ComboBox.DrawItem Event

Definition

Occurs when a visual aspect of an owner-drawn ComboBox changes.

public event System.Windows.Forms.DrawItemEventHandler DrawItem;
public event System.Windows.Forms.DrawItemEventHandler? DrawItem;

Event Type

Examples

The following code example demonstrates how to create an owner-drawn combo box by setting the DrawMode property to OwnerDrawnVariable and handling the DrawItem and MeasureItem events. It also demonstrates setting the DropDownWidth and DropDownStyle properties. To run the example, paste the following code in a form. Call the InitializeComboBox method in the form's constructor or Load event.


  internal System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox ComboBox1;
  private string[] animals;

  // This method initializes the owner-drawn combo box.
  // The drop-down width is set much wider than the size of the combo box
  // to accomodate the large items in the list.  The drop-down style is set to 
  // ComboBox.DropDown, which requires the user to click on the arrow to 
  // see the list.
  private void InitializeComboBox()
  {
      this.ComboBox1 = new ComboBox();
      this.ComboBox1.DrawMode = 
          System.Windows.Forms.DrawMode.OwnerDrawVariable;
      this.ComboBox1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(10, 20);
      this.ComboBox1.Name = "ComboBox1";
      this.ComboBox1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(100, 120);
      this.ComboBox1.DropDownWidth = 250;
      this.ComboBox1.TabIndex = 0;
      this.ComboBox1.DropDownStyle = ComboBoxStyle.DropDown;
      animals = new string[]{"Elephant", "c r o c o d i l e", "lion"};
      ComboBox1.DataSource = animals;
      this.Controls.Add(this.ComboBox1);

      // Hook up the MeasureItem and DrawItem events
      this.ComboBox1.DrawItem += 
          new DrawItemEventHandler(ComboBox1_DrawItem);
      this.ComboBox1.MeasureItem += 
          new MeasureItemEventHandler(ComboBox1_MeasureItem);
  }

  // If you set the Draw property to DrawMode.OwnerDrawVariable, 
  // you must handle the MeasureItem event. This event handler 
  // will set the height and width of each item before it is drawn. 
  private void ComboBox1_MeasureItem(object sender, 
      System.Windows.Forms.MeasureItemEventArgs e)
  {

      switch(e.Index)
      {
          case 0:
              e.ItemHeight = 45;
              break;
          case 1:
              e.ItemHeight = 20;
              break;
          case 2:
              e.ItemHeight = 35;
              break;
      }
      e.ItemWidth = 260;
  }

  // You must handle the DrawItem event for owner-drawn combo boxes.  
  // This event handler changes the color, size and font of an 
  // item based on its position in the array.
  private void ComboBox1_DrawItem(object sender, 
      System.Windows.Forms.DrawItemEventArgs e)
  {

      float size = 0;
      System.Drawing.Font myFont;
      FontFamily family = null;

      System.Drawing.Color animalColor = new System.Drawing.Color();
      switch(e.Index)
      {
          case 0:
              size = 30;
              animalColor = System.Drawing.Color.Gray;
              family = FontFamily.GenericSansSerif;
              break;
          case 1:
              size = 10;
              animalColor = System.Drawing.Color.LawnGreen;
              family = FontFamily.GenericMonospace;
              break;
          case 2:
              size = 15;
              animalColor = System.Drawing.Color.Tan;
              family = FontFamily.GenericSansSerif;
              break;
      }

      // Draw the background of the item.
      e.DrawBackground();

      // Create a square filled with the animals color. Vary the size
      // of the rectangle based on the length of the animals name.
      Rectangle rectangle = new Rectangle(2, e.Bounds.Top+2, 
              e.Bounds.Height, e.Bounds.Height-4);
      e.Graphics.FillRectangle(new SolidBrush(animalColor), rectangle);

      // Draw each string in the array, using a different size, color,
      // and font for each item.
      myFont = new Font(family, size, FontStyle.Bold);
      e.Graphics.DrawString(animals[e.Index], myFont, System.Drawing.Brushes.Black, new RectangleF(e.Bounds.X+rectangle.Width, e.Bounds.Y, e.Bounds.Width, e.Bounds.Height));

      // Draw the focus rectangle if the mouse hovers over an item.
      e.DrawFocusRectangle();
  }

Remarks

This event is used by an owner-drawn ComboBox. You can use this event to perform the tasks needed to draw items in the ComboBox. If you have a variable sized item (when the ComboBox.DrawMode property is set to the OwnerDrawVariable value of System.Windows.Forms.DrawMode), before drawing an item, the MeasureItem event is raised. You can create an event handler for the MeasureItem event to specify the size for the item that you are going to draw in your event handler for the DrawItem event.

For more information about handling events, see Handling and Raising Events.

Applies to

Product Versions
.NET Framework 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
Windows Desktop 3.0, 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9