Develop Reference

Images slideshow with fade animation

I am writing a theater mode section in music player. The requirements is to loop through a folder containing images of any type(png, jpeg, gif) and show in a picture box with 5 seconds delay for images of type (png,jpeg) and delay time for gif should be the actual gif time duration. Also there should be fade transition between images when switch from one image to another in a single picture box. All need to be done when software is idle lets say for 60 seconds
Problem
Currently the playing song directory has 'img' folder containing 3 png
images and 3 gif. The first attempt to read
Helper.theaterImagesInfo.ToList() works pretty well
foreach (var img in Helper.theaterImagesInfo.ToList())
It starts to display 3 png images with 5 seconds delay and gif images
with the actual gif duration delay. but if i click picturebox to close theaterform as soon as the form is opened again after 60 seconds of idle state of software and loop continue
to iterate again. The default image is shown with
starting 2 png images from 'img' folder the 3rd png is skipped and then 4th gif starts
to play for few seconds not the actual gif duration and continued in wrong order as well as incorrect delay, Seems like while loop is always running in background. therfore it becomes choppy.
Desired Solution
Whenever i play song theaterform should be displayed and start to show images from folder ( in the same sequence and delay) even if the theaterform is opened again after 60 seconds if the song is still playing. Also if there is a way to show fade when changing image in a single picturebox
Code here
Program.cs
internal static class Program
{
public static Timer IdleTimer = new Timer();
readonly static int miliseconds =
Convert.ToInt32(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(60).TotalMilliseconds);
internal static MainForm f = null;
static public TheaterForm tf;
[STAThread]
static void Main()
{
Application.EnableVisualStyles();
Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
MessageFilter limf = new MessageFilter();
Application.AddMessageFilter(limf);
Application.Idle += new EventHandler(Application_Idle);
IdleTimer.Interval = miliseconds;
IdleTimer.Tick += TimeDone;
IdleTimer.Start();
f = new MainForm();
tf = new TheaterForm();
var app = new MyApplication();
app.Run(Environment.GetCommandLineArgs());
Application.Idle -= new EventHandler(Application_Idle);
}
static private void Application_Idle(Object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (!IdleTimer.Enabled) // not yet idling?
IdleTimer.Start();
}
static private void TimeDone(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
IdleTimer.Stop();
if (MainForm.waveOut.PlaybackState == PlaybackState.Playing)
{
if (!Helper.IsTheaterOpen)
{
if (Form.ActiveForm == f)
{
Helper.IsTheaterOpen = true;
tf.WindowState = FormWindowState.Maximized;
tf.Bounds = Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds;
tf.x = 1;
tf.ShowDialog(f);
}
}
}
else
{
if (!Helper.IsTheaterOpen)
{
if (Form.ActiveForm == f)
{
Helper.IsTheaterOpen = true;
tf.WindowState = FormWindowState.Maximized;
tf.Bounds = Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds;
tf.x = 0;
tf.ShowDialog(f);
}
}
}
}
}
public class MyApplication : WindowsFormsApplicationBase
{
protected override void OnCreateMainForm()
{
MainForm = Program.f;
}
protected override void OnCreateSplashScreen()
{
SplashScreen = new SplashForm();
}
}
Helper.cs
internal class Helper
{
public static bool IsTheaterOpen { get; set; }
public struct ImageInfo
{
public bool IsAnimated;
public int durationInMilliseconds;
public Image ImageHere;
}
public static List<ImageInfo> theaterImagesInfo = new List<ImageInfo>(10);
}
MainForm.cs
/*
* Every song directory has one folder named img that contains images and gif relevant
to the song album
*/
private int GetGifDuration(Image img)
{
int delay = 0, this_delay = 0, index = 0;
FrameDimension frameDimension = new FrameDimension(img.FrameDimensionsList[0]);
int frameCount = img.GetFrameCount(frameDimension);
for (int f = 0; f < frameCount; f++)
{
this_delay = BitConverter.ToInt32(img.GetPropertyItem(20736).Value, index) * 10;
delay += (this_delay < 100 ? 100 : this_delay); // Minimum delay is 100 ms
index += 4;
}
return delay;
}
private void PlayAudio()
{
// Getting images from folder and storing in struct on every song play
if (Directory.Exists(Path.GetDirectoryName(CurrentPlayingMusicUrl) + "\\img"))
{
var files =
Directory.EnumerateFiles(Path.GetDirectoryName(CurrentPlayingMusicUrl) +
"\\img", "*", SearchOption.AllDirectories).Where(s => s.EndsWith(".png") ||
s.EndsWith(".jpg") || s.EndsWith(".jpeg") || s.EndsWith(".gif"));
Helper.theaterImagesInfo.Clear();
foreach (var imagePath in files.ToArray())
{
using (System.Drawing.Image image = System.Drawing.Image.FromFile(imagePath))
{
if (image.RawFormat.Equals(ImageFormat.Gif))
{
Helper.theaterImagesInfo.Add(new Helper.ImageInfo { IsAnimated = true, durationInMilliseconds = GetGifDuration(image), ImageHere = Image.FromFile(imagePath) });
}
else
{
Helper.theaterImagesInfo.Add(new Helper.ImageInfo { IsAnimated = false, durationInMilliseconds = 5000, ImageHere = Image.FromFile(imagePath) });
}
}
}
}
else
{
Helper.theaterImagesInfo.Clear();
Program.tf.x = 0;
}
}
TheaterForm.cs
public partial class TheaterForm : Form
{
public TheaterForm()
{
InitializeComponent();
SetDefaultImage();
}
/*
* Getting Default image from top(root) directory ex. AllMusic. If no 'img' folder
found in song album directory ex. AllMusic -> Justin Bieber -> (img folder not
exist)song1, song2, song3 etc.
*/
private async void SetDefaultImage()
{
string path = KJ_Player.Properties.Settings.Default["MusicFolder"] + "\\img";
if (Directory.Exists(path))
{
var files = Directory.EnumerateFiles(path, "*",
SearchOption.AllDirectories).Where(s => s.EndsWith(".png") ||
s.EndsWith(".jpg") || s.EndsWith(".jpeg"));
await Task.Run(() =>
{
if(files != null && files.Count()>0)
{
PictureBox1.Image = Image.FromFile(files.FirstOrDefault());
}
});
}
}
public int x=1;
private async void TheaterForm_Shown(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (this.PictureBox1.Image == null) SetDefaultImage();
if (Helper.theaterImagesInfo != null && Helper.theaterImagesInfo.Count > 0)
{
while (x == 1)
{
foreach (var img in Helper.theaterImagesInfo.ToList())
{
if (img.IsAnimated)
{
try
{
this.PictureBox1.Image = img.ImageHere;
await Task.Delay(img.durationInMilliseconds);
}
catch { }
}
else
{
try
{
await Task.Delay(img.durationInMilliseconds);
this.PictureBox1.Image = img.ImageHere;
}
catch { }
}
}
}
SetDefaultImage();
}
}
private void PictureBoxTheater_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
this.x = 0;
if (this.PictureBox1.Image != null) this.PictureBox1.Image=null;
Helper.IsTheaterOpen = false;
this.Close();
}
}

