How do I make a textbox that only accepts numbers?

Question

I have a windows forms app with a textbox control that I want to only accept integer values. In the past I've done this kind of validation by overloading the KeyPress event and just removing characters which didn't fit the specification. I've looked at the MaskedTextBox control but I'd like a more general solution that could work with perhaps a regular expression, or depend on the values of other controls.

Ideally this would behave such that pressing a non numeric character would either produce no result or immediately provide the user with feedback about the invalid character.

Answer 1

I would handle it in the KeyDown event.

void TextBox_KeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
    char c = Convert.ToChar(e.PlatformKeyCode);
    if (!char.IsDigit(c))
    {
        e.Handled = true;
    }
}

Answer 2

Simply use this code in the TextBox:

private void textBox1_TextChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{    
    double parsedValue;
    if (!double.TryParse(textBox1.Text, out parsedValue))
    {
        textBox1.Text = "";
    }
}

Answer 3

This is exactly what the Validated/Validating events were designed for.

Here's the MSDN article on the topic: Control.Validating Event.

The TL;DR version: Check the .Text property in the Validating event and set e.Cancel=True when the data is invalid.

When you set e.Cancel = True, the user can't leave the field, but you will need to give them some kind of feedback that something's wrong. I change the box's background color to light red to indicate a problem. Make sure to set it back to SystemColors.Window when Validating is called with a good value.

Answer 4

And just because it's always more fun to do stuff in one line...

    private void textBox1_KeyPress(object sender, KeyPressEventArgs e)
    {
        e.Handled = !char.IsDigit(e.KeyChar) && !char.IsControl(e.KeyChar);
    }

NOTE: This DOES NOT prevent a user from Copy / Paste into this textbox. It's not a fail safe way to sanitize your data.

Answer 5

one line code decimal point allowed

    private void txtQty_KeyPress(object sender, KeyPressEventArgs e)
    {
        e.Handled =  e.KeyChar != '.' && !char.IsDigit(e.KeyChar) && !char.IsControl(e.KeyChar);
    }

Answer 6

This is a nice and short way to do it with .NET 5/Core

private void textBox1_KeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e) {
  if (e.KeyData != Keys.Back)
    e.SuppressKeyPress = !int.TryParse(Convert.ToString((char) e.KeyData), out int _);
}

Edit: Added support for backspace key

Answer 7

The simplest and crudest way is to use a combobox instead of textbox with ReadOnly. But of course its only useful if you are expecting the user to use a decent and reasonable set of whole numbers, not try to touch infinity.

Answer 8

Here are more than 30 answers and a lot of answers are helpful. But I want to share a generalized form for the System.Windows.Forms.TextBox and System.Windows.Controls.TextBox.

There is not available KeyPress event in System.Windows.Controls.TextBox. This answer is for those people who want to implement with the same logic for System.Windows.Forms.TextBox and System.Windows.Controls.TextBox.

This is NumberTextBox code. Use commented line instead of the previous line for System.Windows.Controls.TextBox.

public class NumberTextBox : System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
//public class NumberTextBox : System.Windows.Controls.TextBox
{
    private double _maxValue;
    private double _minValue;
    private bool _flag;
    private string _previousValue;

    public NumberTextBox()
    {
        this.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Right;
        //TextAlignment = TextAlignment.Right;
        KeyDown += TextBox_KeyDown;
        TextChanged += TextBox_TextChanged;
        _minValue = double.MinValue;
        _maxValue = double.MaxValue;
    }

    private void TextBox_KeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
    {
        _previousValue = this.Text;
        _flag = this.SelectedText.Length > 0;
    }

    private void TextBox_TextChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
    //private void TextBox_TextChanged(object sender, TextChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        var text = this.Text;
        if (text.Length < 1) return;
        var cursorPosition = SelectionStart == 0 ? SelectionStart : SelectionStart - 1;
        var insertedChar = text[cursorPosition];
        if (IsInvalidInput(insertedChar, cursorPosition, text))
        {
            HandleText(text, cursorPosition);
        }
        ValidateRange(text, cursorPosition);
    }

