Aligning controls on both left and right side in a stack panel in WPF

Question

I have the following code:

<DockPanel>
    <StackPanel DockPanel.Dock="Top" Orientation="Horizontal">
        <RadioButton Content="_Programs" 
                    IsChecked="{Binding Path=ProgramBanksSelected}" IsEnabled="{Binding Path=ProgramsEnabled}" Margin="8" />
        <StackPanel>
            <Label Content="Master" Height="28" Name="MasterFileStatus" VerticalContentAlignment="Center"/>
        </StackPanel>
    </StackPanel>
    ...

The radio button should be placed on the left side in the stack panel (I removed some buttons for not cluttering the example) and the label (which I put temporarily in a nested StackPanel) should be on the right side.

I tried already lots of combinations of alignments but I cannot get the label on the right side. What should I add to accomplish this?

You really can't ask too much of stack panels, as soon as you want any kind of semi-advanced structure just go for a grid — Kevin DiTraglia, Aug 27 '12 at 23:36
The right answer is to use a DockPanel as in this post: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2023201/align-items-in-a-stack-panel — pasx, Apr 02 '13 at 09:07

score 111 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 21 '15 at 16:25

111

Just do not use a StackPanel, StackPanels stack. They do, for obvious reasons, not allow alignment in the direction in which they stack. Use a Grid, with column definitions like so:

<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
    <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
    <ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
    <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>

edited Apr 21 '15 at 16:25

mungflesh

776
11
22

answered Aug 27 '12 at 23:36

H.B.

166,899
29
327
400

I guess that would work, however I will wait for more answers, because with StackPanels I have the benefit that when the screen is made less wide, the items will wrap up, which I loose when I use a grid. – Michel Keijzers Aug 27 '12 at 23:45
2

@MichelKeijzers: If you want something fancy like that you may need to implement your own panel. – H.B. Aug 27 '12 at 23:47
Thanks for the answer ... I don't know if I prefer your solution about not right aligning in that case, but that is outside of the question I asked. – Michel Keijzers Aug 28 '12 at 00:23
Thanks for tip. I took all **ColumnDefinition Width="*"** to equally distribute – Mrinmoy May 08 '19 at 04:51
Additionally A little binding trick worked when grid is inside stackpanel . this makes grid width expand so that button appears on left and right corners of the screen. – Neha Apr 05 '22 at 16:13

score 60 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 15 '17 at 23:24

60

Even though this is old, should someone come across this like I did, here's a simple solution.

Make a new grid and inside that grid put two stack panels with different Horizontal Alignment.

<Grid>
    <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal" HorizontalAlignment="Left">
        <!--Code here-->
    </StackPanel>
    <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal" HorizontalAlignment="Right">
        <!--Code here-->
    </StackPanel>
</Grid>

The possible issue is that now without extra handling the two could overlap with each other.

answered Feb 15 '17 at 23:24

Chris

601
5
2

1

This is a super great solution. You don't actually need the `StackPanels` though, if each panel only has one child. – Jonathan Tuzman Jun 04 '20 at 18:31
Elegant... Does the job without much of grid definitions. – Rajshekar Reddy Sep 02 '21 at 12:24

newfurniturey · Answer 3 · 2012-08-27T23:43:09.247

5

As you have set the StackPanel's orientation to Horizontal, the HorizontalAlignment property won't work on child-elements. You can keep the StackPanel if you need additional controls, though I would recommend switching to a Grid (among other things) to build the layout you want.

Also, the Grid will allow you to control the actual width of each column:

<Grid>
    <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
        <ColumnDefinition Width="50" />
        <ColumnDefinition Width="150" />
    </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>

    <RadioButton
        Grid.Column="0"
        ...
    />

    <Label
        Grid.Column="1"
        ...
    />
</Grid>

edited Aug 27 '12 at 23:43

answered Aug 27 '12 at 23:36

newfurniturey

37,556
9
94
102

1

Your first example will not work, they will still stack horizontally as space allows and the alignment won't do anything. – Kevin DiTraglia Aug 27 '12 at 23:40
@KDiTraglia Yeah, just tested - you're right; When `Orientation="Horizontal"`, it ignores the `HorizontalAlignment`; removing now, thanks =] – newfurniturey Aug 27 '12 at 23:41

score 5 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 26 '18 at 07:48

User @pasx is right. You should use DockPanel and dock the RadioButton to the left side, and your StackPanel with the label to the right side.

<DockPanel>

    <DockPanel 
        DockPanel.Dock="Top" 
        LastChildFill="False" >

        <RadioButton 
            DockPanel.Dock="Left" 
            Content="_Programs" 
            IsChecked="{Binding Path=ProgramBanksSelected}"
            IsEnabled="{Binding Path=ProgramsEnabled}" 
            Margin="8" />

        <StackPanel
            DockPanel.Dock="Right">

            <Label 
                Content="Master" 
                Height="28" 
                Name="MasterFileStatus" 
                VerticalContentAlignment="Center"/>

        </StackPanel>

    </DockPanel>
    ...

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 05 '21 at 14:49

Use the Stackpanel orientation type in a nested fashion as shown in the sample. The Grid Width is set to a parent width in order to achieve full width.

<StackPanel x:Name="stackBlah" Orientation="Vertical">
    <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
        <Grid Width="{Binding ActualWidth, ElementName=stackBlah}" >
            <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
                <ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
                <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
            </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
            <Grid.RowDefinitions>
                <RowDefinition />
            </Grid.RowDefinitions>

            <StackPanel Grid.Column="0" HorizontalAlignment="Left" >
                <Button Content="Some button" />
            </StackPanel>
            <StackPanel Grid.Column="1" HorizontalAlignment="Right">
                <ToggleSwitch Header="Some toggle" AutomationProperties.Name="ToggleNotifications"/>
            </StackPanel>
        </Grid>
    </StackPanel>
</StackPanel>

Aligning controls on both left and right side in a stack panel in WPF

5 Answers5

Linked