The AutoCompleteBox is pretty great, but one feature it lacks is a click-to-drop-down all the available options. You can come close by setting MinimumPrefixLength=0 -- that way, the user can get the complete drop-down list by deleting the text. This has a couple of limitations, though:
How would you tweak this control to make it drop down the complete list of options, when the user clicks on the control (or, also fine, a button to the right)?
It seems I have disappointed @HighCore. So far I tried adding a button to the control template, which triggers opening the Popup. The drawback to this approach is that, if there is text entered, then the list will be filtered per the normal filtering rules. Now, you could clear the text, thus removing the filter, but this has another side effect: de-selecting the currently selected item (in contrast to a ComboBox, whose drop-down you can open without de-selecting). So ... what now? Temporarily remove the filter, and restore it when the popup is closed or the user types anything else?
I built a control like that, the approach I used was to inherit from the AutoComboBox control and remove the filter when the dropdown opens.
EDIT Code has been updated to include missing resources.
Code is:
public class AutoCompleteComboBox : AutoCompleteBox
{
/// <summary>
/// Occurs when drop down toggle button is clicked.
/// </summary>
public event EventHandler ToggleButtonClick;
private object _holdSelectedItem;
private AutoCompleteFilterMode _holdFilterMode;
/// <summary>
/// Identifies the DisplayMemberPath dependency property.
/// </summary>
public static readonly DependencyProperty DisplayMemberPathProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("DisplayMemberPath", typeof(string), typeof(AutoCompleteComboBox), new PropertyMetadata(string.Empty, DisplayMemberPath_PropertyChanged));
/// <summary>
/// Gets or sets the name or path of the property
/// that is displayed for each the data item in the control.
/// </summary>
public string DisplayMemberPath
{
get { return (string)GetValue(DisplayMemberPathProperty); }
set { SetValue(DisplayMemberPathProperty, value); }
}
private static void DisplayMemberPath_PropertyChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
var accb = (AutoCompleteComboBox)d;
accb.ValueMemberPath = e.NewValue.ToString();
}
/// <summary>
/// Identifies the MaxLength dependency property.
/// </summary>
public static readonly DependencyProperty MaxLengthProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("MaxLength", typeof(int), typeof(AutoCompleteComboBox), null);
/// <summary>
/// Gets or sets the maximum number of characters allowed for user input.
/// </summary>
public int MaxLength
{
get { return (int)GetValue(MaxLengthProperty); }
set { SetValue(MaxLengthProperty, value); }
}
/// <summary>
/// Gets or sets a collection used to generate the content of the control.
/// </summary>
public new IEnumerable ItemsSource
{
get { return GetValue(ItemsSourceProperty) as IEnumerable; }
set
{
SetValue(SelectedItemProperty, null);
SetValue(ItemsSourceProperty, value);
Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(() => SetValue(TextProperty, string.Empty));
_holdSelectedItem = null;
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Initializes a new instance of the AutoCompleteComboBox control.
/// </summary>
public AutoCompleteComboBox()
{
StreamResourceInfo sri = Application.GetResourceStream(new Uri("/UI.Controls;component/AutoCompleteComboBox.xaml", UriKind.Relative));
var sr = new StreamReader(sri.Stream);
Style = (Style)XamlReader.Load(sr.ReadToEnd());
DropDownClosed += AutoCompleteComboBox_DropDownClosed;
DropDownOpened += AutoCompleteComboBox_DropDownOpened;
}
/// <summary>
/// Called when the template's tree is generated.
