Highlighting labels Windows Forms

Question

Is there any way to make a label on a .NET Windows form to be highlightable to allow for the text to be copied. I have attempted to do this with a text box that was made to look like a label, but this results in a flashing cursor.

Answer 1

It's not unusual for selectable static text to show a flashing cursor. If you get the properties of any file in Windows Explorer and select any data in that window, you'll also see a flashing cursor.

Answer 2

I have done this previously, a couple of years back, I think I used this Win API call (but with a regular text box): http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/showtopic35107.htm

Answer 3

I think this is pretty darn close:

textBox.BackColor = System.Drawing.SystemColors.Control;
textBox.BorderStyle = System.Windows.Forms.BorderStyle.None;
textBox.ReadOnly = true;
textBox.Text = "This is selectable text";
textBox.MouseUp += new MouseEventHandler(
                          delegate(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
                             { HideCaret((sender as Control).Handle); });

[DllImport("User32.dll")]
static extern Boolean HideCaret(IntPtr hWnd);

And if you need it to span more than one line:

textBox.Multiline = true;

Answer 4

You have the HideCaret function in User32.dll. Use it like this:

[DllImport("User32.dll")]
static extern bool HideCaret(IntPtr hWnd);

private void textBox_Enter(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    HideCaret(textBox.Handle);
}

This will prevent the caret from showing when textbox has focus.

Answer 5

One thing to consider is to go ahead and use a label, but then programmatically copy content (the Label's text) into the clipboard using:

Clipboard.SetText(yourLabel.Text);