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Use the .NET framework to shorten a path string with an ellipsis

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4.95/5 (21 votes)
8 Apr 2007CPOL2 min read 95.7K   42   16
Compact a path or any string using built in .NET framework API

Introduction

Remember the Windows API PathCompactPath[Ex] used to take a path and shorten it by inserting an ellipsis in the appropriate place to make it fit a specific pixel width? Ever wonder how to do it native .NET? There's a very simple way to do it with the TextRenderer.MeasureText method but it's relatively undocumented.

Background

If you're familiar with this problem you might already know about using Windows.Forms.TextRenderer.DrawText or Drawing.Graphics.DrawString methods to programmatically draw a shortened string using the framework. But I wanted a way to retrieve a shortened string in memory to later use that string inside an existing control (like a menu item).

Using the Code

Here's a simple function to do the trick, internally I copy the string (to keep it from affecting the source string), call Windows.Forms.TextRenderer.MeasureText with the magic bitwise parameter: TextFormatFlags.ModifyString, and return the string variable that was passed into the function.

VB.NET
Function CompactString(ByVal MyString As String, ByVal Width As Integer,
    ByVal Font As Drawing.Font,
    ByVal FormatFlags As Windows.Forms.TextFormatFlags) As String

Dim Result As String = String.Copy(MyString)

TextRenderer.MeasureText(Result, Font, New Drawing.Size(Width, 0),
    FormatFlags Or TextFormatFlags.ModifyString)

Return Result

End Function

To set a label to a compacted version of the string path you would call:

VB.NET
Label1.Text = CompactString(MyPath, Label1.Width, Label1.Font,
   TextFormatFlags.PathEllipsis)

For example, the string: c:\program files\test app\runme.exe might turn into:

c:\program files\...\runme.exe depending on the font and width.

Check out the Windows.Forms.TextFormatFlags enumerated type for other options on how to compact your string. TextFormatFlags.WordEllipsis for example will insert a "..." at the end of the string instead in between parts of a path.

Points of Interest

You might be thinking, why not just write your own algorithm to break apart a string and insert the ellipsis in a certain spot. And in fact I have seen programmers doing this but I would recommend using the framework to handle this for a couple reasons:

  1. Why reinvent the wheel? Microsoft already did it and it's probably well tested and efficient; do you really have extra time on your hands?
  2. What if the standard for where to put the ellipsis changes? Maybe someday the ellipsis will be commonly inserted just after the drive letter instead of just before the filename. Let MS think about these details and just follow their lead. If MS changes this implementation internally, your app will automatically follow suit.

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


Written By
Software Developer (Senior)
United States United States
I am a software architect and engineer who has been working in the industry since 1994. Although I officially started writing software many years earlier at age 11 by authoring games, graphics demos, or whatever I found interesting. I even landed my first consulting job at age 16 implementing a newly invented mathimatical algorithm for a team of researchers at the local University.

I've designed and implemented hundreds if not thousands of applications: client, web, and hybrid of all scales and was a contributing author to the Black Belt programming column of Visual Basic Programmer's Journal.

My goals when coding are always to write clean, reusable and optimized code using the latest and technology, tools and techniques.

Comments and Discussions

 
GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
John Pap6-Apr-11 5:52
John Pap6-Apr-11 5:52 
QuestionHow about WPF? Pin
GLLNS18-May-09 8:51
GLLNS18-May-09 8:51 
GeneralMore Information Pin
Andy Missico26-Feb-09 15:51
Andy Missico26-Feb-09 15:51 
GeneralStrange Behavior Pin
cjbarth9-Jan-09 10:59
cjbarth9-Jan-09 10:59 
QuestionHow can we get the modified string? Pin
Waleed Eissa5-Sep-08 19:10
Waleed Eissa5-Sep-08 19:10 
GeneralThis code will fail with AccessViolationException Pin
Eugene Sichkar23-Jun-08 13:44
Eugene Sichkar23-Jun-08 13:44 
GeneralTruncate to null Pin
Don Kackman11-Nov-07 3:03
Don Kackman11-Nov-07 3:03 
Questionshorten path for recent files Pin
Zach198123-Oct-07 1:52
Zach198123-Oct-07 1:52 
AnswerRe: shorten path for recent files Pin
chr.dev15-Jul-08 2:32
chr.dev15-Jul-08 2:32 
hi!
i use http://www.csharp411.com/truncate-file-path-with-ellipsis/[^].
but it shows some chars from first folders... hth.
regards,
chris
GeneralRemoved from .NET 3.0 Pin
RichardCollins224-May-07 22:58
RichardCollins224-May-07 22:58 
GeneralRe: Removed from .NET 3.0 Pin
Greg Osborne8-Jan-09 5:37
Greg Osborne8-Jan-09 5:37 
QuestionCopy? Pin
Nchantim10-Apr-07 7:11
Nchantim10-Apr-07 7:11 
AnswerRe: Copy? Pin
Nchantim10-Apr-07 7:24
Nchantim10-Apr-07 7:24 
GeneralRe: Copy? Pin
Tim Greenfield12-Apr-07 5:06
Tim Greenfield12-Apr-07 5:06 
GeneralRe: Copy? Pin
RichardCollins220-May-07 22:55
RichardCollins220-May-07 22:55 
GeneralNice Pin
Patrick Etc.8-Apr-07 14:24
Patrick Etc.8-Apr-07 14:24 

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