MemoEdit Class

A multi-line text editor.

Namespace: DevExpress.XtraEditors

Assembly: DevExpress.XtraEditors.v25.2.dll

NuGet Package: DevExpress.Win.Navigation

Declaration

C#

public class MemoEdit :
    TextEdit,
    IAutoHeightControl,
    IAutoHeightControlEx,
    ISupportScrollBarColorize

VB.NET

Public Class MemoEdit
    Inherits TextEdit
    Implements IAutoHeightControl,
               IAutoHeightControlEx,
               ISupportScrollBarColorize

Remarks

The MemoEdit control displays and edits multi-line text. Key features include:

• Word wrap
• Configurable scrollbars
• Keyboard input (Enter and Tab)
• Automatic height

The following screenshots demonstrate MemoEdit controls that are used standalone and embedded within a container control:

Run Demo: Memo Edit

Edit Value

Use the Text or EditValue property to get or set the memo content.

C#

memoEdit.Text = "Line 1\r\nLine 2\r\nLine 3";

VB.NET

memoEdit.Text = "Line 1" & vbCrLf & "Line 2" & vbCrLf & "Line 3"

Use the Lines property to obtain an array of strings, where each element is a line separated by \r\n. Use the AppendLine(String) method to append a new line.

Word Wrap

The MemoEdit wraps long text. Set the WordWrap property to false to disable this behavior. When word wrap is disabled, text wraps only at explicit \r\n line breaks.

C#

memoEdit.Properties.WordWrap = false;
memoEdit.Text = "Column A\tColumn B\tColumn C";

VB.NET

memoEdit.Properties.WordWrap = False
memoEdit.Text = "Column A" & vbTab & "Column B" & vbTab & "Column C"

Scrollbars

Use the ScrollBars property to control the visibility of horizontal and vertical scrollbars in the MemoEdit control.

C#

memoEdit.Properties.ScrollBars = System.Windows.Forms.ScrollBars.Vertical;

VB.NET

memoEdit.Properties.ScrollBars = System.Windows.Forms.ScrollBars.Vertical

Handle Enter and Tab Keys

Use the following properties to configure keyboard behavior:

Property	Description
AcceptsReturn	Gets or sets a value specifying whether return characters can be inserted into text.
AcceptsTab	Gets or sets a value specifying whether a user can insert tab characters into text.

Auto Height

The CalcAutoHeight() method calculates the height required to display the control’s entire content.

The following code snippet resizes a MemoEdit control to fit its content when the text changes:

C#

private void memoEdit1_TextChanged(object sender, EventArgs e) {
    MemoEdit memo = (MemoEdit)sender;
    memo.Height = memo.CalcAutoHeight();
}

VB.NET

Private Sub memoEdit1_TextChanged(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
    Dim memo As MemoEdit = CType(sender, MemoEdit)
    memo.Height = memo.CalcAutoHeight()
End Sub

When the MemoEdit control is used within a LayoutControl, use the LayoutControlAutoHeightMode property to specify its automatic height behavior.

Use MemoEdit in a Container Control

The following code snippet assigns a RepositoryItemMemoEdit to a Data Grid column:

C#

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using DevExpress.XtraBars.Ribbon;
using DevExpress.XtraEditors.Repository;

namespace GridMemoEdit {
    public partial class Form1 : RibbonForm {
        RepositoryItemMemoEdit riMemoEdit;
        public Form1() {
            InitializeComponent();
            gridControl.ForceInitialize();
            riMemoEdit = new RepositoryItemMemoEdit() {
                AcceptsTab = true,
                AcceptsReturn = true,
                LinesCount = 5
            };
            gridControl.RepositoryItems.Add(riMemoEdit);
            gridView.Columns["Notes"].ColumnEdit = riMemoEdit;
            gridView.OptionsView.RowAutoHeight = true;
        }

        private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {
            this.employeesTableAdapter.Fill(this.nwindDataSet1.Employees);
        }
    }
}

VB.NET

Imports System
Imports System.Windows.Forms
Imports DevExpress.XtraBars.Ribbon
Imports DevExpress.XtraEditors.Repository

Namespace GridMemoEdit
    Partial Public Class Form1
        Inherits RibbonForm

        Private riMemoEdit As RepositoryItemMemoEdit
        Public Sub New()
            InitializeComponent()
            gridControl.ForceInitialize()
            riMemoEdit = New RepositoryItemMemoEdit() With {
                .AcceptsTab = True,
                .AcceptsReturn = True,
                .LinesCount = 5
            }
            gridControl.RepositoryItems.Add(riMemoEdit)
            gridView.Columns("Notes").ColumnEdit = riMemoEdit
            gridView.OptionsView.RowAutoHeight = True
        End Sub

        Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
            Me.employeesTableAdapter.Fill(Me.nwindDataSet1.Employees)
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

Tip

• Enable the GridView.OptionsView.RowAutoHeight option to automatically adjust row height based on cell content.
• Set the MemoEdit.Properties.LinesCount property to limit the maximum number of visible lines in the MemoEdit control.

Advanced Mode

Enable the MemoEdit.Properties.UseAdvancedMode property to activate the following features:

• Animated caret and selection
• Text highlighting
• Floating labels
• Emoji support (Win+.)

Run Demo: Memo Edit View Example

Related Controls

Use MemoExEdit if you need a MemoEdit with a drop-down window.

Implements

IXtraResizableControl

Inheritance

Object

MarshalByRefObject

Component

Control

DevExpress.XtraEditors.XtraControl

ControlBase

BaseControl

BaseEdit

TextEdit

MemoEdit