Numeric Data Entry in WPF

Question

How are you handling the entry of numeric values in WPF applications?

Without a NumericUpDown control, I\'ve been using a TextBox and handling its PreviewKeyDown eve

Answer 1

I've been using an attached property to allow the user to use the up and down keys to change the values in the text box. To use it, you just use

<TextBox local:TextBoxNumbers.SingleDelta="1">100</TextBox>

This doesn't actually address the validation issues that are referred to in this question, but it addresses what I do about not having a numeric up/down control. Using it for a little bit, I think I might actually like it better than the old numeric up/down control.

The code isn't perfect, but it handles the cases I needed it to handle:

• Up arrow, Down arrow
• Shift + Up arrow, Shift + Down arrow
• Page Up, Page Down
• Binding Converter on the text property

Code behind

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Data;
using System.Windows.Input;

namespace Helpers
{
    public class TextBoxNumbers
    {    
        public static Decimal GetSingleDelta(DependencyObject obj)
        {
            return (Decimal)obj.GetValue(SingleDeltaProperty);
        }

        public static void SetSingleDelta(DependencyObject obj, Decimal value)
        {
            obj.SetValue(SingleDeltaProperty, value);
        }

        // Using a DependencyProperty as the backing store for SingleValue.  This enables animation, styling, binding, etc...
        public static readonly DependencyProperty SingleDeltaProperty =
            DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached("SingleDelta", typeof(Decimal), typeof(TextBoxNumbers), new UIPropertyMetadata(0.0m, new PropertyChangedCallback(f)));

        public static void f(DependencyObject o, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
        {
            TextBox t = o as TextBox;

            if (t == null)
                return;

            t.PreviewKeyDown += new System.Windows.Input.KeyEventHandler(t_PreviewKeyDown);
        }

        private static Decimal GetSingleValue(DependencyObject obj)
        {
            return GetSingleDelta(obj);
        }

        private static Decimal GetDoubleValue(DependencyObject obj)
        {
            return GetSingleValue(obj) * 10;
        }

        private static Decimal GetTripleValue(DependencyObject obj)
        {
            return GetSingleValue(obj) * 100;
        }

        static void t_PreviewKeyDown(object sender, System.Windows.Input.KeyEventArgs e)
        {
            TextBox t = sender as TextBox;
            Decimal i;

            if (t == null)
                return;

            if (!Decimal.TryParse(t.Text, out i))
                return;

            switch (e.Key)
            {
                case System.Windows.Input.Key.Up:
                    if (Keyboard.Modifiers == ModifierKeys.Shift)
                        i += GetDoubleValue(t);
                    else
                        i += GetSingleValue(t);
                    break;

                case System.Windows.Input.Key.Down:
                    if (Keyboard.Modifiers == ModifierKeys.Shift)
                        i -= GetDoubleValue(t);
                    else
                        i -= GetSingleValue(t);
                    break;

                case System.Windows.Input.Key.PageUp:
                    i += GetTripleValue(t);
                    break;

                case System.Windows.Input.Key.PageDown:
                    i -= GetTripleValue(t);
                    break;

                default:
                    return;
            }

            if (BindingOperations.IsDataBound(t, TextBox.TextProperty))
            {
                try
                {
                    Binding binding = BindingOperations.GetBinding(t, TextBox.TextProperty);
                    t.Text = (string)binding.Converter.Convert(i, null, binding.ConverterParameter, binding.ConverterCulture);
                }
                catch
                {
                    t.Text = i.ToString();
                }
            }
            else
                t.Text = i.ToString();
        }
    }
}

Answer 2

You can also try using data validation if users commit data before you use it. Doing that I found was fairly simple and cleaner than fiddling about with keys.

Otherwise, you could always disable Paste too!

Answer 3

private void txtNumericValue_PreviewKeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
    KeyConverter converter = new KeyConverter();

    string key = converter.ConvertToString(e.Key);

    if (key != null && key.Length == 1)
    {
        e.Handled = Char.IsDigit(key[0]) == false;
    }
}

This is the easiest technique I've found to accomplish this. The down side is that the context menu of the TextBox still allows non-numerics via Paste. To resolve this quickly I simply added the attribute/property: ContextMenu="{x:Null}" to the TextBox thereby disabling it. Not ideal but for my scenario it will suffice.

Obviously you could add a few more keys/chars in the test to include additional acceptable values (e.g. '.', '$' etc...)

Answer 4

Add this to the main solution to make sure the the binding is updated to zero when the textbox is cleared.

protected override void OnPreviewKeyUp(System.Windows.Input.KeyEventArgs e)
{
    base.OnPreviewKeyUp(e);

    if (BindingOperations.IsDataBound(this, TextBox.TextProperty))
    {
        if (this.Text.Length == 0)
        {
            this.SetValue(TextBox.TextProperty, "0");
            this.SelectAll();
        }
    }
}

Answer 5

Can also use a converter like:

public class IntegerFormatConverter : IValueConverter
{
    public object Convert(object value, System.Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
    {
        int result;
        int.TryParse(value.ToString(), out result);
        return result;
    }

    public object ConvertBack(object value, System.Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
    {
        int result;
        int.TryParse(value.ToString(), out result);
        return result;
    }
}