Winforms ListView ColumnHeader Image

Jeff Gaines 71

There has been an acknowledged bug in the Winforms ListView ColumnHeader in that it will show an icon/image in design view but not when the program is running.

It's causing me an issue in a program I am writing and the bug is still there in VS2019 sadly.

Is anybody aware of a workround please? Even ObjectListView doesn't seem to show images in headers.

Accepted answer

Castorix31 81,461 Reputation points

2022-06-27T12:33:05.6+00:00

This old MS KB article works for me : PRB: Cannot Assign Images to a ColumnHeader Control in a Windows Forms ListView Control in Visual C# .NET
(tested on Windows 10 21H1, VS 2022)
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Jeff Gaines 71 Reputation points

2022-06-28T09:30:54+00:00

Many thanks Castorix31 :-)

I found lots of references to that page but MSFT has taken it down despite the problem still existing, I have now saved it very carefully.

Thanks again, solved my issue.

Reza Aghaei 4,936 Reputation points MVP

2022-07-12T00:05:52.463+00:00

Well, the fix is for pretty old versions of .NET Framework and in the recent versions of .NET Frameworks (4.x), you just need to set the ImageIndex in the code. That's because of a designer bug which prevents serializing the ImageIndex. Also in the .NET versions (3.1, 5.0, 6.0) the problem is completely fixed and no workaround is required.
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1 additional answer

Reza Aghaei 4,936 Reputation points MVP

2022-07-11T23:51:58.327+00:00
.NET Version 3.1, 5.0, 6.0 - Fixed

The bug has been fixed starting from .NET 3.1, so it works as expected in all later .NET versions (like 5.0 and 6.0), but it has not been fixed in .NET Framework (like .NET Framework 4.8).

.NET Framework 4.x - Designer bug - Just assign ImageIndex in code

The bug in .NET Framework versions (I tested 4.x versions) is just because of the VS Designer failing to serialize the ImageIndex property. It basically means you just need to manually set the image indices yourself in the code. For example, assuming that you have stored image indices in Tag, then you can use such code to show images:

public Form1() { InitializeComponent(); foreach (ColumnHeader item in listView1.Columns) { int imageIndex = -1; if (int.TryParse(item.Tag.ToString(), out imageIndex)) item.ImageIndex = imageIndex; } }

If upgrading from .NET Framework to .NET is an option, you can upgrade to .NET 6.0 to fix the problem, otherwise, just use the above workaround. The old workaround which is mentioned in the other answer, is no longer necessary.
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Jeff Gaines 71 Reputation points

2022-07-12T07:34:03.643+00:00

reza-aghaei - many thanks!

I am using Net Framework 3.5 and I was aware of the fix of re-assigning indexes after InitializeComponent(); but have been unable to get it to work.

I am interested in your comment "The bug has been fixed starting from .NET 3.1, so it works as expected in all later .NET versions (like 5.0 and 6.0), but it has not been fixed in .NET Framework (like .NET Framework 4.8)."

What is the difference between .NET 5.0 and 6.0 and Net Framework 3.5 please? I seem to have missed something and a link to an explanation would be appreciated :-)

Reza Aghaei 4,936 Reputation points MVP

2022-07-12T10:59:08.197+00:00

@Jeff Gaines Here's a bit about .NET History:

.NET Framework: .NET Framework is the original .NET implementation that has existed since 2002 which is a development platform for Windows apps. .NET Framework 4.8 is the last version of .NET Framework. There will be no later .NET Framework versions after that, but it remains fully supported by Microsoft.

.NET and .NET Core: In 2014 Microsoft introduced the .NET Core as the new cross-platform, open-source successor to .NET Framework which kept the name .NET Core through version 3.1. The next version named .NET 5. At the time of writing this post, .NET 6 is currently the primary implementation, and the one that's the focus of ongoing development.

.NET Framework 3.5 is a version of .NET Framework which I recommend to upgrade to .NET Framework 4.8 if it's possible. But you don't necessarily need to migrate your .NET Framework apps to .NET, but for new development, use .NET 6 or later.

Reza Aghaei 4,936 Reputation points MVP

2022-07-12T14:08:51.103+00:00

@Jeff Gaines You can find more information about .NET in the following links:

.NET Glossary: Very useful to clarify meanings of some terms that appear frequently in the .NET documentation.

.NET implementations: Explains the different implementations of .NET

.NET Framework versions and dependencies: Different versions of .NET Framework, starting from 1.0, to 4.8

What is .NET? Introduction and overview: Overview of the .NET (Read the history)

Overview of .NET Framework: Overview of the .NET Framework

Here is the home for documentation for the both worlds:

.NET Framework documentation

.NET documentation

Jeff Gaines 71 Reputation points

2022-07-12T14:59:11.023+00:00

Many thanks reza-aghaei :-)

I haven't used a console app (apart from occasionally running ipconfig) since DOS6.2, is there an IDE for building a .NET Core application for the Windows desktop? I have VS 2019 installed but it doesn't seem to offer that option.

Thank you.

Reza Aghaei 4,936 Reputation points MVP

2022-07-12T18:19:04.143+00:00

@Jeff Gaines Please note: as I mentioned in the previous comments, you don't necessarily need to migrate your .NET Framework apps to .NET, you can update them o .NET Framework 4.8 but for new development, you can use .NET 6 or later.

Both VS 2019 and VS 20222 have the project templates for WinForms .NET and .NET Framework, but if you don't see the templates, you may need to install the templates using the Add New Project window or Visual Studio Installer, as instructed here: Create a Windows Forms app in Visual Studio with C#.

You can also take a look at the this Tutorial: Create a Windows Forms app with .NET in VS 2022.

Reza Aghaei 4,936 Reputation points MVP

2022-07-12T18:40:31.83+00:00

@Jeff Gaines Take a look at the links and if you come up with further questions about .NET/.NET Framework/WinForm, to keep the post focused on the question and keep it more useful for the future reader, please open a new thread and ask a question focused on the other topic.

Jeff Gaines 71 Reputation points

2022-07-13T09:02:11.277+00:00

Many thanks reza-aghaei :-)

I have installed VS 2022 and written my first .NET 6 app!!!

Reza Aghaei 4,936 Reputation points MVP

2022-07-13T09:19:52.927+00:00

Happy coding! :)
By the way, I think it makes more sense to convert your answer to a comment. Answers are expected to be real answers to the questions, but comments are extended discussions about the questions/answers.
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