StatusBarControl

Single-row status bar with three alignment zones, clickable items, and shortcut key hints.

Overview

StatusBarControl renders a horizontal bar with left, center, and right zones for displaying status information, keyboard shortcuts, and clickable items. Items consist of an optional shortcut hint (rendered with an accent color) and a label. The control does not receive keyboard focus — it is display and click only.

By default the status bar sticks to the bottom of the window (StickyPosition.Bottom). An optional horizontal separator line can be rendered above the content.

See also: ToolbarControl — for interactive button toolbars

Quick Start

var statusBar = Controls.StatusBar()
    .AddLeft("↑↓", "Navigate")
    .AddLeft("Enter", "Select")
    .AddLeftSeparator()
    .AddLeft("Esc", "Exit")
    .AddCenterText("[dim]My Application[/]")
    .AddRight("Ctrl+S", "Save")
    .WithAboveLine()
    .WithBackgroundColor(Color.Grey15)
    .WithShortcutForegroundColor(Color.Cyan1)
    .StickyBottom()
    .Build();

window.AddControl(statusBar);

Builder API

Create a StatusBarBuilder through the Controls factory:

var builder = Controls.StatusBar();

Adding Items

Items can be added to three zones. Each method returns the builder for chaining.

// Left zone
.AddLeft(string shortcut, string label, Action? onClick = null)
.AddLeftText(string text, Action? onClick = null)
.AddLeft(StatusBarItem item)
.AddLeftSeparator()

// Center zone
.AddCenter(string shortcut, string label, Action? onClick = null)
.AddCenterText(string text, Action? onClick = null)
.AddCenter(StatusBarItem item)
.AddCenterSeparator()

// Right zone
.AddRight(string shortcut, string label, Action? onClick = null)
.AddRightText(string text, Action? onClick = null)
.AddRight(StatusBarItem item)
.AddRightSeparator()

Style Methods

.WithBackgroundColor(Color color)           // Status bar background
.WithForegroundColor(Color color)           // Label text color
.WithShortcutForegroundColor(Color color)   // Shortcut hint accent color
.WithAboveLine(bool show = true)            // Horizontal separator line above content
.WithAboveLineColor(Color color)            // Separator line color (also enables line)
.WithItemSpacing(int spacing)               // Space between items (default: 2)
.WithSeparatorChar(string separator)        // Section separator character (default: "|")
.WithShortcutLabelSeparator(string sep)     // Shortcut-label separator (default: ":")

Layout Methods

.WithMargin(int left, int top, int right, int bottom)
.WithMargin(int margin)
.WithMargin(Margin margin)
.WithAlignment(HorizontalAlignment align)
.WithStickyPosition(StickyPosition pos)
.StickyTop()
.StickyBottom()

Identity Methods

.WithName(string name)
.WithTag(object tag)

Event Methods

.OnItemClicked(EventHandler<StatusBarItemClickedEventArgs> handler)

Building

StatusBarControl control = builder.Build();

// Implicit conversion is also supported:
StatusBarControl control = Controls.StatusBar()
    .AddLeft("Esc", "Close");

Properties

Property	Type	Default	Description
BackgroundColor	Color	theme/container	Status bar background color
ForegroundColor	Color	theme/container	Label text color
ShortcutForegroundColor	Color	theme/Cyan1	Accent color for shortcut hints
ItemSpacing	int	2	Space between adjacent items
SeparatorChar	string	"|"	Character rendered for separator items
ShortcutLabelSeparator	string	":"	Text between shortcut and label (e.g. "Ctrl+S:Save")
ShowAboveLine	bool	false	Render horizontal line above content
AboveLineColor	Color?	null	Line color (null uses foreground)
LeftItems	IReadOnlyList<StatusBarItem>	—	Items in the left zone
CenterItems	IReadOnlyList<StatusBarItem>	—	Items in the center zone
RightItems	IReadOnlyList<StatusBarItem>	—	Items in the right zone

StatusBarItem Properties

Each item in the status bar is a StatusBarItem with these properties:

