Controls by Function

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Silverlight offers client controls that perform many functions. You can select the appropriate control for your scenario by comparing controls that offer similar functionality. Some of these controls are part of the Silverlight libraries in the Silverlight SDK. If a control is only available as part of the Silverlight SDK, it is specified in the Location column. For information about the Silverlight SDK, see Silverlight Tools.

For an alphabetical list of controls, see Controls and Dialog Boxes.

Controls by Function

The following table lists common Silverlight controls according to general function.

Function	Control	Location	Description
Button/Command controls	Button	Runtime	Responds to user input from a mouse, keyboard, stylus, or other input device and raises a Click event.
	HyperlinkButton	Runtime	Represents a button control that displays a hyperlink. When clicked, the HyperlinkButton enables users to move to a Web page in the same Web application or a Web page that is external to the current application.
	RepeatButton	Runtime	Represents a button that raises its click event repeatedly from when the button is pressed until it is released.
Selection controls	CheckBox	Runtime	Represents a control that a user can select or clear. A check box optionally offers an, indeterminate state.
	ComboBox	Runtime	Displays a drop-down list of items a user can select from.
	ListBox	Runtime	Displays a list of items a user can select by clicking.
	RadioButton	Runtime	Allows a user to select a single option from a list of options. When radio buttons are grouped together they are mutually exclusive.
	Slider	Runtime	Represents a control that lets the user select from a range of values by moving a Thumb control along a track.
Date display and selection	Calendar	Silverlight SDK	Allows a user to select a date from a visual calendar display. The calendar can be used on its own or in combination with the DatePicker control..
	DatePicker	Silverlight SDK	Allows a user to select a date by typing it in a text field or selecting it from a drop-down calendar control.
Information display (read-only)	TextBlock	Runtime	Displays small amounts of read-only text.
	ProgressBar	Runtime	Displays the current progress of an operation to the user.
	RichTextBlock (Silverlight 5)	Runtime	Provides a control for displaying rich text. Supports formatted text, hyperlinks, images, and other rich content.
Text display and editing	AutoCompleteBox	Silverlight SDK	Represents a control that provides a text box for user input and a drop-down that contains possible matches based on the input in the text box.
	PasswordBox	Runtime	Provides a control that allows the user to enter sensitive data, such as a password.
	TextBox	Runtime	Provides a control for displaying or editing text.
	System.Windows.Controls.RichTextBox (Silverlight 4 or later)	Runtime	Provides a control for displaying or editing rich text. Supports formatted text, hyperlinks, images, and other rich content.
Data display	DataGrid	Silverlight SDK	Displays a collection of data in rows and columns. You can change the type of row or column to fit the needs of your application.
	DataPager	Silverlight SDK	Provides a user interface for paging through a collection of data that implements IPagedCollectionView.
	TreeView	Silverlight SDK	Displays hierarchical data in a tree structure that has items that can expand and collapse.
	System.Windows.Controls.Pivot.PivotViewer (Silverlight 5)	Silverlight SDK	Displays a large amount of data at once in a way that is easily consumable by the user. Users can browse the data in such a way that helps them see the trends and quickly find information they need.
Graphics and video display	DrawingSurface (Silverlight 5)	Runtime	Defines an area where 3-D content can be composed and rendered.
	Image	Runtime	Displays an image.
	MultiScaleImage	Runtime	Enables users to open a multi-resolution image which can be scaled or repositioned for detail viewing.
	MediaElement	Runtime	Hosts audio or video content. Provides a rectangular region that can display video on its surface, or play audio if no video is present.
	InkPresenter	Runtime	Provides a drawing surface to support Tablet PC features.
HTML display, out of browser	WebBrowser (Silverlight 4 or later)	Runtime	Provides a surface for displaying HTML content when the application is hosted outside the browser or in Silverlight 5, a in-browser trusted application.
Layout and element grouping	Border	Runtime	Provides a border, background, or both to another control.
	Canvas	Runtime	Provides a surface to display child elements at specific coordinates in the canvas.
	ContentControl	Runtime	Represents a control with a single piece of content.
	Grid	Runtime	Provides a surface composed of rows and columns to display child elements. You define the rows and columns for a grid, than assign objects to a specific row or column in the grid.
	GridSplitter	Silverlight SDK	Allows a user to resize the columns or rows in a Grid control.
	StackPanel	Runtime	Provides a surface to display child elements in a line; either horizontally or vertically.
	Viewbox (Silverlight 4 or later)	Runtime	Provides a control that can stretch or scale its content to fill the available space.
	VirtualizingStackPanel	Runtime	Provides a stack panel control that arranges content that is visible on the screen, creating additional UI items as needed.
	ScrollBar	Runtime	Represents a control that provides a scroll bar that has a sliding Thumb whose position corresponds to a value.
	ScrollViewer	Runtime	Provides a scrollable surface for displaying a child element.
	TabControl	Silverlight SDK	Provides a tabbed interface for displaying elements. Child elements are hosted in a TabItem.
User Help	DescriptionViewer	Silverlight SDK	Displays a description and tracks error state for an associated control.
	Label	Silverlight SDK	Displays a caption, required field indicator, and validation error indicator for an associated control.
	ToolTip	Runtime	Provides the user with information about an element in the UI using a popup window.
	ValidationSummary	Silverlight SDK	Displays a summary of the validation errors on a form.
Navigation	Frame	Silverlight SDK	Supports navigation to Page controls.
	Page	Silverlight SDK	Encapsulates content that can be navigated to by a Frame.
Dialog boxes and windows	OpenFileDialog	Runtime	Enables the user to select one or more files from the file system.
	SaveFileDialog	Runtime	Enables the user to specify options for saving a file.
	ChildWindow	Silverlight SDK	Provides a window that can be displayed over a parent window and blocks interaction with the parent window.
	Popup	Runtime	Overlays content on top of the existing content within the bounds of the Silverlight plug-in.

See Also

Tasks

Getting Started with Controls

Concepts

Controls and Dialog Boxes

Silverlight Tools