Inserting a tab into a WPF RichTextBox when AllowTab is set to false

Question

I am trying to work out how to insert a tab character into a WPF RichTextBox when the AllowTab attribute is set to false.

Is there a shortcut key that allows this? I would rather not have to resort to adding a special button to the toolbar or telling users that they must copy and paste one in ...

Answer 1

Okay, the best I can come up with so far is intercepting the keydown event in the code behind:

private void RichTextBox_KeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
     if (e.Key != Key.Tab || 
         (Keyboard.Modifiers & ModifierKeys.Control) != ModifierKeys.Control)
                return;

     var richTextBox = sender as RichTextBox;
     if (richTextBox == null) return;

     if (richTextBox.Selection.Text != string.Empty)
        richTextBox.Selection.Text = string.Empty;

     var caretPosition = richTextBox.CaretPosition.GetPositionAtOffset(0,
                           LogicalDirection.Forward);

     richTextBox.CaretPosition.InsertTextInRun("\t");
     richTextBox.CaretPosition = caretPosition;
     e.Handled = true;
}

Answer 2

The Below Code works for me.

  private void RichTextBox_PreviewKeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
    {
         if (e.Key != Key.Tab)      return;
     var richTextBox = sender as RichTextBox;
     if (richTextBox == null) return;

 if (richTextBox.Selection.Text != string.Empty)
    richTextBox.Selection.Text = string.Empty;

 var caretPosition = richTextBox.CaretPosition.GetPositionAtOffset(0,
                       LogicalDirection.Forward);

 richTextBox.CaretPosition.InsertTextInRun("        ");
 richTextBox.CaretPosition = caretPosition;
 e.Handled = true;

}