Blinking button on WPF application

20,056

Solution 1

That flashing is due to the default style that WPF uses for buttons. To be more specific, it's due to the Trigger on the button's control template. To remove this, go into blend, right click on the button and select "Edit Template"->"Edit a copy". Click on the child element of the content presenter (by default, this is the control called "Chrome"). Then, in the triggers tab, inactive RenderDefaulted by pressing "- trigger". That trigger will keep the button from blinking. If you just want the XAML for all of that, here it is wrapped by windows.resource...

<Window.Resources>
    <Style x:Key="ButtonFocusVisual">
        <Setter Property="Control.Template">
            <Setter.Value>
                <ControlTemplate>
                    <Rectangle Margin="2" SnapsToDevicePixels="true" Stroke="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.ControlTextBrushKey}}" StrokeThickness="1" StrokeDashArray="1 2"/>
                </ControlTemplate>
            </Setter.Value>
        </Setter>
    </Style>
    <LinearGradientBrush x:Key="ButtonNormalBackground" EndPoint="0,1" StartPoint="0,0">
        <GradientStop Color="#F3F3F3" Offset="0"/>
        <GradientStop Color="#EBEBEB" Offset="0.5"/>
        <GradientStop Color="#DDDDDD" Offset="0.5"/>
        <GradientStop Color="#CDCDCD" Offset="1"/>
    </LinearGradientBrush>
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="ButtonNormalBorder" Color="#FF707070"/>
    <Style x:Key="BoringButtonStyle" TargetType="{x:Type Button}">
        <Setter Property="FocusVisualStyle" Value="{StaticResource ButtonFocusVisual}"/>
        <Setter Property="Background" Value="{StaticResource ButtonNormalBackground}"/>
        <Setter Property="BorderBrush" Value="{StaticResource ButtonNormalBorder}"/>
        <Setter Property="BorderThickness" Value="1"/>
        <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.ControlTextBrushKey}}"/>
        <Setter Property="HorizontalContentAlignment" Value="Center"/>
        <Setter Property="VerticalContentAlignment" Value="Center"/>
        <Setter Property="Padding" Value="1"/>
        <Setter Property="Template">
            <Setter.Value>
                <ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type Button}">
                    <Microsoft_Windows_Themes:ButtonChrome x:Name="Chrome" BorderBrush="{TemplateBinding BorderBrush}" Background="{TemplateBinding Background}" RenderMouseOver="{TemplateBinding IsMouseOver}" RenderPressed="{TemplateBinding IsPressed}" RenderDefaulted="{TemplateBinding IsDefaulted}" SnapsToDevicePixels="true">
                        <ContentPresenter HorizontalAlignment="{TemplateBinding HorizontalContentAlignment}" Margin="{TemplateBinding Padding}" RecognizesAccessKey="True" SnapsToDevicePixels="{TemplateBinding SnapsToDevicePixels}" VerticalAlignment="{TemplateBinding VerticalContentAlignment}"/>
                    </Microsoft_Windows_Themes:ButtonChrome>
                    <ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                        <Trigger Property="ToggleButton.IsChecked" Value="true">
                            <Setter Property="RenderPressed" TargetName="Chrome" Value="true"/>
                        </Trigger>
                        <Trigger Property="IsEnabled" Value="false">
                            <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="#ADADAD"/>
                        </Trigger>
                    </ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                </ControlTemplate>
            </Setter.Value>
        </Setter>
    </Style>
</Window.Resources>

Then, wherever you button is, apply this style...

<Button Style="{DynamicResource BoringButtonStyle}"/>

Update: The default button style has changed over the years. The idea is the same, use Blend for Visual Studio to edit the templete of the element you want to change. For this button, simply remove the IsDefaulted trigger entirly. Here is an updated code snippet.