    private bool IsInvalidInput(char insertedChar, int cursorPosition, string text)
    {
        return !char.IsDigit(insertedChar) && insertedChar != '.' && insertedChar != '-' ||
               insertedChar == '-' && cursorPosition != 0 ||
               text.Count(x => x == '.') > 1 ||
               text.Count(x => x == '-') > 1;
    }

    private void HandleText(string text, int cursorPosition)
    {
        this.Text = _flag ? _previousValue : text.Remove(cursorPosition, 1);
        this.SelectionStart = cursorPosition;
        this.SelectionLength = 0;
    }

    private void ValidateRange(string text, int cursorPosition)
    {
        try
        {
            if (text == "." || _minValue < 0 && text == "-") return;
            var doubleValue = Convert.ToDouble(text);
            if (doubleValue > _maxValue || doubleValue < _minValue)
            {
                HandleText(text, cursorPosition);
            }
        }
        catch (Exception)
        {
            HandleText(text, cursorPosition);
        }
    }

    protected void SetProperties(double minValue = double.MinValue, double maxValue = double.MaxValue)
    {
        _minValue = minValue;
        _maxValue = maxValue;
    }       

}

PositiveNumberTextBox code:

public class PositiveNumberTextBox : NumberTextBox
{
    public PositiveNumberTextBox()
    {
        SetProperties(0);
    }
}

FractionNumberTextBox code:

public class FractionNumberTextBox : NumberTextBox
{
    public FractionNumberTextBox()
    {
        SetProperties(0, 0.999999);
    }
}

Answer 9

Use a RegularExpressionValidator:

<asp:TextBox ID="TextBoxNum" runat="server"></asp:TextBox><br />
<asp:RegularExpressionValidator ID="RegularExpressionValidator1"
                        ControlToValidate="TextBoxNum" runat="server"
                        ErrorMessage="Only numbers allowed"
                        ValidationExpression="\d+">
</asp:RegularExpressionValidator>

Answer 10

you can simply prevent adding non-numerical chars by this simple code

 if (long.TryParse(TextBox.Text,out long isparsable))
        {
          // your code to handle numbers
        }
        else
        {
            TextBox.Text="Only Numbers Allowed";
            TextBox.Focus();
            TextBox.SelectAll();
        }

Answer 11

I am assuming from context and the tags you used that you are writing a .NET C# app. In this case, you can subscribe to the text changed event, and validate each key stroke.

private void textBox1_TextChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.IsMatch(textBox1.Text, "[^0-9]"))
    {
        MessageBox.Show("Please enter only numbers.");
        textBox1.Text = textBox1.Text.Remove(textBox1.Text.Length - 1);
    }
}

Answer 12

Working solution for WPF & a simple TextChangedEventArgs.

private void TextBox_TextChanged(object sender, TextChangedEventArgs e)
{
    var TextBox = (sender as TextBox);

    // if not a numeric value, remove news characters
    if (Regex.IsMatch(TextBox.Text, "[^0-9]"))
    {
        foreach (TextChange Change in e.Changes)
        {
            TextBox.Text = TextBox.Text.Remove(Change.Offset, Change.AddedLength);

            TextBox.CaretIndex = Change.Offset;
        }
    }
}

Answer 13

Here is a simple standalone Winforms custom control, derived from the standard TextBox, that allows only System.Int32 input (it could be easily adapted for other types such as System.Int64, etc.). It supports copy/paste operations and negative numbers:

public class Int32TextBox : TextBox
{
    protected override void OnKeyPress(KeyPressEventArgs e)
    {
        base.OnKeyPress(e);

        NumberFormatInfo fi = CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.NumberFormat;

        string c = e.KeyChar.ToString();
        if (char.IsDigit(c, 0))
            return;

        if ((SelectionStart == 0) && (c.Equals(fi.NegativeSign)))
            return;