Most likely you just need to break out of that foreach loop:
foreach (var img in Helper.theaterImagesInfo.ToList())
{
if (img.IsAnimated)
{
try
{
this.PictureBox1.Image = img.ImageHere;
await Task.Delay(img.durationInMilliseconds);
}
catch { }
}
else
{
try
{
await Task.Delay(img.durationInMilliseconds);
if (this.x == 1) {
this.PictureBox1.Image = img.ImageHere;
}
}
catch { }
}
if (this.x == 0) {
break; // exit the for loop early
}
}

C# - show child control (Listbox) on top of parent control(textbox) in winform

Created a custom intellisense textbox (textbox with listbox a child).
As shown in below image, the listbox pops up when i enter a char which all works fine and good but when i am at the end of textbox the listbox is partially visible, is there anyway i can show the whole listbox content?
Tried this "Show control inside user control outside the boundaries of its parent
But when the popup window opens the text box looses focus and i cannot type anything further, my intellisense textbox keeps giving better results based on what they type but in this situation i am not able to type anymore.
FYI tried to add pParentControl.Focus() into show method defined in other article as shown below, missing something?
public void Show(Control pParentControl)
{
if (pParentControl == null) return;
// position the popup window
var loc = pParentControl.PointToScreen(new Point(0, pParentControl.Height));
pParentControl.Focus();
m_tsdd.Show(loc);
}
Here is the complete code
class TextBox_AutoComplete : TextBox
{
#region Class Members
List<string> dictionary;
ListBox listbox = new ListBox();
#endregion
private PopupHelper m_popup;
#region Extern functions
[DllImport("user32")]
private extern static int GetCaretPos(out Point p);
#endregion
#region Constructors
public TextBox_AutoComplete() : base()
{
this.Margin = new Padding(0, 0, 0, 0);
this.Multiline = true;
this.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
this.KeyDown += Textbox_KeyDown;
this.KeyUp += Textbox_KeyUp;
listbox.Parent = this;
listbox.KeyUp += List_OnKeyUp;
listbox.Visible = false;
this.dictionary = new List<string>();
}
#endregion
#region Properties
public List<string> Dictionary
{
get { return this.dictionary; }
set { this.dictionary = value; }
}
#endregion
#region Methods
private static string GetLastString(string s)
{
Regex rgx = new Regex("[^a-zA-Z0-9_.\\[\\]]");
s = rgx.Replace(s, " ");
string[] strArray = s.Split(' ');
return strArray[strArray.Length - 1];
}
protected override void OnTextChanged(EventArgs e)
{
base.OnTextChanged(e);
Point cp;
GetCaretPos(out cp);
List<string> lstTemp = new List<string>();
List<string> TempFilteredList = new List<string>();
string LastString = GetLastString(this.Text.Substring(0, SelectionStart));
//MessageBox.Show(LastString);
/*seperated them so that column name matches are found first*/
TempFilteredList.AddRange(dictionary.Where(n => n.Replace("[", "").ToUpper().Substring(n.IndexOf(".") > 0 ? n.IndexOf(".") : 0).StartsWith(LastString.ToUpper())
).Select(r => r)
.ToList());
TempFilteredList.AddRange(dictionary.Where(n => n.Replace("[", "").ToUpper().StartsWith(LastString.ToUpper())
|| n.ToUpper().StartsWith(LastString.ToUpper()))
.Select(r => r)
.ToList());
lstTemp = TempFilteredList.Distinct().Select(r => r).ToList();
/*Getting max width*/
int maxWidth = 0, temp = 0;
foreach (var obj in lstTemp)
