HTML-inspired Text Formatting

• Jul 02, 2024
• 15 minutes to read

A number of DevExpress controls allow you to use simplified HyperText Markup Language (HTML) tags to format display text strings. This document describes available HTML-inspired tags, and lists all controls that support them.

Note

When the HTML Text Formatting feature is enabled for a certain control or its visual element, its text is painted in left-to-right mode, regardless of the RightToLeft option.

Supported Tags

Tags are enclosed with the ‘<‘ and ‘>‘ symbols, and typically have a corresponding end tag. If a tag is not matched by its ending counterpart, all text that follows the tag will be formatted accordingly.

Note

Note that if you need to use angle brackets (‘<’ and ‘>’) in the text of the controls that support HTML text formatting, you need to use an additional ‘<’ bracket at the beginning. For example, to get “<some text>” you should assign “<<some text>” to the corresponding property.

<br> Tag

Inserts a single line break.

To use this tag, you should enable word wrap with the TextOptions.WordWrap option of a corresponding appearance object.

Control or Control Element	Property that provides access to appearance settings
GridControl	GridViewAppearances.HeaderPanel GridColumn.AppearanceHeader BandedViewAppearances.BandPanel GridBand.AppearanceHeader
TreeList	TreeListAppearanceCollection.HeaderPanel TreeListColumn.AppearanceHeader
LabelControl	LabelControl.Appearance
CheckEdit	RepositoryItem.Appearance
LayoutControlItem	BaseLayoutItem.AppearanceItemCaption

• Syntax: <br>

• Example: First Name<br>Last Name

Note

The <br> tag is removed and not replaced with a space if there was no text wrapping (for example, “Order<br>Description” is transformed to “OrderDescription”).

<color> and <backcolor> Tags

Specify text foreground and background colors.

Syntax: <color=value></color> <backcolor=value></backcolor>

Examples:

• <color=red>Text</color>, <backcolor=red>Text</backcolor>
• <color=0,255,0>Text</color>, <backcolor=0,255,0>Text</backcolor>
• <color=255,0,255,0>Text</color> <backcolor=255,0,255,0>Text</backcolor>
• <color=#0000FF>Text</color>” <backcolor=#0000FF>Text</backcolor>”

The “Color” tag overrides Appearance forecolors. “Backcolor” blends with Appearance back colors if its alpha transparency key is less than 255 (40 in the example below).

C#

simpleButton1.AllowHtmlDraw = DevExpress.Utils.DefaultBoolean.True;
simpleButton1.Appearance.ForeColor = Color.Maroon;
simpleButton1.Text = "Maroon <color=green>Green</color> Maroon";

simpleButton2.AllowHtmlDraw = DevExpress.Utils.DefaultBoolean.True;
simpleButton2.Appearance.BackColor = Color.DimGray;
simpleButton2.Text = "<backcolor=40,255,255,255>Light Gray</backcolor>";

VB.NET

simpleButton1.AllowHtmlDraw = DevExpress.Utils.DefaultBoolean.True
simpleButton1.Appearance.ForeColor = Color.Maroon
simpleButton1.Text = "Maroon <color=green>Green</color> Maroon"

simpleButton2.AllowHtmlDraw = DevExpress.Utils.DefaultBoolean.True
simpleButton2.Appearance.BackColor = Color.DimGray
simpleButton2.Text = "<backcolor=40,255,255,255>Light Gray</backcolor>"

<size> Tag

Specifies the font size.

Syntax: <size=value></size>

Examples:

• <size=10>10pt text</size>
• <size=+4>Larger text</size>
• <size=-4>Smaller text</size>

Text Format Tags (<b>, <i>, <s>, <u>, <r>)

Allow you to create bold, italic, underlined, and strikethrough strings.

The “r” tag applies normal text formatting. This resets any existing bold, italic, underlined, and strikethrough formats, including those applied in a control’s Appearance settings.

