getting caret

[stuckhere90]

Hi All,

I am a C++ programmer moving to C#. In C++ we can get a caret (not to be confused with the cursor) if we want to. Is it possible to get a caret in C#. I am using it for a text editing program. Any suggestions welcome.

Thnaks.

[jmcilhinney]

When you say caret I assume you mean the insertion point in a TextBox or the like, as opposed to the mouse cursor. Have a look at the TextBoxBase.SelectionStart property.

[stuckhere80]

I am not using a text box at all, nor can I use one. Here is what I would like. The user moves the mouse in the client area of a form. If the user left clicks, then I place the caret there (ideally the caret would be blinking, like in Word) I can do a caret in C++. One would thing C# can to. If it can't, that is a significant drawback for people writing text stuff.

[SouthernCodeMonkey]

Greetings.

You will find the following win32 functions helpful:

namespace Example
{
	public sealed class NativeFunctions
	{
		private NativeFunctions(){}


		[System.Security.SuppressUnmanagedCodeSecurity]
		[DllImport("user32.dll")]
		internal static extern int CreateCarat(IntPtr hWnd, IntPtr hBitmap, int Width, int Height);

		[System.Security.SuppressUnmanagedCodeSecurity]
		[DllImport("user32.dll")]
		internal static extern int GetCaratBlinkTime();

		[System.Security.SuppressUnmanagedCodeSecurity]
		[DllImport("user32.dll")]
		internal static extern int HideCarat(IntPtr hWnd);

		[System.Security.SuppressUnmanagedCodeSecurity]
		[DllImport("user32.dll")]
		internal static extern int  SetCaretBlinkTime(int Milliseconds);

		[System.Security.SuppressUnmanagedCodeSecurity]
		[DllImport("user32.dll")]
		internal static int ShowCarat(IntPtr hWnd);
	}
}

This isn't portable, but it works.

Regards.