WinForms | C# | AutoComplete in the Middle of a Textbox?
I have a textbox that does autocompletion like so:
txtName.AutoCompleteMode = AutoCompleteMode.Suggest;
txtName.AutoCompleteSource = AutoCompleteSource.CustomSource;
txtName.AutoCompleteCustomSource = namesCollection;
It works, but only at the beginning of a textbox. I'd like autocomplete to kick in for any word the user is entering, at any position in the textbox.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace TubeUploader
{
public class AutoCompleteTextBox : TextBox
{
private ListBox _listBox;
private bool _isAdded;
private String[] _values;
private String _formerValue = String.Empty;
public AutoCompleteTextBox()
{
InitializeComponent();
ResetListBox();
}
private void InitializeComponent()
{
_listBox = new ListBox();
KeyDown += this_KeyDown;
KeyUp += this_KeyUp;
}
private void ShowListBox()
{
if (!_isAdded)
{
Parent.Controls.Add(_listBox);
_listBox.Left = Left;
_listBox.Top = Top + Height;
_isAdded = true;
}
_listBox.Visible = true;
_listBox.BringToFront();
}
private void ResetListBox()
{
_listBox.Visible = false;
}
private void this_KeyUp(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
UpdateListBox();
}
private void this_KeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
switch (e.KeyCode)
{
case Keys.Tab:
{
if (_listBox.Visible)
{
InsertWord((String)_listBox.SelectedItem);
ResetListBox();
_formerValue = Text;
}
break;
}
case Keys.Down:
{
if ((_listBox.Visible) && (_listBox.SelectedIndex < _listBox.Items.Count - 1))
_listBox.SelectedIndex++;
break;
}
case Keys.Up:
{
if ((_listBox.Visible) && (_listBox.SelectedIndex > 0))
_listBox.SelectedIndex--;
break;
}
}
}
protected override bool IsInputKey(Keys keyData)
{
switch (keyData)
{
case Keys.Tab:
return true;
default:
return base.IsInputKey(keyData);
}
}
private void UpdateListBox()
{
if (Text == _formerValue) return;
_formerValue = Text;
String word = GetWord();
if (_values != null && word.Length > 0)
{
String[] matches = Array.FindAll(_values,
x => (x.StartsWith(word, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) && !SelectedValues.Contains(x)));
if (matches.Length > 0)
{
ShowListBox();
_listBox.Items.Clear();
Array.ForEach(matches, x => _listBox.Items.Add(x));
_listBox.SelectedIndex = 0;
_listBox.Height = 0;
_listBox.Width = 0;
Focus();
using (Graphics graphics = _listBox.CreateGraphics())
{
for (int i = 0; i < _listBox.Items.Count; i++)
{
_listBox.Height += _listBox.GetItemHeight(i);
// it item width is larger than the current one
// set it to the new max item width
// GetItemRectangle does not work for me
// we add a little extra space by using '_'
int itemWidth = (int)graphics.MeasureString(((String)_listBox.Items[i]) + "_", _listBox.Font).Width;
_listBox.Width = (_listBox.Width < itemWidth) ? itemWidth : _listBox.Width;
}
}
}
else
{
ResetListBox();
}
}
else
{
ResetListBox();
}
}
private String GetWord()
{
String text = Text;
int pos = SelectionStart;
int posStart = text.LastIndexOf(' ', (pos < 1) ? 0 : pos - 1);
posStart = (posStart == -1) ? 0 : posStart + 1;
int posEnd = text.IndexOf(' ', pos);
posEnd = (posEnd == -1) ? text.Length : posEnd;
int length = ((posEnd - posStart) < 0) ? 0 : posEnd - posStart;
return text.Substring(posStart, length);
}
private void InsertWord(String newTag)
{
String text = Text;
int pos = SelectionStart;
int posStart = text.LastIndexOf(' ', (pos < 1) ? 0 : pos - 1);
posStart = (posStart == -1) ? 0 : posStart + 1;
int posEnd = text.IndexOf(' ', pos);
String firstPart = text.Substring(0, posStart) + newTag;
String updatedText = firstPart + ((posEnd == -1) ? "" : text.Substring(posEnd, text.Length - posEnd));
Text = updatedText;
SelectionStart = firstPart.Length;
}
public String[] Values
{
get
{
return _values;
}
set
{
_values = value;
}
}
public List<String> SelectedValues
{
get
{
String[] result = Text.Split(new[] { ' ' }, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
return new List<String>(result);
}
}
}
}
Sample Usage
using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace AutoComplete
{
public partial class TestForm : Form
{
private readonly String[] _values = { "one", "two", "three", "tree", "four", "fivee" };
public TestForm()
{
InitializeComponent();
// AutoComplete is our special textbox control on the form
AutoComplete.Values = _values;
}
}
}
I made a few changes to the solution proposed by @PaRiMaL RaJ because the list box was not being displayed when the text box was inside a UserControl that was not tall enough. Basically, instead of adding the list box to the parent of the text box, I added to the form and I calculate the absolute position in the form.
