Vertically Align ComboBox String Items

Question

I'm trying to vertically align all the strings that are part of a combobox.  My code works fine when the combobox font name is Consolas, but it doesn't work when it's Microsoft Sans Serif (shown below).  Is there a way to make the combobox with
Microsoft Sans Serif font look like the one with Consolas?
Private Sub UpdateSizeDataSource()
Dim dtSizes As DataTable = CType(Me.cboSize.DataSource, DataTable)
Dim pixelPitch As String = Me.cboPixelPitch.SelectedItem.ToString
Dim charStartPosition As Integer
Dim columnName As String = Nothing
Dim standardSize As String = Nothing
Dim pixelMatrix As Size
If Me.rbtUS.Checked Then
columnName = "Imperial"
End If
If Me.rbtMetric.Checked Then
columnName = "Metric"
End If
charStartPosition = dtSizes.AsEnumerable.Max(Function(dr) dr.Field(Of String)(columnName).Length) + 2
For Each dr As DataRow In dtSizes.Rows
standardSize = dr(columnName).ToString
pixelMatrix = Me.GetPixelMatrix(dr("ValueMember").ToString, pixelPitch)
dr("DisplayMember") = String.Format("{0}{1}({2}x{3})", standardSize, Space(charStartPosition - Len(standardSize)), pixelMatrix.Height, pixelMatrix.Width)
Next dr
End Sub
Ryan

Answer 1

The only way i see of doing this is ether using a font that has a fixed width like Consolas, Courier New, or another OR by setting the combobox`s DrawMode to DrawFixed and using the DrawItem event to draw the text 1 character at a time at a fixed width apart.
However, the text in the Edit portion of the ComboBox would still be formatted with the font`s character widths.
 You may need to test different characters other than the underscore "_" in the line to get the maxwidth value. "M" is 13 pixels wide and "_" is only 10 but, it is just enough that the characters do not draw over each other.
If you use a Bold font style then you will need to switch it or some longer characters may get cut off a little.
 Here is an example of what i mean but, i am not familiar with using a DataSource for the Items so, i am not sure if you would need to change anything in the DrawItem event to get the text that is displayed for each item into the txt variable or not.
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
ComboBox1.DrawMode = DrawMode.OwnerDrawFixed
With ComboBox1.Items
.Add("10 X 30 Standard (180, 560)")
.Add("10 X 30 Max (180, 580)")
.Add("10 X 30 Standard (180, 560)")
End With
End Sub
Private Sub ComboBox1_DrawItem(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.DrawItemEventArgs) Handles ComboBox1.DrawItem
e.DrawBackground()
Dim txt As String = ComboBox1.Items(e.Index).ToString
Dim maxwidth As Integer = CInt(e.Graphics.MeasureString("_", ComboBox1.Font).Width)
Dim crect As New Rectangle(0, e.Bounds.Y, maxwidth, e.Bounds.Height)
For Each c As String In txt
Using sf As New StringFormat With {.Alignment = StringAlignment.Near, .LineAlignment = StringAlignment.Center, .FormatFlags = StringFormatFlags.NoWrap, .Trimming = StringTrimming.None}
Using sb As New SolidBrush(e.ForeColor)
e.Graphics.DrawString(c, ComboBox1.Font, sb, crect, sf)
End Using
End Using
crect.X += crect.Width
Next
End Sub
End Class
If you say it can`t be done then i`ll try it
No need to imitate a monospaced font. If ownerdrawing, you can just draw the parts of each string in regular columns.
thanks for any help