/// </summary>
public override void OnApplyTemplate()
{
base.OnApplyTemplate();
var toggle = (ToggleButton)GetTemplateChild("PopupToggleButton");
toggle.Click += DropDownToggle_Click;
var lb = (ListBox)GetTemplateChild("Selector");
lb.DisplayMemberPath = DisplayMemberPath;
_holdFilterMode = FilterMode;
TextChanged += AutoCompleteComboBox_TextChanged;
SelectionChanged += new SelectionChangedEventHandler(AutoCompleteComboBox_SelectionChanged);
}
private void AutoCompleteComboBox_DropDownClosed(object sender, RoutedPropertyChangedEventArgs<bool> e)
{
if (SelectedItem == null && _holdSelectedItem != null && SelectedItem != _holdSelectedItem && ItemsSource.Cast<object>().Contains(_holdSelectedItem))
{
SelectedItem = _holdSelectedItem;
}
_holdSelectedItem = null;
FilterMode = _holdFilterMode;
}
private void AutoCompleteComboBox_DropDownOpened(object sender, RoutedPropertyChangedEventArgs<bool> e)
{
var lb = (ListBox)GetTemplateChild("Selector");
ScrollViewer sv = lb.GetScrollHost();
if (sv != null)
{
sv.ScrollToTop();
}
if (SelectedItem != null)
{
lb.SelectedItem = SelectedItem;
_holdSelectedItem = SelectedItem;
}
}
private void DropDownToggle_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
IsDropDownOpen = !IsDropDownOpen;
if (ToggleButtonClick != null)
{
ToggleButtonClick(this, e);
}
if (IsDropDownOpen)
{
_holdFilterMode = FilterMode;
FilterMode = AutoCompleteFilterMode.None;
((TextBox)GetTemplateChild("Text")).SelectAll();
}
Focus();
}
private void AutoCompleteComboBox_TextChanged(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
if (IsDropDownOpen)
{
if (FilterMode == AutoCompleteFilterMode.None && FilterMode != _holdFilterMode)
{
FilterMode = _holdFilterMode;
}
ScrollViewer sv = ((ListBox)GetTemplateChild("Selector")).GetScrollHost();
if (sv != null)
{
sv.ScrollToTop();
}
}
}
private void AutoCompleteComboBox_SelectionChanged(object sender, SelectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
if (!IsDropDownOpen && SelectedItem == null)
{
Text = string.Empty;
}
}
}
<Setter Property="Height" Value="24" />
<Setter Property="MinimumPopulateDelay" Value="1" />
<Setter Property="IsTextCompletionEnabled" Value="False" />
<Setter Property="MinimumPrefixLength" Value="0" />
<Setter Property="MaxDropDownHeight" Value="300" />
<Setter Property="IsTabStop" Value="False" />
<Setter Property="Padding" Value="2" />
<Setter Property="BorderThickness" Value="1" />
<Setter Property="BorderBrush" Value="#FF000000" />
<Setter Property="Background" Value="#FFFFFFFF" />
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="#FF000000" />
<Setter Property="MinWidth" Value="45" />
<Setter Property="FilterMode" Value="Contains" />
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="ctrls:AutoCompleteComboBox">
<Grid >
<Grid.Resources>
<Style x:Name="comboToggleStyle" TargetType="ToggleButton">
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="#FF333333"/>
<Setter Property="Background" Value="#FF1F3B53"/>
<Setter Property="BorderBrush">
<Setter.Value>
<LinearGradientBrush EndPoint="0.5,1" StartPoint="0.5,0">
<GradientStop Color="#FFA3AEB9" Offset="0"/>
<GradientStop Color="#FF8399A9" Offset="0.375"/>
<GradientStop Color="#FF718597" Offset="0.375"/>
<GradientStop Color="#FF617584" Offset="1"/>
</LinearGradientBrush>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
<Setter Property="BorderThickness" Value="1"/>
<Setter Property="Padding" Value="3"/>
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="ToggleButton">
<Grid>
<VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups>
<VisualStateGroup x:Name="CommonStates">
<VisualState x:Name="Normal"/>
<VisualState x:Name="MouseOver">
<Storyboard>
<DoubleAnimation Duration="0" Storyboard.TargetName="BackgroundOverlay" Storyboard.TargetProperty="Opacity" To="1"/>
<ColorAnimation Duration="0" Storyboard.TargetName="BackgroundGradient" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(Shape.Fill).(GradientBrush.GradientStops)[3].(GradientStop.Color)" To="#7FFFFFFF"/>
