TreeListView in .NET6

Question

As per title, I am looking for a TreeView control with column support that is compatible with .NET4+, but also .NET 6 and 7.

All the supposedly such controls I have found are too old and not compatible with the new versions.

I also take this opportunity to urge MS to create backward compatible development tools!

Details:

Multi-column nodes

• Possibility of hiding nodes
• Child nodes of the selected node must be reorderable according to a column criterion or external function
• Capable of handling millions of nodes, quickly
• Support for icons and badges on icons
• Editable fields
• Fields of various types: text, buttons, image, combo, ProgressBar, star indicator
• Columns with automatic width but editable by hand. If the text in a column exceeds the available space it must appear as ToolTip but also have a scroll bar to scroll sideways

Answer 1

Hi,@Guglielmo Cancelli. Welcome Microsoft Q&A.

As of my last knowledge, WPF does not provide a built-in TreeView control that supports multi-column nodes and all the specific features you mentioned out of the box.

Creating a custom WPF TreeView control with all the features you've mentioned, including multi-column nodes, hiding nodes, reordering nodes, handling a large number of nodes, supporting icons and badges, editable fields with various types, and column width adjustment, is a complex task. Such a control might not be readily available as an out-of-the-box solution,and building it from scratch can be a significant undertaking.

Third-Party Libraries: Consider using third-party libraries that provide advanced TreeView controls with column support and other features you need. I am unable to provide third party products due to policy.

Custom Control: If you can't find a suitable third-party control, you may need to create a custom WPF control that meets your requirements. This can be a significant development effort, and it would involve creating a new control from scratch or extending an existing control like DataGrid to implement a tree structure.

• Multi-column nodes: You can customize the TreeViewItem template to include multiple columns, typically using a Grid or a StackPanel with multiple TextBlocks or other controls.
• Hiding nodes: You would need to manage the visibility of nodes in your data model. Bind the TreeView to a hierarchical data structure, and set the Visibility property of TreeViewItems accordingly.
• Reorderable child nodes: Implementing custom sorting and reordering logic is possible. You would need to handle drag-and-drop events and update your data structure accordingly.
• Handling millions of nodes: For handling a large number of nodes efficiently, consider using a virtualization technique to load nodes on-demand, only when they are expanded.
• Support for icons and badges: You can customize the TreeViewItem templates to include icons and badges as needed.
• Editable fields: Implementing editable fields requires custom templates and handling editing events.
• Fields of various types: You can use DataTemplates to define different types of content for each column.
• Columns with automatic width: You can set column widths to auto, but for horizontal scrolling, consider wrapping your TreeView in a ScrollViewer with horizontal scrolling enabled.

Wait for Updates: Sometimes, new libraries and controls appear over time.

As for backward compatibility with older .NET versions (like .NET 4) and newer versions (like .NET 6 and 7),.NET Standard 2.0 is really the most compatible between .NET Core and the .NET Framework starting in 4.6.1.

Quoting the .NET Standard article

If you want to share code between .NET Framework and any other .NET implementation, such as .NET Core, your library should target .NET Standard 2.0.

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