<Style x:Key="FocusVisual">
        <Setter Property="Control.Template">
            <Setter.Value>
                <ControlTemplate>
                    <Rectangle Margin="2" SnapsToDevicePixels="true" Stroke="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.ControlTextBrushKey}}" StrokeThickness="1" StrokeDashArray="1 2"/>
                </ControlTemplate>
            </Setter.Value>
        </Setter>
    </Style>
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="Button.Static.Background" Color="#FFDDDDDD"/>
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="Button.Static.Border" Color="#FF707070"/>
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="Button.MouseOver.Background" Color="#FFBEE6FD"/>
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="Button.MouseOver.Border" Color="#FF3C7FB1"/>
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="Button.Pressed.Background" Color="#FFC4E5F6"/>
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="Button.Pressed.Border" Color="#FF2C628B"/>
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="Button.Disabled.Background" Color="#FFF4F4F4"/>
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="Button.Disabled.Border" Color="#FFADB2B5"/>
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="Button.Disabled.Foreground" Color="#FF838383"/>
    <Style x:Key="BoringButtonStyle" TargetType="{x:Type Button}">
        <Setter Property="FocusVisualStyle" Value="{StaticResource FocusVisual}"/>
        <Setter Property="Background" Value="{StaticResource Button.Static.Background}"/>
        <Setter Property="BorderBrush" Value="{StaticResource Button.Static.Border}"/>
        <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.ControlTextBrushKey}}"/>
        <Setter Property="BorderThickness" Value="1"/>
        <Setter Property="HorizontalContentAlignment" Value="Center"/>
        <Setter Property="VerticalContentAlignment" Value="Center"/>
        <Setter Property="Padding" Value="1"/>
        <Setter Property="Template">
            <Setter.Value>
                <ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type Button}">
                    <Border x:Name="border" BorderBrush="{TemplateBinding BorderBrush}" BorderThickness="{TemplateBinding BorderThickness}" Background="{TemplateBinding Background}" SnapsToDevicePixels="true">
                        <ContentPresenter x:Name="contentPresenter" Focusable="False" HorizontalAlignment="{TemplateBinding HorizontalContentAlignment}" Margin="{TemplateBinding Padding}" RecognizesAccessKey="True" SnapsToDevicePixels="{TemplateBinding SnapsToDevicePixels}" VerticalAlignment="{TemplateBinding VerticalContentAlignment}"/>
                    </Border>
                    <ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                        <!-- Delete this trigger
                        <Trigger Property="IsDefaulted" Value="true">
                            <Setter Property="BorderBrush" TargetName="border" Value="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.HighlightBrushKey}}"/>
                        </Trigger>-->
                        <Trigger Property="IsMouseOver" Value="true">
                            <Setter Property="Background" TargetName="border" Value="{StaticResource Button.MouseOver.Background}"/>
                            <Setter Property="BorderBrush" TargetName="border" Value="{StaticResource Button.MouseOver.Border}"/>
                        </Trigger>
                        <Trigger Property="IsPressed" Value="true">
                            <Setter Property="Background" TargetName="border" Value="{StaticResource Button.Pressed.Background}"/>
                            <Setter Property="BorderBrush" TargetName="border" Value="{StaticResource Button.Pressed.Border}"/>
                        </Trigger>
                        <Trigger Property="IsEnabled" Value="false">
                            <Setter Property="Background" TargetName="border" Value="{StaticResource Button.Disabled.Background}"/>
                            <Setter Property="BorderBrush" TargetName="border" Value="{StaticResource Button.Disabled.Border}"/>
                            <Setter Property="TextElement.Foreground" TargetName="contentPresenter" Value="{StaticResource Button.Disabled.Foreground}"/>
                        </Trigger>
                    </ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                </ControlTemplate>
            </Setter.Value>
        </Setter>
    </Style>

Solution 2

Simple solution: Set button's "Focusable" to False.

Solution 3

A slightly less obtrusive way of removing that blinking would be to set a new ControlTemplate for ButtonBase with the offending bindings removed.

