Alert Bar WPF UserControl

This is a WPF usercontrol for displaying user updates through an alert bar. There are five types of alerts: success, danger, warning, information, or neutral. The color scheme and icons for each are based on the type.

Dependencies

• WPF Application
• Targets netcoreapp3.1-windows, net6.0-windows, net8.0-windows, and net10.0-windows (.NET Framework is no longer supported)

Usage

Install from NuGet:

dotnet add package AlertBarWpf

Or reference the source directly with a <ProjectReference> to src/AlertBarWpf.csproj.

GUI: In the xaml you must reference the namespace to add the usercontrol:

<Window ... xmlns:mbar="clr-namespace:AlertBarWpf;assembly=AlertBarWpf"></Window>

Using this reference place the control on the form. I typically position this above any other controls:

<mbar:AlertBarWpf x:Name="msgbar" />

An optional IconVisibility parameter to remove icons from all alert messages. There is also a BarStyle parameter to adjust the look of the bar:

<mbar:AlertBarWpf x:Name="msgbar" IconVisibility="False" BarStyle="Outline" />

Code Behind: To make use of the control we trigger it in the xaml.cs. Call the methods like so:

msgbar.Clear();
msgbar.SetDangerAlert("Select an Item.");

Features

• Multiple styles (Standard filled and Outline outlined-only variants, via the BarStyle property)
• Recognizable color scheme/icons for danger, success, warning, information, or neutral
• Does not occupy space when not in use
• Auto-closes (if desired)

API

Methods:

• Clear()
• SetAlert(AlertType alertType, string message, int timeoutInSeconds = 0) — use when the alert type is only known at runtime
• SetDangerAlert(string message, int timeoutInSeconds = 0)
• SetSuccessAlert(string message, int timeoutInSeconds = 0)
• SetWarningAlert(string message, int timeoutInSeconds = 0)
• SetInformationAlert(string message, int timeoutInSeconds = 0)
• SetNeutralAlert(string message, int timeoutInSeconds = 0)

Each of the creation methods above takes a message parameter and an optional timeout parameter (based on seconds); a timeout of 0 means the alert stays visible until Clear() is called or another Set*Alert is triggered.

XAML Properties:

• BarStyle (BarStyleType)
• Density (DensityType)
• IconVisibility (bool)
• CurrentAlertType (AlertType, read-only) — the alert currently displayed by the bar
• Message (string, read-only) — the text currently displayed by the bar

Events:

• Show — raised whenever a Set*Alert method is called

BarStyleType enum:

• Standard
• Outline

DensityType enum:

• Comfortable (default) — larger icon/text/close-glyph sizing
• Compact — the original, more tightly-packed sizing

AlertType enum:

• None
• Danger
• Warning
• Success
• Information
• Neutral — no icon, gray accent; for generic messages with no severity

Support

Found a bug or have a feature request? Open an issue.

Author

Chad Kuehn

Copyright & License

Copyright (c) 2014 Chad Kuehn

AlertBarWpf is available under the MIT license. See the LICENSE file for more information.