IsEditable combox box #18094

almightyju · 2025-01-31T21:44:42Z

What does the pull request do?

Adds IsEditable property to ComboBox and adds a ItemTextBinding property to get the text value.

What is the current behavior?

Currently it's unsupported.

What is the updated/expected behavior with this PR?

To be able to bind text values in a combo box and it handle the text values and SelectedItem values

How was the solution implemented (if it's not obvious)?

Added a text box which is bound to TextProperty and only visible when IsEditable is true. Compares the value of the text box with the ItemsSource via an IBinding (similar to the auto complete box)

Checklist

Added unit tests (if possible)?
Added XML documentation to any related classes?
Consider submitting a PR to https://github.com/AvaloniaUI/avalonia-docs with user documentation

Breaking changes

None

Fixed issues

#205.
I am aware that pull request #1070 but it looks like a lot of "ToString" stuff was going on which doesn't really fit with Avalonia, hoping this way is more acceptable

thevortexcloud · 2025-02-01T12:05:42Z

This sounds very similar to the autocomplete box? Is it different somehow?

https://docs.avaloniaui.net/docs/reference/controls/autocompletebox

cla-avalonia · 2025-02-01T12:05:55Z

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almightyju · 2025-02-03T09:11:42Z

This sounds very similar to the autocomplete box? Is it different somehow?

https://docs.avaloniaui.net/docs/reference/controls/autocompletebox

In 2 ways that I can see:

combo box has a button to open the dropdown to show all items
when you press backspace in the auto complete box it deletes all text, so it's not a true "editable" experience

It's also a much more familiar experience for people coming from WPF that I think it's worth the small change

almightyju · 2025-02-03T09:12:06Z

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MrJul · 2025-03-05T17:16:44Z

Public API for review:

namespace Avalonia.Controls
{
    public class ComboBox : SelectingItemsControl
    {
+        public static readonly DirectProperty<ComboBox, bool> IsEditableProperty;
+        public static readonly StyledProperty<string?> TextProperty;
+        public static readonly StyledProperty<IBinding?> ItemTextBindingProperty;
+        public bool IsEditable { get; set; }
+        public string? Text { get; set; }
+        public IBinding? ItemTextBinding { get; set; }
    }
}

MrJul · 2025-03-06T13:15:57Z

During the API review meeting, we noticed that WPF uses TextSearch.TextPath for this purpose instead of ItemTextBinding.
In Avalonia, we want a similar API, but compatible with trimming.

Remove:

ComboBox.ItemTextBindingProperty

Add:

TextSearch.TextBindingProperty (attached)

Also, IsEditableProperty should be a StyledProperty.

(Not API related, but TextSearch.Text is currently used to search in ItemsControl, and should still work with the new implementation.)

almightyju · 2025-03-06T16:47:09Z

During the API review meeting, we noticed that WPF uses TextSearch.TextPath for this purpose instead of ItemTextBinding. In Avalonia, we want a similar API, but compatible with trimming.

Remove:
* `ComboBox.ItemTextBindingProperty`
Add:
* `TextSearch.TextBindingProperty` (attached)

I wasn't aware of TextSearch.TextBindingProperty but I don't see how I can use that in this case, when the text changes it's necessary to loop all of the items and check if the entered text matches an item to set the SelectedItem and SelectedIndex:

https://github.com/almightyju/Avalonia/blob/2f1a66f467d4aa6c935bf6fd9feb7db70a3201d9/src/Avalonia.Controls/ComboBox.cs#L686-L696

I don't see a way to do that using the attached property since I can't access the IBinding to execute against, which is why I made it the same way the auto complete box works.

MrJul · 2025-03-09T11:13:55Z

I wasn't aware of TextSearch.TextBindingProperty but I don't see how I can use that in this case, when the text changes it's necessary to loop all of the items and check if the entered text matches an item to set the SelectedItem and SelectedIndex:

To clarify, TextSearch.TextBindingProperty (of type IBinding) needs to be added: it doesn't exist right now.
It's really the equivalent of your ItemTextBinding, but as an attached property, that could be used for any text search, like in WPF.

I've implemented it in #18405 so this PR can focus on the implementation of IsEditable instead.
Once it's merged, you can reuse the ItemsControl.GetIndexFromTextSearch() for text searching.

almightyju · 2025-03-10T09:59:51Z

Ahh, sorry I miss read, my brain didn't connect that TextSearch.TextBindingProperty and TextSearch.TextProperty were different 😅

Appreciate the PR, will update my branch once it's merged in

almightyju · 2025-04-03T20:29:25Z

@MrJul thanks for your help with this 😄 I've updated it to work with what you've done and put some tests in (and fixed broken ones).

