TextField

The TextField widget provides single-line text input with cursor support, placeholder text, and keyboard navigation.

Overview

TextField is the primary widget for text input in Elaris.UI. It supports cursor movement, text editing, and placeholder text.

Properties

Text (string)

The text content of the field.

textField.Text = "Hello";

Placeholder (string)

Placeholder text shown when the field is empty.

textField.Placeholder = "Enter your name...";

PlaceholderColor (Color)

Color of the placeholder text.

textField.PlaceholderColor = Color.Gray;

CursorPosition (int, read-only)

The current cursor position.

int pos = textField.CursorPosition;

Events

KeyPress

Raised when a key is pressed. Return true to mark as handled and prevent default behavior.

textField.KeyPress += (key) =>
{
    if (key.Key == ConsoleKey.Enter)
    {
        // Handle Enter key
        return true; // Mark as handled
    }
    return false; // Let default handler process it
};

KeyDown

Raised when a key is pressed (fires before default handling).

textField.KeyDown += (key) =>
{
    // Key is being pressed
};

KeyUp

Raised when a key is released (fires after default handling).

textField.KeyUp += (key) =>
{
    // Key was released
};

TextChanged

Raised when the text content changes.

textField.TextChanged += (newText) =>
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Text changed to: {newText}");
};

Focused

Raised when the field receives focus.

textField.Focused += () =>
{
    // Field is focused
};

Blurred

Raised when the field loses focus.

textField.Blurred += () =>
{
    // Field lost focus
};

Keyboard Navigation

• Left/Right Arrow: Move cursor
• Home: Move to start
• End: Move to end
• Backspace: Delete character before cursor
• Delete: Delete character after cursor
• Enter: Move cursor to end
• Tab: Navigate to next focusable widget

Usage Example

var textField = new TextField("Enter your name...")
{
    X = 10,
    Y = 5,
    Width = 40,
    Height = 1,
    ForegroundColor = Color.White,
    BackgroundColor = ColorHelper.FromRgb(30, 30, 30),
    PlaceholderColor = Color.Gray
};

textField.KeyPress += (key) =>
{
    if (key.Key == ConsoleKey.Enter)
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"Entered: {textField.Text}");
        textField.Text = string.Empty;
        return true;
    }
    return false;
};

Related Widgets

• AutoCompleteTextField - Text field with autocomplete
• TextView - For multi-line text display
• Base Widget - Base class documentation