I'm looking to accept digits and the decimal point, but no sign.
I've looked at samples using the NumericUpDown control for Windows Forms, and this sample of a NumericUpDown custom control from Microsoft. But so far it seems like NumericUpDown (supported by WPF or not) is not going to provide the functionality that I want. The way my application is designed, nobody in their right mind is going to want to mess with the arrows. They don't make any practical sense, in the context of my application.
So I'm looking for a simple way to make a standard WPF TextBox accept only the characters that I want. Is this possible? Is it practical?
Add a preview text input event. Like so: <TextBox PreviewTextInput="PreviewTextInput" />
.
Then inside that set the e.Handled
if the text isn't allowed. e.Handled = !IsTextAllowed(e.Text);
I use a simple regex in IsTextAllowed
method to see if I should allow what they've typed. In my case I only want to allow numbers, dots and dashes.
private static readonly Regex _regex = new Regex("[^0-9.-]+"); //regex that matches disallowed text
private static bool IsTextAllowed(string text)
{
return !_regex.IsMatch(text);
}
If you want to prevent pasting of incorrect data hook up the DataObject.Pasting
event DataObject.Pasting="TextBoxPasting"
as shown here (code excerpted):
// Use the DataObject.Pasting Handler
private void TextBoxPasting(object sender, DataObjectPastingEventArgs e)
{
if (e.DataObject.GetDataPresent(typeof(String)))
{
String text = (String)e.DataObject.GetData(typeof(String));
if (!IsTextAllowed(text))
{
e.CancelCommand();
}
}
else
{
e.CancelCommand();
}
}
The event handler is previewing text input. Here a regular expression matches the text input only if it is not a number, and then it is not made to entry textbox.
If you want only letters then replace the regular expression as [^a-zA-Z]
.
XAML
<TextBox Name="NumberTextBox" PreviewTextInput="NumberValidationTextBox"/>
XAML.CS FILE
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
private void NumberValidationTextBox(object sender, TextCompositionEventArgs e)
{
Regex regex = new Regex("[^0-9]+");
e.Handled = regex.IsMatch(e.Text);
}
I used some of what was already here and put my own twist on it using a behavior so I don't have to propagate this code throughout a ton of Views...
public class AllowableCharactersTextBoxBehavior : Behavior<TextBox>
{
public static readonly DependencyProperty RegularExpressionProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("RegularExpression", typeof(string), typeof(AllowableCharactersTextBoxBehavior),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(".*"));
public string RegularExpression
{
get
{
return (string)base.GetValue(RegularExpressionProperty);
}
set
{
base.SetValue(RegularExpressionProperty, value);
}
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty MaxLengthProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("MaxLength", typeof(int), typeof(AllowableCharactersTextBoxBehavior),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(int.MinValue));
public int MaxLength
{
get
{
return (int)base.GetValue(MaxLengthProperty);
}
set
{
base.SetValue(MaxLengthProperty, value);
}
}
protected override void OnAttached()
{
base.OnAttached();
AssociatedObject.PreviewTextInput += OnPreviewTextInput;
DataObject.AddPastingHandler(AssociatedObject, OnPaste);
}
private void OnPaste(object sender, DataObjectPastingEventArgs e)
{
if (e.DataObject.GetDataPresent(DataFormats.Text))
{
string text = Convert.ToString(e.DataObject.GetData(DataFormats.Text));
if (!IsValid(text, true))
{
e.CancelCommand();
}
}
else
{
e.CancelCommand();
}
}
void OnPreviewTextInput(object sender, System.Windows.Input.TextCompositionEventArgs e)
{
e.Handled = !IsValid(e.Text, false);
}
protected override void OnDetaching()
{
base.OnDetaching();
AssociatedObject.PreviewTextInput -= OnPreviewTextInput;
DataObject.RemovePastingHandler(AssociatedObject, OnPaste);
}
private bool IsValid(string newText, bool paste)
{
return !ExceedsMaxLength(newText, paste) && Regex.IsMatch(newText, RegularExpression);
}
private bool ExceedsMaxLength(string newText, bool paste)
{
if (MaxLength == 0) return false;
return LengthOfModifiedText(newText, paste) > MaxLength;
}
private int LengthOfModifiedText(string newText, bool paste)
{
var countOfSelectedChars = this.AssociatedObject.SelectedText.Length;
var caretIndex = this.AssociatedObject.CaretIndex;
string text = this.AssociatedObject.Text;
if (countOfSelectedChars > 0 || paste)
{
text = text.Remove(caretIndex, countOfSelectedChars);
return text.Length + newText.Length;
}
else
{
var insert = Keyboard.IsKeyToggled(Key.Insert);
return insert && caretIndex < text.Length ? text.Length : text.Length + newText.Length;
}
}
}
Here is the relevant view code:
<TextBox MaxLength="50" TextWrapping="Wrap" MaxWidth="150" Margin="4"
Text="{Binding Path=FileNameToPublish}" >
<interactivity:Interaction.Behaviors>
<v:AllowableCharactersTextBoxBehavior RegularExpression="^[0-9.\-]+$" MaxLength="50" />
</interactivity:Interaction.Behaviors>
</TextBox>
This is an improved solution of WilPs answer. My improvements are:
Improved behaviour on Del and Backspace buttons
Added EmptyValue property, if empty string is inappropriate
Fixed some minor typos
/// <summary>
/// Regular expression for Textbox with properties:
/// <see cref="RegularExpression"/>,
/// <see cref="MaxLength"/>,
/// <see cref="EmptyValue"/>.