        // copy/paste
        if ((((int)e.KeyChar == 22) || ((int)e.KeyChar == 3))
            && ((ModifierKeys & Keys.Control) == Keys.Control))
            return;

        if (e.KeyChar == '\b')
            return;

        e.Handled = true;
    }

    protected override void WndProc(ref System.Windows.Forms.Message m)
    {
        const int WM_PASTE = 0x0302;
        if (m.Msg == WM_PASTE)
        {
            string text = Clipboard.GetText();
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(text))
                return;

            if ((text.IndexOf('+') >= 0) && (SelectionStart != 0))
                return;

            int i;
            if (!int.TryParse(text, out i)) // change this for other integer types
                return;

            if ((i < 0) && (SelectionStart != 0))
                return;
        }
        base.WndProc(ref m);
    }

Update 2017: My first answer has some issues:

• you can type something that's longer than an integer of a given type (for example 2147483648 is greater than Int32.MaxValue);
• more generally, there's no real validation of the result of what has been typed;
• it only handles int32, you'll have to write specific TextBox derivated control for each type (Int64, etc.)

So I came up with another version that's more generic, that still supports copy/paste, + and - sign, etc.

public class ValidatingTextBox : TextBox
{
    private string _validText;
    private int _selectionStart;
    private int _selectionEnd;
    private bool _dontProcessMessages;

    public event EventHandler<TextValidatingEventArgs> TextValidating;

    protected virtual void OnTextValidating(object sender, TextValidatingEventArgs e) => TextValidating?.Invoke(sender, e);

    protected override void WndProc(ref Message m)
    {
        base.WndProc(ref m);
        if (_dontProcessMessages)
            return;

        const int WM_KEYDOWN = 0x100;
        const int WM_ENTERIDLE = 0x121;
        const int VK_DELETE = 0x2e;

        bool delete = m.Msg == WM_KEYDOWN && (int)m.WParam == VK_DELETE;
        if ((m.Msg == WM_KEYDOWN && !delete) || m.Msg == WM_ENTERIDLE)
        {
            DontProcessMessage(() =>
            {
                _validText = Text;
                _selectionStart = SelectionStart;
                _selectionEnd = SelectionLength;
            });
        }

        const int WM_CHAR = 0x102;
        const int WM_PASTE = 0x302;
        if (m.Msg == WM_CHAR || m.Msg == WM_PASTE || delete)
        {
            string newText = null;
            DontProcessMessage(() =>
            {
                newText = Text;
            });

            var e = new TextValidatingEventArgs(newText);
            OnTextValidating(this, e);
            if (e.Cancel)
            {
                DontProcessMessage(() =>
                {
                    Text = _validText;
                    SelectionStart = _selectionStart;
                    SelectionLength = _selectionEnd;
                });
            }
        }
    }

    private void DontProcessMessage(Action action)
    {
        _dontProcessMessages = true;
        try
        {
            action();
        }
        finally
        {
            _dontProcessMessages = false;
        }
    }
}

public class TextValidatingEventArgs : CancelEventArgs
{
    public TextValidatingEventArgs(string newText) => NewText = newText;
    public string NewText { get; }
}

For Int32, you can either derive from it, like this:

public class Int32TextBox : ValidatingTextBox
{
    protected override void OnTextValidating(object sender, TextValidatingEventArgs e)
    {
        e.Cancel = !int.TryParse(e.NewText, out int i);
    }
}

or w/o derivation, use the new TextValidating event like this:

var vtb = new ValidatingTextBox();
...
vtb.TextValidating += (sender, e) => e.Cancel = !int.TryParse(e.NewText, out int i);

but what's nice is it works with any string, and any validation routine.

