Watermark / hint text / placeholder TextBox

Question

How can I put some text into a TextBox which is removed automatically when user types something in it?

Answer 1

This technique uses the Background property to show / hide placeholder textbox.
Placeholder is shown event when Textbox has the focus

How it works:

• When empty, TextBox background set to Transparent to show PlaceHolder text.
• When not empty background set to White to cover up PlaceHolder text.

Here is basic example. For my own purposes I turned this into a UserControl.

<Grid>
    <Grid.Resources>
        <ux:NotEmptyConverter x:Key="NotEmptyConverter" />

        <Style TargetType="{x:Type Control}" x:Key="DefaultStyle">
            <Setter Property="FontSize" Value="20" />
            <Setter Property="Margin" Value="10"/>
            <Setter Property="VerticalAlignment" Value="Center"></Setter>
            <Setter Property="VerticalContentAlignment" Value="Center"></Setter>
        </Style>

        <Style TargetType="{x:Type TextBox}" BasedOn="{StaticResource DefaultStyle}"></Style>

    </Grid.Resources>

    <Grid.RowDefinitions>
        <RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
    </Grid.RowDefinitions>
    <TextBox Grid.Row="0" Text="Placeholder Text Is Here" Foreground="DarkGray" />
    <TextBox Grid.Row="0" Name="TextBoxEdit" 
            Text="{Binding Path=FirstName, Mode=TwoWay, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}" >
        <TextBox.Style>
            <Style TargetType="{x:Type TextBox}" BasedOn="{StaticResource DefaultStyle}">
                <Style.Triggers>
                    <DataTrigger Binding="{Binding Path=FirstName.Length, FallbackValue=0, TargetNullValue=0}" Value="0">
                        <Setter Property="Background" Value="Transparent"/>
                    </DataTrigger>
                    <DataTrigger Binding="{Binding Path=FirstName, FallbackValue=0, TargetNullValue=0, Converter={StaticResource NotEmptyConverter}}" Value="false">
                        <Setter Property="Background" Value="White"/>
                    </DataTrigger>
                </Style.Triggers>
            </Style>
        </TextBox.Style>
    </TextBox>
</Grid>

Here is the ValueConverter to detect non-empty strings in the DataTrigger.

public class NotEmptyConverter : IValueConverter
{
    public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
    {
        var s = value as string;
        return string.IsNullOrEmpty(s);
    }
    public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
    {
        return null;
    }
}

Answer 2

Also, see this answer. You can accomplish this much more easily with a VisualBrush and some triggers in a Style:

 <TextBox>
    <TextBox.Style>
        <Style TargetType="TextBox" xmlns:sys="clr-namespace:System;assembly=mscorlib">
            <Style.Resources>
                <VisualBrush x:Key="CueBannerBrush" AlignmentX="Left" AlignmentY="Center" Stretch="None">
                    <VisualBrush.Visual>
                        <Label Content="Search" Foreground="LightGray" />
                    </VisualBrush.Visual>
                </VisualBrush>
            </Style.Resources>
            <Style.Triggers>
                <Trigger Property="Text" Value="{x:Static sys:String.Empty}">
                    <Setter Property="Background" Value="{StaticResource CueBannerBrush}" />
                </Trigger>
                <Trigger Property="Text" Value="{x:Null}">
                    <Setter Property="Background" Value="{StaticResource CueBannerBrush}" />
                </Trigger>
                <Trigger Property="IsKeyboardFocused" Value="True">
                    <Setter Property="Background" Value="White" />
                </Trigger>
            </Style.Triggers>
        </Style>
    </TextBox.Style>
</TextBox>

To increase the re-usability of this Style, you can also create a set of attached properties to control the actual cue banner text, color, orientation etc.