/// </summary>
public class TextBoxInputRegExBehaviour : Behavior<TextBox>
{
#region DependencyProperties
public static readonly DependencyProperty RegularExpressionProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("RegularExpression", typeof(string), typeof(TextBoxInputRegExBehaviour), new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(".*"));
public string RegularExpression
{
get { return (string)GetValue(RegularExpressionProperty); }
set { SetValue(RegularExpressionProperty, value); }
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty MaxLengthProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("MaxLength", typeof(int), typeof(TextBoxInputRegExBehaviour),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(int.MinValue));
public int MaxLength
{
get { return (int)GetValue(MaxLengthProperty); }
set { SetValue(MaxLengthProperty, value); }
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty EmptyValueProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("EmptyValue", typeof(string), typeof(TextBoxInputRegExBehaviour), null);
public string EmptyValue
{
get { return (string)GetValue(EmptyValueProperty); }
set { SetValue(EmptyValueProperty, value); }
}
#endregion
/// <summary>
/// Attach our behaviour. Add event handlers
/// </summary>
protected override void OnAttached()
{
base.OnAttached();
AssociatedObject.PreviewTextInput += PreviewTextInputHandler;
AssociatedObject.PreviewKeyDown += PreviewKeyDownHandler;
DataObject.AddPastingHandler(AssociatedObject, PastingHandler);
}
/// <summary>
/// Deattach our behaviour. remove event handlers
/// </summary>
protected override void OnDetaching()
{
base.OnDetaching();
AssociatedObject.PreviewTextInput -= PreviewTextInputHandler;
AssociatedObject.PreviewKeyDown -= PreviewKeyDownHandler;
DataObject.RemovePastingHandler(AssociatedObject, PastingHandler);
}
#region Event handlers [PRIVATE] --------------------------------------
void PreviewTextInputHandler(object sender, TextCompositionEventArgs e)
{
string text;
if (this.AssociatedObject.Text.Length < this.AssociatedObject.CaretIndex)
text = this.AssociatedObject.Text;
else
{
// Remaining text after removing selected text.
string remainingTextAfterRemoveSelection;
text = TreatSelectedText(out remainingTextAfterRemoveSelection)
? remainingTextAfterRemoveSelection.Insert(AssociatedObject.SelectionStart, e.Text)
: AssociatedObject.Text.Insert(this.AssociatedObject.CaretIndex, e.Text);
}
e.Handled = !ValidateText(text);
}
/// <summary>
/// PreviewKeyDown event handler
/// </summary>
void PreviewKeyDownHandler(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(this.EmptyValue))
return;
string text = null;
// Handle the Backspace key
if (e.Key == Key.Back)
{
if (!this.TreatSelectedText(out text))
{
if (AssociatedObject.SelectionStart > 0)
text = this.AssociatedObject.Text.Remove(AssociatedObject.SelectionStart - 1, 1);
}
}
// Handle the Delete key
else if (e.Key == Key.Delete)
{
// If text was selected, delete it
if (!this.TreatSelectedText(out text) && this.AssociatedObject.Text.Length > AssociatedObject.SelectionStart)
{
// Otherwise delete next symbol
text = this.AssociatedObject.Text.Remove(AssociatedObject.SelectionStart, 1);
}
}
if (text == string.Empty)
{
this.AssociatedObject.Text = this.EmptyValue;
if (e.Key == Key.Back)
AssociatedObject.SelectionStart++;
e.Handled = true;
}
}
private void PastingHandler(object sender, DataObjectPastingEventArgs e)
{
if (e.DataObject.GetDataPresent(DataFormats.Text))
{
string text = Convert.ToString(e.DataObject.GetData(DataFormats.Text));
if (!ValidateText(text))
e.CancelCommand();
}
else
e.CancelCommand();
}
#endregion Event handlers [PRIVATE] -----------------------------------
#region Auxiliary methods [PRIVATE] -----------------------------------
/// <summary>
/// Validate certain text by our regular expression and text length conditions
/// </summary>
/// <param name="text"> Text for validation </param>
/// <returns> True - valid, False - invalid </returns>
private bool ValidateText(string text)
{
return (new Regex(this.RegularExpression, RegexOptions.IgnoreCase)).IsMatch(text) && (MaxLength == int.MinValue || text.Length <= MaxLength);
}
/// <summary>
/// Handle text selection
/// </summary>
/// <returns>true if the character was successfully removed; otherwise, false. </returns>
private bool TreatSelectedText(out string text)
{
text = null;
if (AssociatedObject.SelectionLength <= 0)
return false;
var length = this.AssociatedObject.Text.Length;
if (AssociatedObject.SelectionStart >= length)
return true;
if (AssociatedObject.SelectionStart + AssociatedObject.SelectionLength >= length)
AssociatedObject.SelectionLength = length - AssociatedObject.SelectionStart;
text = this.AssociatedObject.Text.Remove(AssociatedObject.SelectionStart, AssociatedObject.SelectionLength);
return true;
}
#endregion Auxiliary methods [PRIVATE] --------------------------------
}
Usage is pretty straightforward:
<i:Interaction.Behaviors>
<behaviours:TextBoxInputRegExBehaviour RegularExpression="^\d+$" MaxLength="9" EmptyValue="0" />
</i:Interaction.Behaviors>
MaxLength
your conditon (this.MaxLength == 0 || text.Length <= this.MaxLength)
returns always false
when testing the new text. This should better be (this.MaxLength == int.MinValue || text.Length <= this.MaxLength)
since you set int.MinValue
as default value for MaxLength
.
UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged
to the binding. Any idea how to get this code to work when changing the UpdateSourceTrigger
is set to PropertyChanged
? Thank you for sharing this code.
Here is a very simple and easy way to do this using MVVM.
Bind your textBox with an integer property in the view model, and this will work like a gem ... it will even show validation when a non-integer is entered in the textbox.
XAML code:
<TextBox x:Name="contactNoTxtBox" Text="{Binding contactNo}" />
View model code:
private long _contactNo;
public long contactNo
{
get { return _contactNo; }
set
{
if (value == _contactNo)
return;
_contactNo = value;
OnPropertyChanged();
}
}
long
to float
, but it didn't work quite right with immediate validation. I added UpdateSourceTrigger="PropertyChanged"
to the binding, so it would perform the validation as each character was typed, and could no longer type a '.' in the TextBox unless there was an illegal character present (had to type "1x.234" then delete the 'x'). It also feels a bit sluggish in this mode. This appears to use System.Number.ParseSingle()
to do the work, so it accepts a variety of notations.
TargetNullValue
e.g.: <TextBox Text="{Binding SomeNullableProperty, TargetNullValue={x:Static sys:String.Empty}}"/>
Don't forget the system namespace xmlns:sys="clr-namespace:System;assembly=System.Runtime
Add in a VALIDATION RULE so that when the text changes, check to determine if the data is numeric, and if it is, allows processing to continue, and if it is not, prompts the user that only numeric data is accepted in that field.
Read more in Validation in Windows Presentation Foundation
double
and that's already providing you with a standard validation.
Here I have a simple solution inspired by Ray's answer. This should be sufficient to identify any form of number.
This solution can also be easily modified if you want only positive numbers, integer values or values accurate to a maximum number of decimal places, etc.
As suggested in Ray's answer, you need to first add a PreviewTextInput
event:
<TextBox PreviewTextInput="TextBox_OnPreviewTextInput"/>
Then put the following in the code behind:
private void TextBox_OnPreviewTextInput(object sender, TextCompositionEventArgs e)
{
var textBox = sender as TextBox;
// Use SelectionStart property to find the caret position.
// Insert the previewed text into the existing text in the textbox.
var fullText = textBox.Text.Insert(textBox.SelectionStart, e.Text);
double val;
// If parsing is successful, set Handled to false
e.Handled = !double.TryParse(fullText, out val);
}
To invalid whitespace, we can add NumberStyles
:
using System.Globalization;
private void TextBox_OnPreviewTextInput(object sender, TextCompositionEventArgs e)
{
var textBox = sender as TextBox;
// Use SelectionStart property to find the caret position.
// Insert the previewed text into the existing text in the textbox.
var fullText = textBox.Text.Insert(textBox.SelectionStart, e.Text);
double val;
// If parsing is successful, set Handled to false
e.Handled = !double.TryParse(fullText,
NumberStyles.AllowDecimalPoint | NumberStyles.AllowLeadingSign,
CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
out val);
}
TextChanged
event's handler method. Probably not the most elegant solution, but works.
https://i.stack.imgur.com/KbVoa.png
NumericUpDown
is now obsolete. you can use DecimalUpDown
from the updated toolkit Extended WPF Toolkit™ Community Edition
Could also simply implement a validation rule and apply it to the TextBox:
<TextBox>
<TextBox.Text>
<Binding Path="OnyDigitInput" Mode="TwoWay" UpdateSourceTrigger="PropertyChanged">
<Binding.ValidationRules>
<conv:OnlyDigitsValidationRule />
</Binding.ValidationRules>
</Binding>
</TextBox.Text>
With the implementation of the rule as follow (using the same Regex as proposed in other answers):
public class OnlyDigitsValidationRule : ValidationRule
{
public override ValidationResult Validate(object value, CultureInfo cultureInfo)
{
var validationResult = new ValidationResult(true, null);
if(value != null)
{
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(value.ToString()))
{
var regex = new Regex("[^0-9.-]+"); //regex that matches disallowed text
var parsingOk = !regex.IsMatch(value.ToString());
if (!parsingOk)
{
validationResult = new ValidationResult(false, "Illegal Characters, Please Enter Numeric Value");
}
}
}
return validationResult;
}
}
Another approach will be using an attached behavior, I implemented my custom TextBoxHelper class, which can be used on textboxes all over my project. Because I figured that subscribing to the events for every textboxes and in every individual XAML file for this purpose can be time consuming.