Answer 14

Using the approach described in Fabio Iotti's answer I have created a more generic solution:

public abstract class ValidatedTextBox : TextBox {
    private string m_lastText = string.Empty;
    protected abstract bool IsValid(string text);
    protected sealed override void OnTextChanged(EventArgs e) {
        if (!IsValid(Text)) {
            var pos = SelectionStart - Text.Length + m_lastText.Length;
            Text = m_lastText;
            SelectionStart = Math.Max(0, pos);
        }
        m_lastText = Text;
        base.OnTextChanged(e);
    }
}

"ValidatedTextBox", which contains all nontrivial validation behavior. All that's left to do is inherit from this class and override "IsValid" method with whatever validation logic is required. For example, using this class, it is possible to create "RegexedTextBox" which will accept only strings which match specific regular expression:

public abstract class RegexedTextBox : ValidatedTextBox {
    private readonly Regex m_regex;
    protected RegexedTextBox(string regExpString) {
        m_regex = new Regex(regExpString);
    }
    protected override bool IsValid(string text) {
        return m_regex.IsMatch(Text);
    }
}

After that, inheriting from the "RegexedTextBox" class, we can easily create "PositiveNumberTextBox" and "PositiveFloatingPointNumberTextBox" controls:

public sealed class PositiveNumberTextBox : RegexedTextBox {
    public PositiveNumberTextBox() : base(@"^\d*$") { }
}

public sealed class PositiveFloatingPointNumberTextBox : RegexedTextBox {
    public PositiveFloatingPointNumberTextBox()
        : base(@"^(\d+\" + CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.NumberFormat.NumberDecimalSeparator + @")?\d*$") { }
}

Answer 15

This is my aproach:

1. using linq (easy to modify filter)
2. copy/paste proof code
3. keeps caret position when you press a forbidden character
4. accepts left zeroes

5. and any size numbers

   private void numeroCuenta_TextChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
   {
       string org = numeroCuenta.Text;
       string formated = string.Concat(org.Where(c => (c >= '0' && c <= '9')));
       if (formated != org)
       {
           int s = numeroCuenta.SelectionStart;
           if (s > 0 && formated.Length > s && org[s - 1] != formated[s - 1]) s--;
           numeroCuenta.Text = formated;
           numeroCuenta.SelectionStart = s;
       }
   }
   

Answer 16

I had created a Re-Usable Textbox Extension class for all sorts of validations and thought about sharing it.

All you need to do is raise a TextChange event and then call the Validate method. It looks like this:

private void tbxAmount_TextChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{ 
    tbxAmount.Validate(TextValidator.ValidationType.Amount);
}

Here is the extension class:

public static class TextValidator
{
    public enum ValidationType
    {
        Amount,
        Integer
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Validate a textbox on text change.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="tbx"></param>
    /// <param name="validationType"></param>
    public static void Validate(this TextBox tbx, ValidationType validationType)
    {
        PerformValidation(tbx, validationType);
        tbx.Select(tbx.Text.Length, 0);
    }


    private static void PerformValidation(this TextBox tbx, ValidationType validationType)
    {
        char[] enteredString = tbx.Text.ToCharArray();
        switch (validationType)
        {
            case ValidationType.Amount:
                tbx.Text = AmountValidation(enteredString);
                break;

            case ValidationType.Integer:
                tbx.Text = IntegerValidation(enteredString);
                break;

            default:
                break;
        }

        tbx.SelectionStart = tbx.Text.Length;
    }



    private static string AmountValidation(char[] enteredString)
    {
        string actualString = string.Empty;
        int count = 0;
        foreach (char c in enteredString.AsEnumerable())
        {
            if (count >= 1 && c == '.')
            { actualString.Replace(c, ' '); actualString.Trim(); }
            else
            {
                if (Char.IsDigit(c))
                {
                    actualString = actualString + c;
                }

                if (c == '.')
                {
                    actualString = actualString + c; count++;
                }

                else
                {
                    actualString.Replace(c, ' ');
                    actualString.Trim();
                }
            }
        }
        return actualString;
    }


    private static string IntegerValidation(char[] enteredString)
    {
        string actualString = string.Empty;
        foreach (char c in enteredString.AsEnumerable())
        {
            if (Char.IsDigit(c))
            {
                actualString = actualString + c;
            }
            else
            {
                actualString.Replace(c, ' ');
                actualString.Trim();
            }
        }
        return actualString;
    }
}

