The following controls provide feedback to the user. Like the controls that display data in the previous section, these controls are intended to give information to the user and not to interact with the user. The following table briefly describes these WPF controls.
CONTROL | PURPOSE |
Popup | Displays content in a window above another control. Usually you can use the Tooltip and ContextMenu controls instead of a Popup. (See example program UsePopup, available for download on the book’s website.) |
ProgressBar | Indicates the fraction of a long task that has been completed. If the task is performed synchronously, the user is left staring at the form while it completes. The ProgressBar lets the user know that the operation is not stuck. (See example program UseProgressBar, available for download on the book’s website.) |
StatusBar | Displays a container at the bottom of the form where you can place controls holding status information. Though you can place anything inside a StatusBar, this control is intended to hold summary status information, not tools. Generally, Menus, ComboBoxes, Buttons, Toolbars, and other controls that let the user manipulate the application do not belong in a StatusBar. (See example program UseStatusBar, available for download on the book’s website.) |
StatusBarItem1 | Holds the content for one StatusBar item. |
ToolTip | Displays a tooltip. To give a control a simple textual tooltip, set its Tooltip property. Use the Tooltip control to build more complex tooltips. For example, a Tooltip control might contain a StackPanel that holds other controls. (See example program UseToolTip, available for download on the book’s website.) |
1This control can hold only a single child.