#936 – TextBox Properties that Reflect Currently Selected Text

The following properties of a TextBox are updated whenever the user changes the currently selected text in a TextBox.

• SelectedText – the currently selected text (string)
• SelectionStart – 0-based index into the Text property for the start of the selection  (int)
• SelectionLength – number of characters selected (int)

The SelectionChanged event will fire whenever the currently selected text changes.

Below, we wire up the SelectionChanged event, capture the values of these properties, and then bind to those values.

        <TextBox Margin="5" Height="100"
            Text="{Binding SomeText}"
            TextWrapping="Wrap"
            VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto"
            SelectionChanged="TextBox_SelectionChanged"/>
        <Label Content="{Binding SelectedText}"/>
        <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
            <Label Content="{Binding SelectionStart}"/>
            <Label Content="{Binding SelectionLength}"/>
        </StackPanel>

        private void RaisePropertyChanged(string propName)
        {
            PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propName));
        }

        public string SelectedText { get; set; }
        public int SelectionStart { get; set; }
        public int SelectionLength { get; set; }

        private void TextBox_SelectionChanged(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
        {
            SelectedText = ((TextBox)sender).SelectedText;
            SelectionStart = ((TextBox)sender).SelectionStart;
            SelectionLength = ((TextBox)sender).SelectionLength;

            RaisePropertyChanged("SelectedText");
            RaisePropertyChanged("SelectionStart");
            RaisePropertyChanged("SelectionLength");
        }