Also made a docs pull request

avaloniaui-bot · 2025-04-03T20:38:41Z

You can test this PR using the following package version. 12.0.999-cibuild0055910-alpha. (feed url: https://nuget-feed-all.avaloniaui.net/v3/index.json) [PRBUILDID]

thevortexcloud

I have left some of my thoughts. But I am not in charge around here, so someone may disagree.

thevortexcloud · 2025-04-04T13:02:51Z

samples/ControlCatalog/Pages/ComboBoxPage.xaml

+                          TextSearch.TextBinding="{Binding SearchText, DataType=viewModels:IdAndName}"
+                          SelectedItem="{Binding SelectedItem}" />
+
+                <TextBlock Text="Editable text is bound to SearchText. Display is bound to Name" />


You should use full property names to make this clearer. Not everyone will go straight to XAML when running the catalogue.

thevortexcloud · 2025-04-04T13:06:49Z

samples/ControlCatalog/ViewModels/ComboBoxPageViewModel.cs

@@ -17,6 +17,20 @@ public bool WrapSelection
            set => this.RaiseAndSetIfChanged(ref _wrapSelection, value);
        }

+        private string _textValue = string.Empty;


In C#, variables generally go near the top of the class and are grouped together.

thevortexcloud · 2025-04-04T13:10:57Z

src/Avalonia.Controls/ComboBox.cs

+            TextSearch.TextBindingProperty.Changed.AddClassHandler<ComboBox>((x, e) => x.ItemTextBindingChanged(e));
+            //when the items change we need to simulate a text change to validate the text being an item or not and selecting it
+            ItemsSourceProperty.Changed.AddClassHandler<ComboBox>((x, e) => x.TextChanged(
+                new AvaloniaPropertyChangedEventArgs<string?>(e.Sender, TextProperty, x.Text, x.Text, e.Priority)));


This might be an issue if something is listening for text change events? It might not. I have not tested it. Personally though, I would expect a text change event to only ever be fired when the text actually changes.

thevortexcloud · 2025-04-04T13:11:49Z

src/Avalonia.Controls/ComboBox.cs

@@ -188,6 +221,21 @@ public IDataTemplate? SelectionBoxItemTemplate
            set => SetValue(SelectionBoxItemTemplateProperty, value);
        }

+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets or sets the text used when <see cref="IsEditable"/> is true.


You should document what this does if IsEditable is not true.

thevortexcloud · 2025-04-04T13:13:33Z

src/Avalonia.Controls/ComboBox.cs

@@ -315,6 +363,15 @@ protected override void OnPointerPressed(PointerPressedEventArgs e)
        /// <inheritdoc/>
        protected override void OnPointerReleased(PointerReleasedEventArgs e)
        {
+            //if the user clicked in the input text we don't want to open the dropdown


How does WPF/winforms do this? I seem to vaguely recall that it actually opens the drop down and filters the list as you type. But it has been a long time, so I could be misremembering.

… have text binding properties

avaloniaui-bot · 2025-04-04T14:00:06Z

You can test this PR using the following package version. 12.0.999-cibuild0055934-alpha. (feed url: https://nuget-feed-all.avaloniaui.net/v3/index.json) [PRBUILDID]

MrJul added feature needs-api-review The PR adds new public APIs that should be reviewed. labels Feb 2, 2025

almightyju mentioned this pull request Mar 3, 2025

Implement ComboBox (IsEditable) #205

Open

MrJul added api-change-requested The new public APIs need some changes. and removed needs-api-review The PR adds new public APIs that should be reviewed. labels Mar 6, 2025

MrJul mentioned this pull request Mar 9, 2025

Implement TextSearch.TextBinding #18405

Merged

almightyju added 2 commits April 3, 2025 16:30

IsEditable combox box with text bindings

fbb270d

Update after AvaloniaUI#18405 api review

61c79fa

almightyju force-pushed the master branch from 2f1a66f to 61c79fa Compare April 3, 2025 19:47

ComboBox tests for IsEditable

9b69337

almightyju mentioned this pull request Apr 3, 2025

Update combobox.md for IsEditable changes AvaloniaUI/avalonia-docs#633

Open

thevortexcloud reviewed Apr 4, 2025

View reviewed changes

remove unneeded error being throw when combox is editable and doesn't…

b8065d8

… have text binding properties

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IsEditable combox box #18094

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IsEditable combox box #18094

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almightyju commented Jan 31, 2025

What does the pull request do?

What is the current behavior?

What is the updated/expected behavior with this PR?

How was the solution implemented (if it's not obvious)?

Checklist

Breaking changes

Fixed issues

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thevortexcloud commented Feb 1, 2025

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