{
temp = TextRenderer.MeasureText(obj.ToString(), new Font("Arial", 10, FontStyle.Regular)).Width;
if (temp > maxWidth)
{
maxWidth = temp;
}
}
listbox.SetBounds(cp.X + 20, cp.Y + 20, maxWidth, 60);
if (lstTemp.Count != 0 && LastString != "")
{
listbox.DataSource = lstTemp;
// listbox.Show();
if (m_popup == null)
m_popup = new PopupHelper(listbox);
m_popup.Show(this);
}
else if (m_popup != null)
{
//listbox.Hide();
m_popup.Hide();
}
}
protected void Textbox_KeyUp(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
if (e.KeyCode == Keys.Down)
{
if (listbox.Visible == true)
{
listbox.Focus();
}
e.Handled = true;
}
else if (e.KeyCode == Keys.Escape)
{
listbox.Visible = false;
e.Handled = true;
}
}
protected void Textbox_KeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
if (e.KeyCode == Keys.Space && listbox.Visible == true)
{
listbox.Focus();
List_OnKeyUp(listbox, new KeyEventArgs(Keys.Space));
e.Handled = true;
}
if (e.KeyCode == Keys.Down && listbox.Visible == true)
{
listbox.Focus();
e.Handled = true;
}
}
private void List_OnKeyUp(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
if (e.KeyCode == Keys.Space || e.KeyCode == Keys.Enter)
{
int Selection_Start = this.SelectionStart;
string StrLS = GetLastString(this.Text.Substring(0, Selection_Start));
this.Select(Selection_Start - StrLS.Length, StrLS.Length);
// MessageBox.Show(this.Selection_Start.ToString() + " Last string" + StrLS);
this.SelectedText=((ListBox)sender).SelectedItem.ToString();
listbox.Hide();
this.Focus();
}
}
#endregion
}
public sealed class PopupHelper : IDisposable
{
private readonly Control m_control;
private readonly ToolStripDropDown m_tsdd;
private readonly Panel m_hostPanel; // workarround - some controls don't display correctly if they are hosted directly in ToolStripControlHost
public PopupHelper(Control pControl)
{
m_hostPanel = new Panel();
m_hostPanel.Padding = Padding.Empty;
m_hostPanel.Margin = Padding.Empty;
m_hostPanel.TabStop = false;
m_hostPanel.BorderStyle = BorderStyle.None;
m_hostPanel.BackColor = Color.Transparent;
m_tsdd = new ToolStripDropDown();
m_tsdd.CausesValidation = false;
m_tsdd.Padding = Padding.Empty;
m_tsdd.Margin = Padding.Empty;
m_tsdd.Opacity = 0.9;
m_control = pControl;
m_control.CausesValidation = false;
m_control.Resize += MControlResize;
//m_hostPanel.Controls.Add(m_control);
m_tsdd.Padding = Padding.Empty;
m_tsdd.Margin = Padding.Empty;
m_tsdd.MinimumSize = m_tsdd.MaximumSize = m_tsdd.Size = pControl.Size;
m_tsdd.Items.Add(new ToolStripControlHost(m_control));
}
private void ResizeWindow()
{
m_tsdd.MinimumSize = m_tsdd.MaximumSize = m_tsdd.Size = m_control.Size;
m_hostPanel.MinimumSize = m_hostPanel.MaximumSize = m_hostPanel.Size = m_control.Size;
}
private void MControlResize(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
ResizeWindow();
}
/// <summary>
/// Display the popup and keep the focus
/// </summary>
/// <param name="pParentControl"></param>
public void Show(Control pParentControl)
{
if (pParentControl == null) return;
// position the popup window
var loc = pParentControl.PointToScreen(new Point(0, pParentControl.Height));
pParentControl.Focus();
m_tsdd.Show(loc);
}
public void Hide()
{
m_tsdd.Hide();
}
public void Close()
{
m_tsdd.Close();
}
public void Dispose()
{
m_control.Resize -= MControlResize;
m_tsdd.Dispose();
m_hostPanel.Dispose();
}
}

