text box format

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John - 27 Jul 2006 19:48 GMT

What method is considered the best way to ensure users enter the correct
data in a text box if you want an integer or decimal?

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Herfried K. Wagner [MVP] - 27 Jul 2006 22:55 GMT

"John" <Johna@nospam.nospam> schrieb:

> What method is considered the best way to ensure users enter the correct
> data in a text box if you want an integer or decimal?

Check out NumericUpDown and MaskedTextBox (.NET 2.0) controls.

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M S Herfried K. Wagner
M V P <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/>
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Linda Liu [MSFT] - 28 Jul 2006 09:02 GMT

Hi John,

Thank you for posting.

I agree with what Herfried K. Wagner said. .NET 2.0 has provided
MaskedTextBox for inputing some specific data format.

You could drag&drop MaskedTextBox onto your form, select it and click the
button at the Mask part in Properties window. In the Input Mask window,
select <Custom> item in the listbox and input "999999999" in the Mask
textbox. Press Ok.

Hope this helps.
If you have anything unclear, please feel free to let me know.

Sincerely,
Linda Liu
Microsoft Online Community Support

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John - 28 Jul 2006 11:34 GMT

It seems alright except if I want the user to be able to enter a decimal the
only way I found to do it is I put it in for them. I suspect they will not
like being forced to enter zeros or such instead of just typing he number.
Is there a mask that doesn't force the decimal into a position but allows
them to use one?

> Hi John,
>
[quoted text clipped - 35 lines]
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
> rights.

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Linda Liu [MSFT] - 28 Jul 2006 12:25 GMT

Hi John,

I think you could add a "." in the Mask string of the MaskedTextBox in
order to input a decimal in the MaskedTextBox.

For example, you may set the Mask property of the MaskedTextBox to
"999999999.999999999". Thus, when the program is running, there's a decimal
in the MaskedTextBox.

Hope this helps.
If you have any concerns, please feel free to let me know.

Sincerely,
Linda Liu
Microsoft Online Community Support

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John - 31 Jul 2006 12:23 GMT

No it doen't work. it puts a decimal in one particular location. So if the
user wants to type "24.5625" and I use the mask you gave the user gets
something like 245625___._________
Am I missing something?

> Hi John,
>
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> Linda Liu
> Microsoft Online Community Support

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Linda Liu [MSFT] - 31 Jul 2006 13:14 GMT

Hi John,

Yes, you are right. Using MaskedTextBox, we could only put a decimal or
something else in one particular location. In this case, it's up to the
users to input the numbers correctly.

If you don't like this solution, I think you could derive a new class from
TextBox and override the OnKeyPress method in the new class. The following
is a sample for you.

class MyTextBox:TextBox
{
protected override void OnKeyPress(KeyPressEventArgs e)
{

if ((e.KeyChar >= '0' && e.KeyChar <= '9') || e.KeyChar ==
'.'|| e.KeyChar == '\b')
{
if (e.KeyChar != '.')
{
base.OnKeyPress(e);
}
else
{
if (this.Text.IndexOf('.') < 0)
{
base.OnKeyPress(e);
}
else
{
e.Handled = true;
}
}
}
else
{
e.Handled = true;
}

}
}

You should add this MyTextBox onto the form. When the program is running,
users could only input numbers and one decimal into the MyTextBox.

Hope this helps.
If you have anything unclear, please feel free to tell me.

Sincerely,
Linda Liu
Microsoft Online Community Support

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text box format

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