public class AutoCompleteTextBox : TextBox
{
private ListBox _listBox;
private bool _isAdded;
private String[] _values;
private String _formerValue = String.Empty;
public AutoCompleteTextBox()
{
InitializeComponent();
ResetListBox();
}
private void InitializeComponent()
{
_listBox = new ListBox();
this.KeyDown += this_KeyDown;
this.KeyUp += this_KeyUp;
}
private void ShowListBox()
{
if (!_isAdded)
{
Form parentForm = this.FindForm(); // new line added
parentForm.Controls.Add(_listBox); // adds it to the form
Point positionOnForm = parentForm.PointToClient(this.Parent.PointToScreen(this.Location)); // absolute position in the form
_listBox.Left = positionOnForm.X;
_listBox.Top = positionOnForm.Y + Height;
_isAdded = true;
}
_listBox.Visible = true;
_listBox.BringToFront();
}
private void ResetListBox()
{
_listBox.Visible = false;
}
private void this_KeyUp(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
UpdateListBox();
}
private void this_KeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
switch (e.KeyCode)
{
case Keys.Enter:
case Keys.Tab:
{
if (_listBox.Visible)
{
Text = _listBox.SelectedItem.ToString();
ResetListBox();
_formerValue = Text;
this.Select(this.Text.Length, 0);
e.Handled = true;
}
break;
}
case Keys.Down:
{
if ((_listBox.Visible) && (_listBox.SelectedIndex < _listBox.Items.Count - 1))
_listBox.SelectedIndex++;
e.Handled = true;
break;
}
case Keys.Up:
{
if ((_listBox.Visible) && (_listBox.SelectedIndex > 0))
_listBox.SelectedIndex--;
e.Handled = true;
break;
}
}
}
protected override bool IsInputKey(Keys keyData)
{
switch (keyData)
{
case Keys.Tab:
if (_listBox.Visible)
return true;
else
return false;
default:
return base.IsInputKey(keyData);
}
}
private void UpdateListBox()
{
if (Text == _formerValue)
return;
_formerValue = this.Text;
string word = this.Text;
if (_values != null && word.Length > 0)
{
string[] matches = Array.FindAll(_values,
x => (x.ToLower().Contains(word.ToLower())));
if (matches.Length > 0)
{
ShowListBox();
_listBox.BeginUpdate();
_listBox.Items.Clear();
Array.ForEach(matches, x => _listBox.Items.Add(x));
_listBox.SelectedIndex = 0;
_listBox.Height = 0;
_listBox.Width = 0;
Focus();
using (Graphics graphics = _listBox.CreateGraphics())
{
for (int i = 0; i < _listBox.Items.Count; i++)
{
if (i < 20)
_listBox.Height += _listBox.GetItemHeight(i);
// it item width is larger than the current one
// set it to the new max item width
// GetItemRectangle does not work for me
// we add a little extra space by using '_'
int itemWidth = (int)graphics.MeasureString(((string)_listBox.Items[i]) + "_", _listBox.Font).Width;
_listBox.Width = (_listBox.Width < itemWidth) ? itemWidth : this.Width; ;
}
}
_listBox.EndUpdate();
}
else
{
ResetListBox();
}
}
else
{
ResetListBox();
}
}
public String[] Values
{
get
{
return _values;
}
set
{
_values = value;
}
}
public List<String> SelectedValues
{
get
{
String[] result = Text.Split(new[] { ' ' }, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
return new List<String>(result);
}
}
}