Adding placeholder text to textbox

Question

Wouldn't that just be something like this:

Textbox myTxtbx = new Textbox();
myTxtbx.Text = "Enter text here...";

myTxtbx.GotFocus += GotFocus.EventHandle(RemoveText);
myTxtbx.LostFocus += LostFocus.EventHandle(AddText);

public void RemoveText(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (myTxtbx.Text == "Enter text here...") 
    {
     myTxtbx.Text = "";
    }
}

public void AddText(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(myTxtbx.Text))
        myTxtbx.Text = "Enter text here...";
}

Thats just pseudocode but the concept is there.

You can use this, it's working for me and is extremely simple solution.

    <Style x:Key="placeHolder" TargetType="{x:Type TextBox}" BasedOn="{StaticResource {x:Type TextBox}}">
        <Setter Property="Template">
            <Setter.Value>
                <ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type TextBox}">
                    <Grid>
                        <TextBox Text="{Binding Path=Text,
                                                RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}, 
                                                Mode=TwoWay,
                                                UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}"
                                 x:Name="textSource" 
                                 Background="Transparent" 
                                 Panel.ZIndex="2" />
                        <TextBox Text="{TemplateBinding Tag}" Background="{TemplateBinding Background}" Panel.ZIndex="1">
                            <TextBox.Style>
                                <Style TargetType="{x:Type TextBox}">
                                    <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="Transparent"/>
                                    <Style.Triggers>
                                        <DataTrigger Binding="{Binding Path=Text, Source={x:Reference textSource}}" Value="">
                                            <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="LightGray"/>
                                        </DataTrigger>
                                    </Style.Triggers>
                                </Style>
                            </TextBox.Style>
                        </TextBox>
                    </Grid>
                </ControlTemplate>
            </Setter.Value>
        </Setter>
    </Style>

Usage:

<TextBox Style="{StaticResource placeHolder}" Tag="Name of customer" Width="150" Height="24"/>

‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎

Instead of handling the focus enter and focus leave events in order to set and remove the placeholder text it is possible to use the Windows SendMessage function to send EM_SETCUEBANNER message to our textbox to do the work for us.

This can be done with two easy steps. First we need to expose the Windows SendMessage function.

private const int EM_SETCUEBANNER = 0x1501;

[DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto)]
private static extern Int32 SendMessage(IntPtr hWnd, int msg, int wParam, [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)]string lParam);

Then simply call the method with the handle of our textbox, EM_SETCUEBANNER’s value and the text we want to set.

SendMessage(textBox1.Handle, EM_SETCUEBANNER, 0, "Username");
SendMessage(textBox2.Handle, EM_SETCUEBANNER, 0, "Password");

Reference: Set placeholder text for textbox (cue text)

Add this class your project and build your solution. Click to Toolbox on visual studio you will see a new textbox component named PlaceholderTextBox. Delete your current textbox on form designe and replace with PlaceHolderTextBox.

PlaceHolderTextBox has a property PlaceHolderText. Set any text you want and have nice day :)

public class PlaceHolderTextBox : TextBox
{

    bool isPlaceHolder = true;
    string _placeHolderText;
    public string PlaceHolderText
    {
        get { return _placeHolderText; }
        set
        {
            _placeHolderText = value;
            setPlaceholder();
        }
    }

    public new string Text
    {
        get => isPlaceHolder ? string.Empty : base.Text;
        set => base.Text = value;
    }

    //when the control loses focus, the placeholder is shown
    private void setPlaceholder()
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(base.Text))
        {
            base.Text = PlaceHolderText;
            this.ForeColor = Color.Gray;
            this.Font = new Font(this.Font, FontStyle.Italic);
            isPlaceHolder = true;
        }
    }

    //when the control is focused, the placeholder is removed
    private void removePlaceHolder()
    {

        if (isPlaceHolder)
        {
            base.Text = "";
            this.ForeColor = System.Drawing.SystemColors.WindowText;
            this.Font = new Font(this.Font, FontStyle.Regular);
            isPlaceHolder = false;
        }
    }
    public PlaceHolderTextBox()
    {
        GotFocus += removePlaceHolder;
        LostFocus += setPlaceholder;
    }

    private void setPlaceholder(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        setPlaceholder();
    }

    private void removePlaceHolder(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        removePlaceHolder();
    }
}

This is not my code, but I use it a lot and it works perfect... XAML ONLY

<TextBox x:Name="Textbox" Height="23" Margin="0,17,18.8,0" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="" VerticalAlignment="Top" HorizontalAlignment="Right" ></TextBox>

