roncli.com blog: Got nasty VB.Net ListView flicker? Double Buffer it

The solution is so painfully obvious, I wish I had thought of it sooner.

In the designer, all you have to do is change your Inherits line to inherit from the ListView object and remove that Autowhatsit in the InitializeComponent function.

ucListViewDoubleBuffered.Designer.vb:

<Global.Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices.DesignerGenerated()> _
Partial Class ListViewDoubleBuffered
    Inherits System.Windows.Forms.ListView

    'UserControl overrides dispose to clean up the component list.
    <System.Diagnostics.DebuggerNonUserCode()> _
    Protected Overrides Sub Dispose(ByVal disposing As Boolean)
        If disposing AndAlso components IsNot Nothing Then
            components.Dispose()
        End If
        MyBase.Dispose(disposing)
    End Sub

    'Required by the Windows Form Designer
    Private components As System.ComponentModel.IContainer

    'NOTE: The following procedure is required by the Windows Form Designer
    'It can be modified using the Windows Form Designer.  
    'Do not modify it using the code editor.
    <System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThrough()> _
    Private Sub InitializeComponent()
        components = New System.ComponentModel.Container()
    End Sub

End Class

Then in the code behind, write a constructor and set its styles appropriately.

ucListViewDoubleBuffered.vb:

Imports System.Windows.Forms

Public Class ListViewDoubleBuffered
    Inherits ListView

    Public Sub New()
        MyBase.New()
        InitializeComponent()
        Me.SetStyle(ControlStyles.DoubleBuffer, True)
        Me.SetStyle(ControlStyles.Opaque, True)
    End Sub

End Class

Bam. Instant double buffered control.

Labels: Coding, Double Buffer, ListView, VB.NET

5 Comments

roncli @ 5/21/2006 01:24:00 PM:
Don't have VB.Net 2005? Don't worry. You can still get flicker-freeness by making the following changes to the code behind a default user control.

1) Replace the inherits line, located directly under the Public Class line, with this:

Inherits System.Windows.Forms.ListView

2) At the end of Public Sub New, add this:

Me.SetStyle(ControlStyles.DoubleBuffer, True)
Me.SetStyle(ControlStyles.Opaque, True)

Don't forget to build your project before using.

Micah Epps @ 2/25/2008 09:40:00 AM:
Thanks!!! I can see an improvement already, and my process CPU usage is waaaaaay down.

LearningMan @ 3/13/2009 10:19:00 AM:
Me.SetStyle(ControlStyles.DoubleBuffer, True)
Me.SetStyle(ControlStyles.AllPaintingInWmPaint, True)

All Flicker gone :)

roncli @ 3/13/2009 10:42:00 AM:
Both work in this case. Opaque vs. AllPaintingInWmPaint for other cases, though, would be an interesting topic for another discussion. Perhaps if I run across this issue again, I'll bring it up. Thanks for the input. :)

Unknown @ 5/10/2010 03:14:00 AM:
Great!! Exactly what I was looking for, thanks.

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