Does the GroupBox Header in WPF swallow mouse-clicks?

Question

Have a look at this very simple example WPF program:

<Window x:Class="WpfApplication1.Window1"
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    Title="Window1" Height="300" Width="300">

    <GroupBox>
        <GroupBox.Header>
            <CheckBox Content="Click Here"/>
        </GroupBox.Header>
    </GroupBox>
</Window>

So I have a GroupBox whose header is a CheckBox. We've all done something like this - typically you bind the content of the GroupBox in such a way that it's disabled when the CheckBox is unchecked.

However, when I run this application and click on the CheckBox, I've found that sometimes my mouse clicks are swallowed and the CheckBox's status doesn't change. If I'm right, it's when I click on the exact row of pixels that the GroupBox's top border sits on.

Can someone duplicate this? Why would this occur, and is there a way around it?

Edit: Setting the GroupBox's BorderThickness to 0 solves the problem, but obviously it removes the border, so it doesn't look like a GroupBox anymore.

Answer 1

Ian Oakes answer stuffs up the tab order such that the header comes after the content. It's possible to modify the control template such that the border can't receive focus.

To do this, modify the template so that the 2nd and 3rd borders (both in Grid Row 1) have IsHitTestVisible=false

Complete template below

<BorderGapMaskConverter x:Key="GroupBoxBorderGapMaskConverter" />

<Style x:Key="{x:Type GroupBox}" TargetType="{x:Type GroupBox}">
    <Setter Property="Control.BorderBrush" Value="#FFD5DFE5" />
    <Setter Property="Control.BorderThickness" Value="1" />
    <Setter Property="Control.Template">
        <Setter.Value>
            <ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type GroupBox}">
                <Grid SnapsToDevicePixels="True">
                    <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
                        <ColumnDefinition Width="6" />
                        <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
                        <ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
                        <ColumnDefinition Width="6" />
                    </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
                    <Grid.RowDefinitions>
                        <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
                        <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
                        <RowDefinition Height="*" />
                        <RowDefinition Height="6" />
                    </Grid.RowDefinitions>
                    <Border Name="Header" Padding="3,1,3,0" Grid.Row="0" Grid.RowSpan="2" Grid.Column="1">
                        <ContentPresenter ContentSource="Header" RecognizesAccessKey="True" SnapsToDevicePixels="{TemplateBinding UIElement.SnapsToDevicePixels}" />
                    </Border>
                    <Border CornerRadius="4" Grid.Row="1" Grid.RowSpan="3" Grid.Column="0" Grid.ColumnSpan="4" BorderThickness="{TemplateBinding Control.BorderThickness}" BorderBrush="#00FFFFFF" Background="{TemplateBinding Control.Background}" IsHitTestVisible="False" />
                    <ContentPresenter Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="1" Grid.ColumnSpan="2" Margin="{TemplateBinding Control.Padding}" SnapsToDevicePixels="{TemplateBinding UIElement.SnapsToDevicePixels}"/>
                    <Border CornerRadius="4" Grid.Row="1" Grid.RowSpan="3" Grid.ColumnSpan="4" BorderThickness="{TemplateBinding Control.BorderThickness}" BorderBrush="#FFFFFFFF" IsHitTestVisible="False">
                        <UIElement.OpacityMask>
                            <MultiBinding Converter="{StaticResource GroupBoxBorderGapMaskConverter}" ConverterParameter="7">
                                <Binding ElementName="Header" Path="ActualWidth" />
                                <Binding Path="ActualWidth" RelativeSource="{RelativeSource Self}" />
                                <Binding Path="ActualHeight" RelativeSource="{RelativeSource Self}" />
                            </MultiBinding>
                        </UIElement.OpacityMask>
                        <Border BorderThickness="{TemplateBinding Control.BorderThickness}" BorderBrush="{TemplateBinding Control.BorderBrush}" CornerRadius="3">
                            <Border BorderThickness="{TemplateBinding Control.BorderThickness}" BorderBrush="#FFFFFFFF" CornerRadius="2" />
                        </Border>
                    </Border>                        
                </Grid>
            </ControlTemplate>
        </Setter.Value>
    </Setter>
</Style>