The standard TextBox control that is built into Silverlight 2 Beta 2 is a bit lacking and is missing alot of features that we have become accustomed to in a TextBox. One of those features is being able to mask the characters being displayed when its used to accept passwords. Here's a small PasswordTextBox control I built that does just that; it masks the characters from being displayed so you can accept passwords like you're used to.
Update 6/7/2008 - I just tested this with Silverlight 2 Beta 2 and it works just the same as it does with Beta 1.
Updated 3/17/2008 - I updated this code to support the Delete and Backspace keys, and to maintain caret/cursor position within the box. I also added the PasswordChar property that defines what the masking character is used to hide the password entered.
/// Copyright 2008 Chris Pietschmann (http://pietschsoft.com)
/// This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License
/// http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/
///
/// This is a Password TextBox built for use with Silverlight 2 Beta 1
/// The reason this was built, is because the standard TextBox in
/// Silverlight 2 Beta 1 does not have Password support.
/// Original Link: http://pietschsoft.com/post/2008/03/PasswordTextBox-for-Silverlight-2-Beta-1.aspx
///
using System.Windows.Controls;
namespace SilverlightPasswordTextBox
{
public partial class PasswordTextBox : TextBox
{
public PasswordTextBox()
{
this.TextChanged += new TextChangedEventHandler(PasswordTextBox_TextChanged);
this.KeyDown += new System.Windows.Input.KeyEventHandler(PasswordTextBox_KeyDown);
}
#region Event Handlers
public void PasswordTextBox_TextChanged(object sender, TextChangedEventArgs e)
{
if (base.Text.Length >= _Text.Length)
_Text += base.Text.Substring(_Text.Length);
DisplayMaskedCharacters();
}
public void PasswordTextBox_KeyDown(object sender, System.Windows.Input.KeyEventArgs e)
{
int cursorPosition = this.SelectionStart;
int selectionLength = this.SelectionLength;
// Handle Delete and Backspace Keys Appropriately
if (e.Key == System.Windows.Input.Key.Back
|| e.Key == System.Windows.Input.Key.Delete)
{
if (cursorPosition < _Text.Length)
_Text = _Text.Remove(cursorPosition, (selectionLength > 0 ? selectionLength : 1));
}
base.Text = _Text;
this.Select((cursorPosition > _Text.Length ? _Text.Length : cursorPosition), 0);
DisplayMaskedCharacters();
}
#endregion
#region Private Methods
private void DisplayMaskedCharacters()
{
int cursorPosition = this.SelectionStart;
// This changes the Text property of the base TextBox class to display all Asterisks in the control
base.Text = new string(_PasswordChar, _Text.Length);
this.Select((cursorPosition > _Text.Length ? _Text.Length : cursorPosition), 0);
}
#endregion
#region Properties
private string _Text = string.Empty;
/// <summary>
/// The text associated with the control.
/// </summary>
public new string Text
{
get { return _Text; }
set
{
_Text = value;
DisplayMaskedCharacters();
}
}
private char _PasswordChar = '*';
/// <summary>
/// Indicates the character to display for password input.
/// </summary>
public char PasswordChar
{
get { return _PasswordChar; }
set { _PasswordChar = value; }
}
#endregion
}
}
Update 4/2/2008: Here's the above code translated to VB.NET
'' Copyright 2008 Chris Pietschmann (http://pietschsoft.com)
'' This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License
'' http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/
''
'' This is a Password TextBox built for use with Silverlight 2 Beta 1
'' The reason this was built, is because the standard TextBox in
'' Silverlight 2 Beta 1 does not have Password support.
'' Original Link: http://pietschsoft.com/post/2008/03/PasswordTextBox-for-Silverlight-2-Beta-1.aspx
Public Class PasswordTextBox
Inherits TextBox
Public Sub PasswordTextBox_TextChanged(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As TextChangedEventArgs) Handles Me.TextChanged
If MyBase.Text.Length >= _Text.Length Then
_Text += MyBase.Text.Substring(_Text.Length)
End If
DisplayMaskedCharacters()
End Sub
Public Sub PasswordTextBox_KeyDown(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As KeyEventArgs) Handles Me.KeyDown
Dim cursorPosition As Integer = Me.SelectionStart
Dim selectionLength As Integer = Me.SelectionLength
'' Handle Delete and Backspace Keys Appropriately
If e.Key = Key.Back Or e.Key = Key.Delete Then
If cursorPosition < _Text.Length Then
Dim lengthToRemove As Integer = 1
If selectionLength > 0 Then lengthToRemove = selectionLength
_Text = _Text.Remove(cursorPosition, lengthToRemove)
End If
End If
MyBase.Text = _Text
If cursorPosition > _Text.Length Then
Me.Select(_Text.Length, 0)
Else
Me.Select(cursorPosition, 0)
End If
DisplayMaskedCharacters()
End Sub
Private Sub DisplayMaskedCharacters()
Dim cursorPosition As Integer = Me.SelectionStart
'' This changes the Text property of the base TextBox class to display all Asterisks in the control
MyBase.Text = New String(_PasswordChar, _Text.Length)
If cursorPosition > _Text.Length Then
Me.Select(_Text.Length, 0)
Else
Me.Select(cursorPosition, 0)
End If
End Sub
Private _Text As String = String.Empty
Overloads Property Text() As String
Get
Return _Text
End Get
Set(ByVal value As String)
_Text = value
DisplayMaskedCharacters()
End Set
End Property
Private _PasswordChar As Char = "*"
Public Property PasswordChar() As Char
Get
Return _PasswordChar
End Get
Set(ByVal value As Char)
_PasswordChar = value
End Set
End Property
End Class