WPF: Get "wrapped" text out of a textbox

Question

Is there a way in WPF to get the text formatted as it display on the textbox when TextWrapping="Wrap"?

<TextBox   Width="200"
           TextWrapping="Wrap"                 
           VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto"
           HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Auto"  />

I've tried to use TextFormatter class, but it onty allow me to draw the text to a drawing context where i only need the text with line break included.

Answer 1

Here's how to get the complete text with apparent line breaks.

Note:

• Include the following classes from Advanced Text Formatting Example in your project:
  • CustomTextSource
  • FontRendering
  • GenericTextProperties
• There are some limitations which are mentioned in CustomTextSource class. However, I believe your requirements aren't impacted by those limitations.
• These are just examples. You may want to modify code as per your needs.
• The code still uses a hack (although a decent one) - InputTextBox.ViewportWidth. You may want to test if the final output is exactly as desired.

See: Advanced Text Formatting and Advanced Text Formatting Example

Sample Code
XAML:

<Window x:Class="TextFormatterForWrappedText.MainWindow"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
    <Grid>
        <TextBox Width="200"
            x:Name="InputTextBox"
            TextWrapping="Wrap"
            VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto"
            HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" Margin="23,12,280,241" />
        <TextBox x:Name="FormattedDisplayTextBox" Height="172"
                 HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top"
                 Margin="23,105,0,0" Width="438" AcceptsReturn="True"
                 TextWrapping="Wrap" />
        <Button HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top"
                Margin="257,12,0,0" Height="23" Content="Copy"
                Name="CopyButton" Width="129" Click="CopyButton_Click" />
    </Grid>
</Window>

Codebehind:

private void CopyButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    List<string> stringList = GetTextAsStringList();
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
    foreach (string s in stringList)
    {
        sb.Append(s);
        sb.Append("\r\n");
    }

    Clipboard.SetData(System.Windows.DataFormats.Text, sb.ToString());

    FormattedDisplayTextBox.Clear();
    FormattedDisplayTextBox.Text = sb.ToString();
}

private List<string> GetTextAsStringList()
{
    List<string> stringList = new List<string>();
    int pos = 0;
    string inputText = InputTextBox.Text;

    CustomTextSource store = new CustomTextSource();
    store.Text = inputText;
    store.FontRendering = new FontRendering(InputTextBox.FontSize,
                                            InputTextBox.TextAlignment,
                                            null,
                                            InputTextBox.Foreground,
                                            new Typeface(InputTextBox.FontFamily,
                                                InputTextBox.FontStyle,
                                                InputTextBox.FontWeight,
                                                InputTextBox.FontStretch));

    using (TextFormatter formatter = TextFormatter.Create())
    {
        while (pos < store.Text.Length)
        {
            using (TextLine line = formatter.FormatLine(store,
                                    pos,
                                    InputTextBox.ViewportWidth,
                                    new GenericTextParagraphProperties(
                                        store.FontRendering),
                                    null))
            {
                stringList.Add(inputText.Substring(pos, line.Length - 1));
                pos += line.Length;
            }
        }
    }

    return stringList;
}