Firstly, I personally don't see any benefit in having a control inside another. Yes, the child control is locked inside its parent's boundaries automatically for you, but this benefit is negated by the issue that you're facing, and solving that issue requires the same work as when the two controls have no relation. In both cases, you'll have to do the calculations manually to keep the child visible inside its parent. In the second case the parent is the app's window.
Secondly, I don't recommend using hacks like the one mentioned in the comments to show the child outside its parent's boundaries. The hack creates more issues than it solves, as you found out. And what's the point of that hack anyway? If you want to show the child outside the parent, then don't make it a child control in the first place, and you don't need any hack.
The best solution is the one that you find in any well designed app, and in Windows itself. Open any app, let's say Notepad, and right-click near the upper-left corner. You'll see the context menu pulling to lower-right direction. Now right-click near the other three corners and you'll see the context menu pulling in different direction each time, so it will always be visible inside the app. Now if you resize the app window too small and right-click, the context menu will choose the best direction but some of it will be outside the app because the window is too small. That's why you need your list not to be a child, but it's up to you, and it's only about these edge cases. The solution will be similar in both cases.
You're displaying the list in this line:
listbox.SetBounds(cp.X + 20, cp.Y + 20, maxWidth, 60);
The key is cp.X and cp.Y. This is what decides where the list will appear. You need to make this point dynamic and responsive to the boundaries of the parent. You fixed the width to maxWidth and height to 60, so I will use those values in the calculation.
To make sure the list will not go beyond the bottom:
var y = this.Height < cp.Y + 60 ? this.Height - 60 : cp.Y;
To make sure the list will not go beyond the right:
var x = this.Width < cp.X + maxWidth ? this.Width - maxWidth : cp.X;
Now you can show your list at the calculated point:
listbox.SetBounds(x, y, maxWidth, 60);
Notes:
I didn't include the 20 gap that you used. I think it looks better without the gap and I haven't seen any app that has a gap. If you prefer the gap, add it to the calculation of x and y. Don't add it in the SetBounds() or that will screw up the calculation.
The calculation above doesn't take into account when the parent size is too small to show the child inside. If you want to support that edge case, you need to make the child a separate control and add some checks to the calculation.

