How to show text in combobox when no item selected?

Question

C# & .Net 2.0 question (WinForms)

I have set of items in ComboBox and non of them selected. I would like to show a string on combo \"Pl

Answer 1

I could not get @Andrei Karcheuski 's approach to work but he inspired me to this approach: (I added the Localizable Property so the Hint can be translated through .resx files for each dialog you use it on)

 public partial class HintComboBox : ComboBox
{
    string hint;
    Font greyFont;

    [Localizable(true)]
    public string Hint
    {
        get { return hint; }
        set { hint = value; Invalidate(); }
    }

    public HintComboBox()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
    }

    protected override void OnCreateControl()
    {
        base.OnCreateControl();

        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(Text))
        {
            this.ForeColor = SystemColors.GrayText;
            Text = Hint;
        }
        else
        {
            this.ForeColor = Color.Black;
        }
    }

    private void HintComboBox_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        if( string.IsNullOrEmpty(Text) )
        {
            this.ForeColor = SystemColors.GrayText;
            Text = Hint;
        }
        else
        {
            this.ForeColor = Color.Black;
        }
    }