<ColorAnimation Duration="0" Storyboard.TargetName="BackgroundGradient" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(Shape.Fill).(GradientBrush.GradientStops)[2].(GradientStop.Color)" To="#CCFFFFFF"/>
<ColorAnimation Duration="0" Storyboard.TargetName="BackgroundGradient" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(Shape.Fill).(GradientBrush.GradientStops)[1].(GradientStop.Color)" To="#F2FFFFFF"/>
</Storyboard>
</VisualState>
<VisualState x:Name="Pressed">
<Storyboard>
<DoubleAnimation Duration="0" Storyboard.TargetName="BackgroundOverlay2" Storyboard.TargetProperty="Opacity" To="1"/>
<DoubleAnimation Duration="0" Storyboard.TargetName="Highlight" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(UIElement.Opacity)" To="1"/>
<ColorAnimation Duration="0" Storyboard.TargetName="BackgroundGradient" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(Shape.Fill).(GradientBrush.GradientStops)[1].(GradientStop.Color)" To="#E5FFFFFF"/>
<ColorAnimation Duration="0" Storyboard.TargetName="BackgroundGradient" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(Shape.Fill).(GradientBrush.GradientStops)[2].(GradientStop.Color)" To="#BCFFFFFF"/>
<ColorAnimation Duration="0" Storyboard.TargetName="BackgroundGradient" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(Shape.Fill).(GradientBrush.GradientStops)[3].(GradientStop.Color)" To="#6BFFFFFF"/>
<ColorAnimation Duration="0" Storyboard.TargetName="BackgroundGradient" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(Shape.Fill).(GradientBrush.GradientStops)[0].(GradientStop.Color)" To="#F2FFFFFF"/>
</Storyboard>
</VisualState>
<VisualState x:Name="Disabled" />
</VisualStateGroup>
<VisualStateGroup x:Name="CheckStates">
<VisualState x:Name="Checked">
<Storyboard>
<DoubleAnimation Duration="0" Storyboard.TargetName="BackgroundOverlay3" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(UIElement.Opacity)" To="1"/>
<DoubleAnimation Duration="0" Storyboard.TargetName="Highlight" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(UIElement.Opacity)" To="1"/>
<DoubleAnimation Duration="0" Storyboard.TargetName="BackgroundGradient2" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(UIElement.Opacity)" To="1"/>
<ColorAnimation Duration="0" Storyboard.TargetName="BackgroundGradient2" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(Shape.Fill).(GradientBrush.GradientStops)[1].(GradientStop.Color)" To="#E5FFFFFF"/>
<ColorAnimation Duration="0" Storyboard.TargetName="BackgroundGradient2" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(Shape.Fill).(GradientBrush.GradientStops)[2].(GradientStop.Color)" To="#BCFFFFFF"/>
<ColorAnimation Duration="0" Storyboard.TargetName="BackgroundGradient2" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(Shape.Fill).(GradientBrush.GradientStops)[3].(GradientStop.Color)" To="#6BFFFFFF"/>
<ColorAnimation Duration="0" Storyboard.TargetName="BackgroundGradient2" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(Shape.Fill).(GradientBrush.GradientStops)[0].(GradientStop.Color)" To="#F2FFFFFF"/>
</Storyboard>
</VisualState>
<VisualState x:Name="Unchecked"/>
</VisualStateGroup>
<VisualStateGroup x:Name="FocusStates">
<VisualState x:Name="Focused">
<Storyboard>
<ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetName="FocusVisualElement" Storyboard.TargetProperty="Visibility" Duration="0">
<DiscreteObjectKeyFrame KeyTime="0">
<DiscreteObjectKeyFrame.Value>
<Visibility>Visible</Visibility>
</DiscreteObjectKeyFrame.Value>
</DiscreteObjectKeyFrame>
</ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames>
</Storyboard>
</VisualState>
<VisualState x:Name="Unfocused" />
</VisualStateGroup>
</VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups>
<Rectangle x:Name="Background" RadiusX="3" RadiusY="3" Fill="{TemplateBinding Background}" StrokeThickness="{TemplateBinding BorderThickness}" Stroke="{TemplateBinding BorderBrush}"/>
<Rectangle x:Name="BackgroundOverlay" Opacity="0" RadiusX="3" RadiusY="3" Fill="#FF448DCA" StrokeThickness="{TemplateBinding BorderThickness}" Stroke="#00000000"/>
