On several of my usercontrols, I change the cursor by using
this.Cursor = Cursors.Wait;
when I click on something.
Now I want to do the same thing on a WPF page on a button click. When I hover over my button, the cursor changes to a hand, but when I click it, it doesn't change to the wait cursor. I wonder if this has something to do with the fact that it's a button, or because this is a page and not a usercontrol? This seems like weird behavior.
Do you need the cursor to be a "wait" cursor only when it's over that particular page/usercontrol? If not, I'd suggest using Mouse.OverrideCursor:
Mouse.OverrideCursor = Cursors.Wait;
try
{
// do stuff
}
finally
{
Mouse.OverrideCursor = null;
}
This overrides the cursor for your application rather than just for a part of its UI, so the problem you're describing goes away.
One way we do this in our application is using IDisposable and then with using(){} blocks to ensure the cursor is reset when done.
public class OverrideCursor : IDisposable
{
public OverrideCursor(Cursor changeToCursor)
{
Mouse.OverrideCursor = changeToCursor;
}
#region IDisposable Members
public void Dispose()
{
Mouse.OverrideCursor = null;
}
#endregion
}
and then in your code:
using (OverrideCursor cursor = new OverrideCursor(Cursors.Wait))
{
// Do work...
}
The override will end when either: the end of the using statement is reached or; if an exception is thrown and control leaves the statement block before the end of the statement.
Update
To prevent the cursor flickering you can do:
public class OverrideCursor : IDisposable
{
static Stack<Cursor> s_Stack = new Stack<Cursor>();
public OverrideCursor(Cursor changeToCursor)
{
s_Stack.Push(changeToCursor);
if (Mouse.OverrideCursor != changeToCursor)
Mouse.OverrideCursor = changeToCursor;
}
public void Dispose()
{
s_Stack.Pop();
Cursor cursor = s_Stack.Count > 0 ? s_Stack.Peek() : null;
if (cursor != Mouse.OverrideCursor)
Mouse.OverrideCursor = cursor;
}
}
You can use a data trigger (with a view model) on the button to enable a wait cursor.
<Button x:Name="NextButton"
Content="Go"
Command="{Binding GoCommand }">
<Button.Style>
<Style TargetType="{x:Type Button}">
<Setter Property="Cursor" Value="Arrow"/>
<Style.Triggers>
<DataTrigger Binding="{Binding Path=IsWorking}" Value="True">
<Setter Property="Cursor" Value="Wait"/>
</DataTrigger>
</Style.Triggers>
</Style>
</Button.Style>
</Button>
Here is the code from the view-model:
public class MainViewModel : ViewModelBase
{
// most code removed for this example
public MainViewModel()
{
GoCommand = new DelegateCommand<object>(OnGoCommand, CanGoCommand);
}
// flag used by data binding trigger
private bool _isWorking = false;
public bool IsWorking
{
get { return _isWorking; }
set
{
_isWorking = value;
OnPropertyChanged("IsWorking");
}
}
// button click event gets processed here
public ICommand GoCommand { get; private set; }
private void OnGoCommand(object obj)
{
if ( _selectedCustomer != null )
{
// wait cursor ON
IsWorking = true;
_ds = OrdersManager.LoadToDataSet(_selectedCustomer.ID);
OnPropertyChanged("GridData");
// wait cursor off
IsWorking = false;
}
}
}
The following worked for me:
ForceCursor = true;
Cursor = Cursors.Wait;
If your application uses async stuff and you're fiddling with Mouse's cursor, you probably want to do it only in main UI thread. You can use app's Dispatcher thread for that:
Application.Current.Dispatcher.Invoke(() =>
{
// The check is required to prevent cursor flickering
if (Mouse.OverrideCursor != cursor)
Mouse.OverrideCursor = cursor;
});
You can use a data trigger (with a view model) on the button to enable a wait cursor.
<Button x:Name="NextButton"
Content="Go"
Command="{Binding GoCommand }">
<Button.Style>
<Style TargetType="{x:Type Button}">
<Setter Property="Cursor" Value="Arrow"/>
<Style.Triggers>
<DataTrigger Binding="{Binding Path=IsWorking}" Value="True">
<Setter Property="Cursor" Value="Wait"/>
</DataTrigger>
</Style.Triggers>
</Style>
</Button.Style>
</Button>
Here is the code from the view-model:
public class MainViewModel : ViewModelBase
{
// most code removed for this example
public MainViewModel()
{
GoCommand = new DelegateCommand<object>(OnGoCommand, CanGoCommand);
}
// flag used by data binding trigger
private bool _isWorking = false;
public bool IsWorking
{
get { return _isWorking; }
set
{
_isWorking = value;
OnPropertyChanged("IsWorking");
}
}
// button click event gets processed here
public ICommand GoCommand { get; private set; }
private void OnGoCommand(object obj)
{
if ( _selectedCustomer != null )
{
// wait cursor ON
IsWorking = true;
_ds = OrdersManager.LoadToDataSet(_selectedCustomer.ID);
OnPropertyChanged("GridData");
// wait cursor off
IsWorking = false;
}
}
}
If your application uses async stuff and you're fiddling with Mouse's cursor, you probably want to do it only in main UI thread. You can use app's Dispatcher thread for that:
Application.Current.Dispatcher.Invoke(() =>
{
// The check is required to prevent cursor flickering
if (Mouse.OverrideCursor != cursor)
Mouse.OverrideCursor = cursor;
});
One way we do this in our application is using IDisposable and then with using(){} blocks to ensure the cursor is reset when done.
public class OverrideCursor : IDisposable
{
public OverrideCursor(Cursor changeToCursor)
{
Mouse.OverrideCursor = changeToCursor;
}
#region IDisposable Members
public void Dispose()
{
Mouse.OverrideCursor = null;
}
#endregion
}
and then in your code:
using (OverrideCursor cursor = new OverrideCursor(Cursors.Wait))
{
// Do work...
}
The override will end when either: the end of the using statement is reached or; if an exception is thrown and control leaves the statement block before the end of the statement.
Update
To prevent the cursor flickering you can do:
public class OverrideCursor : IDisposable
{
static Stack<Cursor> s_Stack = new Stack<Cursor>();
public OverrideCursor(Cursor changeToCursor)
{
s_Stack.Push(changeToCursor);
if (Mouse.OverrideCursor != changeToCursor)
Mouse.OverrideCursor = changeToCursor;
}
public void Dispose()
{
s_Stack.Pop();
Cursor cursor = s_Stack.Count > 0 ? s_Stack.Peek() : null;
if (cursor != Mouse.OverrideCursor)
Mouse.OverrideCursor = cursor;
}
}
Source: Stackoverflow.com