How to Autocomplete TextBox
Autocomplete TextBox
From the version Visual Studio 2005, some of the controls support Autocomplete feature including the TextBox controls. The properties like AutoCompleteCustomSource, AutoCompleteMode and AutoCompleteSource to perform a TextBox that automatically completes user input strings by comparing the prefix letters being entered to the prefixes of all strings in a data source.
AutoCompleteCustomSource is helpful for TextBox controls in which string sources like URLs, addresses etc. will be frequently entered.
AutoCompleteCustomSource property is perform to set the custom list of values.
AutoCompleteMode property is perform to set how the auto-complete candidates are displayed.
C# Autocomplete TextBox
The following C# program add some data values to AutoCompleteStringCollection and perform as an Autocomplete TextBox
using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace WindowsFormsApplication1
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
textBox1.AutoCompleteMode = AutoCompleteMode.Suggest;
textBox1.AutoCompleteSource = AutoCompleteSource.CustomSource;
AutoCompleteStringCollection DataCollection = new AutoCompleteStringCollection();
addItems(DataCollection);
textBox1.AutoCompleteCustomSource = DataCollection;
}
public void addItems(AutoCompleteStringCollection col)
{
col.Add("Abel");
col.Add("Bing");
col.Add("Catherine");
col.Add("Varghese");
col.Add("John");
col.Add("Kerry");
}
}
}
Autocomplete TextBox working with Database values C#
The following C# program connect to database and add Dataset values to AutoCompleteStringCollection and perform as an Autocomplete TextBox.
using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace WindowsFormsApplication1
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
textBox1.AutoCompleteMode = AutoCompleteMode.Suggest;
textBox1.AutoCompleteSource = AutoCompleteSource.CustomSource;
AutoCompleteStringCollection DataCollection = new AutoCompleteStringCollection();
getData(DataCollection);
textBox1.AutoCompleteCustomSource = DataCollection;
}
private void getData(AutoCompleteStringCollection dataCollection)
{
string connetionString = null;
SqlConnection connection ;
SqlCommand command ;
SqlDataAdapter adapter = new SqlDataAdapter();
DataSet ds = new DataSet();
connetionString = "Data Source=.;Initial Catalog=pubs;User ID=sa;password=zen412";
string sql = "SELECT DISTINCT [fname] FROM [employee]";
connection = new SqlConnection(connetionString);
try
{
connection.Open();
command = new SqlCommand(sql, connection);
adapter.SelectCommand = command;
adapter.Fill(ds);
adapter.Dispose();
command.Dispose();
connection.Close();
foreach (DataRow row in ds.Tables[0].Rows)
{
dataCollection.Add(row[0].ToString());
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show("Can not open connection ! ");
}
}
}
}
VB.Net Autocomplete TextBox
The following VB.Net program add some string values to AutoCompleteStringCollection and display as Autocomplete TextBox while entering text.
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
TextBox1.AutoCompleteMode = AutoCompleteMode.Suggest
TextBox1.AutoCompleteSource = AutoCompleteSource.CustomSource
Dim DataCollection As New AutoCompleteStringCollection()
addItems(DataCollection)
TextBox1.AutoCompleteCustomSource = DataCollection
End Sub
Public Sub addItems(ByVal col As AutoCompleteStringCollection)
col.Add("Abel")
col.Add("Bing")
col.Add("Catherine")
col.Add("Varghese")
col.Add("John")
col.Add("Kerry")
End Sub
End Class
Autocomplete TextBox working with Database values VB.Net 
The following VB.Net program connect to database and add Dataset values to AutoCompleteStringCollection and display as an Autocomplete TextBox while entering values to TextBox control.
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
TextBox1.AutoCompleteMode = AutoCompleteMode.Suggest
TextBox1.AutoCompleteSource = AutoCompleteSource.CustomSource
Dim DataCollection As New AutoCompleteStringCollection()
getData(DataCollection)
TextBox1.AutoCompleteCustomSource = DataCollection
End Sub
Private Sub getData(ByVal dataCollection As AutoCompleteStringCollection)
Dim connetionString As String = Nothing
Dim connection As SqlConnection
Dim command As SqlCommand
Dim adapter As New SqlDataAdapter()
Dim ds As New DataSet()
connetionString = "Data Source=.;Initial Catalog=pubs;User ID=sa;password=zen412"
Dim sql As String = "SELECT DISTINCT [fname] FROM [employee]"
connection = New SqlConnection(connetionString)
Try
connection.Open()
command = New SqlCommand(sql, connection)
adapter.SelectCommand = command
adapter.Fill(ds)
adapter.Dispose()
command.Dispose()
connection.Close()
For Each row As DataRow In ds.Tables(0).Rows
dataCollection.Add(row(0).ToString())
Next
Catch ex As Exception
MessageBox.Show("Can not open connection ! ")
End Try
End Sub
End Class
TextBox
A TextBox control is used to enter text in an application. It has additional capabilities that is not found in the standard Windows text box control, including multiline editing and password character masking. More about.... C# TextBox and VB.Net TextBox
Create a Numeric Text Box
In many situations you need to enter only numeric values in the Textbox. Here you can see some useful techniques that accept only numbers in the textbox. More about.... Numeric Only Textbox
NEXT.....Autocomplete ComboBox