MediaElement not always playing video in WPF application

we created a test application were users interact with it using gestures. Each user gets to interact with all gestures in a sequential manner. When the users first is introduced to a new gesture, a small instructional movie is played for the user showing him how to perform that gesture. The movie should first play on the main screen, and then after playing once should loop on the second monitor until the next gesture starts, when it should then close the secondary video screen and start the process over. This is where we are running into problems.
The movies all get loaded up fine, and actually most of the time play correctly. The problem is that sometimes, the movie does not actually start in the secondary monitor. They load up fine but never actually start. This is not something we can reliably reproduce, this happens sometimes at random.
This is the code that we have for the VideoPlayer window at the moment:
public partial class VideoWindow : Window {
static VideoWindow currentVideoWindow;
public VideoWindow(GestureDirection direction, GestureType type, bool reopen = false)
{
if(currentVideoWindow != null) {
currentVideoWindow.CloseWindow();
currentVideoWindow = this;
}
else {
currentVideoWindow = this;
}
GestureParser.Pause(!reopen);
InitializeComponent();
this.Title = type + " " + direction;
this.Show();
videoMediaElement.LoadedBehavior = MediaState.Manual;
videoMediaElement.UnloadedBehavior = MediaState.Manual;
string videoDirectory = #"techniques/";
string video = direction.ToString() + "_" + type.ToString() + ".mp4";
if (Screen.AllScreens.Length > 1) {
int secScreen = Screen.AllScreens.Length == 2 ? 0 : 2;
int mainScreen = Screen.AllScreens.Length == 2 ? 1 : 0;
Screen s = reopen ? Screen.AllScreens[secScreen] : Screen.AllScreens[mainScreen];
System.Drawing.Rectangle r = s.WorkingArea;
this.Top = r.Top;
this.Left = r.Left;
this.Topmost = true;
this.Show();
this.WindowStyle = WindowStyle.None;
this.WindowState = WindowState.Maximized;
}
else {
Screen s = Screen.AllScreens[0];
System.Drawing.Rectangle r = s.WorkingArea;
this.Top = r.Top;
this.Left = r.Left;
this.Show();
}
String videoPath = CreateAbsolutePathTo(videoDirectory + video);
if (File.Exists(videoPath)) {
Uri videoUri = new Uri(videoPath, UriKind.Relative);
videoMediaElement.Source = videoUri;
}
if (reopen) {
this.Activate();
canvasWindow.Activate();
videoMediaElement.MediaEnded += (sender, args) => {
videoMediaElement.Stop();
videoMediaElement.Position = TimeSpan.Zero;
};
} else {
videoMediaElement.MediaEnded += (sender, args) => {
this.CloseWindow();
var t = new VideoWindow(direction, type, true);
};
}
videoMediaElement.Play();
Task task = Task.Factory.StartNew(() =>
{
while(GetMediaState(videoMediaElement) != MediaState.Play)
{
videoMediaElement.Play();
}
});
}
private MediaState GetMediaState(MediaElement myMedia)
{
FieldInfo hlp = typeof(MediaElement).GetField("_helper", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance);
object helperObject = hlp.GetValue(myMedia);
FieldInfo stateField = helperObject.GetType().GetField("_currentState", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance);
MediaState state = (MediaState)stateField.GetValue(helperObject);
return state;
}
static CanvasWindow canvasWindow;
public static void SetCanvasWindow(CanvasWindow window) {
canvasWindow = window;
}
private static string CreateAbsolutePathTo(string mediaFile) {
return Path.Combine(new FileInfo(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location).DirectoryName, mediaFile);
}
private void CloseWindow() {
videoMediaElement.Stop();
videoMediaElement.Close();
this.Close();
}
}
As you can see, we have tried creating a task that constantly checks to see if the video is playing, and if not it should play it. The thing is, the media state is always playing, even if the movie is stopped, and as such it does nothing.
We really don't know what is wrong, and would really appreciate some help.