<Rectangle x:Name="BackgroundOverlay2" Opacity="0" RadiusX="3" RadiusY="3" Fill="#FF448DCA" StrokeThickness="{TemplateBinding BorderThickness}" Stroke="#00000000"/>
<Rectangle x:Name="BackgroundGradient" RadiusX="2" RadiusY="2" StrokeThickness="1" Margin="{TemplateBinding BorderThickness}" Stroke="#FFFFFFFF">
<Rectangle.Fill>
<LinearGradientBrush StartPoint=".7,0" EndPoint=".7,1">
<GradientStop Color="#FFFFFFFF" Offset="0" />
<GradientStop Color="#F9FFFFFF" Offset="0.375" />
<GradientStop Color="#E5FFFFFF" Offset="0.625" />
<GradientStop Color="#C6FFFFFF" Offset="1" />
</LinearGradientBrush>
</Rectangle.Fill>
</Rectangle>
<Rectangle Opacity="0" x:Name="BackgroundOverlay3" RadiusX="3" RadiusY="3" Fill="#FF448DCA" StrokeThickness="{TemplateBinding BorderThickness}" Stroke="#00000000"/>
<Rectangle Opacity="0" x:Name="BackgroundGradient2" RadiusX="2" RadiusY="2" StrokeThickness="1" Margin="{TemplateBinding BorderThickness}" Stroke="#FFFFFFFF">
<Rectangle.Fill>
<LinearGradientBrush StartPoint=".7,0" EndPoint=".7,1">
<GradientStop Color="#FFFFFFFF" Offset="0" />
<GradientStop Color="#F9FFFFFF" Offset="0.375" />
<GradientStop Color="#E5FFFFFF" Offset="0.625" />
<GradientStop Color="#C6FFFFFF" Offset="1" />
</LinearGradientBrush>
</Rectangle.Fill>
</Rectangle>
<Rectangle x:Name="Highlight" RadiusX="2" RadiusY="2" Opacity="0" IsHitTestVisible="false" Stroke="#FF6DBDD1" StrokeThickness="1" Margin="{TemplateBinding BorderThickness}" />
<ContentPresenter
x:Name="contentPresenter"
Content="{TemplateBinding Content}"
ContentTemplate="{TemplateBinding ContentTemplate}"
HorizontalAlignment="{TemplateBinding HorizontalContentAlignment}"
VerticalAlignment="{TemplateBinding VerticalContentAlignment}"
Margin="{TemplateBinding Padding}"/>
<Rectangle x:Name="FocusVisualElement" RadiusX="3.5" Margin="1" RadiusY="3.5" Stroke="#FF6DBDD1" StrokeThickness="1" Visibility="Collapsed" IsHitTestVisible="false" />
</Grid>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
<ControlTemplate x:Key="CommonValidationToolTipTemplate" TargetType="ToolTip">
<Grid x:Name="Root" Margin="5,0" RenderTransformOrigin="0,0" Opacity="0">
<Grid.RenderTransform>
<TranslateTransform x:Name="Translation" X="-25" />
</Grid.RenderTransform>
<VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups>
<VisualStateGroup Name="OpenStates">
<VisualStateGroup.Transitions>
<VisualTransition GeneratedDuration="0" />
<VisualTransition To="Open" GeneratedDuration="0:0:0.2">
<Storyboard>
<DoubleAnimation Storyboard.TargetName="Translation" Storyboard.TargetProperty="X" To="0" Duration="0:0:0.2">
<DoubleAnimation.EasingFunction>
<BackEase Amplitude=".3" EasingMode="EaseOut" />
</DoubleAnimation.EasingFunction>
</DoubleAnimation>
<DoubleAnimation Storyboard.TargetName="Root" Storyboard.TargetProperty="Opacity" To="1" Duration="0:0:0.2" />
</Storyboard>
</VisualTransition>
</VisualStateGroup.Transitions>
<VisualState x:Name="Closed">
<Storyboard>
<DoubleAnimation Storyboard.TargetName="Root" Storyboard.TargetProperty="Opacity" To="0" Duration="0" />
</Storyboard>
</VisualState>
<VisualState x:Name="Open">
<Storyboard>
<DoubleAnimation Storyboard.TargetName="Translation" Storyboard.TargetProperty="X" To="0" Duration="0" />
<DoubleAnimation Storyboard.TargetName="Root" Storyboard.TargetProperty="Opacity" To="1" Duration="0" />
</Storyboard>
</VisualState>
</VisualStateGroup>
</VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups>
<Border Margin="4,4,-4,-4" Background="#052A2E31" CornerRadius="5" />
<Border Margin="3,3,-3,-3" Background="#152A2E31" CornerRadius="4" />
<Border Margin="2,2,-2,-2" Background="#252A2E31" CornerRadius="3" />
<Border Margin="1,1,-1,-1" Background="#352A2E31" CornerRadius="2" />
<Border Background="#FFDC000C" CornerRadius="2">
<TextBlock UseLayoutRounding="false" Foreground="White" Margin="8,4,8,4" MaxWidth="250" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="{Binding (Validation.Errors)[0].ErrorContent}" />