You can find the full code here

Answer 17

Both integers and floats need to be accepted, including the negative numbers.

private void textBox1_KeyPress(object sender, KeyPressEventArgs e)
{
    // Text
    string text = ((Control) sender).Text;

    // Is Negative Number?
    if (e.KeyChar == '-' && text.Length == 0)
    {
        e.Handled = false;
        return;
    }

    // Is Float Number?
    if (e.KeyChar == '.' && text.Length > 0 && !text.Contains("."))
    {
        e.Handled = false;
        return;
    }

    // Is Digit?
    e.Handled = (!char.IsDigit(e.KeyChar) && !char.IsControl(e.KeyChar));
}

Answer 18

I was also looking for the best way to check only numbers in textbox and problem with keypress was it does not support copy paste by right click or clipboard so came up with this code which validates the when cursor leaves the text field and also it checks for empty field. (adapted version of newguy)

private void txtFirstValue_MouseLeave(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    int num;
    bool isNum = int.TryParse(txtFirstValue.Text.Trim(), out num);

    if (!isNum && txtFirstValue.Text != String.Empty)
    {
        MessageBox.Show("The First Value You Entered Is Not a Number, Please Try Again", "Invalid Value Detected", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error);
        txtFirstValue.Clear();
    }
}

Answer 19

Do not forget that a user can paste an invalid text in a TextBox.

If you want to restrict that, follow the below code:

private void ultraTextEditor1_TextChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    string append="";
    foreach (char c in ultraTextEditor1.Text)
    {
        if ((!Char.IsNumber(c)) && (c != Convert.ToChar(Keys.Back)))
        {

        }
        else
        {
            append += c;
        }
    }

    ultraTextEditor1.Text = append;
}   

Answer 20

Just use a NumericUpDown control and set those ugly up down buttons visibility to false.

numericUpDown1.Controls[0].Visible = false;

NumericUpDown is actually a collection of controls containing a 'spin box' (up down buttons), a text box and some code to validate and wange-jangle it all together.

Marking:

YourNumericUpDown.Controls[0].visible = false 

will hide the buttons while keeping the underlying code active.

While not being an obvious solution it is simple and effective. .Controls[1] would hide the text box portion if you wanted to do that instead.

Answer 21

Here is a simple solution that works for me.

public static bool numResult;
    public static bool checkTextisNumber(string numberVal)
    {
        try
        {
            if (numberVal.Equals("."))
            {
                numResult = true;
            }
            else if (numberVal.Equals(""))
            {
                numResult = true;
            }
            else
            {
                decimal number3 = 0;
                bool canConvert = decimal.TryParse(numberVal, out number3);
                if (canConvert == true)
                {
                    numResult = true;
                }
                else
                    numResult = false;
            }

        }
        catch (System.Exception ex)
        {
            numResult = false;
        }
        return numResult;
    }
    string correctNum;
    private void tBox_NumTester_TextChanged(object sender, TextChangedEventArgs e)
    {


        if(checkTextisNumber(tBox_NumTester.Text))
        {
            correctNum = tBox_NumTester.Text;
        }
        else
        {
            tBox_NumTester.Text = correctNum;
        }

    }

Answer 22

In our webpage with the definition of textbox we can add an onkeypress event for accepting only numbers. It will not show any message but it will prevent you from wrong input. It worked for me, user could not enter anything except number.

<asp:TextBox runat="server" ID="txtFrom"
     onkeypress="if(isNaN(String.fromCharCode(event.keyCode))) return false;">

Answer 23

i like terse code

    private void xmm_textbox_KeyPress(object sender, KeyPressEventArgs e) {
        double x;
        e.Handled = !double.TryParse(((TextBox)sender).Text, out x);
    }

Answer 24

I've been working on a collection of components to complete missing stuff in WinForms, here it is: Advanced Forms

In particular this is the class for a Regex TextBox

/// <summary>Represents a Windows text box control that only allows input that matches a regular expression.</summary>
public class RegexTextBox : TextBox
{
    [NonSerialized]
    string lastText;

