WPF: Control that never causes children to NOT consume all available space

Question

Right now I have a problem with StackPanels inside DockPanels. Often the StackPanel is taller than necessary for the contents, so the contents are stretched.

Is there something I can place in or around the StackPanel to mean "don't cause children to consume all avaialble space".

Answer 1

AFAIK the contents of the StackPanel do not "stretch" to fill it, anymore than any other control. i.e. the stretch to fill will be controlled by the HorizontalAlignment and VerticalAlignment of the child elements.

The default is usually Stretch. Try setting it to Left etc.

Answer 2

Well, what do you want your StackPanel to do? If you want it to only consume the visible space, use a grid. If you want to scroll the contents of your StackPanel, I believe you can put it in a ScrollViewer.