TextBox.AutoCompleteSource Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.Windows.Forms

Assembly:

System.Windows.Forms.dll

Gets or sets a value specifying the source of complete strings used for automatic completion.

public:
 property System::Windows::Forms::AutoCompleteSource AutoCompleteSource { System::Windows::Forms::AutoCompleteSource get(); void set(System::Windows::Forms::AutoCompleteSource value); };

[System.ComponentModel.Browsable(true)]
[System.ComponentModel.TypeConverter(typeof(System.Windows.Forms.TextBoxAutoCompleteSourceConverter))]
public System.Windows.Forms.AutoCompleteSource AutoCompleteSource { get; set; }

[<System.ComponentModel.Browsable(true)>]
[<System.ComponentModel.TypeConverter(typeof(System.Windows.Forms.TextBoxAutoCompleteSourceConverter))>]
member this.AutoCompleteSource : System.Windows.Forms.AutoCompleteSource with get, set

Public Property AutoCompleteSource As AutoCompleteSource

Property Value

AutoCompleteSource

One of the values of AutoCompleteSource. The options are AllSystemSources, AllUrl, FileSystem, HistoryList, RecentlyUsedList, CustomSource, and None. The default is None.

Attributes

BrowsableAttribute TypeConverterAttribute

Exceptions

InvalidEnumArgumentException

The specified value is not one of the values of AutoCompleteSource.

Examples

The following code example demonstrates how to use a collection as the auto-complete custom source for a TextBox control. This example does the following:

• Uses the AutoCompleteSource property to enable the TextBox control to accept a custom source for its auto-complete behavior.

• Uses the AutoCompleteCustomSource property to set the custom list of values.

• Uses the AutoCompleteMode property to set how the auto-complete candidates are displayed.

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    // Create the list to use as the custom source. 
    var source = new AutoCompleteStringCollection();
    source.AddRange(new string[]
                    {
                        "January",
                        "February",
                        "March",
                        "April",
                        "May",
                        "June",
                        "July",
                        "August",
                        "September",
                        "October",
                        "November",
                        "December"
                    });

    // Create and initialize the text box.
    var textBox = new TextBox
                  {
                      AutoCompleteCustomSource = source,
                      AutoCompleteMode = 
                          AutoCompleteMode.SuggestAppend,
                      AutoCompleteSource =
                          AutoCompleteSource.CustomSource,
                      Location = new Point(20, 20),
                      Width = ClientRectangle.Width - 40,
                      Visible = true
                  };

    // Add the text box to the form.
    Controls.Add(textBox);
}

Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
                       ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load

    ' Create the list to use as the custom source.
    Dim MySource As New AutoCompleteStringCollection()
    MySource.AddRange(New String() _
                        { _
                            "January", _
                            "February", _
                            "March", _
                            "April", _
                            "May", _
                            "June", _
                            "July", _
                            "August", _
                            "September", _
                            "October", _
                            "November", _
                            "December" _
                        })

    ' Create and initialize the text box.
    Dim MyTextBox As New TextBox()
    With MyTextBox
        .AutoCompleteCustomSource = MySource
        .AutoCompleteMode = AutoCompleteMode.SuggestAppend
        .AutoCompleteSource = AutoCompleteSource.CustomSource
        .Location = New Point(20, 20)
        .Width = Me.ClientRectangle.Width - 40
        .Visible = True
    End With

    ' Add the text box to the form.
    Me.Controls.Add(MyTextBox)
End Sub

Remarks

Use the AutoCompleteCustomSource, AutoCompleteMode, and AutoCompleteSource properties to create a TextBox that automatically completes input strings by comparing the prefix being entered to the prefixes of all strings in a maintained source. This is useful for TextBox controls in which URLs, addresses, file names, or commands will be frequently entered.

The use of the AutoCompleteCustomSource property is optional, but you must set the AutoCompleteSource property to CustomSource in order to use AutoCompleteCustomSource.

You must use the AutoCompleteMode and AutoCompleteSource properties together.

Note

AutoCompleteSource does not work on multiline TextBox controls.

Note

The operating system might limit the number of custom strings that can be displayed at once.

See also

• AutoCompleteCustomSource
• AutoCompleteMode