FrameworkElement.Cursor Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.Windows

Assembly:

PresentationFramework.dll

Gets or sets the cursor that displays when the mouse pointer is over this element.

public:
 property System::Windows::Input::Cursor ^ Cursor { System::Windows::Input::Cursor ^ get(); void set(System::Windows::Input::Cursor ^ value); };

public System.Windows.Input.Cursor Cursor { get; set; }

member this.Cursor : System.Windows.Input.Cursor with get, set

Public Property Cursor As Cursor

Property Value

Cursor

The cursor to display. The default value is defined as null per this dependency property. However, the practical default at run time will come from a variety of factors.

Examples

The following example shows how to deliberately set the cursor graphic.

private void CursorTypeChanged(object sender, SelectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
    ComboBox source = e.Source as ComboBox;

    if (source != null)
    {
        ComboBoxItem selectedCursor = source.SelectedItem as ComboBoxItem;

        // Changing the cursor of the Border control 
        // by setting the Cursor property
        switch (selectedCursor.Content.ToString())
        {
            case "AppStarting":
                DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.AppStarting;
                break;
            case "ArrowCD":                        
                DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.ArrowCD;
                break;
            case "Arrow":
                DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.Arrow;
                break;
            case "Cross":
                DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.Cross;
                break;
            case "HandCursor":
                DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.Hand;
                break;
            case "Help":
                DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.Help;
                break;
            case "IBeam":
                DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.IBeam;
                break;
            case "No":
                DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.No;
                break;
            case "None":
                DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.None;
                break;
            case "Pen":
                DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.Pen;
                break;
            case "ScrollSE":
                DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.ScrollSE;
                break;
            case "ScrollWE":
                DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.ScrollWE;
                break;
            case "SizeAll":
                DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.SizeAll;
                break;
            case "SizeNESW":
                DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.SizeNESW;
                break;
            case "SizeNS":
                DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.SizeNS;
                break;
            case "SizeNWSE":
                DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.SizeNWSE;
                break;
            case "SizeWE":
                DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.SizeWE;
                break;
            case "UpArrow":
                DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.UpArrow;
                break;
            case "WaitCursor":
                DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.Wait;
                break;
            case "Custom":
                DisplayArea.Cursor = CustomCursor;
                break;
            default:
                break;
        }

        // If the cursor scope is set to the entire application
        // Use OverrideCursor to force the cursor for all elements
        if (cursorScopeElementOnly == false)
        {
            Mouse.OverrideCursor = DisplayArea.Cursor;
        }
    }
}

' When the Radiobox changes, a new cursor type is set
Private Sub CursorTypeChanged(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As SelectionChangedEventArgs)

    Dim item As String = CType(e.Source, ComboBox).SelectedItem.Content.ToString()

    Select Case item
        Case "AppStarting"
            DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.AppStarting
        Case "ArrowCD"
            DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.ArrowCD
        Case "Arrow"
            DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.Arrow
        Case "Cross"
            DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.Cross
        Case "HandCursor"
            DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.Hand
        Case "Help"
            DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.Help
        Case "IBeam"
            DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.IBeam
        Case "No"
            DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.No
        Case "None"
            DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.None
        Case "Pen"
            DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.Pen
        Case "ScrollSE"
            DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.ScrollSE
        Case "ScrollWE"
            DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.ScrollWE
        Case "SizeAll"
            DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.SizeAll
        Case "SizeNESW"
            DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.SizeNESW
        Case "SizeNS"
            DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.SizeNS
        Case "SizeNWSE"
            DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.SizeNWSE
        Case "SizeWE"
            DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.SizeWE
        Case "UpArrow"
            DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.UpArrow
        Case "WaitCursor"
            DisplayArea.Cursor = Cursors.Wait
        Case "Custom"
            DisplayArea.Cursor = CustomCursor
    End Select

    ' if the cursor scope is set to the entire application
    ' use OverrideCursor to force the cursor for all elements
    If (cursorScopeElementOnly = False) Then
        Mouse.OverrideCursor = DisplayArea.Cursor
    End If


End Sub

Remarks

When you set this property in XAML, the XAML processor relies on type conversion for the Cursor class to evaluate the string. The provided string should evaluate to a CursorType value. See Cursor for details.

Whether the cursor as established by this property will or will not display when the mouse pointer is over this element is also dependent on the value of the ForceCursor property. Also, event-related considerations such as an active drag, mouse capture, text editing modes within controls, and so on, will also affect the cursor with higher priority than the value you specify in this property.

To revert the behavior of setting this property to the eventual default, set it to null again.

The null default really means that determination of the practical cursor value is deferred here and should be obtained from elsewhere. If presented without programmatic values from any source, the default cursor that is visually over a Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) application will be an arrow. However, the transient cursor changes are not set to the Cursor values of the elements when they are passed over. The Cursor property will only report non null values in cases where it was actually set, for instance through code or a style. Each movement of the mouse over a WPF application raises a QueryCursor event. The event bubbles, and any element along the route has the opportunity to handle the event and to set the value of the cursor through the arguments of this event. This is the mechanism that produces the visually apparent cursor in most cases. If a QueryCursor handler returns a cursor result, then the fact that the event is handled and has a changed value in the arguments takes precedence over the value of the Cursor property at any level, unless ForceCursor is set.

If not are not creating a custom cursor, you typically set this property to a static property value of the Cursors class. Setting Cursor in code requires one of the following:

• Call the Cursor constructor to get a Cursor instance. Both signatures of the Cursor constructor use streams or files, in anticipation that you are creating the Cursor object for a custom cursor.

• Use the CursorConverter class and its ConvertFrom method to specify a cursor by CursorType, or a string that can evaluate to a CursorType, and cast the return to Cursor.

Setting the Cursor to a custom value is not enabled in partial trust. For more information on custom cursors, see Input Overview.

Dependency Property Information

Identifier field	CursorProperty
Metadata properties set to true	None

See also

• QueryCursor
• ForceCursor
• OverrideCursor