Syntax: <b></b>, <i></i>, <s></s>, <u></u>, <r>

Examples:

• <b>Bold text</b>
• <i>Italic text</i>
• <s>Strikethrough text</s>
• <u>Underlined text</u>
• <b>Bold-<u>UnderlinedBold-</u><r>Normal</b>

If the static DevExpress.Utils.Text.StringParser.KeepFontStyle property is false, a text block that has font style HTML tags (font family, font weight, etc.) ignores AppearanceObject font style settings. Otherwise, both font style sets are applied.

C#

simpleButton1.AllowHtmlDraw = DevExpress.Utils.DefaultBoolean.True;
simpleButton1.Appearance.FontStyleDelta = FontStyle.Bold;
simpleButton1.Text = "One <i>Two</i> Three";
// KeepFontStyle = false: "One" and "Three" are bold, "Two" is italic
// KeepFontStyle = true: "One" and "Three" are bold, "Two" is bold and italic

VB.NET

simpleButton1.AllowHtmlDraw = DevExpress.Utils.DefaultBoolean.True
simpleButton1.Appearance.FontStyleDelta = FontStyle.Bold
simpleButton1.Text = "One <i>Two</i> Three"
' KeepFontStyle = false: "One" and "Three" are bold, "Two" is italic
' KeepFontStyle = true: "One" and "Three" are bold, "Two" is bold and italic

The default KeepFontStyle property value is false for v19.1 and older, and true for v19.2 and newer.

You can insert closing HTML tags to ignore corresponding Appearance settings.

C#

simpleButton1.AllowHtmlDraw = DevExpress.Utils.DefaultBoolean.True;
simpleButton1.Appearance.FontStyleDelta = FontStyle.Italic | FontStyle.Bold;
simpleButton1.Text = "Bold and Italic </b>Only Italic </i>Regular";

simpleButton2.AllowHtmlDraw = DevExpress.Utils.DefaultBoolean.True;
simpleButton2.Appearance.FontStyleDelta = FontStyle.Underline | FontStyle.Bold;
simpleButton2.Text = "Underline and Bold </u>Only Bold";

VB.NET

simpleButton1.AllowHtmlDraw = DevExpress.Utils.DefaultBoolean.True
simpleButton1.Appearance.FontStyleDelta = FontStyle.Italic Or FontStyle.Bold
simpleButton1.Text = "Bold and Italic </b>Only Italic </i>Regular"

simpleButton2.AllowHtmlDraw = DevExpress.Utils.DefaultBoolean.True
simpleButton2.Appearance.FontStyleDelta = FontStyle.Underline Or FontStyle.Bold
simpleButton2.Text = "Underline and Bold </u>Only Bold"

<sub> and <sup> Tags

Define text that is smaller than neighboring letters, and displayed lower (subscript) or higher (superscript) than the previous character. Note that you cannot change fonts within text blocks that use “sub” and/or “sup” tags.

Syntax: _Text, ^Text

Examples:

• Subscript: H₂O
• Double subscript: 2_2₂
• Superscript: 5²=25
• Double superscript: 5^2²

<font> Tag

Specifies the font family. Can be combined with Color and Size settings inside a single tag.

Syntax: <font></font>

Examples:

• <font=Helvetica>Helvetica</font>
• <font=’Times New Roman’size=15 color=red>Times New Roman</font>

<image> Tag

Inserts an image from a bound image collection or from project resources. To insert an image from project resources, the image’s name must be preceded with the ‘#’ character. The image referenced from project resources will not appear at design time, but will appear at runtime.

Note

Project resource images can only be loaded from the Entry Assembly (the startup executable). Thus, if you define images in the resources of your additional class library, these images cannot be loaded using the image tag, even from this library code.

If the image’s name is not preceded with ‘#’, it is implied that the image should be loaded by its name from a bound image collection. Use the control’s HtmlImages property to assign an image collection (ImageCollection or SvgImageCollection) to a control.

The following attributes for the image tag are supported:

• size — sets the display size of the image.

• align — specifies the vertical alignment of the image relative to the text. Possible values: top, bottom, and center.

Attributes must be specified after the tag’s value, followed by the “;” character. They must be separated with “;”, and specified without spaces.

Controls and components that accept the image tag and support the HtmlImages property are listed below.

