Show textbox autocomplete on focus

Question

2.50/5 (2 votes)

See more:

Hello,

I have a windows application build up using C#. I want to open autocomplete suggestions as soon as textbox gets focus.
I don't want to use any custom control. I want to use windows.form textbox control with properties like AutoCompleteMode and so on, and want to explicitly mention this behavior.

Set autocomplete properties for textbox and as soon as you start typing it opens the list for autocomplete. But my requirement is as soon as textbox gets focus it should open the autocomplete list.

Hope I have clarified my requirements.

Thank you,
Nishant

Posted 15-Apr-11 1:54am

nishantkainth

Updated 17-Apr-11 20:36pm

v2

Add a Solution

Comments

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 15-Apr-11 13:48pm

What's wrong with AutoCompleteMode property and the sample you can find on the documentation page referenced by Prerak? What are you missing?
--SA

2 solutions

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

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

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov · Answer 1 · 2011-04-18T06:40:00

Answering follow-up question:

But my requirement is as soon as textbox gets focus it should open the autocomplete list. Hope I have clarified my requirements.

This is not how auto-complete works. If you need to show all list, use System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox — it can do exactly what you want (you may want to handle GotFocus).

As to auto-complete, it is not supposed to show a list before you type anything, it would defeat the purpose of the auto-complete. The list depends on what the user types, and the list can change on every character typed.

(You may want to simulate typing using System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys but I strongly recommend avoiding it. For a record: in your GotFocus even handler you could artificially go to the end of edit buffer and simulate typing a blank space followed by backspace; it would show the list as if the user just typed characters already in buffer, but… do yourself a favor: don't touch already good auto-complete functionality! Your requirement is simply wrong; don't spoil good thing.)

—SA

Prerak Patel · Answer 2 · 2011-04-15T01:58:00

Solution 1

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.forms.textbox.autocompletemode.aspx[^]

Posted 15-Apr-11 1:58am

Prerak Patel

Comments

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 15-Apr-11 13:47pm

My 5, but I don't understand what OP is missing, he must be familiar with that property already.
--SA

nishantkainth 18-Apr-11 6:10am

Hi, Thank you for your answers. The link you posted has an example where you set autocomplete for textbox and as soon as you start typing it opens the list for autocomplete. But my requirement is as soon as textbox gets focus it should open the autocomplete list. Hope I have clarified my requirements. Thank You

Prerak Patel 18-Apr-11 7:23am

You may like to check this
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/csharpgeneral/thread/fa1d73fc-bdee-48d8-9abd-a28591c307cf

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 18-Apr-11 12:41pm

Prerak, I've posted my Answer to explain the user what can be done and why it is not recommended, please see.
--SA