How to: Save, Load, and Print RichTextBox Content

The following example shows how to save content of a RichTextBox to a file, load that content back into the RichTextBox, and print the contents.

Markup for Save, Load, and Print RichTextBox Content

Below is the markup for the example.

<Page xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
  xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
  x:Class="SDKSample.SaveLoadPrintRTB" >

  <StackPanel>
    <RichTextBox Name="richTB">
      <FlowDocument>
        <Paragraph>
          <Run>Paragraph 1</Run>
        </Paragraph>
      </FlowDocument>
    </RichTextBox>

    <Button Click="SaveRTBContent">Save RTB Content</Button>
    <Button Click="LoadRTBContent">Load RTB Content</Button>
    <Button Click="PrintRTBContent">Print RTB Content</Button>
  </StackPanel>

</Page>

Code for Save, Load, and Print RichTextBox Content

Below is the code behind for the example.

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Documents;
using System.Windows.Media;

namespace SDKSample
{

    public partial class SaveLoadPrintRTB : Page
    {

        // Handle "Save RichTextBox Content" button click.
        void SaveRTBContent(Object sender, RoutedEventArgs args)
        {

            // Send an arbitrary URL and file name string specifying
            // the location to save the XAML in.
            SaveXamlPackage("C:\\test.xaml");
        }

        // Handle "Load RichTextBox Content" button click.
        void LoadRTBContent(Object sender, RoutedEventArgs args)
        {
            // Send URL string specifying what file to retrieve XAML
            // from to load into the RichTextBox.
            LoadXamlPackage("C:\\test.xaml");
        }

        // Handle "Print RichTextBox Content" button click.
        void PrintRTBContent(Object sender, RoutedEventArgs args)
        {
            PrintCommand();
        }

        // Save XAML in RichTextBox to a file specified by _fileName
        void SaveXamlPackage(string _fileName)
        {
            TextRange range;
            FileStream fStream;
            range = new TextRange(richTB.Document.ContentStart, richTB.Document.ContentEnd);
            fStream = new FileStream(_fileName, FileMode.Create);
            range.Save(fStream, DataFormats.XamlPackage);
            fStream.Close();
        }

        // Load XAML into RichTextBox from a file specified by _fileName
        void LoadXamlPackage(string _fileName)
        {
            TextRange range;
            FileStream fStream;
            if (File.Exists(_fileName))
            {
                range = new TextRange(richTB.Document.ContentStart, richTB.Document.ContentEnd);
                fStream = new FileStream(_fileName, FileMode.OpenOrCreate);
                range.Load(fStream, DataFormats.XamlPackage);
                fStream.Close();
            }
        }

        // Print RichTextBox content
        private void PrintCommand()
        {
            PrintDialog pd = new PrintDialog();
            if ((pd.ShowDialog() == true))
            {
                //use either one of the below
                pd.PrintVisual(richTB as Visual, "printing as visual");
                pd.PrintDocument((((IDocumentPaginatorSource)richTB.Document).DocumentPaginator), "printing as paginator");
            }
        }
    }
}

Imports System.IO
Imports System.Windows
Imports System.Windows.Controls
Imports System.Windows.Documents
Imports System.Windows.Media

Namespace SDKSample

    Partial Public Class SaveLoadPrintRTB
        Inherits Page

        ' Handle "Save RichTextBox Content" button click.
        Private Sub SaveRTBContent(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal args As RoutedEventArgs)

            ' Send an arbitrary URL and file name string specifying
            ' the location to save the XAML in.
            SaveXamlPackage("C:\test.xaml")
        End Sub

        ' Handle "Load RichTextBox Content" button click.
        Private Sub LoadRTBContent(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal args As RoutedEventArgs)
            ' Send URL string specifying what file to retrieve XAML
            ' from to load into the RichTextBox.
            LoadXamlPackage("C:\test.xaml")
        End Sub

        ' Handle "Print RichTextBox Content" button click.
        Private Sub PrintRTBContent(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal args As RoutedEventArgs)
            PrintCommand()
        End Sub

        ' Save XAML in RichTextBox to a file specified by _fileName
        Private Sub SaveXamlPackage(ByVal _fileName As String)
            Dim range As TextRange
            Dim fStream As FileStream
            range = New TextRange(richTB.Document.ContentStart, richTB.Document.ContentEnd)
            fStream = New FileStream(_fileName, FileMode.Create)
            range.Save(fStream, DataFormats.XamlPackage)
            fStream.Close()
        End Sub

        ' Load XAML into RichTextBox from a file specified by _fileName
        Private Sub LoadXamlPackage(ByVal _fileName As String)
            Dim range As TextRange
            Dim fStream As FileStream
            If File.Exists(_fileName) Then
                range = New TextRange(richTB.Document.ContentStart, richTB.Document.ContentEnd)
                fStream = New FileStream(_fileName, FileMode.OpenOrCreate)
                range.Load(fStream, DataFormats.XamlPackage)
                fStream.Close()
            End If
        End Sub

        ' Print RichTextBox content
        Private Sub PrintCommand()
            Dim pd As New PrintDialog()
            If (pd.ShowDialog() = True) Then
                'use either one of the below      
                pd.PrintVisual(TryCast(richTB, Visual), "printing as visual")
                pd.PrintDocument(((CType(richTB.Document, IDocumentPaginatorSource)).DocumentPaginator), "printing as paginator")
            End If
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

See also

• RichTextBox Overview
• TextBox Overview