MarkdownBox 1.2.0

MarkdownBox

Markdown-rendering WinForms controls for .NET 4.7.1, powered by Markdig and the built-in WebBrowser (MSHTML) control.

Solution Structure

MarkdownBox.sln
├── MarkdownBox/                    ← Class library
│   ├── Controls/MarkdownView.cs    ← Embeddable UserControl
│   ├── Dialogs/MarkdownDialog.cs   ← Resizable Form
│   ├── Dialogs/MarkdownBox.cs      ← Static Show() helper
│   └── Helpers/BrowserEmulation.cs ← IE11 compat registry helper
│
└── MarkdownBox.Samples/            ← WinForms demo app
    ├── Samples/BasicSample.cs      ← Feature showcase
    ├── Samples/LiveEditorSample.cs ← Split-pane live editor
    ├── Samples/HtmlSample.cs       ← Raw HTML passthrough
    └── Samples/DialogSample.cs     ← All dialog variants

Setup

1. Install NuGet package (in both projects if referencing the library source):

Install-Package Markdig

2. Call BrowserEmulation.Apply() once at startup — this sets the IE11 rendering registry key for your exe:

[STAThread]
static void Main()
{
    BrowserEmulation.Apply();
    Application.EnableVisualStyles();
    Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
    Application.Run(new MainForm());
}

Usage

Embed MarkdownView in a Form

var view = new MarkdownView { Dock = DockStyle.Fill };
this.Controls.Add(view);
view.SetContent("## Hello\n**bold**, `code`, <u>html</u>");

// Update anytime
view.SetContent(newMarkdown);

// Clear
view.Clear();

Modal dialog — MarkdownBox.Show()

// Simplest
MarkdownBox.Show("## Done\nOperation completed **successfully**.");

// With title
MarkdownBox.Show("## Warning\nAre you sure?", "Confirm");

// With buttons
var result = MarkdownBox.Show(
    "## Delete\nThis will **permanently** delete the file.",
    "Confirm Delete",
    MessageBoxButtons.YesNo,
    MessageBoxIcon.Warning
);
if (result == DialogResult.Yes) { /* proceed */ }

// With owner + custom size
MarkdownBox.Show(markdown, "Details", MessageBoxButtons.OK,
    MessageBoxIcon.Information, this, new Size(800, 500));

Supported Markdown

• Bold, italic, strikethrough, highlight (==text==), superscript, subscript
• Headings H1–H6
• Inline code and fenced code blocks
• Blockquotes
• Ordered / unordered lists, nested lists
• Task lists (- [x])
• Tables (GFM)
• Horizontal rules
• Footnotes
• Images and hyperlinks (external links open in default browser)
• Emoji :smile: → 😄
• Raw HTML passthrough
• <details> / <summary> accordions

Notes

• WebBrowser uses MSHTML (IE engine). BrowserEmulation.Apply() forces IE11 mode — call it before Application.Run().
• External links are intercepted and opened in the default browser; the control itself does not navigate away.
• Right-click context menu and drag-drop are disabled on MarkdownView by default.