Interpret enter as tab WPF

Question

I want to interpret Enter key as Tab key in whole my WPF application, that is, everywhere in my application when user press Enter I want to focus the next focusable control,except when button is focused. Is there any way to do that in application life circle? Can anyone give me an example?
Thanks a lot!

Answer 1

You can use my EnterKeyTraversal attached property code if you like. Add it to the top-level container on a WPF window and everything inside will treat enter as tab:

<StackPanel my:EnterKeyTraversal.IsEnabled="True">
    ...
</StackPanel>

Answer 2

Based on Richard Aguirre's answer, which is better than the selected answer for ease of use, imho, you can make this more generic by simply changing the Grid to a UIElement.

To change it in whole project you need to do this

• In App.xaml.cs:

   protected override void OnStartup(StartupEventArgs e)
   {           
       EventManager.RegisterClassHandler(typeof(UIElement), UIElement.PreviewKeyDownEvent, new KeyEventHandler(Grid_PreviewKeyDown));
       base.OnStartup(e);
   }
  
   private void Grid_PreviewKeyDown(object sender, System.Windows.Input.KeyEventArgs e)
   {
       var uie = e.OriginalSource as UIElement;
  
       if (e.Key == Key.Enter)
       {
           e.Handled = true;
           uie.MoveFocus(
           new TraversalRequest(
           FocusNavigationDirection.Next));
       }
   }
  

• Compile. And done it. Now you can use enter like tab. Note: This work for elements in the grid

Answer 3

I got around woodyiii's issue by adding a FrameworkElement.Tag (whose value is IgnoreEnterKeyTraversal) to certain elements (buttons, comboboxes, or anything I want to ignore the enter key traversal) in my XAML. I then looked for this tag & value in the attached property. Like so:

    if (e.Key == Key.Enter)
    {
        if (ue.Tag != null && ue.Tag.ToString() == "IgnoreEnterKeyTraversal")
        {
            //ignore
        }
        else
        {
            e.Handled = true;
            ue.MoveFocus(new TraversalRequest(FocusNavigationDirection.Next));
        }
    }