C# ListView Column Width Auto

You gave the answer: -2 will autosize the column to the length of the text in the column header, -1 will autosize to the longest item in the column. All according to MSDN. Note though that in the case of -1, you will need to set the column width after adding the item(s). So if you add a new item, you will also need to assign the width property of the column (or columns) that you want to autosize according to data in ListView control.

There is another useful method called AutoResizeColumn which allows you to auto size a specific column with the required parameter.

You can call it like this:

listview1.AutoResizeColumn(1, ColumnHeaderAutoResizeStyle.ColumnContent);
listview1.AutoResizeColumn(2, ColumnHeaderAutoResizeStyle.ColumnContent);
listview1.AutoResizeColumn(3, ColumnHeaderAutoResizeStyle.HeaderSize);
listview1.AutoResizeColumn(4, ColumnHeaderAutoResizeStyle.HeaderSize);

You can use something like this, passing the ListView you want in param

    private void AutoSizeColumnList(ListView listView)
    {
        //Prevents flickering
        listView.BeginUpdate();

        Dictionary<int, int> columnSize = new Dictionary<int,int>();

        //Auto size using header
        listView.AutoResizeColumns(ColumnHeaderAutoResizeStyle.HeaderSize);

        //Grab column size based on header
        foreach(ColumnHeader colHeader in listView.Columns )
            columnSize.Add(colHeader.Index, colHeader.Width);

        //Auto size using data
        listView.AutoResizeColumns(ColumnHeaderAutoResizeStyle.ColumnContent);

        //Grab comumn size based on data and set max width
        foreach (ColumnHeader colHeader in listView.Columns)
        {
            int nColWidth;
            if (columnSize.TryGetValue(colHeader.Index, out nColWidth))
                colHeader.Width = Math.Max(nColWidth, colHeader.Width);
            else
                //Default to 50
                colHeader.Width = Math.Max(50, colHeader.Width);
        }

        listView.EndUpdate();
    }

If you have ListView in any Parent panel (ListView dock fill), you can use simply method...

private void ListViewHeaderWidth() {
        int HeaderWidth = (listViewInfo.Parent.Width - 2) / listViewInfo.Columns.Count;
        foreach (ColumnHeader header in listViewInfo.Columns)
        {
            header.Width = HeaderWidth;
        }
    }

It is also worth noting that ListView may not display as expected without first changing the property:

myListView.View = View.Details; // or View.List

For me Visual Studio seems to default it to View.LargeIcon for some reason so nothing appears until it is changed.

Complete code to show a single column in a ListView and allow space for a vertical scroll bar.

lisSerials.Items.Clear();
lisSerials.View = View.Details;
lisSerials.FullRowSelect = true;

// add column if not already present
if(lisSerials.Columns.Count==0)
{
    int vw = SystemInformation.VerticalScrollBarWidth;
    lisSerials.Columns.Add("Serial Numbers", lisSerials.Width-vw-5);
}

foreach (string s in stringArray)
{
    ListViewItem lvi = new ListViewItem(new string[] { s });
    lisSerials.Items.Add(lvi);
}

I believe the author was looking for an equivalent method via the IDE that would generate the code behind and make sure all parameters were in place, etc. Found this from MS:

Creating Event Handlers on the Windows Forms Designer

Coming from a VB background myself, this is what I was looking for, here is the brief version for the click adverse:

1. Click the form or control that you want to create an event handler for.
2. In the Properties window, click the Events button
3. In the list of available events, click the event that you want to create an event handler for.
4. In the box to the right of the event name, type the name of the handler and press ENTER