Answer 3

namespace PlaceholderForRichTexxBoxInWPF
{
public MainWindow()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
            Application.Current.MainWindow.WindowState = WindowState.Maximized;// maximize window on load

            richTextBox1.GotKeyboardFocus += new KeyboardFocusChangedEventHandler(rtb_GotKeyboardFocus);
            richTextBox1.LostKeyboardFocus += new KeyboardFocusChangedEventHandler(rtb_LostKeyboardFocus);
            richTextBox1.AppendText("Place Holder");
            richTextBox1.Foreground = Brushes.Gray;
        }
 private void rtb_GotKeyboardFocus(object sender, KeyboardFocusChangedEventArgs e)
        {
            if (sender is RichTextBox)
            {
                TextRange textRange = new TextRange(richTextBox1.Document.ContentStart, richTextBox1.Document.ContentEnd); 

                if (textRange.Text.Trim().Equals("Place Holder"))
                {
                    ((RichTextBox)sender).Foreground = Brushes.Black;
                    richTextBox1.Document.Blocks.Clear();
                }
            }
        }


        private void rtb_LostKeyboardFocus(object sender, KeyboardFocusChangedEventArgs e)
        {
            //Make sure sender is the correct Control.
            if (sender is RichTextBox)
            {
                //If nothing was entered, reset default text.
                TextRange textRange = new TextRange(richTextBox1.Document.ContentStart, richTextBox1.Document.ContentEnd); 

                if (textRange.Text.Trim().Equals(""))
                {
                    ((RichTextBox)sender).Foreground = Brushes.Gray;
                    ((RichTextBox)sender).AppendText("Place Holder");
                }
            }
        }
}

Answer 4

If rather than having the watermark's visibility depend on the control's focus state, you want it to depend on whether the user has entered any text, you can update John Myczek's answer (from OnWatermarkChanged down) to

static void OnWatermarkChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e) {
    var textbox = (TextBox)d;
    textbox.Loaded += UpdateWatermark;
    textbox.TextChanged += UpdateWatermark;
}

static void UpdateWatermark(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) {
    var textbox = (TextBox)sender;
    var layer = AdornerLayer.GetAdornerLayer(textbox);
    if (layer != null) {
        if (textbox.Text == string.Empty) {
            layer.Add(new WatermarkAdorner(textbox, GetWatermark(textbox)));
        } else {
            var adorners = layer.GetAdorners(textbox);
            if (adorners == null) {
                return;
            }

            foreach (var adorner in adorners) {
                if (adorner is WatermarkAdorner) {
                    adorner.Visibility = Visibility.Hidden;
                    layer.Remove(adorner);
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

This makes more sense if your textbox gets focus automatically when displaying the form, or when databinding to the Text property.

Also if your watermark is always just a string, and you need the style of the watermark to match the style of the textbox, then in the Adorner do:

contentPresenter = new ContentPresenter {
    Content = new TextBlock {
        Text = (string)watermark,
        Foreground = Control.Foreground,
        Background = Control.Background,
        FontFamily = Control.FontFamily,
        FontSize = Control.FontSize,
        ...
    },
    ...
}

Answer 5

You can create a watermark that can be added to any TextBox with an Attached Property. Here is the source for the Attached Property:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Controls.Primitives;
using System.Windows.Documents;

/// <summary>
/// Class that provides the Watermark attached property
/// </summary>
public static class WatermarkService
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Watermark Attached Dependency Property
    /// </summary>
    public static readonly DependencyProperty WatermarkProperty = DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached(
       "Watermark",
       typeof(object),
       typeof(WatermarkService),
       new FrameworkPropertyMetadata((object)null, new PropertyChangedCallback(OnWatermarkChanged)));

    #region Private Fields

    /// <summary>
    /// Dictionary of ItemsControls
    /// </summary>
    private static readonly Dictionary<object, ItemsControl> itemsControls = new Dictionary<object, ItemsControl>();

    #endregion

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets the Watermark property.  This dependency property indicates the watermark for the control.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="d"><see cref="DependencyObject"/> to get the property from</param>
    /// <returns>The value of the Watermark property</returns>
    public static object GetWatermark(DependencyObject d)
    {
        return (object)d.GetValue(WatermarkProperty);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Sets the Watermark property.  This dependency property indicates the watermark for the control.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="d"><see cref="DependencyObject"/> to set the property on</param>
    /// <param name="value">value of the property</param>
    public static void SetWatermark(DependencyObject d, object value)
    {
        d.SetValue(WatermarkProperty, value);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Handles changes to the Watermark property.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="d"><see cref="DependencyObject"/> that fired the event</param>
    /// <param name="e">A <see cref="DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs"/> that contains the event data.</param>
    private static void OnWatermarkChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        Control control = (Control)d;
        control.Loaded += Control_Loaded;

        if (d is ComboBox)
        {
            control.GotKeyboardFocus += Control_GotKeyboardFocus;
            control.LostKeyboardFocus += Control_Loaded;
        }
        else if (d is TextBox)
        {
            control.GotKeyboardFocus += Control_GotKeyboardFocus;
            control.LostKeyboardFocus += Control_Loaded;
            ((TextBox)control).TextChanged += Control_GotKeyboardFocus;
        }

        if (d is ItemsControl && !(d is ComboBox))
        {
            ItemsControl i = (ItemsControl)d;

