How can I change the font color in a groupbox when I disable the groupbox

Question

I am using a Groupbox in c# and at first, it is Enabled.

when I use Groupbox1.Enabled = false, it's fore color (and everythings' forecolor which is in it) change to default black. and even the command label1.Forecolor = Color.White does not work. (Which label1 is in the Groupbox1). when I Enable Groupbox, it fixes. But I want it to be White whether Groupbox1 is enabled or disabled.

Yes. It worked. First I placed Label in position I wanted and then Put Groupbox on it and send GroupBox to back. then it worked. because it's not a part of Groupbox and it does not disable with it. Thank you. But I like to find a way not to do this. because I put label to put a name for Groupbox and I filled groupbox name by "". but I prefered not to use a label just for putting on top of a groupbox and I liked to use filed of "Name" of Groupbox. Anyway, It worked. Thanks. — Mohammad, Jan 12 '16 at 13:13
One other way to do that is to use the cursor keys to move a control instead of the mouse. — TaW, Jan 12 '16 at 13:15
I know. But when You put an object into a Groupbox, You should bring it out first. And split it from Groupbox. then do the work you said. Thanks. — Mohammad, Jan 12 '16 at 13:18

Vasilievski · Answer 1 · 2016-01-12T12:53:54.293

1

In case of WPF, put this in your XAML resources :

 <Style TargetType="GroupBox" x:Key="NameOfYourStyle">
        <Style.Triggers>
            <Trigger Property="IsEnabled" Value="False">
                <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="White"/>
            </Trigger>
        </Style.Triggers>
    </Style>

Apply the style to your GroupBox and the job will be done.

<GroupBox Style="{StaticResource NameOfYOurStyle}"/>

Dimitri

edited Jan 12 '16 at 12:53

answered Jan 12 '16 at 12:47

Vasilievski

773
6
13

Thanks. I am using Windows Form. – Mohammad Jan 12 '16 at 12:55

György Kőszeg · Answer 2 · 2016-01-12T13:46:09.840

For some reason the fore color of the disabled controls cannot be set in the WinForms world. Instead, the disabled fore color is calculated from the BackColor

From the Label.OnPaint (by Reflector):

if (base.Enabled)
{
    TextRenderer.DrawText(e.Graphics, this.Text, this.Font, r, nearestColor, flags);
}
else
{
    Color foreColor = TextRenderer.DisabledTextColor(this.BackColor);
    TextRenderer.DrawText(e.Graphics, this.Text, this.Font, r, foreColor, flags);
}

However, you can implement a custom Label class like this:

public class MyLabel : Label
{
    private const ContentAlignment anyBottom = ContentAlignment.BottomRight | ContentAlignment.BottomCenter | ContentAlignment.BottomLeft;
    private const ContentAlignment anyMiddle = ContentAlignment.MiddleRight | ContentAlignment.MiddleCenter | ContentAlignment.MiddleLeft;
    private const ContentAlignment anyRight = ContentAlignment.BottomRight | ContentAlignment.MiddleRight | ContentAlignment.TopRight;
    private const ContentAlignment anyCenter = ContentAlignment.BottomCenter | ContentAlignment.MiddleCenter | ContentAlignment.TopCenter;

    protected override void OnPaint(PaintEventArgs e)
    {
        // drawing the label regularly
        if (Enabled)
        {
            base.OnPaint(e);
            return;
        }

        // drawing the background
        Rectangle backRect = new Rectangle(ClientRectangle.X - 1, ClientRectangle.Y - 1, ClientRectangle.Width + 1, ClientRectangle.Height + 1);
        if (BackColor != Color.Transparent)
        {
            using (Brush b = new SolidBrush(BackColor))
            {
                e.Graphics.FillRectangle(b, backRect);
            }
        }

        // drawing the image
        Image image = Image;
        if (image != null)
        {
            Region oldClip = e.Graphics.Clip;
            Rectangle imageBounds = CalcImageRenderBounds(image, ClientRectangle, RtlTranslateAlignment(ImageAlign));
            e.Graphics.IntersectClip(imageBounds);
            try
            {
                DrawImage(e.Graphics, image, ClientRectangle, RtlTranslateAlignment(ImageAlign));
            }
            finally
            {
                e.Graphics.Clip = oldClip;
            }
        }

        // drawing the Text
        Rectangle rect = new Rectangle(ClientRectangle.X + Padding.Left, ClientRectangle.Y + Padding.Top, ClientRectangle.Width - Padding.Horizontal, ClientRectangle.Height - Padding.Vertical);
        TextRenderer.DrawText(e.Graphics, Text, Font, rect, ForeColor, image == null ? BackColor : Color.Transparent, GetFormatFlags());
    }

    private TextFormatFlags GetFormatFlags()
    {
        TextFormatFlags flags = TextFormatFlags.GlyphOverhangPadding | TextFormatFlags.TextBoxControl | TextFormatFlags.WordBreak;

        bool isRtl = RightToLeft == RightToLeft.Yes;
        var contentAlignment = TextAlign;
        if (isRtl)
            contentAlignment = RtlTranslateContent(contentAlignment);

        if ((contentAlignment & anyBottom) != 0)
            flags |= TextFormatFlags.Bottom;
        else if ((contentAlignment & anyMiddle) != 0)
            flags |= TextFormatFlags.VerticalCenter;
        else
            flags |= TextFormatFlags.Top;

        if ((contentAlignment & anyRight) != 0)
            flags |= TextFormatFlags.Right;
        else if ((contentAlignment & anyCenter) != 0)
            flags |= TextFormatFlags.HorizontalCenter;
        else
            flags |= TextFormatFlags.Left;

        if (AutoEllipsis)
            flags |= TextFormatFlags.WordEllipsis | TextFormatFlags.EndEllipsis;
        if (isRtl)
            flags |= TextFormatFlags.RightToLeft;
        if (UseMnemonic)
            flags |= TextFormatFlags.NoPrefix;
        if (!ShowKeyboardCues)
            flags |= TextFormatFlags.HidePrefix;

        return flags;
    }
}

Thank you very much. I got my answer in your first sentence. I thought I was doing somewhere wrong. but I realized that it is not my fault and it's because of the logic of programming behind it. — Mohammad, Jan 12 '16 at 13:47

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 01 '17 at 11:42

I manually changed the Groupbox's foreColor which affected the Text properties, font like so:

Changed all occurrences of Enabled false with -

            grpGeneral.ForeColor = SystemColors.GrayText;
            grpGeneral.Enabled = false;

And changed all occurrences of Enabled true with -

            grpGeneral.Enabled = true;
            grpGeneral.ForeColor = SystemColors.ActiveCaptionText;

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 12 '16 at 13:58

Alternatively, you could simply not disable the GroupBox. Instead, create a method that disables all of it's children;

private void DisableChildren(Control control)
{
    foreach(var child in control.Controls.Cast<Control>().Where(child.GetType != typeof(Label) && child.GetType() != typeof(GroupBox)))
    {
        if(child.HasChildren)
        {
            DisableChildren(child);
        }
        child.Enabled = false;
    }
}

You can see I'm not disabling Labels or nested GroupBoxes.

Just use like this where you would normally disable the GroupBox;

DisableChildren(GroupBox1);

Just as a side note: The same thing happens with any container under Windows Forms (GroupBox, Panel, etc).

This is a Good Solution too. Thank you. – Mohammad Jan 12 '16 at 14:03 — Mohammad, Jan 12 '16 at 14:03

How can I change the font color in a groupbox when I disable the groupbox

4 Answers4