Is it possible to make the WinForms Tab Control be able to do tab reordering like IE or Firefox?

Is it possible to reorder the tabs in the WinForms TabControl at run-time like IE or Firefox?
Links like this don't give me much hope.

Sure, it's possible! You're most likely trying to overcomplicate the solution. Essentially, all you have to do is subclass the standard TabControl and add some logic to the mouse event handlers. You'll just need to check which form the user is currently dragging and reorder it in the TabPages collection.
There are a couple of complete solutions available online:
Reordering TabPages inside TabControl
Drag and Drop Tab Control
Reposition TabItems at runtime

I found the solution originally posted by #Cody Gray to be mostly what I wanted, but I didn't see the need for it to be so complicated.
This is my simplification, implemented by deriving from TabControl:
public class DraggableTabControl : TabControl
{
private TabPage m_DraggedTab;
public DraggableTabControl()
{
MouseDown += OnMouseDown;
MouseMove += OnMouseMove;
}
private void OnMouseDown(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
m_DraggedTab = TabAt(e.Location);
}
private void OnMouseMove(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Button != MouseButtons.Left || m_DraggedTab == null)
{
return;
}
TabPage tab = TabAt(e.Location);
if (tab == null || tab == m_DraggedTab)
{
return;
}
Swap(m_DraggedTab, tab);
SelectedTab = m_DraggedTab;
}
private TabPage TabAt(Point position)
{
int count = TabCount;
for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)
{
if (GetTabRect(i).Contains(position))
{
return TabPages[i];
}
}
return null;
}
private void Swap(TabPage a, TabPage b)
{
int i = TabPages.IndexOf(a);
int j = TabPages.IndexOf(b);
TabPages[i] = b;
TabPages[j] = a;
}
}
The drag and drop APIs are really intended for dragging stuff between separate applications, or at the very least, separate controls. Using them in this case is overkill.
Make sure you upvote Cody's answer too if you upvote mine, as it is based on his.