The TextBoxHelper class I implemented has these features:
Filtering and accepting only numbers in Double, Int, Uint and Natural format
Filtering and accepting only Even or Odd numbers
Handling paste event handler to prevent pasting invalid text into our numeric textboxes
Can set a Default Value which will be used to prevent invalid data as the last shot by subscribing to the textboxes TextChanged event
Here is the implementation of TextBoxHelper class:
public static class TextBoxHelper
{
#region Enum Declarations
public enum NumericFormat
{
Double,
Int,
Uint,
Natural
}
public enum EvenOddConstraint
{
All,
OnlyEven,
OnlyOdd
}
#endregion
#region Dependency Properties & CLR Wrappers
public static readonly DependencyProperty OnlyNumericProperty =
DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached("OnlyNumeric", typeof(NumericFormat?), typeof(TextBoxHelper),
new PropertyMetadata(null, DependencyPropertiesChanged));
public static void SetOnlyNumeric(TextBox element, NumericFormat value) =>
element.SetValue(OnlyNumericProperty, value);
public static NumericFormat GetOnlyNumeric(TextBox element) =>
(NumericFormat) element.GetValue(OnlyNumericProperty);
public static readonly DependencyProperty DefaultValueProperty =
DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached("DefaultValue", typeof(string), typeof(TextBoxHelper),
new PropertyMetadata(null, DependencyPropertiesChanged));
public static void SetDefaultValue(TextBox element, string value) =>
element.SetValue(DefaultValueProperty, value);
public static string GetDefaultValue(TextBox element) => (string) element.GetValue(DefaultValueProperty);
public static readonly DependencyProperty EvenOddConstraintProperty =
DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached("EvenOddConstraint", typeof(EvenOddConstraint), typeof(TextBoxHelper),
new PropertyMetadata(EvenOddConstraint.All, DependencyPropertiesChanged));
public static void SetEvenOddConstraint(TextBox element, EvenOddConstraint value) =>
element.SetValue(EvenOddConstraintProperty, value);
public static EvenOddConstraint GetEvenOddConstraint(TextBox element) =>
(EvenOddConstraint)element.GetValue(EvenOddConstraintProperty);
#endregion
#region Dependency Properties Methods
private static void DependencyPropertiesChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
if (!(d is TextBox textBox))
throw new Exception("Attached property must be used with TextBox.");
switch (e.Property.Name)
{
case "OnlyNumeric":
{
var castedValue = (NumericFormat?) e.NewValue;
if (castedValue.HasValue)
{
textBox.PreviewTextInput += TextBox_PreviewTextInput;
DataObject.AddPastingHandler(textBox, TextBox_PasteEventHandler);
}
else
{
textBox.PreviewTextInput -= TextBox_PreviewTextInput;
DataObject.RemovePastingHandler(textBox, TextBox_PasteEventHandler);
}
break;
}
case "DefaultValue":
{
var castedValue = (string) e.NewValue;
if (castedValue != null)
{
textBox.TextChanged += TextBox_TextChanged;
}
else
{
textBox.TextChanged -= TextBox_TextChanged;
}
break;
}
}
}
#endregion
private static void TextBox_PreviewTextInput(object sender, TextCompositionEventArgs e)
{
var textBox = (TextBox)sender;
string newText;
if (textBox.SelectionLength == 0)
{
newText = textBox.Text.Insert(textBox.SelectionStart, e.Text);
}
else
{
var textAfterDelete = textBox.Text.Remove(textBox.SelectionStart, textBox.SelectionLength);
newText = textAfterDelete.Insert(textBox.SelectionStart, e.Text);
}
var evenOddConstraint = GetEvenOddConstraint(textBox);
switch (GetOnlyNumeric(textBox))
{
case NumericFormat.Double:
{
if (double.TryParse(newText, out double number))
{
switch (evenOddConstraint)
{
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyEven:
if (number % 2 != 0)
e.Handled = true;
else
e.Handled = false;
break;
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyOdd:
if (number % 2 == 0)
e.Handled = true;
else
e.Handled = false;
break;
}
}
else
e.Handled = true;
break;
}
case NumericFormat.Int:
{
if (int.TryParse(newText, out int number))
{
switch (evenOddConstraint)
{
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyEven:
if (number % 2 != 0)
e.Handled = true;
else
e.Handled = false;
break;
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyOdd:
if (number % 2 == 0)
e.Handled = true;
else
e.Handled = false;
break;
}
}
else
e.Handled = true;
break;
}
case NumericFormat.Uint:
{
if (uint.TryParse(newText, out uint number))
{
switch (evenOddConstraint)
{
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyEven:
if (number % 2 != 0)
e.Handled = true;
else
e.Handled = false;
break;
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyOdd:
if (number % 2 == 0)
e.Handled = true;
