Northwind; note that the data-context should ideally not be long lived; you may also want to look at things like repository implementations rather than direct binding:
using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using SomeNamespaceWithMyDataContext;
static class Program
{
[STAThread]
static void Main() {
MyDataContext ctx = new MyDataContext();
BindingSource custs = new BindingSource() {
DataSource = ctx.Customers};
BindingSource orders = new BindingSource {
DataMember = "Orders", DataSource = custs};
Button btn;
using (Form form = new Form
{
Controls = {
new DataGridView() {
DataSource = orders, DataMember = "Order_Details",
Dock = DockStyle.Fill},
new ComboBox() {
DataSource = orders, DisplayMember = "OrderID",
Dock = DockStyle.Top},
new ComboBox() {
DataSource = custs, DisplayMember = "CompanyName",
Dock = DockStyle.Top},
(btn = new Button() {
Text = "Save", Dock = DockStyle.Bottom
}), // **edit here re textbox etc**
new TextBox {
DataBindings = {{"Text", orders, "ShipAddress"}},
Dock = DockStyle.Bottom
},
new Label {
DataBindings = {{"Text", custs, "ContactName"}},
Dock = DockStyle.Top
},
new Label {
DataBindings = {{"Text", orders, "RequiredDate"}},
Dock = DockStyle.Bottom
}
}
})
{
btn.Click += delegate {
form.Text = "Saving...";
ctx.SubmitChanges();
form.Text = "Saved";
};
Application.Run(form);
}
}
}
As an aside - note that the syntax:
DataBindings = {{"Text", orders, "ShipAddress"}}
Is equivalent to:
someTextBox.DataBindings.Add("Text", orders, "ShipAddress");
(I only add this as it is a common question)

Testing Custom Control derived from ComboBox

I've created a control derived from ComboBox, and wish to unit test its behaviour.
However, it appears to be behaving differently in my unit test to how it behaves in the real application.
In the real application, the Combobox.DataSource property and the .Items sync up - in other words when I change the Combobox.DataSource the .Items list immediately and automatically updates to show an item for each element of the DataSource.
In my test, I construct a ComboBox, assign a datasource to it, but the .Items list doesn't get updated at all, remaining at 0 items. Thus, when I try to update the .SelectedIndex to 0 in the test to select the first item, I recieve an ArgumentOutOfRangeException.
Is this because I don't have an Application.Run in my unit test starting an event loop, or is this a bit of a red herring?
EDIT: More detail on the first test:
[SetUp]
public void SetUp()
{
mECB = new EnhancedComboBox();
mECB.FormattingEnabled = true;
mECB.Location = new System.Drawing.Point( 45, 4 );
mECB.Name = "cboFind";
mECB.Size = new System.Drawing.Size( 121, 21 );
mECB.TabIndex = 3;
mECB.AddObserver( this );
mTestItems = new List<TestItem>();
mTestItems.Add( new TestItem() { Value = "Billy" } );
mTestItems.Add( new TestItem() { Value = "Bob" } );
mTestItems.Add( new TestItem() { Value = "Blues" } );
mECB.DataSource = mTestItems;
mECB.Reset();
mObservedValue = null;
}
[Test]
public void Test01_UpdateObserver()
{
mECB.SelectedIndex = 0;
Assert.AreEqual( "Billy", mObservedValue.Value );
}
The test fails on the first line, when trying to set the SelectedIndex to 0. On debugging, this appears to be because when the .DataSource is changed, the .Items collection is not updated to reflect this. However, on debugging the real application, the .Items collection is always updated when the .DataSource changes.
Surely I don't have to actually render the ComboBox in the test, I don't even have any drawing surfaces set up to render on to! Maybe the only answer I need is "How do I make the ComboBox update in the same way as when it is drawn, in a unit test scenario where I don't actually need to draw the box?"

Since you're simply calling the constructor, a lot of functionality of the combobox will not work. For example, the items will be filled when the ComboBox is drawn on screen, on a form. This does not happen when constructing it in a unit test.
Why do you want to write a unit test on that combobox?
Can't you seperate the logic which now is in the custom control? For example put this in a controller, and test that?
Why don't you test on the DataSource property instead of the Items collection?

I'm sure that Application.Run absence cannot affects any control's behavior

I'm having the same problem with a combo box where the items are data bound. My current solution is to create a Form in the test, add the combo box to the Controls collection, and then show the form in my test. Kind of ugly. All my combo box really does is list a bunch of TimeSpan objects, sorted, and with custom formatting of the TimeSpan values. It also has special behavior on keypress events. I tried extracting all the data and logic to a separate class but couldn't figure it out. There probably is a better solution but what I'm doing seems satisfactory.
To make testing easier, I created these classes in my test code:
class TestCombo : DurationComboBox {
public void SimulateKeyUp(Keys keys) { base.OnKeyUp(new KeyEventArgs(keys)); }
public DataView DataView { get { return DataSource as DataView; } }
public IEnumerable<DataRowView> Rows() { return (DataView as IEnumerable).Cast<DataRowView>(); }
public IEnumerable<int> Minutes() { return Rows().Select(row => (int)row["Minutes"]); }
}
class Target {
public TestCombo Combo { get; private set; }
public Form Form { get; private set; }
public Target() {
Combo = new TestCombo();
Form = new Form();
Form.Controls.Add(Combo);
Form.Show();
}
}
Here is a sample test:
[TestMethod()]
public void ConstructorCreatesEmptyList() {
Target t = new Target();
Assert.AreEqual<int>(0, t.Combo.DataView.Count);
Assert.AreEqual<int>(-1, t.Combo.SelectedMinutes);
Assert.IsNull(t.Combo.SelectedItem);
}

This solve some problems if target is ComboBox or any other control:
target.CreateControl();
but I was unable to set SelectedValue it has null value, my test working with two data sources for combo box, one as data source and second is binded to selevted value. With other controls everithing working fine. In the begining I was also creating form in tests, but there is problem when form on created on our build server while tests are executed.

I did a little hack to allow this in my custom derived combobox:
public class EnhancedComboBox : ComboBox
{
[... the implementation]
public void DoRefreshItems()
{
SetItemsCore(DataSource as IList);
}
}
The SetItemsCore function instructs the base combobox to load internal items with the provided list, it's what uses internally after the datasource changes.
This function never gets called when the control is not on a form, because there are lots of checks for CurrencyManagers and BindingContexts that are failing because this components, I believe, are provided by the parent form somehow.
Anyway, in the test, you have to call mECB.DoRefreshItems() just after the mECB.DataSource = mTestItems and everything should be fine if you only depend on the SelectedIndex and the Items property. Any other behavior like databinding is probably still not functional.