StringFormat.SetTabStops(Single, Single[]) Method

Definition

Namespace:

System.Drawing

Assembly:

System.Drawing.Common.dll

Sets tab stops for this StringFormat object.

public:
 void SetTabStops(float firstTabOffset, cli::array <float> ^ tabStops);

public void SetTabStops (float firstTabOffset, float[] tabStops);

member this.SetTabStops : single * single[] -> unit

Public Sub SetTabStops (firstTabOffset As Single, tabStops As Single())

Parameters

firstTabOffset

Single

The number of spaces between the beginning of a line of text and the first tab stop.

tabStops

Single[]

An array of distances between tab stops in the units specified by the PageUnit property.

Examples

The following example is designed for use with Windows Forms, and it requires PaintEventArgs e, which is a parameter of the Paint event handler. The code performs the following actions:

• Sets the tab stops of the StringFormat.

• Draws the string and the layout rectangle. Note that the string contains tabs. The tab settings of the StringFormat specify the offsets of the tabbed text.

• Gets the tab stops and uses or inspects the values.

void GetSetTabStopsExample2( PaintEventArgs^ e )
{
   Graphics^ g = e->Graphics;

   // Tools used for drawing, painting.
   Pen^ redPen = gcnew Pen( Color::FromArgb( 255, 255, 0, 0 ) );
   SolidBrush^ blueBrush = gcnew SolidBrush( Color::FromArgb( 255, 0, 0, 255 ) );

   // Layout and format for text.
   System::Drawing::Font^ myFont = gcnew System::Drawing::Font( "Times New Roman",12 );
   StringFormat^ myStringFormat = gcnew StringFormat;
   Rectangle enclosingRectangle = Rectangle(20,20,500,100);
   array<Single>^tabStops = {150.0f,100.0f,100.0f};

   // Text with tabbed columns.
   String^ myString = "Name\tTab 1\tTab 2\tTab 3\nGeorge Brown\tOne\tTwo\tThree";

   // Set the tab stops, paint the text specified by myString, draw the
   // rectangle that encloses the text.
   myStringFormat->SetTabStops( 0.0f, tabStops );
   g->DrawString( myString, myFont, blueBrush, enclosingRectangle, myStringFormat );
   g->DrawRectangle( redPen, enclosingRectangle );

   // Get the tab stops.
   float firstTabOffset;
   array<Single>^tabStopsObtained = myStringFormat->GetTabStops( firstTabOffset );
   for ( int j = 0; j < tabStopsObtained->Length; j++ )
   {
      // Inspect or use the value in tabStopsObtained[j].
      Console::WriteLine( "\n  Tab stop {0} = {1}", j, tabStopsObtained[ j ] );
   }
}

public void GetSetTabStopsExample2(PaintEventArgs e)
{
    Graphics     g = e.Graphics;
             
    // Tools used for drawing, painting.
    Pen          redPen = new Pen(Color.FromArgb(255, 255, 0, 0));
    SolidBrush   blueBrush = new SolidBrush(Color.FromArgb(255, 0, 0, 255));
             
    // Layout and format for text.
    Font         myFont = new Font("Times New Roman", 12);
    StringFormat myStringFormat = new StringFormat();
    Rectangle    enclosingRectangle = new Rectangle(20, 20, 500, 100);
    float[]      tabStops = {150.0f, 100.0f, 100.0f};
             
    // Text with tabbed columns.
    string       myString =
        "Name\tTab 1\tTab 2\tTab 3\nGeorge Brown\tOne\tTwo\tThree";
             
    // Set the tab stops, paint the text specified by myString, draw the
    // rectangle that encloses the text.
    myStringFormat.SetTabStops(0.0f, tabStops);
    g.DrawString(myString, myFont, blueBrush,
        enclosingRectangle, myStringFormat);
    g.DrawRectangle(redPen, enclosingRectangle);
             
    // Get the tab stops.
    float   firstTabOffset;
    float[] tabStopsObtained = myStringFormat.GetTabStops(out firstTabOffset);
    for(int j = 0; j < tabStopsObtained.Length; j++)
    {
             
        // Inspect or use the value in tabStopsObtained[j].
        Console.WriteLine("\n  Tab stop {0} = {1}", j, tabStopsObtained[j]);
    }
}

Public Sub GetSetTabStopsExample2(ByVal e As PaintEventArgs)
    Dim g As Graphics = e.Graphics

    ' Tools used for drawing, painting.
    Dim redPen As New Pen(Color.FromArgb(255, 255, 0, 0))
    Dim blueBrush As New SolidBrush(Color.FromArgb(255, 0, 0, 255))

    ' Layout and format for text.
    Dim myFont As New Font("Times New Roman", 12)
    Dim myStringFormat As New StringFormat
    Dim enclosingRectangle As New Rectangle(20, 20, 500, 100)
    Dim tabStops As Single() = {150.0F, 100.0F, 100.0F}

    ' Text with tabbed columns.
    Dim myString As String = "Name" & ControlChars.Tab & "Tab 1" _
    & ControlChars.Tab & "Tab 2" & ControlChars.Tab & "Tab 3" _
    & ControlChars.Cr & "George Brown" & ControlChars.Tab & "One" _
    & ControlChars.Tab & "Two" & ControlChars.Tab & "Three"

    ' Set the tab stops, paint the text specified by myString,
    ' and draw rectangle that encloses the text.
    myStringFormat.SetTabStops(0.0F, tabStops)
    g.DrawString(myString, myFont, blueBrush, _
    RectangleF.op_Implicit(enclosingRectangle), myStringFormat)
    g.DrawRectangle(redPen, enclosingRectangle)

    ' Get the tab stops.
    Dim firstTabOffset As Single
    Dim tabStopsObtained As Single() = _
    myStringFormat.GetTabStops(firstTabOffset)
    Dim j As Integer
    For j = 0 To tabStopsObtained.Length - 1

        ' Inspect or use the value in tabStopsObtained[j].
        Console.WriteLine(ControlChars.Cr & "  Tab stop {0} = {1}", _
        j, tabStopsObtained(j))
    Next j
End Sub

Remarks

Each tab-stop offset in the tabStops array, except the first one, is relative to the previous one. The first tab-stop offset is relative to the initial offset position specified by firstTabOffset. For example, if the initial offset position is 8 and the first tab-stop offset is 50, then the first tab stop is at position 58. If the initial offset position is zero, then the first tab-stop offset is relative to position 0, the string origin.