</Border>
</Grid>
</ControlTemplate>
</Grid.Resources>
<TextBox x:Name="Text" VerticalContentAlignment="Center" Background="{TemplateBinding Background}" BorderThickness="{TemplateBinding BorderThickness}" BorderBrush="{TemplateBinding BorderBrush}" Foreground="{TemplateBinding Foreground}" MaxLength="{TemplateBinding MaxLength}" />
<ToggleButton x:Name="PopupToggleButton" Width="24" HorizontalAlignment="Right" Style="{StaticResource comboToggleStyle}" Margin="1" >
<Path x:Name="BtnArrow" Height="4" Width="8" Stretch="Uniform" Data="F1 M 301.14,-189.041L 311.57,-189.041L 306.355,-182.942L 301.14,-189.041 Z " HorizontalAlignment="Center">
<Path.Fill>
<SolidColorBrush x:Name="BtnArrowColor" Color="#FF333333"/>
</Path.Fill>
</Path>
</ToggleButton>
<Border x:Name="ValidationErrorElement" Visibility="Collapsed" BorderBrush="#FFDB000C" BorderThickness="1" CornerRadius="1">
<ToolTipService.ToolTip>
<ToolTip x:Name="validationTooltip" DataContext="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}" Template="{StaticResource CommonValidationToolTipTemplate}" Placement="Right" PlacementTarget="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}">
<ToolTip.Triggers>
<EventTrigger RoutedEvent="Canvas.Loaded">
<BeginStoryboard>
<Storyboard>
<ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetName="validationTooltip" Storyboard.TargetProperty="IsHitTestVisible">
<DiscreteObjectKeyFrame KeyTime="0">
<DiscreteObjectKeyFrame.Value>
<system:Boolean>true</system:Boolean>
</DiscreteObjectKeyFrame.Value>
</DiscreteObjectKeyFrame>
</ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames>
</Storyboard>
</BeginStoryboard>
</EventTrigger>
</ToolTip.Triggers>
</ToolTip>
</ToolTipService.ToolTip>
<Grid Height="12" HorizontalAlignment="Right" Margin="1,-4,-4,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="12" Background="Transparent">
<Path Fill="#FFDC000C" Margin="1,3,0,0" Data="M 1,0 L6,0 A 2,2 90 0 1 8,2 L8,7 z" />
<Path Fill="#ffffff" Margin="1,3,0,0" Data="M 0,0 L2,0 L 8,6 L8,8" />
</Grid>
</Border>
<Popup x:Name="Popup">
<ListBox x:Name="Selector" SelectionMode="Single" ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Disabled" ScrollViewer.VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" MaxHeight="{TemplateBinding MaxDropDownHeight}" />
</Popup>
<VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups>
<VisualStateGroup x:Name="PopupStates">
<VisualStateGroup.Transitions>
<VisualTransition GeneratedDuration="0:0:0" To="PopupOpened" />
<VisualTransition GeneratedDuration="0:0:0" To="PopupClosed" />
</VisualStateGroup.Transitions>
<VisualState x:Name="PopupOpened">
</VisualState>
<VisualState x:Name="PopupClosed">
</VisualState>
</VisualStateGroup>
<VisualStateGroup x:Name="ValidationStates">
<VisualState x:Name="Valid" />
<VisualState x:Name="InvalidUnfocused">
<Storyboard>
<ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetName="ValidationErrorElement" Storyboard.TargetProperty="Visibility">
<DiscreteObjectKeyFrame KeyTime="0">
<DiscreteObjectKeyFrame.Value>
<Visibility>Visible</Visibility>
</DiscreteObjectKeyFrame.Value>
</DiscreteObjectKeyFrame>
</ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames>
</Storyboard>
</VisualState>
<VisualState x:Name="InvalidFocused">
<Storyboard>
<ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetName="ValidationErrorElement" Storyboard.TargetProperty="Visibility">
<DiscreteObjectKeyFrame KeyTime="0">
<DiscreteObjectKeyFrame.Value>
<Visibility>Visible</Visibility>
</DiscreteObjectKeyFrame.Value>
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</ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames>
<ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetName="validationTooltip" Storyboard.TargetProperty="IsOpen">
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<DiscreteObjectKeyFrame.Value>
<system:Boolean>True</system:Boolean>
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</Grid>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>