AutoComplete TextBox Control

Question

I want to have a textbox control that suggests and append values from a database in a Windows application with C# 2008 and LINQ.

I do it with a combobox but I can't do it with a textbox.

How do I do it?

Answer 1

To AutoComplete TextBox Control in C#.net windows application using 
wamp mysql database...

here is my code..

AutoComplete();

write this **AutoComplete();** text in form-load event..

private void Autocomplete()
    {
        try
        {
            MySqlConnection cn = new MySqlConnection("server=localhost;
database=databasename;user id=root;password=;charset=utf8;");
            cn.Open();
            MySqlCommand cmd = new MySqlCommand("SELECT distinct Column_Name
     FROM table_Name", cn);
            DataSet ds = new DataSet();
            MySqlDataAdapter da = new MySqlDataAdapter(cmd);
            da.Fill(ds, "table_Name");
            AutoCompleteStringCollection col = new   
            AutoCompleteStringCollection();
            int i = 0;
            for (i = 0; i <= ds.Tables[0].Rows.Count - 1; i++)
            {
                col.Add(ds.Tables[0].Rows[i]["Column_Name"].ToString());

            }
            textBox1.AutoCompleteSource = AutoCompleteSource.CustomSource;
            textBox1.AutoCompleteCustomSource = col;
            textBox1.AutoCompleteMode = AutoCompleteMode.Suggest;
            cn.Close();
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            MessageBox.Show(ex.Message, "Error", MessageBoxButtons.OK,
       MessageBoxIcon.Error);
        }
    }

Answer 2

You could attach to the KeyDown event and then query the database for that portion of the text that the user has already entered. For example, if the user enters "T", search for things that start with "T". Then, when they enter the next letter, for example "e", search for things in the table that start with "Te".

The available items could be displayed in a "floating" ListBox, for example. You would need to place the ListBox just beneath the TextBox so that they can see the entries available, then remove the ListBox when they're done typing.

Answer 3

of course it depends on how you implement it but perhaps this is a good start:

using System.Windows.Forms;

public class AutoCompleteTextBox : TextBox {

    private string[] database;//put here the strings of the candidates of autocomplete
    private bool changingText = false;

    protected override void OnTextChanged (EventArgs e) {
        if(!changingText && database != null) {
            //searching the first candidate
            string typed = this.Text.Substring(0,this.SelectionStart);
            string candidate = null;
            for(int i = 0; i < database.Length; i++)
                if(database[i].Substring(0,this.SelectionStart) == typed) {
                    candidate = database[i].Substring(this.SelectionStart,database[i].Length);
                    break;
                }
            if(candidate != null) {
                changingText = true;
                this.Text = typed+candidate;
                this.SelectionStart = typed.Length;
                this.SelectionLength = candidate.Length;
            }
        }
        else if(changingText)
            changingText = false;
        base.OnTextChanged(e);
    }

}

I'm not sure this is working very well, but I think the base of this code is good enough.