    /// <summary>A regular expression governing the input allowed in this text field.</summary>
    [Browsable(false), EditorBrowsable(EditorBrowsableState.Never)]
    [DesignerSerializationVisibility(DesignerSerializationVisibility.Hidden)]
    public virtual Regex Regex { get; set; }

    /// <summary>A regular expression governing the input allowed in this text field.</summary>
    [DefaultValue(null)]
    [Category("Behavior")]
    [Description("Sets the regular expression governing the input allowed for this control.")]
    public virtual string RegexString {
        get {
            return Regex == null ? string.Empty : Regex.ToString();
        }
        set {
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value))
                Regex = null;
            else
                Regex = new Regex(value);
        }
    }

    protected override void OnTextChanged(EventArgs e) {
        if (Regex != null && !Regex.IsMatch(Text)) {
            int pos = SelectionStart - Text.Length + (lastText ?? string.Empty).Length;
            Text = lastText;
            SelectionStart = Math.Max(0, pos);
        }

        lastText = Text;

        base.OnTextChanged(e);
    }
}

Simply adding something like myNumbericTextBox.RegexString = "^(\\d+|)$"; should suffice.

Answer 25

You can use the TextChanged event

private void textBox_BiggerThan_TextChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    long a;
    if (! long.TryParse(textBox_BiggerThan.Text, out a))
    {
        // If not int clear textbox text or Undo() last operation
        textBox_LessThan.Clear();
    }
}

Answer 26

Two options:

1. Use a NumericUpDown instead. NumericUpDown does the filtering for you, which is nice. Of course it also gives your users the ability to hit the up and down arrows on the keyboard to increment and decrement the current value.

2. Handle the appropriate keyboard events to prevent anything but numeric input. I've had success with this two event handlers on a standard TextBox:

   private void textBox1_KeyPress(object sender, KeyPressEventArgs e)
   {
       if (!char.IsControl(e.KeyChar) && !char.IsDigit(e.KeyChar) &&
           (e.KeyChar != '.'))
       {
               e.Handled = true;
       }
   
       // only allow one decimal point
       if ((e.KeyChar == '.') && ((sender as TextBox).Text.IndexOf('.') > -1))
       {
           e.Handled = true;
       }
   }
   

You can remove the check for '.' (and the subsequent check for more than one '.') if your TextBox shouldn't allow decimal places. You could also add a check for '-' if your TextBox should allow negative values.

If you want to limit the user for number of digit, use: textBox1.MaxLength = 2; // this will allow the user to enter only 2 digits

Answer 27

It seems like many of the current answers to this question are manually parsing the input text. If you're looking for a specific built-in numeric type (e.g. int or double), why not just delegate the work to that type's TryParse method? For example:

public class IntTextBox : TextBox
{
    string PreviousText = "";
    int BackingResult;

    public IntTextBox()
    {
        TextChanged += IntTextBox_TextChanged;
    }

    public bool HasResult { get; private set; }

    public int Result
    {
        get
        {
            return HasResult ? BackingResult : default(int);
        }
    }

    void IntTextBox_TextChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        HasResult = int.TryParse(Text, out BackingResult);

        if (HasResult || string.IsNullOrEmpty(Text))
        {
            // Commit
            PreviousText = Text;
        }
        else
        {
            // Revert
            var changeOffset = Text.Length - PreviousText.Length;
            var previousSelectionStart =
                Math.Max(0, SelectionStart - changeOffset);

            Text = PreviousText;
            SelectionStart = previousSelectionStart;
        }
    }
}

If you want something more generic but still compatible with Visual Studio's Designer:

public class ParsableTextBox : TextBox
{
    TryParser BackingTryParse;
    string PreviousText = "";
    object BackingResult;

    public ParsableTextBox()
        : this(null)
    {
    }

    public ParsableTextBox(TryParser tryParse)
    {
        TryParse = tryParse;

        TextChanged += ParsableTextBox_TextChanged;
    }

    public delegate bool TryParser(string text, out object result);

    public TryParser TryParse
    {
        set
        {
            Enabled = !(ReadOnly = value == null);

