How to show current position of a slider over the thumb always

Question

How to show a slider control with a tooltip/label under the thumb showing the value (timespan) always while it moves with/without user dragging.

I tried AutoToolTipPlacement="BottomRight" AutoToolTipPrecision="3" on my slider. But Tooltip gets displayed only when i drag the thumb. I want that shown even when i invoke playing slider with a button control.(like video player)

The point is to reduce the size of my usercontrol and avoid extra labels for timers or position.

If i am in the wrong direction, please suggest me better ideas. Thanks!

Answer 1

You can re-style the Thumb to show this effect. Below is a sample that makes a circular Thumb with the .Value property of the parent Slider showing up inside the circle.

<Style TargetType="{x:Type Thumb}">
    <Setter Property="Focusable" Value="false"/>
    <Setter Property="OverridesDefaultStyle" Value="true"/>
    <Setter Property="Height" Value="20"/>
    <Setter Property="Width" Value="20"/>
    <Setter Property="Template">
        <Setter.Value>
            <ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type Thumb}">
                <Canvas SnapsToDevicePixels="true">
                    <Grid Height="20" Width="20">
                        <Ellipse x:Name="Background" 
                            Fill="#FFA3A3A3"
                            Height="20" Width="20"
                            Stroke="#FFDADADA"/>
                        <TextBlock HorizontalAlignment="Center"
                            VerticalAlignment="Center"
                            Foreground="Black"
                            FontSize="9"
                            Text="{Binding Value, RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type Slider}}, Converter={StaticResource ConvertToIntegerConverter}}"/>
                    </Grid>
                </Canvas>
                <ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                    <Trigger Property="IsMouseOver" Value="true">
                        <Setter Property="Fill" TargetName="Background" 
                            Value="#FFDADADA"/>
                    </Trigger>
                    <Trigger Property="IsDragging" Value="true">
                        <Setter Property="Fill" TargetName="Background" 
                            Value="#FFF2F2F2"/>
                    </Trigger>
                    <Trigger Property="IsEnabled" Value="false">
                        <Setter Property="Fill" TargetName="Background" 
                            Value="#FFF2F2F2"/>
                    </Trigger>
                </ControlTemplate.Triggers>
            </ControlTemplate>
        </Setter.Value>
    </Setter>
</Style>

I've used an IValueConverter to make sure the the value displayed is always an integer, since the normal .Value property is a decimal. You would want to use your own converter to properly format the information that you want displayed.

You can make the text or numbers appear wherever you want by re-styling the Thumb.

EDIT:

If you want to show the text above or below the actual thumb, it's a pretty minor change to the styling:

                    <Grid>
                        <Grid.RowDefinitions>
                            <RowDefinition Height="20"/>
                            <RowDefinition Height="20"/>
                        </Grid.RowDefinitions>
                        <Ellipse x:Name="Background" 
                            Fill="#FFA3A3A3"
                            Height="20" Width="20"
                            Stroke="#FFDADADA"/>
                        <TextBlock Grid.Row="1" HorizontalAlignment="Center"
                            VerticalAlignment="Center"
                            Foreground="White"
                            FontSize="9"
                            Text="{Binding Value, RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type Slider}}, Converter={StaticResource ConvertToIntegerConverter}}"/>
                    </Grid>