I took this via StyleSnooper from the Button default Style and revamped/simplified it to be a Style for ButtonBase that simply provides a new ControlTemplate*. To do this, add an assembly reference to Presentation.Aero and introduce the Microsoft.Windows.Themes namespace in your ResourceDictionary.

Here, I specifically removed the affected Button's ability to "blink" on its IsDefault property by hardcoding RenderDefaulted to false; you'll probably also want to replace the RenderMouseOver TemplateBinding.

<ResourceDictionary [...]
                xmlns:mwt="clr-namespace:Microsoft.Windows.Themes;assembly=PresentationFramework.Aero">

<Style TargetType="{x:Type ButtonBase}" 
       x:Key="NonBlinkingButtonBase">
    <Setter Property="Control.Template">
        <Setter.Value>
            <ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type ButtonBase}">
                <mwt:ButtonChrome Background="{TemplateBinding Panel.Background}" 
                                  BorderBrush="{TemplateBinding Border.BorderBrush}" 
                                  RenderDefaulted="False" 
                                  RenderMouseOver="{TemplateBinding UIElement.IsMouseOver}" 
                                  RenderPressed="{TemplateBinding ButtonBase.IsPressed}" 
                                  Name="Chrome" 
                                  SnapsToDevicePixels="True">
                    <ContentPresenter RecognizesAccessKey="True" 
                                      Content="{TemplateBinding ContentControl.Content}" 
                                      ContentTemplate="{TemplateBinding ContentControl.ContentTemplate}" 
                                      ContentStringFormat="{TemplateBinding ContentControl.ContentStringFormat}" 
                                      Margin="{TemplateBinding Control.Padding}" 
                                      HorizontalAlignment="{TemplateBinding Control.HorizontalContentAlignment}" 
                                      VerticalAlignment="{TemplateBinding Control.VerticalContentAlignment}" 
                                      SnapsToDevicePixels="{TemplateBinding UIElement.SnapsToDevicePixels}" />
                </mwt:ButtonChrome>
                <ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                    <Trigger Property="UIElement.IsKeyboardFocused" Value="True">
                        <Setter Property="mwt:ButtonChrome.RenderDefaulted" TargetName="Chrome" Value="True" />
                    </Trigger>
                    <Trigger Property="ToggleButton.IsChecked" Value="True">
                        <Setter Property="mwt:ButtonChrome.RenderPressed" TargetName="Chrome" Value="True" />
                    </Trigger>
                    <Trigger Property="UIElement.IsEnabled" Value="False">
                        <Setter Property="TextElement.Foreground">
                            <Setter.Value>
                                <SolidColorBrush>
                                    #FFADADAD</SolidColorBrush>
                            </Setter.Value>
                        </Setter>
                    </Trigger>
                </ControlTemplate.Triggers>
            </ControlTemplate>
        </Setter.Value>
    </Setter>
</Style>

Then use this style as a BasedOn for your Button:

<Style x:Key="LoginBtn" 
       TargetType="{x:Type Button}" 
       BasedOn="{StaticResource NonBlinkingButtonBase}">
[...your stuff...]
</Style>

(*) And yes, we should really have the ability to use BasedOn for ControlTemplates as well...

Solution 4

I've since my first answer ran into this problem when attaching images to buttons and I figured out by setting the image and button to stretch and using a size on the border it fixed the problem.

Example code..

 <Border Width="45" Height="45">
                            <Button  x:Name="buttonSend" 
                                ToolTip="Send" Command="{Binding Path=SendCommand}" Style="{StaticResource actionButtonStyle}">
                                <Image Source="..\Images\Email-256.png" Stretch="Fill"  />
                            </Button>
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20,056
Sivan Wolberg
Author by

Sivan Wolberg

Updated on November 15, 2020

Comments

  • Sivan Wolberg
    Sivan Wolberg over 3 years

    My WPF application has a style manager that I have built on blend.

    My problem is this: I've got a login button that blinks occasionally and i can't figure out how to remove this behavior.