reordering TabPages with drag and drop - by Ludwig B.
inspired by http://dotnetrix.co.uk/tabcontrol.htm#tip7
private void tc_MouseDown(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
// store clicked tab
TabControl tc = (TabControl)sender;
int hover_index = this.getHoverTabIndex(tc);
if (hover_index >= 0) { tc.Tag = tc.TabPages[hover_index]; }
}
private void tc_MouseUp(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
// clear stored tab
TabControl tc = (TabControl)sender;
tc.Tag = null;
}
private void tc_MouseMove(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
// mouse button down? tab was clicked?
TabControl tc = (TabControl)sender;
if ((e.Button != MouseButtons.Left) || (tc.Tag == null)) return;
TabPage clickedTab = (TabPage)tc.Tag;
int clicked_index = tc.TabPages.IndexOf(clickedTab);
// start drag n drop
tc.DoDragDrop(clickedTab, DragDropEffects.All);
}
private void tc_DragOver(object sender, DragEventArgs e)
{
TabControl tc = (TabControl)sender;
// a tab is draged?
if (e.Data.GetData(typeof(TabPage)) == null) return;
TabPage dragTab = (TabPage)e.Data.GetData(typeof(TabPage));
int dragTab_index = tc.TabPages.IndexOf(dragTab);
// hover over a tab?
int hoverTab_index = this.getHoverTabIndex(tc);
if (hoverTab_index < 0) { e.Effect = DragDropEffects.None; return; }
TabPage hoverTab = tc.TabPages[hoverTab_index];
e.Effect = DragDropEffects.Move;
// start of drag?
if (dragTab == hoverTab) return;
// swap dragTab & hoverTab - avoids toggeling
Rectangle dragTabRect = tc.GetTabRect(dragTab_index);
Rectangle hoverTabRect = tc.GetTabRect(hoverTab_index);
if (dragTabRect.Width < hoverTabRect.Width)
{
Point tcLocation = tc.PointToScreen(tc.Location);
if (dragTab_index < hoverTab_index)
{
if ((e.X - tcLocation.X) > ((hoverTabRect.X + hoverTabRect.Width) - dragTabRect.Width))
this.swapTabPages(tc, dragTab, hoverTab);
}
else if (dragTab_index > hoverTab_index)
{
if ((e.X - tcLocation.X) < (hoverTabRect.X + dragTabRect.Width))
this.swapTabPages(tc, dragTab, hoverTab);
}
}
else this.swapTabPages(tc, dragTab, hoverTab);
// select new pos of dragTab
tc.SelectedIndex = tc.TabPages.IndexOf(dragTab);
}
private int getHoverTabIndex(TabControl tc)
{
for (int i = 0; i < tc.TabPages.Count; i++)
{
if (tc.GetTabRect(i).Contains(tc.PointToClient(Cursor.Position)))
return i;
}
return -1;
}
private void swapTabPages(TabControl tc, TabPage src, TabPage dst)
{
int index_src = tc.TabPages.IndexOf(src);
int index_dst = tc.TabPages.IndexOf(dst);
tc.TabPages[index_dst] = src;
tc.TabPages[index_src] = dst;
tc.Refresh();
}

I extended the answer of Jacob Stanley a bit. This way the swapping won't occur too often. This is especially helpful for tabs of different sizes in which case the previous solution would swap very often while dragging.
The difference in user experience is that you have to drag a bit further to actually move the tab. But this is similar to tab reordering in browsers.
Also I added a hand cursor while dragging and enabled double-buffering.
using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace Controls
{
public class DraggableTabControl : TabControl
{
private TabPage draggedTab;
public DraggableTabControl()
{
this.MouseDown += OnMouseDown;
this.MouseMove += OnMouseMove;
this.Leave += new System.EventHandler(this.DraggableTabControl_Leave);
this.SetStyle(ControlStyles.OptimizedDoubleBuffer | ControlStyles.AllPaintingInWmPaint, true);
}
private void OnMouseDown(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
draggedTab = TabAt(e.Location);
}
private void OnMouseMove(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Button != MouseButtons.Left || draggedTab == null)
{
this.Cursor = this.DefaultCursor;
draggedTab = null;
return;
}
int index = TabPages.IndexOf(draggedTab);
int nextIndex = index + 1;
int prevIndex = index - 1;
int minXForNext = int.MaxValue;
int maxXForPrev = int.MinValue;
var tabRect = GetTabRect(index);
if (nextIndex < TabPages.Count)
{
var nextTabRect = GetTabRect(nextIndex);
minXForNext = tabRect.Left + nextTabRect.Width;
}
if (prevIndex >= 0)
{
var prevTabRect = GetTabRect(prevIndex);
maxXForPrev = prevTabRect.Left + tabRect.Width;
}
this.Cursor = Cursors.Hand;
if (e.Location.X > maxXForPrev && e.Location.X < minXForNext)
{
return;
}
TabPage tab = TabAt(e.Location);
if (tab == null || tab == draggedTab)
{
return;
}
Swap(draggedTab, tab);
SelectedTab = draggedTab;
}
private TabPage TabAt(Point position)
{
int count = TabCount;
for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)
{
if (GetTabRect(i).Contains(position))
{
return TabPages[i];
}
}
return null;
}
private void Swap(TabPage a, TabPage b)
{
int i = TabPages.IndexOf(a);
int j = TabPages.IndexOf(b);
TabPages[i] = b;
TabPages[j] = a;
}
private void DraggableTabControl_Leave(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
this.Cursor = this.DefaultCursor;
draggedTab = null;
}
}
}