            // for Items property  
            i.ItemContainerGenerator.ItemsChanged += ItemsChanged;
            itemsControls.Add(i.ItemContainerGenerator, i);

            // for ItemsSource property  
            DependencyPropertyDescriptor prop = DependencyPropertyDescriptor.FromProperty(ItemsControl.ItemsSourceProperty, i.GetType());
            prop.AddValueChanged(i, ItemsSourceChanged);
        }
    }

    #region Event Handlers

    /// <summary>
    /// Handle the GotFocus event on the control
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="sender">The source of the event.</param>
    /// <param name="e">A <see cref="RoutedEventArgs"/> that contains the event data.</param>
    private static void Control_GotKeyboardFocus(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        Control c = (Control)sender;
        if (ShouldShowWatermark(c))
        {
            ShowWatermark(c);
        }
        else
        {
            RemoveWatermark(c);
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Handle the Loaded and LostFocus event on the control
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="sender">The source of the event.</param>
    /// <param name="e">A <see cref="RoutedEventArgs"/> that contains the event data.</param>
    private static void Control_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        Control control = (Control)sender;
        if (ShouldShowWatermark(control))
        {
            ShowWatermark(control);
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Event handler for the items source changed event
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="sender">The source of the event.</param>
    /// <param name="e">A <see cref="EventArgs"/> that contains the event data.</param>
    private static void ItemsSourceChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        ItemsControl c = (ItemsControl)sender;
        if (c.ItemsSource != null)
        {
            if (ShouldShowWatermark(c))
            {
                ShowWatermark(c);
            }
            else
            {
                RemoveWatermark(c);
            }
        }
        else
        {
            ShowWatermark(c);
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Event handler for the items changed event
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="sender">The source of the event.</param>
    /// <param name="e">A <see cref="ItemsChangedEventArgs"/> that contains the event data.</param>
    private static void ItemsChanged(object sender, ItemsChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        ItemsControl control;
        if (itemsControls.TryGetValue(sender, out control))
        {
            if (ShouldShowWatermark(control))
            {
                ShowWatermark(control);
            }
            else
            {
                RemoveWatermark(control);
            }
        }
    }

    #endregion

    #region Helper Methods

    /// <summary>
    /// Remove the watermark from the specified element
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="control">Element to remove the watermark from</param>
    private static void RemoveWatermark(UIElement control)
    {
        AdornerLayer layer = AdornerLayer.GetAdornerLayer(control);

        // layer could be null if control is no longer in the visual tree
        if (layer != null)
        {
            Adorner[] adorners = layer.GetAdorners(control);
            if (adorners == null)
            {
                return;
            }

            foreach (Adorner adorner in adorners)
            {
                if (adorner is WatermarkAdorner)
                {
                    adorner.Visibility = Visibility.Hidden;
                    layer.Remove(adorner);
                }
            }
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Show the watermark on the specified control
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="control">Control to show the watermark on</param>
    private static void ShowWatermark(Control control)
    {
        AdornerLayer layer = AdornerLayer.GetAdornerLayer(control);

        // layer could be null if control is no longer in the visual tree
        if (layer != null)
        {
            layer.Add(new WatermarkAdorner(control, GetWatermark(control)));
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Indicates whether or not the watermark should be shown on the specified control
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="c"><see cref="Control"/> to test</param>
    /// <returns>true if the watermark should be shown; false otherwise</returns>
    private static bool ShouldShowWatermark(Control c)
    {
        if (c is ComboBox)
        {
            return (c as ComboBox).Text == string.Empty;
        }
        else if (c is TextBoxBase)
        {
            return (c as TextBox).Text == string.Empty;
        }
        else if (c is ItemsControl)
        {
            return (c as ItemsControl).Items.Count == 0;
        }
        else
        {
            return false;
        }
    }