<TextBlock x:Name="Placeholder" IsHitTestVisible="False" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="Placeholder Text" VerticalAlignment="Top" Margin="0,20,298.8,0" Foreground="DarkGray" HorizontalAlignment="Right" Width="214">
  <TextBlock.Style>
    <Style TargetType="{x:Type TextBlock}">
      <Setter Property="Visibility" Value="Collapsed"/>
      <Style.Triggers>
        <DataTrigger Binding="{Binding Text, ElementName=Textbox}" Value="">
          <Setter Property="Visibility" Value="Visible"/>
        </DataTrigger>
      </Style.Triggers>
    </Style>
  </TextBlock.Style>
</TextBlock>

Attached properties to the rescue:

public static class TextboxExtensions
{
    public static readonly DependencyProperty PlaceholderProperty = 
        DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached(
            "Placeholder", 
            typeof(string), 
            typeof(TextboxExtensions), 
            new PropertyMetadata(default(string), propertyChangedCallback: PlaceholderChanged)
            );

    private static void PlaceholderChanged(DependencyObject dependencyObject, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs args)
    {
        var tb = dependencyObject as TextBox;

        if (tb == null)
            return;

        tb.LostFocus -= OnLostFocus;
        tb.GotFocus -= OnGotFocus;

        if (args.NewValue != null)
        {
            tb.GotFocus += OnGotFocus;
            tb.LostFocus += OnLostFocus;
        }

        SetPlaceholder(dependencyObject, args.NewValue as string);

        if (!tb.IsFocused)
            ShowPlaceholder(tb);
    }

    private static void OnLostFocus(object sender, RoutedEventArgs routedEventArgs)
    {
        ShowPlaceholder(sender as TextBox);
    }

    private static void OnGotFocus(object sender, RoutedEventArgs routedEventArgs)
    {
        HidePlaceholder(sender as TextBox);
    }

    [AttachedPropertyBrowsableForType(typeof(TextBox))]
    public static void SetPlaceholder(DependencyObject element, string value)
    {
        element.SetValue(PlaceholderProperty, value);
    }

    [AttachedPropertyBrowsableForType(typeof(TextBox))]
    public static string GetPlaceholder(DependencyObject element)
    {
        return (string)element.GetValue(PlaceholderProperty);
    }

    private static void ShowPlaceholder(TextBox textBox)
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(textBox.Text))
        {
            textBox.Text = GetPlaceholder(textBox);
        }
    }

    private static void HidePlaceholder(TextBox textBox)
    {
        string placeholderText = GetPlaceholder(textBox);

        if (textBox.Text == placeholderText)
            textBox.Text = string.Empty;
    }
}

Usage:

<TextBox Text="hi" local:TextboxExtensions.Placeholder="Hello there"></TextBox>

While using the EM_SETCUEBANNER message is probably simplest, one thing I do not like is that the placeholder text disappears when the control gets focus. That's a pet peeve of mine when I'm filling out forms. I have to click off of it to remember what the field is for.

So here is another solution for WinForms. It overlays a Label on top of the control, which disappears only when the user starts typing.

It's certainly not bulletproof. It accepts any Control, but I've only tested with a TextBox. It may need modification to work with some controls. The method returns the Label control in case you need to modify it a bit in a specific case, but that may never be needed.

Use it like this:

SetPlaceholder(txtSearch, "Type what you're searching for");

Here is the method:

/// <summary>
/// Sets placeholder text on a control (may not work for some controls)
/// </summary>
/// <param name="control">The control to set the placeholder on</param>
/// <param name="text">The text to display as the placeholder</param>
/// <returns>The newly-created placeholder Label</returns>
public static Label SetPlaceholder(Control control, string text) {
    var placeholder = new Label {
        Text = text,
        Font = control.Font,
        ForeColor = Color.Gray,
        BackColor = Color.Transparent,
        Cursor = Cursors.IBeam,
        Margin = Padding.Empty,

        //get rid of the left margin that all labels have
        FlatStyle = FlatStyle.System,
        AutoSize = false,

        //Leave 1px on the left so we can see the blinking cursor
        Size = new Size(control.Size.Width - 1, control.Size.Height),
        Location = new Point(control.Location.X + 1, control.Location.Y)
    };

    //when clicking on the label, pass focus to the control
    placeholder.Click += (sender, args) => { control.Focus(); };

    //disappear when the user starts typing
    control.TextChanged += (sender, args) => {
        placeholder.Visible = string.IsNullOrEmpty(control.Text);
    };

    //stay the same size/location as the control
    EventHandler updateSize = (sender, args) => {
        placeholder.Location = new Point(control.Location.X + 1, control.Location.Y);
        placeholder.Size = new Size(control.Size.Width - 1, control.Size.Height);
    };

    control.SizeChanged += updateSize;
    control.LocationChanged += updateSize;

    control.Parent.Controls.Add(placeholder);
    placeholder.BringToFront();

    return placeholder;
}