            BackingTryParse = value;
        }
    }

    public bool HasResult { get; private set; }

    public object Result
    {
        get
        {
            return GetResult<object>();
        }
    }

    public T GetResult<T>()
    {
        return HasResult ? (T)BackingResult : default(T);
    }

    void ParsableTextBox_TextChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        if (BackingTryParse != null)
        {
            HasResult = BackingTryParse(Text, out BackingResult);
        }

        if (HasResult || string.IsNullOrEmpty(Text))
        {
            // Commit
            PreviousText = Text;
        }
        else
        {
            // Revert
            var changeOffset = Text.Length - PreviousText.Length;
            var previousSelectionStart =
                Math.Max(0, SelectionStart - changeOffset);

            Text = PreviousText;
            SelectionStart = previousSelectionStart;
        }
    }
}

And finally, if you want something fully generic and don't care about Designer support:

public class ParsableTextBox<T> : TextBox
{
    TryParser BackingTryParse;
    string PreviousText;
    T BackingResult;

    public ParsableTextBox()
        : this(null)
    {
    }

    public ParsableTextBox(TryParser tryParse)
    {
        TryParse = tryParse;

        TextChanged += ParsableTextBox_TextChanged;
    }

    public delegate bool TryParser(string text, out T result);

    public TryParser TryParse
    {
        set
        {
            Enabled = !(ReadOnly = value == null);

            BackingTryParse = value;
        }
    }

    public bool HasResult { get; private set; }

    public T Result
    {
        get
        {
            return HasResult ? BackingResult : default(T);
        }
    }

    void ParsableTextBox_TextChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        if (BackingTryParse != null)
        {
            HasResult = BackingTryParse(Text, out BackingResult);
        }

        if (HasResult || string.IsNullOrEmpty(Text))
        {
            // Commit
            PreviousText = Text;
        }
        else
        {
            // Revert
            var changeOffset = Text.Length - PreviousText.Length;
            var previousSelectionStart =
                Math.Max(0, SelectionStart - changeOffset);

            Text = PreviousText;
            SelectionStart = previousSelectionStart;
        }
    }
}

Answer 28

FAIL-SAFE and simple "recursive" method, which can be used with multiple textboxes.

It blocks the wrong keyboard typed characters and also pasted values etc. It only accepts integer numbers, and the maximum number length is the maximum length of a string type (which is int, really long!)

public void Check_If_Int_On_TextChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
   // This method checks that each inputed character is a number. Any non-numeric
   // characters are removed from the text

   TextBox textbox = (TextBox)sender;

   // If the text is empty, return
   if (textbox.Text.Length == 0) { return; }

   // Check the new Text value if it's only numbers
   byte parsedValue;
   if (!byte.TryParse(textbox.Text[(textbox.Text.Length - 1)].ToString(), out parsedValue))
   {
      // Remove the last character as it wasn't a number
      textbox.Text = textbox.Text.Remove((textbox.Text.Length - 1));

      // Move the cursor to the end of text
      textbox.SelectionStart = textbox.Text.Length;
    }
 }

Answer 29

Hi you can do something like this in the textchanged event of the textbox.

here is a demo

    private void textBox1_TextChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        string actualdata = string.Empty;
        char[] entereddata = textBox1.Text.ToCharArray();
        foreach (char aChar in entereddata.AsEnumerable())
        {
            if (Char.IsDigit(aChar))
            {
                actualdata = actualdata + aChar;
                // MessageBox.Show(aChar.ToString());
            }
            else
            {
                MessageBox.Show(aChar + " is not numeric");
                actualdata.Replace(aChar, ' ');
                actualdata.Trim();
            }
        }
        textBox1.Text = actualdata;
    }

Answer 30

Take a look at Input handling in WinForm

I have posted my solution which uses the ProcessCmdKey and OnKeyPress events on the textbox. The comments show you how to use a Regex to verify the keypress and block/allow appropriately.