• BaseListBoxControl descendants (ListBoxControl, ImageListBoxControl, CheckedComboBoxEdit) — Support the display of images in items.
• CheckEdit and ToggleSwitch — Support the display of images within text.
• ButtonEdit descendants — Support the display of images in the edit box if the RepositoryItemButtonEdit.TextEditStyle property is set to TextEditStyles.DisableTextEditor and in embedded buttons.
• RepositoryItemHypertextLabel — Supports the display of images in cells in container controls (Data Grid, TreeList, etc.). You can assign the image collection either to the RepositoryItemHypertextLabel.HtmlImages property or to the container control’s HtmlImages property (for instance, Data Grid’s BaseView.HtmlImages).
• GroupControl — Supports the display of images in the control’s caption.
• LabelControl — Supports the display of images within the label text.
• GridControl — Supports the display of images in column headers, band headers, and group rows. To display images in cells, use RepositoryItemHypertextLabel.
• TreeList — Supports the display of images in column and band headers. To display images in cells, use RepositoryItemHypertextLabel.
• PivotGridControl — Supports the display of images in field headers and field values.
• VGridControl — Supports the display of images in row headers. To display images in cells, use RepositoryItemHypertextLabel.
• XtraForm — Supports the display of images in the caption of a form.
• BarManager — Supports the display of images in item captions.
• RibbonControl — Supports the display of images in item captions.

Syntax: <image=value>

Examples:

• <image=UpArrow.png>
• <image=#LeftArrow>
• <image=DownArrow.png;size=20,20;align=top>

<p> Tag

Defines a paragraph. Supports the “align” parameter that allows you to arrange a paragraph’s content. The code below illustrates how to center text and an image inside an XtraMessageBox.

C#

XtraMessageBoxArgs args = new XtraMessageBoxArgs();
args.AllowHtmlText = DefaultBoolean.True;
svgImageCollection1.ImageSize = new Size(48, 48);
args.HtmlImages = svgImageCollection1;
args.Text = "<p align=center><image=warning><br>" +
    "<b>Something went wrong</b><br>" +
    "We're having technical issues at the moment.<br>" +
    "Please try again later.</p>";
args.Caption = "Warning";
args.Buttons = new DialogResult[] { DialogResult.OK };
XtraMessageBox.Show(args);

VB.NET

Dim args As New XtraMessageBoxArgs()
args.AllowHtmlText = DefaultBoolean.True
svgImageCollection1.ImageSize = New Size(48, 48)
args.HtmlImages = svgImageCollection1
args.Text = "<p align=center><image=warning><br>" & "<b>Something went wrong</b><br>" & "We're having technical issues at the moment.<br>" & "Please try again later.</p>"
args.Caption = "Warning"
args.Buttons = New DialogResult() { DialogResult.OK }
XtraMessageBox.Show(args)

<href> and <a href=...> Tags

Display a hyperlink. The value string specifies the hyperlink source, and the string between the opening and closing tags is the text to be displayed.

Controls that can display hyperlinks raise the HyperlinkClick event when a user clicks a link.

• LabelControl.HyperlinkClick
• BarItem.HyperlinkClick
• BarManager.HyperlinkClick
• RibbonControl.HyperlinkClick
• RepositoryItemCheckEdit.HyperlinkClick
• ToolTipController.HyperlinkClick
• MapControl.HyperlinkClick
• LayoutControl.HyperlinkClick
• GroupControl.HyperlinkClick
• ContextButtonBase.HyperlinkClick
• XtraMessageBoxArgs.HyperlinkClick

Syntax: <href=value></href> or <a href=value></a>

Example: <href=www.devexpress.com>Our web site</href>, <a href=www.devexpress.com>Our web site</a>

If the value string contains a space, put the string in quotes.

Example: <a href="C:\Program Files\">Program Files</a>

<nbsp> Tag

Inserts a non-breaking space character (0xA0).