    #endregion
}

The Attached Property uses a class called WatermarkAdorner, here is that source:

using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Data;
using System.Windows.Documents;
using System.Windows.Media;

/// <summary>
/// Adorner for the watermark
/// </summary>
internal class WatermarkAdorner : Adorner
{
    #region Private Fields

    /// <summary>
    /// <see cref="ContentPresenter"/> that holds the watermark
    /// </summary>
    private readonly ContentPresenter contentPresenter;

    #endregion

    #region Constructor

    /// <summary>
    /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="WatermarkAdorner"/> class
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="adornedElement"><see cref="UIElement"/> to be adorned</param>
    /// <param name="watermark">The watermark</param>
    public WatermarkAdorner(UIElement adornedElement, object watermark) :
       base(adornedElement)
    {
        this.IsHitTestVisible = false;

        this.contentPresenter = new ContentPresenter();
        this.contentPresenter.Content = watermark;
        this.contentPresenter.Opacity = 0.5;
        this.contentPresenter.Margin = new Thickness(Control.Margin.Left + Control.Padding.Left, Control.Margin.Top + Control.Padding.Top, 0, 0);

        if (this.Control is ItemsControl && !(this.Control is ComboBox))
        {
            this.contentPresenter.VerticalAlignment = VerticalAlignment.Center;
            this.contentPresenter.HorizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.Center;
        }

        // Hide the control adorner when the adorned element is hidden
        Binding binding = new Binding("IsVisible");
        binding.Source = adornedElement;
        binding.Converter = new BooleanToVisibilityConverter();
        this.SetBinding(VisibilityProperty, binding);
    }

    #endregion

    #region Protected Properties

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets the number of children for the <see cref="ContainerVisual"/>.
    /// </summary>
    protected override int VisualChildrenCount
    {
        get { return 1; }
    }

    #endregion

    #region Private Properties

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets the control that is being adorned
    /// </summary>
    private Control Control
    {
        get { return (Control)this.AdornedElement; }
    }

    #endregion

    #region Protected Overrides

    /// <summary>
    /// Returns a specified child <see cref="Visual"/> for the parent <see cref="ContainerVisual"/>.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="index">A 32-bit signed integer that represents the index value of the child <see cref="Visual"/>. The value of index must be between 0 and <see cref="VisualChildrenCount"/> - 1.</param>
    /// <returns>The child <see cref="Visual"/>.</returns>
    protected override Visual GetVisualChild(int index)
    {
        return this.contentPresenter;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Implements any custom measuring behavior for the adorner.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="constraint">A size to constrain the adorner to.</param>
    /// <returns>A <see cref="Size"/> object representing the amount of layout space needed by the adorner.</returns>
    protected override Size MeasureOverride(Size constraint)
    {
        // Here's the secret to getting the adorner to cover the whole control
        this.contentPresenter.Measure(Control.RenderSize);
        return Control.RenderSize;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// When overridden in a derived class, positions child elements and determines a size for a <see cref="FrameworkElement"/> derived class. 
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="finalSize">The final area within the parent that this element should use to arrange itself and its children.</param>
    /// <returns>The actual size used.</returns>
    protected override Size ArrangeOverride(Size finalSize)
    {
        this.contentPresenter.Arrange(new Rect(finalSize));
        return finalSize;
    }

    #endregion
}

Now you can put a watermark on any TextBox like this:

<AdornerDecorator>
   <TextBox x:Name="SearchTextBox">
      <controls:WatermarkService.Watermark>
         <TextBlock>Type here to search text</TextBlock>
      </controls:WatermarkService.Watermark>
   </TextBox>
</AdornerDecorator>

The watermark can be anything you want (text, images ...). In addition to working for TextBoxes, this watermark also works for ComboBoxes and ItemControls.

This code was adapted from this blog post.

Answer 6

hi i put this task into a behavior. so you just have to add somthing like this to your textbox

<i:Interaction.Behaviors>
         <Behaviors:TextBoxWatermarkBehavior Label="Test Watermark" LabelStyle="{StaticResource StyleWatermarkLabel}"/>
</i:Interaction.Behaviors>

you can find my blog post here