WPF How to show expander on TreeView at ALL times

Question

I would like to show expander (the triangle for expanding/collapsing) a tree view node at all times regardless whether the node has or has no items. Is there a way to do this in WPF? Thanks

Kelly Barnard Kelly Barnard · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-18T00:39:11

You need to overwrite the Listview ControlTemplate by providing a new listview style like this

<ResourceDictionary xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
                    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
                    xmlns:local="clr-namespace:WpfApplication1.resoureces">
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="GlyphBrush" Color="#444" />
    <Style x:Key="ExpandCollapseToggleStyle" TargetType="ToggleButton">
        <Setter Property="Focusable" Value="False"/>
        <Setter Property="Template">
            <Setter.Value>
                <ControlTemplate TargetType="ToggleButton">
                    <Grid Width="15" Height="13" Background="Transparent">
                        <Path x:Name="ExpandPath" HorizontalAlignment="Left"  VerticalAlignment="Center"  Margin="1,1,1,1" Fill="{StaticResource GlyphBrush}" Data="M 4 0 L 8 4 L 4 8 Z"/>
                    </Grid>
                    <ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                        <Trigger Property="IsChecked" Value="True">
                            <Setter Property="Data" TargetName="ExpandPath" Value="M 0 4 L 8 4 L 4 8 Z"/>
                        </Trigger>
                    </ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                </ControlTemplate>
            </Setter.Value>
        </Setter>
    </Style>
    <Style x:Key="TreeViewItemFocusVisual">
        <Setter Property="Control.Template">
            <Setter.Value>
                <ControlTemplate>
                    <Border>
                        <Rectangle Margin="0,0,0,0" StrokeThickness="5" Stroke="Black" StrokeDashArray="1 2" Opacity="0"/>
                    </Border>
                </ControlTemplate>
            </Setter.Value>
        </Setter>
    </Style>
    <Style x:Key="{x:Type TreeViewItem}" TargetType="{x:Type TreeViewItem}">
        <Setter Property="Background" Value="Transparent"/>
        <Setter Property="HorizontalContentAlignment" Value="{Binding Path=HorizontalContentAlignment, RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type ItemsControl}}}"/>
        <Setter Property="VerticalContentAlignment" Value="{Binding Path=VerticalContentAlignment, RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type ItemsControl}}}"/>
        <Setter Property="Padding" Value="1,0,0,0"/>
        <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.ControlTextBrushKey}}"/>
        <Setter Property="FocusVisualStyle" Value="{StaticResource TreeViewItemFocusVisual}"/>
        <Setter Property="Template">
            <Setter.Value>
                <ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type TreeViewItem}">
                    <Grid>
                        <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
                            <ColumnDefinition MinWidth="19"
                      Width="Auto"/>
                            <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
                            <ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
                        </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
                        <Grid.RowDefinitions>
                            <RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
                            <RowDefinition/>
                        </Grid.RowDefinitions>
                        <ToggleButton x:Name="Expander" Style="{StaticResource ExpandCollapseToggleStyle}" IsChecked="{Binding Path=IsExpanded, RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}" ClickMode="Press"/>
                        <Border Name="Bd" Grid.Column="1" Background="{TemplateBinding Background}" BorderBrush="{TemplateBinding BorderBrush}" BorderThickness="{TemplateBinding BorderThickness}" Padding="{TemplateBinding Padding}">
                            <ContentPresenter x:Name="PART_Header" ContentSource="Header" HorizontalAlignment="{TemplateBinding HorizontalContentAlignment}"/>
                        </Border>
                        <ItemsPresenter x:Name="ItemsHost" Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="1" Grid.ColumnSpan="2"/>
                    </Grid>
                    <ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                        <Trigger Property="IsExpanded" Value="false">
                            <Setter TargetName="ItemsHost" Property="Visibility" Value="Collapsed"/>
                        </Trigger>
                        <!--<Trigger Property="HasItems" Value="false">
                            <Setter TargetName="Expander" Property="Visibility" Value="Hidden"/>
                        </Trigger>-->
                        <MultiTrigger>
                            <MultiTrigger.Conditions>
                                <Condition Property="HasHeader" Value="false"/>
                                <Condition Property="Width" Value="Auto"/>
                            </MultiTrigger.Conditions>
                            <Setter TargetName="PART_Header" Property="MinWidth" Value="75"/>
                        </MultiTrigger>
                        <MultiTrigger>
                            <MultiTrigger.Conditions>
                                <Condition Property="HasHeader" Value="false"/>
                                <Condition Property="Height" Value="Auto"/>
                            </MultiTrigger.Conditions>
                            <Setter TargetName="PART_Header" Property="MinHeight" Value="19"/>
                        </MultiTrigger>
                        <Trigger Property="IsSelected" Value="true">
                            <Setter TargetName="Bd" Property="Background" Value="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.HighlightBrushKey}}"/>
                            <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.HighlightTextBrushKey}}"/>
                        </Trigger>
                        <MultiTrigger>
                            <MultiTrigger.Conditions>
                                <Condition Property="IsSelected" Value="true"/>
                                <Condition Property="IsSelectionActive" Value="false"/>
                            </MultiTrigger.Conditions>
                            <Setter TargetName="Bd" Property="Background" Value="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.ControlBrushKey}}"/>
                            <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.ControlTextBrushKey}}"/>
                        </MultiTrigger>
                        <Trigger Property="IsEnabled" Value="false">
                            <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.GrayTextBrushKey}}"/>
                        </Trigger>
                    </ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                </ControlTemplate>
            </Setter.Value>
        </Setter>
    </Style>
</ResourceDictionary>

If you paste this text into a new Resource Dictionary (WPF) file you will see the following section commented out which keeps the an expander always present regardless if a child exists.

                <!--<Trigger Property="HasItems" Value="false">
                    <Setter TargetName="Expander" Property="Visibility" Value="Hidden"/>
                </Trigger>-->

Here is my XAML that uses this ResourceDictionary

<Window x:Class="WpfApplication1.MainWindow"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
        xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
        xmlns:local="clr-namespace:WpfApplication1"
        mc:Ignorable="d"
        Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
    <Window.Resources>
        <ResourceDictionary>
            <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
                <ResourceDictionary  Source="resoureces/Dictionary1.xaml"/>
            </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
        </ResourceDictionary>
    </Window.Resources>
    <Grid>
        <TreeView Name="tvBubba">
            <TreeViewItem Header="Top1">
                <TreeViewItem Header="T1-L2" />
            </TreeViewItem>
            <TreeViewItem Header="Top2">

            </TreeViewItem>
        </TreeView>
    </Grid>

</Window>

WPF How to show expander on TreeView at ALL times

1 Answers