How do I prevent my ContextMenu from being constrained to its container (Win Forms c#)

I wrote a custom Control (an auto-complete TextBox (below)) in which a ContextMenuStrip is programmatically added to the form.
My problem is that when the control generates a list longer than the height of it's parent container (Panel, GroupBox, etc) the bottom section of ContextMenuStrip is hidden.
I have tried calling .BringToFront() but can't find any way to overcome this behaviour.
Any help would be greatly appriciated, also feel free to steal the control :)
fig 1.
/// <summary>
/// TextBox which can auto complete words found in a table column
/// Just set DataSource and DataListField and start typing - WD
/// </summary>
public class AutoComplete : TextBox
{
public DataTable DataSource { get; set; }
public string DataListField { get; set; }
private ContextMenuStrip SuggestionList = new ContextMenuStrip();
public AutoComplete()
{
this.LostFocus += new EventHandler(AutoComplete_LostFocus);
KeyUp += new KeyEventHandler(AutoComplete_KeyUp);
SuggestionList.ItemClicked += new ToolStripItemClickedEventHandler(SuggestionList_ItemClicked);
}
void AutoComplete_LostFocus(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (!SuggestionList.Focused)
{
SuggestionList.Visible = false;
}
}
void SuggestionList_ItemClicked(object sender, ToolStripItemClickedEventArgs e)
{
this.Text = e.ClickedItem.Text;
SuggestionList.Visible = false;
this.Focus();
SuggestionList.Visible = false;
}
void AutoComplete_KeyUp(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
if (null != DataSource && DataSource.Rows.Count > 0 && null != DataListField)
{
if (e.KeyCode != Keys.Enter)
{
if (SuggestionList.Items.Count > 0 && e.KeyCode == Keys.Down)
{
SuggestionList.Focus();
SuggestionList.Items[0].Select();
SuggestionList.BringToFront();
}
else if (this.Text.Length > 0)
{
SuggestionList.Items.Clear();
DataRow[] drSuggestionList = DataSource.Select("[" + DataListField + "] LIKE '" + this.Text + "%'");
foreach (DataRow dr in drSuggestionList)
{
SuggestionList.Items.Add(dr[DataListField].ToString());
}
SuggestionList.TopLevel = false;
SuggestionList.Visible = true;
SuggestionList.Top = (this.Top + this.Height);
SuggestionList.Left = this.Left;
this.Parent.Controls.Add(SuggestionList);
SuggestionList.BringToFront();
}
}
}
}
}

It's because you turned it into a child control by setting its TopLevel property to false and adding it to the parent's Control collection. Replace this:
SuggestionList.TopLevel = false;
SuggestionList.Visible = true;
SuggestionList.Top = (this.Top + this.Height);
SuggestionList.Left = this.Left;
this.Parent.Controls.Add(SuggestionList);
SuggestionList.BringToFront();
with this:
SuggestionList.Show(this.Parent.PointToScreen(new Point(this.Left, this.Bottom)));
Beware that the CMS will overlap the text box if it is too tall.