else
e.Handled = false;
break;
}
}
else
e.Handled = true;
break;
}
case NumericFormat.Natural:
{
if (uint.TryParse(newText, out uint number))
{
if (number == 0)
e.Handled = true;
else
{
switch (evenOddConstraint)
{
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyEven:
if (number % 2 != 0)
e.Handled = true;
else
e.Handled = false;
break;
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyOdd:
if (number % 2 == 0)
e.Handled = true;
else
e.Handled = false;
break;
}
}
}
else
e.Handled = true;
break;
}
}
}
private static void TextBox_PasteEventHandler(object sender, DataObjectPastingEventArgs e)
{
var textBox = (TextBox)sender;
if (e.DataObject.GetDataPresent(typeof(string)))
{
var clipboardText = (string) e.DataObject.GetData(typeof(string));
var newText = textBox.Text.Insert(textBox.SelectionStart, clipboardText);
var evenOddConstraint = GetEvenOddConstraint(textBox);
switch (GetOnlyNumeric(textBox))
{
case NumericFormat.Double:
{
if (double.TryParse(newText, out double number))
{
switch (evenOddConstraint)
{
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyEven:
if (number % 2 != 0)
e.CancelCommand();
break;
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyOdd:
if (number % 2 == 0)
e.CancelCommand();
break;
}
}
else
e.CancelCommand();
break;
}
case NumericFormat.Int:
{
if (int.TryParse(newText, out int number))
{
switch (evenOddConstraint)
{
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyEven:
if (number % 2 != 0)
e.CancelCommand();
break;
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyOdd:
if (number % 2 == 0)
e.CancelCommand();
break;
}
}
else
e.CancelCommand();
break;
}
case NumericFormat.Uint:
{
if (uint.TryParse(newText, out uint number))
{
switch (evenOddConstraint)
{
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyEven:
if (number % 2 != 0)
e.CancelCommand();
break;
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyOdd:
if (number % 2 == 0)
e.CancelCommand();
break;
}
}
else
e.CancelCommand();
break;
}
case NumericFormat.Natural:
{
if (uint.TryParse(newText, out uint number))
{
if (number == 0)
e.CancelCommand();
else
{
switch (evenOddConstraint)
{
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyEven:
if (number % 2 != 0)
e.CancelCommand();
break;
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyOdd:
if (number % 2 == 0)
e.CancelCommand();
break;
}
}
}
else
{
e.CancelCommand();
}
break;
}
}
}
else
{
e.CancelCommand();
}
}
private static void TextBox_TextChanged(object sender, TextChangedEventArgs e)
{
var textBox = (TextBox)sender;
var defaultValue = GetDefaultValue(textBox);
var evenOddConstraint = GetEvenOddConstraint(textBox);
switch (GetOnlyNumeric(textBox))
{
case NumericFormat.Double:
{
if (double.TryParse(textBox.Text, out double number))
{
switch (evenOddConstraint)
{
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyEven:
if (number % 2 != 0)
textBox.Text = defaultValue;
break;
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyOdd:
if (number % 2 == 0)
textBox.Text = defaultValue;
break;
}
}
else
textBox.Text = defaultValue;
break;
}
case NumericFormat.Int:
{
if (int.TryParse(textBox.Text, out int number))
{
switch (evenOddConstraint)
{
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyEven:
if (number % 2 != 0)
textBox.Text = defaultValue;
break;
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyOdd:
if (number % 2 == 0)
textBox.Text = defaultValue;
break;
}
}
else
textBox.Text = defaultValue;
break;
}
case NumericFormat.Uint:
{
if (uint.TryParse(textBox.Text, out uint number))
{
switch (evenOddConstraint)
{
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyEven:
if (number % 2 != 0)
textBox.Text = defaultValue;
break;
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyOdd:
if (number % 2 == 0)
textBox.Text = defaultValue;
break;
}
}
else
textBox.Text = defaultValue;
break;
}
case NumericFormat.Natural:
{
if (uint.TryParse(textBox.Text, out uint number))
{
if(number == 0)
textBox.Text = defaultValue;
else
{
switch (evenOddConstraint)
{
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyEven:
if (number % 2 != 0)
textBox.Text = defaultValue;
break;
case EvenOddConstraint.OnlyOdd:
if (number % 2 == 0)
textBox.Text = defaultValue;
break;
}
}
}
else
{
textBox.Text = defaultValue;
}
break;
}
}
}
}
And here is some example of its easy usage:
<TextBox viewHelpers:TextBoxHelper.OnlyNumeric="Double"
viewHelpers:TextBoxHelper.DefaultValue="1"/>
Or
<TextBox viewHelpers:TextBoxHelper.OnlyNumeric="Natural"
viewHelpers:TextBoxHelper.DefaultValue="3"
viewHelpers:TextBoxHelper.EvenOddConstraint="OnlyOdd"/>
Note that my TextBoxHelper resides in the viewHelpers xmlns alias.
