ComboBox.DropDownWidth Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.Windows.Forms

Assembly:

System.Windows.Forms.dll

Source:

ComboBox.cs

Gets or sets the width of the of the drop-down portion of a combo box.

C#

public int DropDownWidth { get; set; }

Property Value

Int32

The width, in pixels, of the drop-down box.

Exceptions

ArgumentException

The specified value is less than one.

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.

C#

  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

If a value has not been set for the DropDownWidth, this property returns the Width of the combo box.

Note

The width of the drop-down cannot be smaller than the ComboBox width.

Applies to