Customization in Windows Forms AutoComplete

26 Apr 202111 minutes to read

This section explains about the customization of the AutoComplete component.

Item customization

Appearance

The appearance of the AutoComplete popup window and the items can be customized using the following properties:

AutoComplete properties	Description
HeaderForeColor	Specifies the HeaderForeColor of the AutoCompletePopup.
HeaderForeColor	Specifies the item text ForeColor of the AutoCompletePopup.
HeaderFont	Specifies the header font of the AutoCompletePopup.
ItemFont	Specifies the item font of the AutoCompletePopup.
HeaderStyle	Specifies the AutoCompletePopup column header style.

C#
VB.NET
// Specifies the header fore color of the AutoComplete popup.
    this.autoComplete1.HeaderForeColor = Color.Red;

    // Specifies the item fore color of the AutoComplete popup.
    this.autoComplete1.TextColor = Color.Blue;

    // Specifies the font for ColumnHeader in the AutoComplete popup.
    this.autoComplete1.HeaderFont = new System.Drawing.Font("Arial Black", 10.25F);

    // Specifies the font of items in the AutoComplete Popup.
    this.autoComplete1.ItemFont = new System.Drawing.Font("Monotype Corsiva", 9.25F);

    // Specifies the style of ColumnHeader in the AutoComplete popup.
    this.autoComplete1.HeaderStyle = ColumnHeaderStyle.Clickable;
'Specifies the header fore color of the AutoComplete popup.
    Me.autoComplete1.HeaderForeColor = Color.Red

    'Specifies the item fore color of the AutoComplete popup.
    Me.autoComplete1.TextColor = Color.Blue

    'Specifies the font of the ColumnHeader in the AutoComplete popup.
    Me.autoComplete1.HeaderFont = New System.Drawing.Font("Arial Black", 10.25F)

    'Specifies the font of the items in the AutoComplete popup.
    Me.autoComplete1.ItemFont = New System.Drawing.Font("Monotype Corsiva", 9.25F)

    'Specifies the style of ColumnHeader in the AutoComplete popup.
    Me.autoComplete1.HeaderStyle = ColumnHeaderStyle.Clickable

Windows Forms AutoComplete Maximum number of suggestions

Close button

To show or hide the CloseButton at the bottom-left of the DropDownContainer, use the ShowCloseButton property. The default value of this property is true.

NOTE

The AutoComplete dropdown can be closed by calling the CloseDropDown method.

Resize gripper

To show or hide the resizing gripper at the bottom-right of the DropDownContainer, use the ShowGripper property. The default value of this property is true.

Column Header

To show or hide the column header, use the ShowColumnHeader property.

C#
VB.NET
this.autoComplete1.ShowCloseButton = false;
this.autoComplete1.ShowGripper = false;
this.autoComplete1.ShowColumnHeader = true;
Me.autoComplete1.ShowCloseButton = False
Me.autoComplete1.ShowGripper = False
Me.autoComplete1.ShowColumnHeader = True

Size Settings

The properties that can control the height and width of the AutoCompletePopup are as follows.

AutoComplete properties	Description
AdjustHeightToItemCount	Specifies whether the height of the dropdown should be adjusted automatically based on the number of items.
AutoPersistentDropDownSize	The dropdown size of Autocomplete component is automatically persistent when this property is set to true.
PreferredHeight	Specifies preferred height for the dropdown displayed by the AutoComplete component when AdjustHeightToItemCount property is false. The default value of this property is 200.
PreferredWidth	Specifies preferred width for the dropdown displayed by the AutoComplete component when AdjustHeightToItemCount property is false. The default value of this property is -1.

C#
VB.NET
this.autoComplete1.AdjustHeightToItemCount = false;
this.autoComplete1.AutoPersistentDropDownSize = true;
this.autoComplete1.PreferredHeight = 100;
this.autoComplete1.PreferredWidth = 300;
Me.autoComplete1.AdjustHeightToItemCount = False
Me.autoComplete1.AutoPersistentDropDownSize = True
Me.autoComplete1.PreferredHeight = 100
Me.autoComplete1.PreferredWidth = 300

Visual styles

The built-in themes for professional representation of AutoComplete are as follows.

Office2019Colorful

Sets the Office2019Colorful theme.

C#
VB.NET
this.autoComplete1.ThemeName = "Office2019Colorful";
Me.autoComplete1.ThemeName = "Office2019Colorful"

Windows Forms AutoComplete Office2019Colorful theme

HighContrastBlack

Sets the HighContrastBlack theme.

C#
VB.NET
this.autoComplete1.ThemeName = "HighContrastBlack";
Me.autoComplete1.ThemeName = "HighContrastBlack"

Windows Forms AutoComplete HighcontrastBlack theme

Office2016Colorful

Sets the Office2016Colorful theme.

C#
VB.NET
this.autoComplete1.Style = AutoCompleteStyle.Office2016Colorful;
Me.autoComplete1.Style = AutoCompleteStyle.Office2016Colorful

Windows Forms AutoComplete Office2016Colorful theme

Office2016White

Sets the Office2016White theme.

C#
VB.NET
this.autoComplete1.Style = AutoCompleteStyle.Office2016White;
Me.autoComplete1.Style = AutoCompleteStyle.Office2016White

Windows Forms AutoComplete Office2016White theme

Office2016Black

Sets the Office2016Black theme.