Syntax: <nbsp>

Example: First Name<nbsp>Last Name

Supported Controls

All Controls

Element that supports tags	Editor property that turns HTML-formatting on or off
Tooltips and SuperToolTips	ToolTipController.AllowHtmlText, SuperToolTip.AllowHtmlText, ToolTipItem.AllowHtmlText
Tooltips for BaseControl descendants - the BaseControl.ToolTip property	BaseControl.AllowHtmlTextInToolTip
XtraForm caption - the XtraForm.HtmlText property	n/a
ContextButton text - the ContextButtonBase.Caption property.	ContextButtonBase.AllowHtmlText
ValidationHint texts - the (ValidationHintBaseDefaultProperties.Text and ValidationHintBaseProperties.Text properties	ValidationHintBaseDefaultProperties.AllowHtmlDrawText ValidationHintBaseProperties.AllowHtmlDrawText

Charts

You can use HTML tags to specify text for the following elements:

• Chart titles, series titles, pane titles, axis titles, legend titles, and constant line titles. Use the title Text property.
• Text annotations. Use the TextAnnotation.Text and TextAnnotation.Lines properties.
• Crosshair labels. Use the SeriesBase.CrosshairLabelPattern and Indicator.CrosshairLabelPattern properties.

Editors Library

The table below enumerates editors from the DevExpress Editors suite that supports tags.

Element that supports tags	Editor property that turns HTML-formatting on or off
LabelControl text - the LabelControl.Text property	LabelControl.AllowHtmlString
CheckEdit and ToggleSwitch text	RepositoryItem.AllowHtmlDraw
SimpleButton text - the (SimpleButton.Text property	SimpleButton.AllowHtmlDraw
Text strings in ButtonEdit descendants whose RepositoryItemButtonEdit.TextEditStyle property is set to TextEditStyles.DisableTextEditor	RepositoryItem.AllowHtmlDraw
Button text for ButtonEdit and its descendants	RepositoryItem.AllowHtmlDraw
ListBoxControl and CheckedListBoxControl items	BaseListBoxControl.AllowHtmlDraw
ComboBoxEdit, ImageComboBoxEdit, and CheckedComboBoxEdit items	RepositoryItem.AllowHtmlDraw
GroupControl text - the GroupControl.Text property	GroupControl.AllowHtmlText
RatingControl text - the RatingControl.Text property	RepositoryItemRatingControl.AllowHtmlDraw

Data Grid

The GridControl supports HTML tags in the following elements:

Element that supports tags	Property that turns HTML-formatting on or off
View caption - the BaseView.ViewCaption property	n/a
Column captions - the GridColumn.Caption property	GridOptionsView.AllowHtmlDrawHeaders
Band captions - the GridBand.Caption property	GridOptionsView.AllowHtmlDrawHeaders
Cell text. Note that cells with HTML-formatted values cannot be edited at runtime. There are multiple ways to add HTML tags to cell text strings. Add tags directly into underlying data source values. Create an unbound column and handle the ColumnView.CustomUnboundColumnData event.	No dedicated property. Use RepositoryItemHypertextLabel as an in-place editor. If you handle the CustomColumnDisplayText event, disable the column’s AllowEdit option, assign the RepositoryItemTextEdit with the enabled AllowHtmlDraw option to the column’s ColumnEdit property. C# using DevExpress.Utils; using DevExpress.XtraEditors.Repository; // ... RepositoryItemTextEdit riTextEdit = new RepositoryItemTextEdit(); riTextEdit.AllowHtmlDraw = DefaultBoolean.True; gridControl1.RepositoryItems.Add(riTextEdit); gridView1.Columns[1].ColumnEdit = riTextEdit; gridView1.Columns[1].OptionsColumn.AllowEdit = false; VB.NET Imports DevExpress.Utils Imports DevExpress.XtraEditors.Repository ' ... Dim riTextEdit As New RepositoryItemTextEdit() riTextEdit.AllowHtmlDraw = DefaultBoolean.True gridControl1.RepositoryItems.Add(riTextEdit) gridView1.Columns(1).ColumnEdit = riTextEdit gridView1.Columns(1).OptionsColumn.AllowEdit = False
Group row text - handle the GridView.CustomDrawGroupRow event	GridOptionsView.AllowHtmlDrawGroups
Column captions in the TileView‘s Edit Form — the GridColumn.Caption	TileViewOptionsEditForm.AllowHtmlCaptions
WinExplorerView items	WinExplorerViewOptionsView.AllowHtmlText

