Binaryworld - GetListSubItemFromPoint : Detect Listview item/subitem click (VB.net) ... [ VB.net -> Controls-ListView ]

Sometimes you might want to determine which listview column clicked by user. You can find listitem (i.e. row) using GetItemAt method but there is no direct property or method in .Net to determine clicked subitem (i.e. column) based on (X,Y) coordinates. Here is the small code snippet to accomplish this task.

Step-by-Step Example

- Create a Windows Application project
- Add one listview control on the form1
- Add the following code in form1

Click here to copy the following block

Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
  ListView1.FullRowSelect = True
  ListView1.HideSelection = False

  ListView1.View = View.Details
  ListView1.Items.Clear()

  '//Add some columns
  Dim h0 As New ColumnHeader
  Dim h1 As New ColumnHeader
  Dim h2 As New ColumnHeader

  h0.Text = "Col0"
  h1.Text = "Col1"
  h2.Text = "Col2"

  ListView1.Columns.Add(h0)
  ListView1.Columns.Add(h1)
  ListView1.Columns.Add(h2)

  '//Add some items/subitems
  For i As Integer = 0 To 10
    With ListView1.Items.Add("Itm" & i & "-0")
      .SubItems.Add("Itm" & i & "-1")
      .SubItems.Add("Itm" & i & "-2")
      .SubItems.Add("Itm" & i & "-3")
    End With
  Next
End Sub

Private Sub ListView1_MouseDown(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventArgs) Handles ListView1.MouseDown
  Dim col, row
  If GetListSubItemFromPoint(ListView1, e.X, e.Y, row, col) = True Then
    'MsgBox("Item# =>" & row & " ; Subitem# =>" & col)
    Me.Text = "Item# =>" & row & " ; Subitem# =>" & col
  Else
    MsgBox("Please click on subitem")
  End If
End Sub

'//This function returns item row and column in the listview
'//If no item present then it will return row= -1 and col= index of column from x cordinate
Function GetListSubItemFromPoint(ByVal lv As ListView, _
      ByVal X As Integer, _
      ByVal Y As Integer, _
      Optional ByRef retRow As Integer = 0, _
      Optional ByRef retCol As Integer = 0) As Boolean

  Dim flag As Boolean
  Dim Item As ListViewItem
  Dim col, row As Integer

  Try
    flag = lv.FullRowSelect

    '//FullRow select must be true in order to use GetItemAt properly
    If flag = False Then lv.FullRowSelect = True '//temperory make it true
    If lv.Items.Count <= 0 And lv.Columns.Count > 0 Then
      '//if no item then to get subitem add dummy
      '//listitem/subitems and then very last delete it

      lv.BeginUpdate() '//no update to listview until we are done

      With ListView1.Items.Add(".")
        For col = 0 To lv.Columns.Count - 1
          .SubItems.Add("..")
        Next
        '//Y cordinate can be any where in the list view but
        '//shift it on first item so GetItemAt return item
        Y = .GetBounds(ItemBoundsPortion.Label).Y
      End With
      Item = lv.GetItemAt(X, Y)
      row = -1
    Else
      Item = lv.GetItemAt(X, Y)
    End If

    lv.FullRowSelect = flag '//switch back to old value

    If Not Item Is Nothing Then
      Dim I As Integer = 0
      Dim R As Rectangle = Item.GetBounds(ItemBoundsPortion.Label)
      Do While I < Item.SubItems.Count
        If R.Contains(X, Y) Then
          retRow = IIf(row = -1, -1, Item.Index)
          retCol = I

          GetListSubItemFromPoint = True
          Exit Do
        End If
        R.X = R.X + lv.Columns(I).Width
        R.Width = lv.Columns(I + 1).Width
        I = I + 1
      Loop
    End If

  Catch ex As Exception
  Finally
    If row = -1 Then
      lv.Items.Clear()
      lv.EndUpdate()
    End If
  End Try
End Function