ListBox.DrawMode Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.Windows.Forms

Assembly:

System.Windows.Forms.dll

Gets or sets the drawing mode for the control.

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

public virtual System.Windows.Forms.DrawMode DrawMode { get; set; }

member this.DrawMode : System.Windows.Forms.DrawMode with get, set

Public Overridable Property DrawMode As DrawMode

Property Value

DrawMode

One of the DrawMode values representing the mode for drawing the items of the control. The default is DrawMode.Normal.

Exceptions

InvalidEnumArgumentException

The value assigned to the property is not a member of the DrawMode enumeration.

ArgumentException

A multicolumn ListBox cannot have a variable-sized height.

Examples

The following code example demonstrates how to create owner-drawn ListBox items. The code uses the DrawMode property to specify that the items drawn are fixed sized and the DrawItem event to perform the drawing of each item into the ListBox. The example code uses the properties and methods of the DrawItemEventArgs class passed as a parameter to the event handler to draw the items. This example requires that a ListBox control called listBox1 has been added to a form and that the DrawItem event is handled by the event handler defined in the example code. The example also requires that items have been added to the ListBox with the text of "Apple", "Orange", and "Plum" in that order.

private ListBox ListBox1 = new ListBox();
private void InitializeListBox()
{
    ListBox1.Items.AddRange(new Object[] 
        { "Red Item", "Orange Item", "Purple Item" });
    ListBox1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(81, 69);
    ListBox1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(120, 95);
    ListBox1.DrawMode = DrawMode.OwnerDrawFixed;
    ListBox1.DrawItem += new DrawItemEventHandler(ListBox1_DrawItem);
    Controls.Add(ListBox1);
}

private void ListBox1_DrawItem(object sender, 
    System.Windows.Forms.DrawItemEventArgs e)
{
    // Draw the background of the ListBox control for each item.
    e.DrawBackground();
    // Define the default color of the brush as black.
    Brush myBrush = Brushes.Black;

    // Determine the color of the brush to draw each item based 
    // on the index of the item to draw.
    switch (e.Index)
    {
        case 0:
            myBrush = Brushes.Red;
            break;
        case 1:
            myBrush = Brushes.Orange;
            break;
        case 2:
            myBrush = Brushes.Purple;
            break;
    }

    // Draw the current item text based on the current Font 
    // and the custom brush settings.
    e.Graphics.DrawString(ListBox1.Items[e.Index].ToString(), 
        e.Font, myBrush, e.Bounds, StringFormat.GenericDefault);
    // If the ListBox has focus, draw a focus rectangle around the selected item.
    e.DrawFocusRectangle();
}

Private WithEvents ListBox1 As New ListBox()

Private Sub InitializeListBox() 
    ListBox1.Items.AddRange(New Object() _
        {"Red Item", "Orange Item", "Purple Item"})
    ListBox1.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(81, 69)
    ListBox1.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(120, 95)
    ListBox1.DrawMode = DrawMode.OwnerDrawFixed
    Controls.Add(ListBox1)

End Sub

Private Sub ListBox1_DrawItem(ByVal sender As Object, _
 ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.DrawItemEventArgs) _
 Handles ListBox1.DrawItem

    ' Draw the background of the ListBox control for each item.
    e.DrawBackground()

    ' Define the default color of the brush as black.
    Dim myBrush As Brush = Brushes.Black

    ' Determine the color of the brush to draw each item based on   
    ' the index of the item to draw.
    Select Case e.Index
        Case 0
            myBrush = Brushes.Red
        Case 1
            myBrush = Brushes.Orange
        Case 2
            myBrush = Brushes.Purple
    End Select

    ' Draw the current item text based on the current 
    ' Font and the custom brush settings.
    e.Graphics.DrawString(ListBox1.Items(e.Index).ToString(), _
        e.Font, myBrush, e.Bounds, StringFormat.GenericDefault)

    ' If the ListBox has focus, draw a focus rectangle around  _ 
    ' the selected item.
    e.DrawFocusRectangle()
End Sub

See also

• DrawMode
• DrawItem