Tree List

The TreeList supports HTML tags in the following elements:

Element that supports tags	Property that turns HTML-formatting on or off
Column captions — the TreeListColumn.Caption property	TreeListOptionsView.AllowHtmlDrawHeaders
Band captions — the TreeListBand.Caption property	TreeListOptionsView.AllowHtmlDrawHeaders
Cell text. Note that cells with HTML-formatted values cannot be edited at runtime. There are multiple ways to add HTML tags to cell text strings. Add tags directly into underlying data source values. Create an unbound column and handle the TreeList.CustomUnboundColumnData event.	No dedicated property. Use RepositoryItemHypertextLabel as an in-place editor. If you handle the CustomColumnDisplayText event, disable the column’s AllowEdit option, assign the RepositoryItemTextEdit with the enabled AllowHtmlDraw option to the column’s ColumnEdit property.

Pivot Grid

The PivotGridControl supports HTML tags in the following elements:

Element that supports tags	Property that turns HTML-formatting on or off
Field headers text — the PivotGridFieldBase.Caption property	PivotGridOptionsView.AllowHtmlDrawHeaders
Field values text — the PivotGridControl.FieldValueDisplayText event and the PivotFieldDisplayTextEventArgs.DisplayText property.	PivotGridOptionsView.AllowHtmlDrawFieldValues

Vertical Grid and Property Grid

The PropertyGridControl is the VGridControl control descendant. Both controls have identical elements that support HTML tags.

Element that supports tags	Property that turns HTML-formatting on or off
Row captions	BaseOptionsView.AllowHtmlText VGridOptionsRow.AllowHtmlText CustomDrawRowHeaderCellEventArgs.AllowHtmlText
Cell text. Note that cells with HTML-formatted values cannot be edited at runtime. There are multiple ways to add HTML tags to cell text strings. Add tags directly into underlying data source values. Create an unbound column and handle the VGridControl.CustomUnboundData event.	No dedicated property. Use RepositoryItemHypertextLabel as an in-place editor. If you handle the CustomRecordDisplayText event, disable the row’s AllowEdit option, assign the RepositoryItemTextEdit with the enabled AllowHtmlDraw option to the rows’s RowEdit property.

Layout Control

The LayoutControl supports HTML tags in the following elements:

Element that supports tags	Property that turns HTML-formatting on or off
Item captions - the BaseLayoutItem.Text property	LayoutControlItem.AllowHtmlStringInCaption LayoutGroup.AllowHtmlStringInCaption
Item tooltips	BaseLayoutItemOptionsToolTip.AllowHtmlString BaseLayoutItemOptionsToolTip.IconAllowHtmlString ToolTipController.AllowHtmlText

Ribbon, Bars, and Menus

Element that supports tags	Property that turns HTML-formatting on or off
Item captions and descriptions - the BarItem.Caption and BarItem.Description properties	BarItem.AllowHtmlText BarItemLink.AllowHtmlText BarManager.AllowHtmlText RibbonControl.AllowHtmlText
BackstageViewControl item captions - the BackstageViewItem.Caption property	BackstageViewItem.AllowHtmlString
Gallery item and group items - the GalleryItem.Caption and GalleryItemGroup.Caption properties	BaseGallery.AllowHtmlText

Application UI Manager

The DocumentManager supports HTML tags in the following elements:

Element that supports tags	Property that turns HTML-formatting on or off
Document headers - the BaseDocument.Header property	IDocumentSelectorDefaultProperties.AllowHtmlDrawHeaders IDocumentSelectorProperties.AllowHtmlDrawHeaders
Document captions - the BaseDocument.Caption property	IDocumentGroupDefaultProperties.AllowHtmlDraw IDocumentGroupProperties.AllowHtmlDraw
Flyout description and caption - the UIActionPropertiesCore.Caption and UIActionPropertiesCore.Description properties	IFlyoutDefaultProperties.AllowHtmlDraw IFlyoutProperties.AllowHtmlDraw
Tile elements	ITileContainerDefaultProperties.AllowHtmlDraw
Content containers overview screens	OverviewContainerDefaultProperties.AllowHtmlDraw OverviewContainerProperties.AllowHtmlDraw