I hope that this implementation eases some other one's work :)
I allowed numeric keypad numbers and backspace:
private void TextBox_PreviewKeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
int key = (int)e.Key;
e.Handled = !(key >= 34 && key <= 43 ||
key >= 74 && key <= 83 ||
key == 2);
}
var keyEnum = (System.Windows.Input.Key) e.Key; e.Handled = !(keyEnum >= System.Windows.Input.Key.D0 && keyEnum <= System.Windows.Input.Key.D9 || keyEnum >= System.Windows.Input.Key.NumPad0 && keyEnum <= System.Windows.Input.Key.NumPad9 || keyEnum == System.Windows.Input.Key.Back);
This is the only code needed:
void MyTextBox_PreviewTextInput(object sender, TextCompositionEventArgs e)
{
e.Handled = new Regex("[^0-9]+").IsMatch(e.Text);
}
This only allows numbers to be inputted into the text box.
To allow a decimal point or minus sign, you can change the regular expression to [^0-9.-]+
.
I will assume that:
Your TextBox for which you want to allow numeric input only has its Text property initially set to some valid number value (for example, 2.7172). Your Textbox is a child of your main window Your main window is of class Window1 Your TextBox name is numericTB
Basic idea:
Add: private string previousText; to your main window class (Window1) Add: previousText = numericTB.Text; to your main window constructor Create a handler for the numericTB.TextChanged event to be something like this: private void numericTB_TextChanged(object sender, TextChangedEventArgs e) { double num = 0; bool success = double.TryParse(((TextBox)sender).Text, out num); if (success & num >= 0) previousText = ((TextBox)sender).Text; else ((TextBox)sender).Text = previousText; }
This will keep setting previousText to numericTB.Text as long as it is valid, and set numericTB.Text to its last valid value if the user writes something that you don't like. Of course, this is just basic idea, and it is just "idiot resistant", not "idiot proof". It doesn't handle the case in which the user messes with spaces, for example. So here is a complete solution which I think is "idiot proof", and if I'm wrong please tell me:
Content of your Window1.xaml file:
And that's it. If you have many TextBoxes then I recommend creating a CustomControl that inherits from TextBox, so you can wrap previousText and numericTB_TextChanged up in a separate file.
If you do not want to write a lot of code to do a basic function (I don't know why people make long methods) you can just do this:
Add namespace: using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
In XAML, set a TextChanged property:
PreviewTextInput += (s, e) =>
{
e.Handled = !e.Text.All(char.IsDigit);
};
.
, since e.Text
only returns the last input character and a dot will fail the IsDigit
check.
For those looking for a quick and very simple implementation for this type of problem using only integers and decimal, in your XAML file, add a PreviewTextInput
property to your TextBox
and then in your xaml.cs file use:
private void Text_PreviewTextInput(object sender, TextCompositionEventArgs e)
{
e.Handled = !char.IsDigit(e.Text.Last()) && !e.Text.Last() == '.';
}
It's kind of redundant to keep checking the entire string every time unless, as others have mentioned, you're doing something with scientific notation (albeit, if you're adding certain characters like 'e', a simple regex adding symbols/characters is really simple and illustrated in other answers). But for simple floating point values, this solution will suffice.
Written as a one-liner with a lambda expression:
private void Text_PreviewTextInput(object sender, TextCompositionEventArgs e) => e.Handled = !char.IsDigit(e.Text.Last() && !e.Text.Last() == '.');
For developers who want their text fields to accept unsigned numbers only such as socket ports and so on:
WPF
<TextBox PreviewTextInput="Port_PreviewTextInput" MaxLines="1"/>
C#
private void Port_PreviewTextInput(object sender, TextCompositionEventArgs e)
{
e.Handled = !int.TryParse(e.Text, out int x);
}
65535
. If it is greater then it is not a valid port. Also, setting the TextBox.MaxLength
to 5
would help either programmatically or in XAML.
e.Handled = (int)e.Key >= 43 || (int)e.Key <= 34;
in preview keydown event of textbox.
We can do validation on text box changed event. The following implementation prevents keypress input other than numeric and one decimal point.
private void textBoxNumeric_TextChanged(object sender, TextChangedEventArgs e)
{
TextBox textBox = sender as TextBox;
Int32 selectionStart = textBox.SelectionStart;
Int32 selectionLength = textBox.SelectionLength;
String newText = String.Empty;
int count = 0;
foreach (Char c in textBox.Text.ToCharArray())
{
if (Char.IsDigit(c) || Char.IsControl(c) || (c == '.' && count == 0))
{
newText += c;
if (c == '.')
count += 1;
}
}
textBox.Text = newText;
textBox.SelectionStart = selectionStart <= textBox.Text.Length ? selectionStart : textBox.Text.Length;
}
In Windows Forms it was easy; you can add an event for KeyPress and everything works easily. However, in WPF that event isn't there. But there is a much easier way for it.
The WPF TextBox has the TextChanged event which is general for everything. It includes pasting, typing and whatever that can come up to your mind.
So you can do something like this:
XAML:
<TextBox name="txtBox1" ... TextChanged="TextBox_TextChanged"/>
CODE BEHIND:
private void TextBox_TextChanged(object sender, TextChangedEventArgs e) {
string s = Regex.Replace(((TextBox)sender).Text, @"[^\d.]", "");
((TextBox)sender).Text = s;
}
This also accepts .
, if you don't want it, just remove it from the regex
statement to be @[^\d]
.
