RichTextBox Winforms.NET2.0 +

Question

I extended the RichTextBox control in VS2008 using C # (adding printer support and URL links). I have most of the functionality that I need, but the control is not so good. I do not know how to change the mouse cursor for image processing. Bullets go out of style with size and color. I need this for winforms, not asp.net or wpf. I prefer rtf to hysml wysiwyg editors.

Most richtextbox substitutes are either too old .NET 1.0 / 1.1, too simple, or too complex and expensive.

I use Infragistics management libraries, and their close control over richtextbox does not quite provide all the necessary functionality. They provide spell checking controls that work with both their text controls and the std winforms and richtextbox text boxes. It will work with any control that implements the IProvideTextBox or ISupportSpellChecking interfaces. Unfortunately, most richtextbox functional extensions provide their own add-on controls that do not support IProvideTextBox or ISupportSpellChecking. I want to list the 1st dictionary for users with my application, which is not multiple, which needs to be saved in some way in synchronization.

Another thing is that richtextbox comes as unpainted control. You need to add your own menu controls and connect yourself. Most costly replication provides a ready-made toolbar. This is good, but if you develop a consistent look for all applications that need to drop vendor toolbars, this is a difficult task, as you now have this odd set of menu buttons that look and behave differently with the rest of my user interface . In addition, I use the application stylist to protect my applications. Third-party menu controls are unlikely to match this style.

Can anyone suggest a reasonable RichTextBox control that I could use that would not cost Earth, works in winforms, supports RTF, and has the right mouse over transitions for grips to determine image size and with reliable bullet support.

My current option reduces my efforts and eliminates support for functions that just don't cut it, but still leave me something to use.

Answer 1

We use the DevExpress Rich Text Editor , we are very satisfied. The price is low and the support is incredible.

The editor is also embedded inside its grid if you want to buy the whole package.

At adorner, do you mean how the Office 2007 toolbar that pops up on selected text?

Answer 2

While I don't have much experience with RichTextBox es, I have had great success with the DevExpress management pack in the past (much, much better than Infragistics, IMHO). I also know that over the past few months they have released a new RTF editor, so I would definitely look at it.

Answer 3

I use ScintillaNet , but it is also somehow (very) complex.

Answer 4

You can always try Microsoft Inkedit Control if you have an OS that supports it (I had problems with 64-bit WS2008 and Windows XP, but everything else was fine).

InkEdit inherits a RichTextBox so you can:

  private System.Windows.Forms.RichTextBox richTextBox3; try { this.richTextBox3 = new Microsoft.Ink.InkEdit(); Microsoft.Ink.InkEdit ie = (Microsoft.Ink.InkEdit)richTextBox3; // disable tablet-style ink mode ie.InkMode = Microsoft.Ink.InkMode.Disabled; } catch { \\ in case platform does not support inkedit control this.richTextBox3 = new RichTextBox(); } 

You will need to add a link to the Microsoft.Ink.dll file, which (on my machine) is located at:

C: \ Program Files \ Reference Assemblies \ Microsoft \ Tablet PC

If you do not want to use these ink ink controls, there are probably no significant benefits in terms of features. But I noticed that loading text is much faster for long files (10x +) than the previous RichTextBox, and also seems to have smoother scrolling.

It does not seem to be registered, but Visual Studio 2010 B1 also has an updated RichTextBox control.