Dynamic Tab Extended Version

• NEW C# version 1.3 Download WPFDynamicTabExCs.zip - 334.3 KB

• Download WPFDynamicTabEx.zip - 611.8 KB

Introduction

This document and the demo are about an extended version of the 'Dynamic Tab' article.

Background

The CodeProject article "Add/Remove Tabs Dynamically in WPF" was my template for an extended VB.NET version with additional features as requested in the comments to the original article.

New Features

• Converted to VB.NET
• New TabItem header styling based on an idea that was posted here
• Loading a (rich) text file into tab
• Loading a UserControl into tab
• Ribbon for menu items

The Ribbon

The Ribbon includes

• Application Menu
• QAT (QuickAccessToolbar)
• Ribbon Tabs Start, Ribbon Settings and Help

Version 1.2 or below: The Ribbon works only for the top level tabcontrol.

With C# version 1.3 the Ribbon works for the top level tabcontrol and for the usercontrol.

With command Open, you can load a plain text file or a rich text file. The Tab will show the file name after doing that.

The commands Search, Print and Info are only dummies without any function.

QAT (QuickAccessToolbar)

You can remove buttons from the QAT (on right click, a context menu appears for that).

And you can show QAT below the Ribbon. You can Restore QAT from Settings Tab as well.

And you can change backcolor of the Ribbon.

Top Level tabcontrol

The basic features were already explained in the original article.

You can add a tabpage with a click on the + button. The tabpage content is a RichTextBox.

Loading a (rich) text file into tab with Ribbon Command Load UC:

Private Sub Open_Click(sender As Object, e As RoutedEventArgs) Handles Open.Click,
                                            AppCmdOpenQAT.Click, AppCmdOpen.Click

         Add_TabItem(sender, Nothing)
         tab.Header = io.OpenFileDlg(activeRTBox)

End Sub

Public Function OpenFileDlg(ByVal ActiveTBox As Object) As String

     Dim dialog As FileDialog = New OpenFileDialog()

     Try

         dialog.Filter = "All Files(*.*)|*.*|RTF Files (*.rtf)|*.rtf"
         dialog.FilterIndex = 1
         dialog.Title = "RTE - Open File"
         dialog.DefaultExt = "rtf"
         dialog.ShowDialog()

         If dialog.FileName = "" Then Exit Function

         Dim strExt As String
         strExt = System.IO.Path.GetExtension(dialog.FileName)
         strExt = strExt.ToUpper()

         If ActiveTBox.GetType.ToString = "System.Windows.Controls.RichTextBox" Then

             Select Case strExt

                 Case ".RTF"

                     Dim t As New TextRange(ActiveTBox.Document.ContentStart,
                                            ActiveTBox.Document.ContentEnd)
                     Dim file As New FileStream(dialog.FileName, FileMode.Open)
                     t.Load(file, System.Windows.DataFormats.Rtf)
                     file.Close()

                 Case Else

                     Dim t As New TextRange(ActiveTBox.Document.ContentStart,
                                            ActiveTBox.Document.ContentEnd)
                     Dim file As New FileStream(dialog.FileName, FileMode.Open)
                     t.Load(file, System.Windows.DataFormats.Text)
                     file.Close()

             End Select

             Dim currentFile As String = dialog.FileName
             dialog.Title = "Editor: " & currentFile.ToString()
             Return dialog.SafeFileName

         Else

             If ActiveTBox.GetType.ToString = "System.Windows.Controls.TextBox" Then

                 Dim currentFile As String = dialog.FileName
                 ActiveTBox.Text = ReadTextLines(dialog.FileName)
                 Return dialog.SafeFileName

             End If

         End If

     Catch ex As Exception

         MessageBox.Show(ex.Message)

     End Try

 End Function

 Public Function ReadTextLines(FileName As String) As String

     Dim fi As New IO.FileInfo(FileName)

     ReadTextLines = Nothing

     Try

         If fi.Length > 0 Then

             ' Open the file using a stream reader.
             Using sr As New StreamReader(FileName)

                 Dim line As String

                 ' Read the stream to a string and write the string to the console.

                 line = sr.ReadToEnd()

                 line = line.Replace(" " & Environment.NewLine, Environment.NewLine)
                 line = line.Replace(" " & Chr(9), "")
                 line = line.Replace(Chr(10), "")
                 line = line.Replace(Chr(13), Environment.NewLine)
                 line = line.Replace(Environment.NewLine & Environment.NewLine &
                                     Environment.NewLine, Environment.NewLine)
                 line = line.Trim

                 ' http://forums.devx.com/showthread.php?
                          146639-VB-NET-remove-extra-blank-lines-from-file
                 line = line.Replace(Environment.NewLine & Environment.NewLine,
                                     Environment.NewLine)

                 Return line

             End Using

         Else

             ' MsgBox("FileLength = 0")

         End If

     Catch ex As Exception

         MessageBox.Show(ex.Message)

     End Try

 End Function

UserControl - Concept and Code

The XAML content which shows the TabItem header styling:

Loading the UC

This happens from the Ribbon with Load UC (in Group View):

Private Sub LoadUCRibbonButton_Click(sender As Object, e As RoutedEventArgs)
                                     Handles LoadUCRibbonButton.Click

    Me.tabDynamic.DataContext = Nothing

    Dim tab As TabItem = AddTabItemUC()

    ' bind tab control
    'tabDynamic.DataContext = _tabItems;
    Me.tabDynamic.DataContext = CorrectTabHeaders(_tabItems)

    ' select newly added tab item
    Me.tabDynamic.SelectedItem = tab

    RibbonWPF.IsEnabled = False

End Sub

Public Function AddTabItemUC() As TabItem

    Dim count = _tabItems.Count

    ' create new tab item
    tab = New TabItem()

    tab.Background = New SolidColorBrush(Colors.LightGoldenrodYellow)

    tab.Header = String.Format("UserControl1 [Doc. {0}]", count)
    'tab.Name = String.Format("document{0}", count)
    tab.HeaderTemplate = TryCast(Me.tabDynamic.FindResource("TabHeader"),
                                 DataTemplate)

    AddHandler tab.MouseDoubleClick,
               New MouseButtonEventHandler(AddressOf tab_MouseDoubleClick)

    AddHandler tab.MouseLeftButtonUp,
               New MouseButtonEventHandler(AddressOf tab_MouseDownClick)

    ' add controls to tab item, this case I added just a UserControl
    Dim txt As UserControl1 = New UserControl1
    txt.Name = "txt"
    tab.Content = txt
    tab.Name = txt.Name

    ' insert tab item right before the last (+) tab item
    _tabItems.Insert(count - 1, tab)

    Return tab

End Function

You can add a tabpage with a click on + button. The tabpage content is a RichTextBox.

Conclusion

This is only a demo – it is not production ready. But I think it will allow you a variety of extensions.

Final Note

I am very interested in feedback of any kind - problems, suggestions and other.

Credits / Reference

• [1] CodeProject article Add/Remove Tabs Dynamically in WPF - CodeProject
• [2] TabItem header styling based on an idea that was posted at https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1506568/wpf-tabitem-header-styling
• [3] CodeProject article C# WPF WYSIWYG HTML Editor

History

• 2^nd August, 2022 - Initial submission
• 4^th August, 2022 - Replaced source files with new version 1.1
• 21^st February, 2023 - Replaced source files with new version 1.2 - now with VB and C# versions
• 31^th May, 2024 - With C# version 1.3 the Ribbon works for the top level tabcontrol and for the usercontrol.