In wpf, how can I get the next control in the tab order

Question

I know how to set the focus to the next control in the tab order, but I don't actually want to change focus... I just want to get the next control in the tab order (perhaps get the previous, first and last ones too.) So... howyadodat?

M

Answer 1

PredictFocus(FocusNavigationDirection.Next) doesn't work as @Cameron said. My wrapper code based on @Randolpho 's post is now working well.

I tried several patterns and finally concluded I have to make sure container is actually one of the parents of e to avoid unexpected results.

/// <summary>
/// Get next tab order element.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="e">The element to get next tab order</param>
/// <param name="container">The container element owning 'e'. Make sure this is a container of 'e'.</param>
/// <param name="goDownOnly">True if search only itself and inside of 'container'; otherwise false.
/// If true and next tab order element is outside of 'container', result in null.</param>
/// <returns>Next tab order element or null if not found</returns>
public DependencyObject GetNextTab(DependencyObject e, DependencyObject container, bool goDownOnly)
{
    var navigation = typeof(FrameworkElement)
        .GetProperty("KeyboardNavigation", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Static)
        .GetValue(null);

    var method = navigation
        .GetType()
        .GetMethod("GetNextTab", BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance);

    return method.Invoke(navigation, new object[] { e, container, goDownOnly }) as DependencyObject;
}

Ex.)

var nextElement = GetNextTab(textbox1, window, false);