WPF Popup Alternative

Question

I have a window with a popup that pops when an item in a listview is double clicked.
It centers to the main window and looks really nice floating there.
The problem is when the user moves the main window or selects another program, and the popup floats on top of other stuff.

I would like to have something like a popup, meaning that it floats on top of other elements in the window, but sticks with the main window when it moves (stays centered), and doesn't float on top of other programs.
Can I make a popup act like this, or is there a better way to do it?

Answer 1

It's possible that an Adorner will fit your needs in this case better than a popup. Adorners can float above your window, too. There are a few differences, mainly that an adorner is bound to a UIElement (which include windows).

Answer 2

Popups will not move while the window is resized or moved. Because, Popups/Context menus are not the part of Visual Tree. You have to use Adorner for this. I will suggest to read this four part series for a quick start on Adorner.

Answer 3

If you are willing to use a third-party/open source (MS-PL) option, the Extended WPF Toolkit has a ChildWindow control.

It's technically not a separate window, but it appears to be a separate window to the user.

Answer 4

I have not found a way to make Popups stop doing that in WPF

As an alternative, you can create a UserControl which acts like a Popup.

Usually I host the content section of the app along with the Popup within a Canvas control, and when IsPopupOpen gets changed to True I set the popup Visibility = Visible.