How to display a page of text on a tabpage? - C# Discussion Boards

18-May-06 18:11

Hi,

I want to display some text on a tabpage given that some of the text is linkable. How do I do this?

I tried using both label and linklabel to display them, but the thing is that I don't get any of these label/linklabel text displayed at all except the last linklabel text. What have I done wrong?

int lab_tab_idx = 0;
int linklab_tab_idx = 0;
int y = 0;

foreach (DataRow dr in text.Rows)
{
string text = Convert.ToString(dr[1]);
/* e.g. {hyperlink FANTASTIC PHONICS} is based on national research
which shows that the best outcomes are achieved with
{hyperlink SYSTEMATIC} instruction, using {hyperlink GUIDED
READERS} which are sequential and gently graded. */

string[] newtext = text.Split('{', '}');
int i = 0;
int x = 3;

System.Windows.Forms.Label label = new System.Windows.Forms.Label();
LinkLabel linklabel = new LinkLabel();

while (i < newtext.Length)
{
string tmp = newtext[i];
if (tmp.StartsWith("hyperlink "))
{
tabPage1.Controls.Add(linklabel);
linklabel.AutoSize = true;
linklabel.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(x, y);
linklabel.Name = "linklabel" + linklab_tab_idx;
linklabel.TabIndex = linklab_tab_idx;
linklabel.TabStop = true;
linklabel.Text = tmp.Replace("hyperlink ", "");
x = x + linklabel.Text.Length * 6;
linklab_tab_idx++;
}
else
{
tabPage1.Controls.Add(label);
label.AutoSize = true;
label.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(x, y);
label.Name = "label" + lab_tab_idx;
label.TabIndex = lab_tab_idx;
label.TabStop = true;
label.Text = tmp;
x = x + label.Text.Length * 6;
lab_tab_idx++;
}
i++;
}
y = y + 20;
}

Also, how do I calculate the location of the next label as the text string is dynamic?

Thanks

printscreen12345

Robert Rohde18-May-06 18:49

18-May-06 18:49

Your calculations seem right but you are reusing the same Label/LinkLabel again and again instead of creating a new one in each iteration:

while (i < newtext.Length)
{
   string tmp = newtext[i];
   if (tmp.StartsWith("hyperlink "))
   {
      LinkLabel linklabel = new LinkLabel();
      tabPage1.Controls.Add(linklabel);
      linklabel.AutoSize = true;
      linklabel.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(x, y);
      linklabel.Name = "linklabel" + linklab_tab_idx;
      linklabel.TabIndex = linklab_tab_idx;
      linklabel.TabStop = true;
      linklabel.Text = tmp.Replace("hyperlink ", "");
      x = x + linklabel.Text.Length * 6;
      linklab_tab_idx++;
   }
   else
   {
      Label label = new Label();
      tabPage1.Controls.Add(label);
      label.AutoSize = true;
      label.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(x, y);
      label.Name = "label" + lab_tab_idx;
      label.TabIndex = lab_tab_idx;
      label.TabStop = true;
      label.Text = tmp;
      x = x + label.Text.Length * 6;
      lab_tab_idx++;
   }
   i++;
}

printscreen1234518-May-06 19:05

18-May-06 19:05

Thanks for your reply. It works now when I create the label in each iteration.

Some of the labels seem to have overlapped one another and some of them are quite further away from one another. How do I solve this problem?

Is there any other effective way to display text like this? It is quite slow.

Also, why is the text display from bottom up instead of the normal top-to-bottom?

Thanks again.

printscreen12345

Robert Rohde18-May-06 20:29

18-May-06 20:29

Thats probably because the length og the characters of the gont you are using isn't always the same. Either use a gont where all characters have a fixed length (like Courier New) or make the following changes:

//in if block
x = x + linklabel.Width;

//in else block
x = x + label.Width;

As you have set AutoSize to true this will ensure that the next label is set right next to the previous one. It still might be that there is some space in between but definitely no overlapping.

printscreen1234518-May-06 21:13

18-May-06 21:13

Great! But the text is displayed from bottom-right back up to top-left. How do I change this display order?

printscreen12345

Robert Rohde18-May-06 21:43

18-May-06 21:43

I shortly tested the code and it seems to be in the order I would have suspected. How are you getting the values into the text DataTable? Are you sure its in the correct order in there? If you have a DataGrid where this table is bound to and the grid is somehow sorted or columns are rearranged via column styles this might lead to what you are seeing because the DataTable won't be reordered the way the grid is.
So please describe a bit of the surroundings. Maybe then I can help you.

printscreen1234519-May-06 1:38

19-May-06 1:38

I guess I have not made it clear enough. When all label text are displayed, they are in correct order. But the last label (which is from the last row of the datatable) is displayed first in the bottom-right corner instead of the first label being displayed first at the top-left corner. Why does this happen?

I tried using flowlayoutpanel but I'm not quite sure how to use this.

Robert Rohde19-May-06 4:35

19-May-06 4:35

Hmm... I don't know. My small test data displayed fine. You could try debugging through each label creation to verifiy that they are created in the correct order... Confused | :confused: