Align data from database to listbox

Question

I tried to align data in listbox using \t but did'nt works for a data that is long

using (SqlConnection myDatabaseConnection = new SqlConnection(myConnectionString.ConnectionString))
    {
        myDatabaseConnection.Open();
        using (SqlCommand SqlCommand = new SqlCommand("Select ID, LastName from Employee", myDatabaseConnection))
        {
            SqlDataReader dr = SqlCommand.ExecuteReader();
            while (dr.Read())
            {
                listBox1.Items.Add((string)dr["LastName"] + "\t\t" + dr["ID"]);
            }
        }
    }

Result:

_{(source: akamaihd.net)}

How to align the data like this in listbox?

_{(source: akamaihd.net)}

I have to used listbox instead of using datagridview or listview for some purposes.

Answer 1

You should know the exact max length of the last name (designed in your table) and apply the appropriate length, such as + 10. Here I use 50 (for the max length) for demonstrative purpose.

using (SqlConnection myDatabaseConnection = new SqlConnection(myConnectionString.ConnectionString))
{
    myDatabaseConnection.Open();
    using (SqlCommand SqlCommand = new SqlCommand("Select ID, LastName from Employee", myDatabaseConnection))
    {
        SqlDataReader dr = SqlCommand.ExecuteReader();
        while (dr.Read())
        {
            listBox1.Items.Add(dr["LastName"].ToString().PadRight(50) + dr["ID"]);
        }
    }
}

Sorry, I didn't test it, but as rene said, using Fixed width font would help. However I have another solution using DrawItem, this is incomplete but can get you started, to complete it I think we need more test and custom code:

using (SqlConnection myDatabaseConnection = new SqlConnection(myConnectionString.ConnectionString))
{
    myDatabaseConnection.Open();
    using (SqlCommand SqlCommand = new SqlCommand("Select ID, LastName from Employee", myDatabaseConnection))
    {
        SqlDataReader dr = SqlCommand.ExecuteReader();
        while (dr.Read())
        {
            listBox1.Items.Add(string.Format("{0}\n{1}",dr["LastName"],dr["ID"]));
        }
    }
}
//DrawItem
//first, set listBox1.DrawMode = DrawMode.OwnerDrawFixed;
private void listBox1_DrawItem(object sender, DrawItemEventArgs e)
    {            
        e.DrawBackground();
        string[] ss = listBox1.Items[e.Index].ToString().Split(new char[]{'\n'});
        Rectangle rect = new Rectangle(e.Bounds.Left, e.Bounds.Top, (int) (e.Bounds.Width * 0.5), e.Bounds.Height);
        Rectangle rect2 = new Rectangle((int)(e.Bounds.Width * 0.5), e.Bounds.Top, e.Bounds.Width - (int)(e.Bounds.Width * 0.5), e.Bounds.Height);
        StringFormat sf = new StringFormat() { Alignment = StringAlignment.Near, LineAlignment = StringAlignment.Center };
        e.Graphics.DrawString(ss[0], listBox1.Font, new SolidBrush(listBox1.ForeColor), rect,sf);
        e.Graphics.DrawString(ss[1], listBox1.Font, new SolidBrush(listBox1.ForeColor), rect2, sf);
    } 

As I said, that's just for you to get started, not complete and perfect code to use. For example, I used 50% width of list box for drawing the first 'virtual column' and the remaining for the second 'virtual column'. So that's your part to customize it.

Answer 2

you have more flexibility with your columns if you use a ListView like so:

// initialize once (use the designer)
ListView lv = new ListView
    {
        Top = 200, 
        Left = 10, 
        Width = 300, 
        Height = 300,
        View = View.Details // this does the trick for multiple columns
    };
// add two Columns in the designer
lv.Columns.Add(
    new ColumnHeader {Name = "ch1", Text = "Lastname"});
lv.Columns.Add(
    new ColumnHeader { Name = "ch2", Text = "Id" });

            this.Controls.Add(lv);

// once you have that you can add ListViewItems to the view
using (var myDatabaseConnection = new SqlConnection(myConnectionString.ConnectionString))
{
    myDatabaseConnection.Open();
    using (var SqlCommand = new SqlCommand("Select ID, LastName from Employee", myDatabaseConnection))
    {
        var dr = SqlCommand.ExecuteReader();
        while (dr.Read())
        {
            // listBox1.Items.Add((string)dr["LastName"] + "\t\t" + dr["ID"]);
            lv.Items.Add(new ListViewItem(new string[] { dr["LastName"], dr["ID"] }));
        }
    }
}