Texteditor FAQs

This FAQ applies to ICSharpCode.TextEditor (the editor used in SharpDevelop 3.x), not to AvalonEdit.

Q: How can I access the currently selected text?

A: For accessing the currently selected text you can either use the simple version or the more complicated version. The more complicated version has the advantage that it can easily be expanded to multiple selections, which will be possible in future.

Simple: (assuming textEditor1 is the name of your TextEditor control):

textEditor1.ActiveTextAreaControl.SelectionManager.SelectedText;

Improved:

// access the current text area.
TextAreaControl textAreaControl = textEditor1.ActiveTextAreaControl;

// Make sure something's selected
if (textAreaControl.SelectionManager.HasSomethingSelected)
{
    // Get the (first) selection
    ISelection currentSelection = textAreaControl.SelectionManager.SelectionCollection[0];

    // get the selected text.
    string selectedText = currentSelection.SelectedText;
}

For more information about ISelection and SelectionManager see About selections.

Q: How can I handle KeyPress, KeyUp, KeyDown events?

A: It's less complicated than it seems to be, you have just to find the right location to attach your Handlers to, an example:

public partial class MainForm : Form
{
    public MainForm()
    {
        //
        // The InitializeComponent() call is required for Windows Forms designer support.
        //
        InitializeComponent();
        
        this.textEditorControl1.ActiveTextAreaControl.TextArea.KeyDown += new KeyEventHandler(this.TextEditor_KeyDown);
        this.textEditorControl1.ActiveTextAreaControl.TextArea.KeyUp += new KeyEventHandler(this.TextEditor_KeyUp);
        this.textEditorControl1.ActiveTextAreaControl.TextArea.KeyPress += new KeyPressEventHandler(this.TextEditor_KeyPress);
    }
   
    private void TextEditor_KeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
    {
        System.Diagnostics.Debug.Print("KeyDown: " + e.KeyData.ToString());
    }
   
    private void TextEditor_KeyUp(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
    {
        System.Diagnostics.Debug.Print("KeyDown: " + e.Modifiers.ToString());
    }
   
    private void TextEditor_KeyPress(object sender, KeyPressEventArgs e)
    {
        System.Diagnostics.Debug.Print("KeyDown: " + e.KeyChar.ToString());
    }
}