Setting background of WinForm ListBox

Question

Does anyone know a method to insert a image in background into a ListBox in WinForms C#?

Answer 1

Well, you'll have to inherit a new control from ListBox. To to that, create a new project in your solution, of the type "Windows Control Library", and use the code below in the file control's source code file:

public partial class ListBoxWithBg : ListBox
{
   Image image;
   Brush brush, selectedBrush;

   public ListBoxWithBg()
   {
       InitializeComponent();

       this.DrawMode = DrawMode.OwnerDrawVariable;
       this.DrawItem += new DrawItemEventHandler(ListBoxWithBg_DrawItem);
       this.image = Image.FromFile("C:\\some-image.bmp");
       this.brush = new SolidBrush(Color.Black);
       this.selectedBrush = new SolidBrush(Color.White);
   }

   void ListBoxWithBg_DrawItem(object sender, DrawItemEventArgs e)
   {
       e.DrawBackground();
       e.DrawFocusRectangle();
       /* HACK WARNING: draw the last item with the entire image at (0,0) 
        * to fill the whole ListBox. Really, there's many better ways to do this,
        * just none quite so brief */
       if (e.Index == this.Items.Count - 1)
       {
           e.Graphics.DrawImage(this.image, new Point(0, 0));
       }
       else
       {
           e.Graphics.DrawImage(this.image, e.Bounds, e.Bounds, GraphicsUnit.Pixel);
       }
       Brush drawBrush = 
           ((e.State & DrawItemState.Selected) == DrawItemState.Selected) 
           ? this.selectedBrush : this.brush;
       e.Graphics.DrawString(this.Items[e.Index].ToString(), this.Font, drawBrush, e.Bounds);
   }
}

I omitted all the designer code and such for brevity, but you'll have to remember to Dispose of the Image and the Brushes in the Dispose method of the control.