.Net: How get a TextBox scroll bar to stay at bottom to build a scrolling status display?

It seems like you are using a text box where you should be using a listbox. If you use a listbox you can set the view to the bottom any time you want by simply saying
ListBox1.SelectedItem = ListBox1.Items.Count - 1

Oh and to add items to a listbox you just say

ListBox1.Items.Add("Some event information")

The easiest way to do this in a textbox is to select the last character of text and then scroll to the selection.

I wrote up a quick sample that checked to see if the vertical scroll bar was active and then scrolled to the bottom using the following code:

        private void status_TextChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            if((status.ScrollBars & ScrollBars.Vertical) == ScrollBars.Vertical)
            {
                status.Select(status.Text.Length - 1, 1);
                status.ScrollToCaret();
            }
        }

I would continue to use a TextBox in this instance because you can select the text out of it for pasting into email and the like, especially if you're going to report any critial information that can be used for debugging the application at a later date - although if this is going to customers you may want to make it read-only so they can't change the messages on you  =)

oh, it should be noted that the check in the previous message works with both ScrollBars.Vertical set as well as ScrollBars.Both (tested).  very nice of them to allow us to use bit checks.

Yours!

Using ListBox may be better

private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    for (int i = 0; i < 1; i++)
    {
        textBox1.Text += "Hello \r\n";
    }
 
    textBox1.Focus();
    textBox1.ScrollToCaret();
    textBox1.Select(textBox1.TextLength, textBox1.TextLength);
}

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I'm not following your post trunghieubkit, you say that a listbox may be better, but the code shows a textbox, and has no reasons for why a listbox may be better?

if you could elaborate i would really appreciate it  =)

I mean if u use ListBox, it can be easy to manage,
ex: u can select a row and create an event with it and so on,
In yours, I think that's enough,

He was referring to my original post about list box's which are very simple to manage and are specifically designed to work with lists like you were trying to do. When you use a list box you can actually access each item you add by using listbox.items. You can get to the bottom by using listbox.selecteditem - listbox.items.count -1 and you add items by using listbox.items.add("text").

correction listbox.selecteditem = listbox.items.count - 1

The only issue i see with a list box is if you ever want to select information back out of the status message.  I suppose you could do a multi-select list box, i'm just curious what would happen if you tried to copy that to the clipboard?  Would you need to write code to handle the copy shortcut, or would it just know to take all of the elements you had selected and copy them to the clipboard?

When this type of mechanism is used for status messages you probably want to be able to easily copy those messages back out and send them to support staff if there is an issue with the software, and I don't know how easy that would be with a listbox - and no, I haven't coded up a little test to check it out =)

I would object.

I know my answer solves the immediate question, and attempts to address the larger one, and technofile's answers, although I don't agree with the larger question will work to solve the immediate issue as well.

LOL, not the way i saw that one going....