    Here's the style code for my login box:

    <Style x:Key="LoginBoxGrid" TargetType="{x:Type Grid}">
        <Setter Property="Background">
            <Setter.Value>
                <ImageBrush ImageSource="/Client;component/Assets/images/LoginBox.png" Stretch="None" TileMode="Tile"/>
            </Setter.Value>
        </Setter>
    
        <Setter Property="Opacity" Value="0.765"/>
        <Setter Property="Width" Value="411"/>
        <Setter Property="HorizontalAlignment" Value="Left"/>
        <Setter Property="Margin" Value="126,150,0,111"/>
    </Style>
    <Style x:Key="LoginBoxHeader" TargetType="{x:Type Label}">
        <Setter Property="Grid.Column" Value="2"/>
        <Setter Property="Margin" Value="-16.183,18.347,0,0"/>
        <Setter Property="Width" Value="64.994"/>
        <Setter Property="FontSize" Value="16"/>
        <Setter Property="FontWeight" Value="Bold"/>
        <Setter Property="FontStyle" Value="Italic"/>
        <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="White"/>
        <Setter Property="VerticalAlignment" Value="Top"/>
        <Setter Property="HorizontalAlignment" Value="Left"/>
        <Setter Property="FontFamily" Value="/Client;component/Assets/Fonts/#Arial Black"/>
    </Style>
    
    <Style x:Key="LoginBtn" TargetType="{x:Type Button}">
        <Setter Property="Grid.Column" Value="2"/>
        <Setter Property="Margin" Value="16.6,9.022,9.282,8"/>
        <Setter Property="Grid.Row" Value="4"/>
        <Setter Property="Width" Value="164"/>
        <Setter Property="BorderThickness" Value="0"/>
        <Setter Property="Opacity" Value="0.78"/>
        <Setter Property="IsDefault" Value="True"/>
        <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="White"/>
        <Setter Property="Background">
            <Setter.Value>
                <ImageBrush ImageSource="/Client;component/Assets/images/LoginBtn.png"/>
            </Setter.Value>
        </Setter>
    </Style>
    

    And here's my code for the window:

    <Grid Style="{StaticResource LoginBoxGrid}" >
            <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
                <ColumnDefinition Width="0.127*"/>
                <ColumnDefinition Width="0.326*"/>
                <ColumnDefinition Width="0.462*"/>
                <ColumnDefinition Width="0.085*"/>
            </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
            <Grid.RowDefinitions>
                <RowDefinition Height="0.269*"/>
                <RowDefinition Height="0.028*"/>
                <RowDefinition Height="0.256*"/>
                <RowDefinition Height="0.223*"/>
                <RowDefinition Height="0.178*"/>
                <RowDefinition Height="0.046*"/>
            </Grid.RowDefinitions>
            <Label Content="User Name" Grid.Column="1" Margin="43.986,23.1,8,8" Grid.Row="2" Width="82" BorderThickness="0" FontFamily="Arial" FontWeight="Bold" FontStyle="Italic"/>
            <Label Content="Password" Grid.Column="1" Margin="43.986,15.873,8,8" Grid.Row="3" Width="82" BorderThickness="0" FontFamily="Arial" FontWeight="Bold" FontStyle="Italic"/>
            <PasswordBox Grid.Column="2" Name="PassTb" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="8,18.877,0,8" Grid.Row="3"  Width="172.6" d:LayoutOverrides="Height"/>
            <TextBox Grid.Column="2" Name="UserTb" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="9.282,23.1,0,11.004" Grid.Row="2" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="TextBox" Width="172.6" d:LayoutOverrides="Height"/>
            <Label Style="{StaticResource LoginBoxHeader}" Content="Login" />
            <Button Name="LoginBtn"  Style="{StaticResource LoginBtn}"  Content="Login" />
        </Grid>
    

    The Button I'm talking about is called "LoginBtn", as is its style.

    How can I remove that blinking behavior? Thanks in advance.