C#
VB.NET
this.autoComplete1.Style = AutoCompleteStyle.Office2016Black;
Me.autoComplete1.Style = AutoCompleteStyle.Office2016Black

Windows Forms AutoComplete Office2016White theme

Office2016DarkGray

Sets the Office2016DarkGray theme.

C#
VB.NET
this.autoComplete1.Style = AutoCompleteStyle.Office2016DarkGray;
Me.autoComplete1.Style = AutoCompleteStyle.Office2016DarkGray

Windows Forms AutoComplete Office2016DarkGray theme

Metro

Sets the Metro theme.

C#
VB.NET
this.autoComplete1.Style = AutoCompleteStyle.Metro;
Me.autoComplete1.Style = AutoCompleteStyle.Metro

Windows Forms AutoComplete Metro theme

Default

Sets the default theme.

Persistence

The history list of AutoComplete component can be saved in the following formats:

Binary Format
XML Format
IsolatedStorage medium
MemoryStream
PersistState property

The AutoComplete component has a fully built-in serialization feature that provides automatic serialization for the AutoComplete’s history list. The serialization mechanism is implemented using the standardized Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.AppStateSerializer component that acts as a central coordinator for all the Essential tools components and provides options to read or write to different media such as the default isolated storage, XML file, XML stream, binary file, binary stream, and the Windows Registry.

Persisting AutoComplete’s data in the default storage

The data of AutoComplete component can be persisted by setting the AutoSerialize property to true. It specifies whether the AutoComplete component can persist its data. This information is stored in the isolated storage.

C#
VB.NET
this.autoComplete1.AutoSerialize = true;
Me.autoComplete1.AutoSerialize = True

Persisting in XML file

To save and load the AutoComplete data in XML.

C#
VB.NET
using Syncfusion.Runtime.Serialization;

// To save
AppStateSerializer aser = new AppStateSerializer(SerializeMode.XMLFile, @"C:\info.xml");
this.autoComplete1.SaveCurrentState(aser);

// To load
AppStateSerializer aser = new AppStateSerializer(SerializeMode.XMLFile, @"C:\info.xml");
this.autoComplete1.LoadCurrentState(aser);
Imports Syncfusion.Runtime.Serialization

' To save
Private aser As AppStateSerializer = New AppStateSerializer(SerializeMode.XMLFile, "C:\info.xml")
Me.autoComplete1.SaveCurrentState(aser)

' To load
Private aser As AppStateSerializer = New AppStateSerializer(SerializeMode.XMLFile, "C:\info.xml")
Me.autoComplete1.LoadCurrentState(aser)

End Sub()

Persisting in memory stream

It serializes the data into a memory stream. The following methods are storing and retrieving data in AutoComplete.

Storing state

The current internal list information is stored to the persistence medium using the SaveCurrentState method.

C#
VB.NET
MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream();
AppStateSerializer aser = new AppStateSerializer(SerializeMode.BinaryFmtStream, ms);
this.autoComplete1.SaveCurrentState(aser);
aser.PersistNow();
Dim ms As MemoryStream = New MemoryStream()
Private aser As AppStateSerializer = New AppStateSerializer(SerializeMode.BinaryFmtStream, ms)
Me.autoComplete1.SaveCurrentState(aser)
aser.PersistNow()

Retrieving state

Retrieving state reads the previously serialized internal history list using the LoadCurrentState method.

C#
VB.NET
// Code to retrieve data(stream) from database.
MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream(val);
ms.Position = 0;
AppStateSerializer aser = new AppStateSerializer(SerializeMode.BinaryFmtStream, ms);
this.autoComplete1.LoadCurrentState(aser);
' Code to retrieve data(stream) from database.

Dim ms As MemoryStream = New MemoryStream(value)
ms.Position = 0
Dim aser As AppStateSerializer = New AppStateSerializer(SerializeMode.BinaryFmtStream, ms)
this.autoComplete1.LoadCurrentState(aser);

To serialize in binary format

C#
VB.NET
// To save
AppStateSerializer aser = new AppStateSerializer(SerializeMode.BinaryFile,"myfile");
this.autoComplete1.SaveCurrentState(aser);
aser.PersistNow();

// To load
AppStateSerializer aser = new AppStateSerializer(SerializeMode.BinaryFile,"myfile");
this.autoComplete1.LoadCurrentState(aser);
' To save

Private aser As AppStateSerializer = New AppStateSerializer(SerializeMode.BinaryFile, "myfile")

Me.autoComplete1.SaveCurrentState(aser)

aser.PersistNow()

' To load
Private aser As AppStateSerializer = New AppStateSerializer(SerializeMode.BinaryFile, "myfile")
Me.autoComplete1.LoadCurrentState(aser)

To serialize in isolated storage medium

C#
VB.NET
// To save
AppStateSerializer aser = new AppStateSerializer(SerializeMode.IsolatedStorage, "myfile");
this.autoComplete1.SaveCurrentState(aser);
aser.PersistNow();

// To load
AppStateSerializer serializer = new AppStateSerializer(SerializeMode.IsolatedStorage, "myfile");
this.autoComplete1.LoadCurrentState(aser);
' To save
Private aser As AppStateSerializer = New AppStateSerializer(SerializeMode.IsolatedStorage, "myfile")
Me.autoComplete1.SaveCurrentState(aser)
aser.PersistNow()

' To load
Private serializer As AppStateSerializer = New AppStateSerializer(SerializeMode.IsolatedStorage, "myfile")
Me.autoComplete1.LoadCurrentState(aser)

A sample that demonstrates the Persistence features is available here