vb.net autocomplete with delimiters - vb.net

Question

I've seen several similar older questions but none of them was properly answered, so I'm raising the topic again. What I need is easy: I have a list of strings composed of one or severals words each (in that case separated by ","). I want a textbox to suggest one or more of those strings when the user is typing, but taking into account not only the first word of the string, but also the others. As a silly example, if my string list is:
string 1: bike, redish
string 2: car, red
string 3: cat, brown
When the user types: "b" strings 1 and 3 should be suggested (bike and brown), when the user types "c" or "ca" strings 2 and 3 should be suggested (car and cat).
So far, I got the autocomplete property working but only for the first word (so if my user types "b" only string 1 will be suggested). This is the code:
Dim newstr As New AutoCompleteStringCollection
While dr.Read 'this is a datareader from which I get my list
newstr.Add(dr.Item(0).ToString)
End While
dr.Close()
mytextbox.AutoCompleteMode = AutoCompleteMode.SuggestAppend
mytextbox.AutoCompleteSource = AutoCompleteSource.CustomSource
mytextbox.AutoCompleteCustomSource = newstr
How can I achieve what I need? I thought it would be already implemented, but it seems not. Any help will be greatly appreciated

Answer 1

I do not think an autocomplete source is what you want for this.
Instead I suggest you use a ComboBox in DropDown mode.
ComboBox3.DropDownStyle = ComboBoxStyle.DropDown
You need to make the list part visible when the control gets focus...
Private Sub ComboBox3_GotFocus(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles ComboBox3.GotFocus
ComboBox3.DroppedDown = True
End Sub
Then rebuild the list contents based on whenever the textbox changes.
Private Sub ComboBox3_KeyUp(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles ComboBox3.KeyUp
Dim Ss = ComboBox3.SelectionStart
Dim Sl = ComboBox3.SelectionLength
.... rebuilt the list items here ...
Dim Ss = ComboBox3.SelectionStart
Dim Sl = ComboBox3.SelectionLength
ComboBox3.DroppedDown = True
End Sub
COMPLETE EXAMPLE
Public Class Form4
Dim employees() As String = New String() {"Hamilton, David", _
"Hensien, Kari", "Hammond, Maria", "Harris, Keith", _
"Henshaw, Jeff D.", "Hanson, Mark", "Harnpadoungsataya, Sariya", _
"Harrington, Mark", "Harris, Keith", "Hartwig, Doris", _
"Harui, Roger", "Hassall, Mark", "Hasselberg, Jonas", _
"Harnpadoungsataya, Sariya", "Henshaw, Jeff D.", "Henshaw, Jeff D.", _
"Hensien, Kari", "Harris, Keith", "Henshaw, Jeff D.", _
"Hensien, Kari", "Hasselberg, Jonas", "Harrington, Mark", _
"Hedlund, Magnus", "Hay, Jeff", "Heidepriem, Brandon D."}
Private Sub ComboBox3_GotFocus(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles ComboBox3.GotFocus
ComboBox3.DroppedDown = True
End Sub
Private Sub ComboBox3_KeyUp(sender As Object, e As KeyEventArgs) Handles ComboBox3.KeyUp
Dim Ss = ComboBox3.SelectionStart ' + 1
ComboBox3.Items.Clear()
Dim SearchText As String = UCase(ComboBox3.Text)
For Each Str As String In employees
Dim UStr As String = UCase(Str)
If InStr(UStr, SearchText) = 1 OrElse InStr(UStr, " " & SearchText) > 0 Then
ComboBox3.Items.Add(Str)
End If
Next
ComboBox3.SelectionStart = Ss
ComboBox3.SelectionLength = 0
ComboBox3.DroppedDown = True
End Sub
End Class
MAKE SURE you set the comboboxstyle to DropDown