Navigation Controls

Element that supports tags	Property that turns HTML-formatting on or off
OfficeNavigationBar item captions - the NavigationBarItem.Text property	OfficeNavigationBar.AllowHtmlDraw
WindowsUIButton captions	WindowsUIButtonPanel.AllowHtmlDraw
TileControl and TileBar tiles	TileControl.AllowHtmlText TileItem.AllowHtmlText
NavBarControl item and group text — the NavElement.Caption property	NavBarControl.AllowHtmlString NavElement.AllowHtmlString
Navigation Frame, Tab Pane, and Navigation Pane pages (both caption and text)	NavigationPageDefaultProperties.AllowHtmlDraw NavigationPageProperties.AllowHtmlDraw NavigationPane.AllowHtmlDraw
AccordionControl element headers — the AccordionControlElementBase.Text property	AccordionControl.AllowHtmlText
XtraTabControl page captions	XtraTabControl.AllowHtmlDraw

Gauges

Enable the Label.AllowHTMLString property to format label text strings in the GaugeControl.

Scheduler

To display HTML tags inside an appointment’s subject, description, or location, enable the View’s AppointmentDisplayOptions.AllowHtmlText setting and handle the SchedulerControl.InitAppointmentDisplayText event.

Map Control

The MapControl supports HTML tags in the following elements:

Element that supports tags	Property that turns HTML-formatting on or off
MapCallout text	MapCallout.AllowHtmlText
MapCustomElement text	MapCustomElement.AllowHtmlText

Dialogs and Wizards

Element that supports tags	Property that turns HTML-formatting on or off
XtraDialog and XtraMessageBox captions	XtraDialog.AllowHtmlText XtraMessageBox.AllowHtmlText
WizardControl page text	WizardControl.AllowHtmlText
AlertControl windows’ captions and regular text blocks	AlertControl.AllowHtmlText

Example 1

The following example shows how to format a LabelControl‘s text using HTML tags. HTML formatting is enabled with the LabelControl.AllowHtmlString property. To respond to end-user clicks on a hyperlink, the LabelControl.HyperlinkClick event is handled. The image below shows the result:

C#

labelControl1.Text = "<size=14>Size = 14<br>" +
                     "<b>Bold</b> <i>Italic</i> <u>Underline</u><br>" + 
                     "<size=11>Size = 11<br>" + 
                     "<color=255, 0, 0>Sample Text</color></size>" +
                     "<href=www.devexpress.com>Hyperlink</href>";
labelControl1.AllowHtmlString = true;
labelControl1.Appearance.TextOptions.WordWrap = DevExpress.Utils.WordWrap.Wrap;
labelControl1.Appearance.Options.UseTextOptions = true;
labelControl1.AutoSizeMode = DevExpress.XtraEditors.LabelAutoSizeMode.Vertical;
labelControl1.HyperlinkClick += LabelControl1_HyperlinkClick;

private void labelControl1_HyperlinkClick(object sender, DevExpress.Utils.HyperlinkClickEventArgs e) {
    System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(e.Link);
}

VB.NET

labelControl1.Text = "<size=14>Size = 14<br>" + _
                     "<b>Bold</b> <i>Italic</i> <u>Underline</u><br>" +  _
                     "<size=11>Size = 11<br>" + _
                     "<color=255, 0, 0>Sample Text</color></size><br>" + _
                     "<href=www.devexpress.com>Hyperlink</href>"
labelControl1.AllowHtmlString = True
labelControl1.Appearance.TextOptions.WordWrap = DevExpress.Utils.WordWrap.Wrap
labelControl1.Appearance.Options.UseTextOptions = True
labelControl1.AutoSizeMode = DevExpress.XtraEditors.LabelAutoSizeMode.Vertical
labelControl1.HyperlinkClick += LabelControl1_HyperlinkClick

Private Sub LabelControl1_HyperlinkClick(sender As Object, e As DevExpress.Utils.HyperlinkClickEventArgs) Handles LabelControl1.HyperlinkClick
    System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(e.Link)
End Sub

Example 2

This example shows how to create a super tooltip with a hyperlink and assign it to a SimpleButton.