Note: This event can be used on many TextBox'es as it uses the sender
object's Text. You only write the event once and can use it for multiple TextBox'es.
How about this? Works well for me. Hope I didn't miss any edge cases...
MyTextBox.PreviewTextInput += (sender, args) =>
{
if (!int.TryParse(args.Text, out _))
{
args.Handled = true;
}
};
DataObject.AddPastingHandler(MyTextBox, (sender, args) =>
{
var isUnicodeText = args.SourceDataObject.GetDataPresent(DataFormats.UnicodeText, true);
if (!isUnicodeText)
{
args.CancelCommand();
}
var data = args.SourceDataObject.GetData(DataFormats.UnicodeText) as string;
if (!int.TryParse(data, out _))
{
args.CancelCommand();
}
});
Now I know this question has an accepted answer, but personally, I find it a bit confusing and I believe it should be easier than that. So I'll try to demonstrate how I got it to work as best as I can:
In Windows Forms, there's an event called KeyPress
which is perfectly good for this kind of task. But that doesn't exist in WPF, so instead, we'll be using the PreviewTextInput
event. Also, for the validation, I believe one can use a foreach
to loop through the textbox.Text
and check if it matches ;) the condition, but honestly, this is what regular expressions are for.
One more thing before we dive into the holy code. For the event to be fired, one can do two things:
Use XAML to tell the program which function to call:
I think the second method is better because in situations like this, you'll mostly be required to apply the same condition (regex
) to more than one TextBox
and you don't want to repeat yourself!.
Finally, here's how you'd do it:
private void onlyNumeric(object sender, TextCompositionEventArgs e)
{
string onlyNumeric = @"^([0-9]+(.[0-9]+)?)$";
Regex regex = new Regex(onlyNumeric);
e.Handled = !regex.IsMatch(e.Text);
}
Here is my version of it. It's based on a base ValidatingTextBox
class that just undoes what has been done if it's not "valid". It supports paste, cut, delete, backspace, +, - etc.
For 32-bit integer, there is a Int32TextBox class that just compares with an int. I have also added floating point validation classes.
public class ValidatingTextBox : TextBox
{
private bool _inEvents;
private string _textBefore;
private int _selectionStart;
private int _selectionLength;
public event EventHandler<ValidateTextEventArgs> ValidateText;
protected override void OnPreviewKeyDown(KeyEventArgs e)
{
if (_inEvents)
return;
_selectionStart = SelectionStart;
_selectionLength = SelectionLength;
_textBefore = Text;
}
protected override void OnTextChanged(TextChangedEventArgs e)
{
if (_inEvents)
return;
_inEvents = true;
var ev = new ValidateTextEventArgs(Text);
OnValidateText(this, ev);
if (ev.Cancel)
{
Text = _textBefore;
SelectionStart = _selectionStart;
SelectionLength = _selectionLength;
}
_inEvents = false;
}
protected virtual void OnValidateText(object sender, ValidateTextEventArgs e) => ValidateText?.Invoke(this, e);
}
public class ValidateTextEventArgs : CancelEventArgs
{
public ValidateTextEventArgs(string text) => Text = text;
public string Text { get; }
}
public class Int32TextBox : ValidatingTextBox
{
protected override void OnValidateText(object sender, ValidateTextEventArgs e) => e.Cancel = !int.TryParse(e.Text, out var value);
}
public class Int64TextBox : ValidatingTextBox
{
protected override void OnValidateText(object sender, ValidateTextEventArgs e) => e.Cancel = !long.TryParse(e.Text, out var value);
}
public class DoubleTextBox : ValidatingTextBox
{
protected override void OnValidateText(object sender, ValidateTextEventArgs e) => e.Cancel = !double.TryParse(e.Text, out var value);
}
public class SingleTextBox : ValidatingTextBox
{
protected override void OnValidateText(object sender, ValidateTextEventArgs e) => e.Cancel = !float.TryParse(e.Text, out var value);
}
public class DecimalTextBox : ValidatingTextBox
{
protected override void OnValidateText(object sender, ValidateTextEventArgs e) => e.Cancel = !decimal.TryParse(e.Text, out var value);
}
Note 1: When using WPF binding, you must make sure you use the class that fits the bound property type otherwise, it may lead to strange results.
Note 2: When using floating point classes with WPF binding, make sure the binding uses the current culture to match the TryParse method I've used.
I modified Rays answer to handle the highlighted text prior to checking the regular expression. I also adjusted the regular expression to only allow for two decimal places (currency).
