WPF - WindowsFormsHost Example

WindowsFormsHost. Many controls based on Windows Forms exist. We can use any of them in a WPF program with the WindowsFormsHost control.

A compatibility feature. In a WindowsFormsHost we specify Windows Forms controls in XAML. Only one control can be nested in it.

To start, please add a "xmlns wf" attribute to the Window element. The "wf" part is just a namespace we specify—other names can instead be used.

Next Drag a WindowsFormsHost control to the application. Then try adding a Windows Forms control.

Detail All the classics are available—I used a Button. You must prefix the Windows Forms control's name with the "wf" namespace.

Info I specified several attributes of the Windows Forms Button. Windows Forms does not use XAML in most programs, but within WPF it does.

using System; using System.Windows; namespace WpfApplication19 { public partial class MainWindow : Window { public MainWindow() { InitializeComponent(); } private void Button_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) { // ... Cast as System.Windows.Forms.Button, not // System.Windows.Controls.Button. System.Windows.Forms.Button b = sender as System.Windows.Forms.Button; b.Text = "Clicked"; } } }

A discussion. Only one Windows Forms control can be nested within the WindowsFormsHost. But we can use a control such as TableLayoutPanel that can have sub-controls.

Detail In the example, I added a Click event handler. When the user clicks on the Button, the Button_Click event handler runs.

And The Text attribute of the Button is changed to the word "Clicked." This is not a WPF Button, which uses Content.

Button

A summary. Based on my experiment with WindowsFormsHost, it seems that avoiding this element is an ideal choice. Using it introduces a lot of extra complexity.

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This page was last updated on Sep 28, 2022 (edit).

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