Control patterns and interfaces

Lists the Microsoft UI Automation control patterns, the classes that clients use to access them, and the interfaces providers use to implement them.

The table in this topic describes the Microsoft UI Automation control patterns. The table also lists the classes used by UI Automation clients to access the control patterns and the interfaces used by UI Automation providers to implement them. The Control pattern column shows the pattern name from the UI Automation client perspective, as a constant value listed in Control Pattern Availability Property Identifiers. From the UI Automation provider perspective, each of these patterns is a PatternInterface constant name. The Provider interface column shows the name of the Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Automation.Provider interface that providers implement to provide this pattern for a custom XAML control.

For more info about how to implement custom automation peers that expose control patterns and implement the interfaces, see Custom automation peers.

When you implement a control pattern, you should also consult the UI Automation provider documentation that explains some of the expectations that clients will have of a control pattern regardless of which UI framework is used to implement it. Some of the info listed in the general UI Automation provider documentation will influence how you implement your peers and correctly support that pattern. See Implementing UI Automation Control Patterns, and view the page that documents the pattern you intend to implement.

Control pattern	WinUI provider interface	Legacy UWP equivalent	Description
Annotation	IAnnotationProvider	IAnnotationProvider	Used to expose the properties of an annotation in a document.
Dock	IDockProvider	IDockProvider	Used for controls that can be docked in a docking container. For example, toolbars or tool palettes.
Drag	IDragProvider	IDragProvider	Used to support draggable controls, or controls with draggable items.
DropTarget	IDropTargetProvider	IDropTargetProvider	Used to support controls that can be the target of a drag-and-drop operation.
ExpandCollapse	IExpandCollapseProvider	IExpandCollapseProvider	Used to support controls that visually expand to display more content and collapse to hide content.
Grid	IGridProvider	IGridProvider	Used for controls that support grid functionality such as sizing and moving to a specified cell. Note that Grid itself does not implement this pattern because it provides layout but is not a control.
GridItem	IGridItemProvider	IGridItemProvider	Used for controls that have cells within grids.
Invoke	IInvokeProvider	IInvokeProvider	Used for controls that can be invoked, such as a Button.
ItemContainer	IItemContainerProvider	IItemContainerProvider	Enables applications to find an element in a container, such as a virtualized list.
MultipleView	IMultipleViewProvider	IMultipleViewProvider	Used for controls that can switch between multiple representations of the same set of information, data, or children.
ObjectModel	IObjectModelProvider	IObjectModelProvider	Used to expose a pointer to the underlying object model of a document.
RangeValue	IRangeValueProvider	IRangeValueProvider	Used for controls that have a range of values that can be applied to the control. For example, a spinner control containing years might have a range of 1900 to the current year, while another spinner control presenting months would have a range of 1 to 12.
Scroll	IScrollProvider	IScrollProvider	Used for controls that can scroll. For example, a control that has scroll bars that are active when there is more information than can be displayed in the viewable area of the control.
ScrollItem	IScrollItemProvider	IScrollItemProvider	Used for controls that have individual items in a list that scrolls. For example, a list control that has individual items in the scroll list, such as a combo box control.
Selection	ISelectionProvider	ISelectionProvider	Used for selection container controls. For example, ListBox and ComboBox.
SelectionItem	ISelectionItemProvider	ISelectionItemProvider	Used for individual items in selection container controls, such as list boxes and combo boxes.
Spreadsheet	ISpreadsheetProvider	ISpreadsheetProvider	Used to expose the contents of a spreadsheet or other grid-based document.
SpreadsheetItem	ISpreadsheetItemProvider	ISpreadsheetItemProvider	Used to expose the properties of a cell in a spreadsheet or other grid-based document.
Styles	IStylesProvider	IStylesProvider	Used to describe a UI element that has a specific style, fill color, fill pattern, or shape.
SynchronizedInput	ISynchronizedInputProvider	ISynchronizedInputProvider	Enables UI Automation client apps to direct the mouse or keyboard input to a specific UI element.
Table	ITableProvider	ITableProvider	Used for controls that have a grid as well as header information. For example, a tabular calendar control.
TableItem	ITableItemProvider	ITableItemProvider	Used for items in a table.
Text	ITextProvider	ITextProvider	Used for edit controls and documents that expose textual information. See also ITextRangeProvider and ITextProvider2.
TextChild	ITextChildProvider	ITextChildProvider	Used to access an element's nearest ancestor that supports the Text control pattern.
TextEdit	No managed class available	No managed class available	Provides access to a control that modifies text, for example a control that performs auto-correction or enables input composition through an Input Method Editor (IME).
TextRange	ITextRangeProvider	ITextRangeProvider	Provides access to a span of continuous text in a text container that implements ITextProvider. See also ITextRangeProvider2.
Toggle	IToggleProvider	IToggleProvider	Used for controls where the state can be toggled. For example, CheckBox and menu items that can be checked.
Transform	ITransformProvider	ITransformProvider	Used for controls that can be resized, moved, and rotated. Typical uses for the Transform control pattern are in designers, forms, graphical editors, and drawing applications.
Value	IValueProvider	IValueProvider	Allows clients to get or set a value on controls that do not support a range of values.
VirtualizedItem	IVirtualizedItemProvider	IVirtualizedItemProvider	Exposes items inside containers that are virtualized and need to be made fully accessible as UI Automation elements.
Window	IWindowProvider	IWindowProvider	Exposes information specific to windows, a fundamental concept to the Microsoft Windows operating system. Examples of controls that are windows are child windows and dialogs.

Related topics

• Custom automation peers
• Accessibility overview