ImageCombobox in VB.NET

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Introduction

This is a simple combobox that displays icons to the user. It is similar to the imageComboBox in VB. I saw many examples like this made in  C#, so I decided to make a VB one.

You have to create an ImageList, load images to it and then set the ComboIcon.ImageList property to this ImageList. Once this is done you can add items. I made also a class for the Item (ComboBoxIconItem) which is a simple class that stores the imageIndex (in the imageList) of the item and its text.

The ComboIcon Class inherits from the ComboBox of course. It has just an Override to the Draw_Item Sub. In the override we make the combo Owner_draw and we draw the icon and text in case there is an imageIndex in the ImageList for the Icon. If not, we load only the text to the combo.

Code

The ComboIcon class has these Overrides:

Private ListaImg1 As New ImageList 
    'It is the ImageList associated to the Combo

Public Sub New()
    DrawMode = DrawMode.OwnerDrawFixed 
        'Set the DrawMode to OwnerDraw
End Sub

Protected Overrides Sub OnDrawItem(ByVal e _
        As System.Windows.Forms.DrawItemEventArgs)
    e.DrawBackground()
    e.DrawFocusRectangle()
    Dim item As New ComboBoxIconItem
    Dim imageSize As New Size
    imageSize = ListaImg1.ImageSize
    Dim bounds As New Rectangle
    bounds = e.Bounds
    Try
        item = Me.Items(e.Index)
        If (item.ImageIndex <> -1) Then
            Me.ImageList.Draw(e.Graphics, bounds.Left, _
                bounds.Top, item.ImageIndex)
            e.Graphics.DrawString(item.Text, e.Font, _
                New SolidBrush(e.ForeColor), bounds.Left + _
                imageSize.Width, bounds.Top)
        Else
            e.Graphics.DrawString(item.Text, e.Font, _
                New SolidBrush(e.ForeColor), bounds.Left, _
                bounds.Top)
        End If
        Catch ex As Exception
        If (e.Index <> -1) Then
            e.Graphics.DrawString(Items(e.Index).ToString(), e.Font, _
                New SolidBrush(e.ForeColor), bounds.Left, bounds.Top)
        Else
            e.Graphics.DrawString(Text, e.Font, _
                New SolidBrush(e.ForeColor), bounds.Left, bounds.Top)
        End If
    End Try
MyBase.OnDrawItem(e)
End Sub

That's it. The ComboBoxIconItem is very simple, it just has  2 properties: text and imageIndex, that is the imageindex of the image in the imagelist that should be displayed with the Item.

Using the code

So, in the Form, or where you want to put the comboBox you just have to write this code:

Dim MyCombo As New ComboIcon 'Create the Combo
MyCombo.ImageList = ImageList1 
    'Associates the Combo to an ImageList
MyCombo.Items.Add(New ComboBoxIconItem("Bart", 0)) 
    'Add new Item text=Bart image=0 
MyCombo.Items.Add(New ComboBoxIconItem("Marge", 2))
MyCombo.Items.Add(New ComboBoxIconItem("Homer", 1))
MyCombo.Items.Add(New ComboBoxIconItem("Lisa", 3))
MyCombo.Items.Add(New ComboBoxIconItem("Maggie", 4))
Me.Controls.Add(MyCombo) 'add the combobox to the form
'Place the combobox in a nice place
MyCombo.Top = 30
MyCombo.Left = 50

Conclusion

That's all. I hope this is useful to you.

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