The button’s SuperTip property allows you to specify a super tooltip. Use the ToolTipController.AllowHtmlText, SuperToolTip.AllowHtmlText, or ToolTipItem.AllowHtmlText property to enable HTML tags. Handle the ToolTipController.HyperlinkClick event to respond to a click on the hyperlink.

The SuperToolTip Editor allows you to create super tooltips in the designer. To invoke the editor, click the SuperTip property’s ellipsis button in the Properties window.

If you create a tooltip in the designer, you still need to handle the HyperlinkClick event in code. Use the Properties window to assign an event handler.

The example below shows how to create a super tooltip in code.

C#

using DevExpress.Utils;
using System.Diagnostics;

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {
    // Access the controller that manages tooltips for all controls:
    ToolTipController defaultTooltipController = DevExpress.Utils.ToolTipController.DefaultController;

    // Create and customize a SuperToolTip:
    SuperToolTip sTooltip = new SuperToolTip();
    SuperToolTipSetupArgs args = new SuperToolTipSetupArgs();
    args.Title.Text = "Header";
    args.Contents.Text = "This tooltip contains a hyperlink. Visit the <href=http://help.devexpress.com>DevExpress Knowledge Center</href> to learn more.";
    args.ShowFooterSeparator = true;
    args.Footer.Text = "Footer";
    sTooltip.Setup(args);
    // Enable HTML Text Formatting for the created SuperToolTip:
    sTooltip.AllowHtmlText = DefaultBoolean.True;
    //..or enable this feature for all tooltips:
    //defaultTooltipController.AllowHtmlText = true;

    // Respond to clicking hyperlinks in tooltips:
    defaultTooltipController.HyperlinkClick += defaultTooltipController_HyperlinkClick;

    // Assign a SuperToolTip to the button:
    simpleButton1.SuperTip = sTooltip;
}

void defaultTooltipController_HyperlinkClick(object sender, HyperlinkClickEventArgs e) {
    Process process = new Process();
    process.StartInfo.FileName = (e.Link);
    process.StartInfo.Verb = "open";
    process.StartInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Normal;
    try {
        process.Start();
    }
    catch { }
}

VB.NET

Imports DevExpress.Utils

Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
    ' Access the controller that manages tooltips for all controls:
    Dim defaultTooltipController As ToolTipController = DevExpress.Utils.ToolTipController.DefaultController

    ' Create and customize a SuperToolTip:
    Dim sTooltip As New SuperToolTip()
    Dim args As New SuperToolTipSetupArgs()
    args.Title.Text = "Header"
    args.Contents.Text = "This tooltip contains a hyperlink. Visit the <href=http://help.devexpress.com>DevExpress Knowledge Center</href> to learn more."
    args.ShowFooterSeparator = True
    args.Footer.Text = "Footer"
    sTooltip.Setup(args)
    ' Enable HTML Text Formatting for the created SuperToolTip:
    sTooltip.AllowHtmlText = DefaultBoolean.[True]
    '..or enable this feature for all tooltips:
    'defaultTooltipController.AllowHtmlText = True

    ' Respond to clicking hyperlinks in tooltips:
    AddHandler defaultTooltipController.HyperlinkClick, AddressOf defaultTooltipController_HyperlinkClick

    ' Assign a SuperToolTip to the button:
    SimpleButton1.SuperTip = sTooltip
End Sub

Private Sub defaultTooltipController_HyperlinkClick(sender As Object, e As HyperlinkClickEventArgs)
    Dim process As New Process()
    process.StartInfo.FileName = (e.Link)
    process.StartInfo.Verb = "open"
    process.StartInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Normal
    Try
        process.Start()
    Catch
    End Try
End Sub