Silverlight Watermarked AutoComplete Box

Question

Can someone direct me to an example or explanation that will help me either:

1. Extend the SilverLight AutoComplete Box to allow watermarks.
2. Extend the Watermark TextBox to allow AutoComplete functionality.

It strikes me that option 1 would be easiest, but I'm open.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Right off the bat, I'd say option 1 is good:

1) Create an attached property to hold the WatermarkText that you can use on AutoCompleteBox.

2) Create a control template for the AutoCompleteBox (simply copy the existing one using blend), but change the TextBox to a Watermark TextBox, and use a TemplateBinding to set the WatermarkTextBox's property to the value of the attached property. The control template should be applied in a style (for example WatermarkedAutoCompleteBoxStyle).

You should be good to go with that. Any time you want a watermarked autocomplete box, just set the attached property value and apply the style you defined.

If you need more in-depth explanation of one of those steps, just raise your hand and I'll try to find the time to create a sample.

Alternatively you can derive from AutoCompleteBox, add a DependencyProperty instead of an attached property and package the style in the Themes/generic.xaml file, but I usually do it once it works.

Answer 2

That was great! How can achieve watermark visibility= "True/False" on focus event? e.g.like Search box in IE8