Wpf Grid With Rowdefinitions And Columndefinitions Complete Guide

Introduction

A Grid element is one of the most fundamental and powerful layout controls in WPF. It divides an area into rows and columns that can be filled with other UI elements. Row and column sizes can be set in a variety of ways, including absolute sizes, relative sizes, and automatically sized based on content.

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Create a New WPF Project

1. Open Visual Studio.
2. Create a new WPF App (.NET Core) or WPF App (.NET Framework) project.
3. Name your project (e.g., WpfGridExample).

Step 2: Basic Grid Layout

Let's start with a simple example where we create a Grid with two rows and two columns.

<Window x:Class="WpfGridExample.MainWindow"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        Title="WPF Grid Example" Height="300" Width="400">
    <Grid>
        <Grid.RowDefinitions>
            <RowDefinition Height="*" />
            <RowDefinition Height="*" />
        </Grid.RowDefinitions>
        <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
            <ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
            <ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
        </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
        
        <TextBlock Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" Text="Top Left" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" Background="LightGray"/>
        <TextBlock Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="1" Text="Top Right" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" Background="LightGreen"/>
        <TextBlock Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="0" Text="Bottom Left" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" Background="LightBlue"/>
        <TextBlock Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="1" Text="Bottom Right" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" Background="LightYellow"/>
    </Grid>
</Window>

Explanations:

• <Grid.RowDefinitions> and <Grid.ColumnDefinitions> define the rows and columns of the Grid.
• <RowDefinition Height="*"/> and <ColumnDefinition Width="*"/> create rows and columns that take up an equal portion of the available space.
• Grid.Row and Grid.Column attached properties specify which row and column a child element resides in.
• TextBlock elements are placed in each cell of the grid. They are centered and have different background colors for visual distinction.

Step 3: Advanced Grid Layout with Different Row and Column Sizes

Let's make a more complex grid where we have one tall row (3 times the height of the other) and different column widths.

<Window x:Class="WpfGridExample.MainWindow"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        Title="WPF Grid Example" Height="300" Width="400">
    <Grid>
        <Grid.RowDefinitions>
            <RowDefinition Height="*"/>
            <RowDefinition Height="3*"/> <!-- This row will be 3 times taller -->
        </Grid.RowDefinitions>
        <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
            <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/> <!-- Auto adjusts to content size -->
            <ColumnDefinition Width="2*"/> <!-- This column is twice as wide -->
        </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>

        <TextBlock Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" Text="Header" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" Background="DarkGray" Foreground="White"/>
        <TextBlock Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="1" Text="Option1" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" Background="DarkGreen" Foreground="White"/>
        
        <TextBlock Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="0" Text="Details" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" Background="DarkBlue" Foreground="White"/>
        <TextBlock Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="1" Text="More Details" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" Background="DarkYellow" Foreground="Black"/>
    </Grid>
</Window>

Explanations:

• The first row (Height="*") takes up one part of the available height.
• The second row (Height="3*") takes up three parts of the available height, making it three times taller than the first row.
• The first column (Width="Auto") adjusts its width based on its content.
• The second column (Width="2*") takes up twice the width of the first column.

Step 4: Integrate Other Controls

You can also integrate other controls into your grid. Below is an example with a Button, TextBox, and ListBox.

<Window x:Class="WpfGridExample.MainWindow"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        Title="WPF Grid Example" Height="300" Width="400">
    <Grid>
        <Grid.RowDefinitions>
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
            <RowDefinition Height="*"/>
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
        </Grid.RowDefinitions>
        <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
            <ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
        </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
        
        <TextBox Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" PlaceholderText="Enter text here..." Margin="5"/>
        
        <ListBox Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="0" Margin="5">
            <ListBoxItem Content="Item 1"/>
            <ListBoxItem Content="Item 2"/>
            <ListBoxItem Content="Item 3"/>
        </ListBox>
        
        <Button Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="0" Content="Submit" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" Margin="5"/>
    </Grid>
</Window>

Explanations:

• The first row (Height="Auto") is autosized to fit the TextBox.
• The second row (Height="*") uses the remaining space for the ListBox.
• The third row (Height="Auto") is autosized to fit the Button.

Summary

In WPF, Grid with RowDefinitions and ColumnDefinitions provides a powerful and flexible way to arrange elements in both rows and columns. You can adjust the heights and widths according to your needs. The examples above demonstrate how to create simple layouts as well as more complex ones with various control types.