private static readonly Regex _regex = new Regex(@"^[0-9]\d*(\.\d{0,2})?$");
private static bool IsTextAllowed(string text)
{
return _regex.IsMatch(text);
}
private bool IsAllowed(TextBox tb, string text)
{
bool isAllowed = true;
if (tb != null)
{
string currentText = tb.Text;
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(tb.SelectedText))
currentText = currentText.Remove(tb.CaretIndex, tb.SelectedText.Length);
isAllowed = IsTextAllowed(currentText.Insert(tb.CaretIndex, text));
}
return isAllowed;
}
private void Txt_PreviewCurrencyTextInput(object sender, TextCompositionEventArgs e)
{
e.Handled = !IsAllowed(sender as TextBox, e.Text);
}
private void TextBoxPasting(object sender, DataObjectPastingEventArgs e)
{
if (e.DataObject.GetDataPresent(typeof(String)))
{
String text = (String)e.DataObject.GetData(typeof(String));
if (!IsAllowed(sender as TextBox, text))
e.CancelCommand();
}
else
e.CancelCommand();
}
And the xaml
<TextBox Name="Txt_Textbox" PreviewTextInput="Txt_PreviewCurrencyTextInput" DataObject.Pasting="TextBoxPasting" />
The best and most elegant solution to only allow integer numbers in textbox (even in some range) is:
XAML:
<TextBox PreviewTextInput="ValidationTextBox" TextChanged="TextBox_TextChanged"/>
C#:
private void ValidationTextBox(object sender, TextCompositionEventArgs e)
{
int max = 100;
//do not allow futher incorrect typing
e.Handled = !(int.TryParse(((TextBox)sender).Text + e.Text, out int i) && i >= 1 && i <= max);
}
private void TextBox_TextChanged(object sender, TextChangedEventArgs e)
{
int max = 100;
if (!int.TryParse(((TextBox)sender).Text, out int j) || j < 1 || j > max)
{
//delete incoret input
((TextBox)sender).Text = "";
}
else
{
//delete leading zeros
((TextBox)sender).Text = j.ToString();
}
}
You can adjust the minimal and maximal acceptable number with max (min) by switch on ((TextBox)sender).Name
.
This solution does not allow leading zeros or copy pasting the input. In every scenario you will have a correct number in the textbox.
Here is a library for numeric input in WPF
It has properties like NumberStyles
and RegexPattern
for validation.
Subclasses WPF TextBox
https://img.shields.io/nuget/v/Gu.Wpf.NumericInput.svg
Use:
Private Sub DetailTextBox_PreviewTextInput( _
ByVal sender As Object, _
ByVal e As System.Windows.Input.TextCompositionEventArgs) _
Handles DetailTextBox.PreviewTextInput
If _IsANumber Then
If Not Char.IsNumber(e.Text) Then
e.Handled = True
End If
End If
End Sub
I was working with an unbound box for a simple project I was working on, so I couldn't use the standard binding approach. Consequently I created a simple hack that others might find quite handy by simply extending the existing TextBox control:
namespace MyApplication.InterfaceSupport
{
public class NumericTextBox : TextBox
{
public NumericTextBox() : base()
{
TextChanged += OnTextChanged;
}
public void OnTextChanged(object sender, TextChangedEventArgs changed)
{
if (!String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(Text))
{
try
{
int value = Convert.ToInt32(Text);
}
catch (Exception e)
{
MessageBox.Show(String.Format("{0} only accepts numeric input.", Name));
Text = "";
}
}
}
public int? Value
{
set
{
if (value != null)
{
this.Text = value.ToString();
}
else
Text = "";
}
get
{
try
{
return Convert.ToInt32(this.Text);
}
catch (Exception ef)
{
// Not numeric.
}
return null;
}
}
}
}
Obviously, for a floating type, you would want to parse it as a float and so on. The same principles apply.
Then in the XAML file you need to include the relevant namespace:
<UserControl x:Class="MyApplication.UserControls.UnParameterisedControl"
[ Snip ]
xmlns:interfaceSupport="clr-namespace:MyApplication.InterfaceSupport"
>
After that you can use it as a regular control:
<interfaceSupport:NumericTextBox Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="168,51,0,0" x:Name="NumericBox" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="120" >
After using some of the solutions here for some time, I developed my own that works well for my MVVM setup. Note that it's not as dynamic as some of the other ones in a sense of still allowing users to enter erroneous characters, but it blocks them from pressing the button and thus doing anything. This goes well with my theme of graying out buttons when actions cannot be performed.
I have a TextBox
that a user must enter a number of document pages to be printed:
<TextBox Text="{Binding NumberPagesToPrint, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}"/>
...with this binding property:
private string _numberPagesToPrint;
public string NumberPagesToPrint
{
get { return _numberPagesToPrint; }
set
{
if (_numberPagesToPrint == value)
{
return;
}
_numberPagesToPrint = value;
OnPropertyChanged("NumberPagesToPrint");
}
}
I also have a button:
<Button Template="{DynamicResource CustomButton_Flat}" Content="Set"
Command="{Binding SetNumberPagesCommand}"/>
...with this command binding:
private RelayCommand _setNumberPagesCommand;
public ICommand SetNumberPagesCommand
{
get
{
if (_setNumberPagesCommand == null)
{
int num;
_setNumberPagesCommand = new RelayCommand(param => SetNumberOfPages(),
() => Int32.TryParse(NumberPagesToPrint, out num));
}
return _setNumberPagesCommand;
}
}
And then there's the method of SetNumberOfPages()
, but it's unimportant for this topic. It works well in my case because I don't have to add any code into the View's code-behind file and it allows me to control behavior using the Command
property.
Success story sharing
double.TryParse()
would probably be implemented with the same number of lines and be more flexible.