Property	Type	Default	Description
Shortcut	string?	null	Key hint text rendered with accent color
Label	string	""	Label text (supports markup)
IsVisible	bool	true	Whether the item is rendered
IsSeparator	bool	false	Render as separator character
OnClick	Action?	null	Click handler for this item
ShortcutForeground	Color?	null	Override shortcut color for this item
ShortcutBackground	Color?	null	Override shortcut background for this item
LabelForeground	Color?	null	Override label color for this item
LabelBackground	Color?	null	Override label background for this item

Events

Event	Arguments	Description
ItemClicked	StatusBarItemClickedEventArgs	Fired when any non-separator item is clicked
MouseClick	MouseEventArgs	Fired on any mouse click on the status bar

Mouse Interaction

• Click on an item fires the item's OnClick handler and the ItemClicked event
• Click on a separator has no effect
• The status bar does not receive keyboard focus

Dynamic Updates

Items can be modified at runtime. Changes trigger automatic re-rendering.

// Update an item's text
var counterItem = statusBar.RightItems[0];
counterItem.Label = "[yellow]5 outdated[/]";

// Add items at runtime
statusBar.AddLeft("F5", "Refresh");

// Remove items
var items = statusBar.LeftItems;
if (items.Count > 0)
    statusBar.RemoveLeft(items[items.Count - 1]);

// Batch updates for performance
statusBar.BatchUpdate(() =>
{
    statusBar.AddLeft("A", "Action1");
    statusBar.AddLeft("B", "Action2");
    statusBar.AddLeft("C", "Action3");
});

Examples

Application Status Bar

var statusBar = Controls.StatusBar()
    .AddLeft("↑↓", "Navigate")
    .AddLeft("Enter", "View")
    .AddLeftSeparator()
    .AddLeft("Esc", "Exit")
    .AddCenterText("[dim]StatusBar Demo[/]")
    .AddRightText("[yellow]3 outdated[/]")
    .AddRight("Ctrl+S", "Search")
    .WithAboveLine()
    .WithBackgroundColor(Color.Grey15)
    .WithShortcutForegroundColor(Color.Cyan1)
    .StickyBottom()
    .Build();

Status Bar with Click Handlers

var statusBar = Controls.StatusBar()
    .AddLeft("F5", "Refresh", () => RefreshData())
    .AddLeft("F2", "Edit", () => StartEditing())
    .AddRight("Ctrl+Q", "Quit", () => windowSystem.Stop())
    .OnItemClicked((sender, args) =>
    {
        var display = args.Item.Shortcut != null
            ? $"{args.Item.Shortcut}:{args.Item.Label}"
            : args.Item.Label;
        // Log which item was clicked
    })
    .StickyBottom()
    .Build();

Status Bar at Top

var topBar = Controls.StatusBar()
    .AddLeftText("[bold cyan]My App[/]")
    .AddRightText($"[dim]v{version}[/]")
    .StickyTop()
    .WithBackgroundColor(Color.Grey11)
    .Build();

Per-Item Color Overrides

var errorItem = new StatusBarItem
{
    Label = "3 errors",
    LabelForeground = Color.Red,
    OnClick = () => ShowErrors()
};

var statusBar = Controls.StatusBar()
    .AddRight(errorItem)
    .StickyBottom()
    .Build();

Toggling Item Visibility

bool centerVisible = true;
toggleBtn.Click += (_, _) =>
{
    centerVisible = !centerVisible;
    var centerItems = statusBar.CenterItems;
    if (centerItems.Count > 0)
        centerItems[0].IsVisible = centerVisible;
};

Best Practices

1. Use shortcut+label pairs for keyboard-driven items — the accent color makes shortcuts discoverable
2. Use AddLeftText/AddCenterText/AddRightText for display-only items without keyboard hints
3. Batch updates when adding multiple items at once to avoid redundant re-renders
4. Use markup in labels for dynamic coloring (e.g. [yellow]3 warnings[/])
5. Stick to bottom (default) for traditional status bars; use StickyTop() for header bars
6. Enable WithAboveLine() to visually separate the status bar from content above

See Also

• ToolbarControl - Interactive button toolbar with wrapping
• Status System - System-level status bars and taskbar

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