Скачать или смотреть How to Keep Selected Text Focused in a WinForms TextBox After Button Clicks

Discover how to keep your selected text in a WinForms TextBox focused and highlighted even after clicking buttons to format the text.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/62828223/ asked by the user 'Javad-M' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/1605859/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/62828345/ provided by the user '大陸北方網友' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/8335151/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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Keeping Your Selected Text Focused in a WinForms TextBox

When working on a WinForms application, you might find yourself needing to manipulate selected text in a TextBox. A common scenario is when you want to format that text—like adding bold or italic tags—upon clicking a button. However, it's frustrating when the selected text loses focus immediately after clicking a button. In this post, we will tackle this issue and show you how to keep the selected text focused after a formatting action.

The Problem

You have two buttons in your WinForms application meant to wrap selected text in <b> or <i> tags. However, after clicking either button to format the text, the selected text disappears from focus, creating a less than desirable user experience. You want the selected text to stay highlighted so that users can continue to interact with it immediately after formatting.

Example Code

Here’s an example of the initial approach that leads to the issue:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

In this code, the selected text is wrapped with the specified tags, but the focus on the selection is lost right after the click event.

The Solution: Maintain Focus on Selected Text

To resolve this issue, we can utilize the SelectionStart and SelectionLength properties of the TextBox to manipulate the selected text properly while keeping it focused. Here’s how to do it:

Step-by-Step Breakdown

Capture the Selection Start Index: Before you change the selected text, store the current position of SelectionStart.

Store the Length of the Selected Text: Keep the length of the text being selected so that we can reapply it after the text is changed.

Modify the Selected Text: Update the selected text by wrapping it in the desired tags.

Set Focus Back to the TextBox: Ensure that the TextBox regains focus after the text modification.

Reset the Selection Start and Length: Use the stored values to reset the selection, allowing the user to see the highlighted text.

Scroll to Caret: Finally, call ScrollToCaret() to maintain visibility of the selection.

Implementation Example

Here is an updated version of your button click events that implements these steps:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Key Adjustments

SelectionStart: Captures where the selected text begins.

SelectionLength: Adjusts to account for the extra characters added by the tags.

ScrollToCaret(): Ensures that the caret is positioned correctly in the view.

Conclusion

With these adjustments, your WinForms application will now maintain the selected text in focus, providing a smoother and more user-friendly experience. Users can apply formatting without losing sight of what they are editing, enhancing interactivity and efficiency. If you have further questions or run into issues, feel free to ask!