WPF: Execute a Command Binding in a search field when pressing the enter button

Question

I have a search field in my WPF app with a search button that contains a command binding. This works great, but how can i use the same command binding for the text field when pressing enter on the keyboard? The examples I have seen are all using the Code behind with a KeyDown Event Handler. Is there a smart way to make this work only with xaml and command binding?

score 25 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 19 '09 at 09:07

25

You can use the IsDefault property of the button:

    <Button Command="SearchCommand" IsDefault="{Binding ElementName=SearchTextBox,
                                               Path=IsKeyboardFocused}">
         Search!
   </Button>

answered Oct 19 '09 at 09:07

Dabblernl

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Thanks, easy and clean. Works great! – code-zoop Oct 19 '09 at 09:47
What if you don't have a button? – ihake Feb 25 '14 at 17:38
This works the first time I press enter. I continue editing the search and press enter and it doesn't perform the search. I have to manually click back on the search control to get it to perform another search when I press enter. – Brandon Dec 08 '14 at 22:00
Nevermind--I'm an idiot. I forgot to add UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged on the TextBox :D – Brandon Dec 08 '14 at 22:04

Greg Sansom · Answer 2 · 2012-01-26T04:06:50.793

24

The accepted answer only works if you already have a button bound to the command.

To avoid this limitation, use TextBox.InputBindings:

<TextBox.InputBindings>
    <KeyBinding Key="Enter" Command="{Binding Path=MyCommand}"></KeyBinding>
</TextBox.InputBindings>

edited Jan 26 '12 at 04:06

answered Jan 26 '12 at 03:30

Greg Sansom

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I additionally had to change the UpdateSourceTrigger on my TextBox.Text binding to get this to work. For more details, check out [Capturing the Enter key in a TextBox](http://stackoverflow.com/a/5556526/744014). – Scott Nov 17 '12 at 13:24
1

This should be the accepted answer. It works great is clean where as the accepted answer is a bit of a hack. – kenjara Feb 02 '18 at 15:47

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 19 '09 at 08:59

The Prism Reference Implementation contains an implementation of exactly what you are after.

The basics steps are:

Create a static class EnterKey
Registered attached property "Command" of type ICommand on EnterKey
Registered attached property "EnterKeyCommandBehavior" of type EnterKeyCommandBehavior on EnterKey
When the value of "Command" changes, attach "EnterKeyCommandBehavior" to the control as a new instance of EnterKeyCommandBehavior, and assign the ICommand to the behavior's Command property.
- If the behavior is already attached, use the existing instance
EnterKeyCommandBehavior accepts a UIElement in the constructor and attaches to the PreviewKeyDown (or KeyDown if you want to stay Silverlight compatible).
In the event handler, if the key is Enter, execute the ICommand (if CanExecute is true).

This enables you to use the behavior like so:

<TextBox prefix:EnterKey.Command="{Binding Path=SearchCommand}" />

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 02 '21 at 09:37

2

<TextBox Text="{Binding SerachString, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}">
    <TextBox.InputBindings>
        <KeyBinding Command="{Binding SearchCommand}" Key="Enter" />
    </TextBox.InputBindings>
</TextBox>

this should work fine.100%

answered Mar 02 '21 at 09:37

jithu

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score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 08 '13 at 08:39

I've tried the TextBox.Inputs solution of Greg Samson , but got an error saying that I could only bind to textinputs through a dependency property. In the end I've found the next solution for this.

Create a class called CommandReference which looks like this:

public class CommandReference : Freezable, ICommand
{
    public CommandReference()
    {
        //
    }

    public static readonly DependencyProperty CommandProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("Command", typeof(ICommand), typeof(CommandReference), new PropertyMetadata(new PropertyChangedCallback(OnCommandChanged)));

    public ICommand Command
    {
        get { return (ICommand)GetValue(CommandProperty); }
        set { SetValue(CommandProperty, value); }
    }

    #region ICommand Members

    public bool CanExecute(object parameter)
    {
        if (Command != null)
            return Command.CanExecute(parameter);
        return false;
    }

    public void Execute(object parameter)
    {
        Command.Execute(parameter);
    }

    public event EventHandler CanExecuteChanged;

    private static void OnCommandChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        CommandReference commandReference = d as CommandReference;
        ICommand oldCommand = e.OldValue as ICommand;
        ICommand newCommand = e.NewValue as ICommand;

        if (oldCommand != null)
        {
            oldCommand.CanExecuteChanged -= commandReference.CanExecuteChanged;
        }
        if (newCommand != null)
        {
            newCommand.CanExecuteChanged += commandReference.CanExecuteChanged;
        }
    }

    #endregion

    #region Freezable

    protected override Freezable CreateInstanceCore()
    {
        throw new NotImplementedException();
    }

    #endregion
}

In Xaml add this to the UserControl Resources:

<UserControl.Resources>
    <Base:CommandReference x:Key="SearchCommandRef" Command="{Binding Path = SomeCommand}"/>

The actual TextBox looks like this:

 <TextBox Text="{Binding Path=SomeText}">
                    <TextBox.InputBindings>
                        <KeyBinding Command="{StaticResource SearchCommandRef}" Key="Enter"/>
                    </TextBox.InputBindings>
                </TextBox>

I don't remember where I got this code from, but this site explains it as well;

http://www.netframeworkdev.com/windows-presentation-foundation-wpf/invoke-a-command-with-enter-key-after-typing-in-a-textbox-21909.shtml

WPF: Execute a Command Binding in a search field when pressing the enter button

5 Answers5