Styling ComboBox- part 1

if we want to change the text that is displayed when user selects an item in the combobox, we have to change the ContentTemplate of the ContentPresenter in the Combobox Template

Attached is a sample(change .doc to .zip), which allows you to specify the template to be applied in the Tag property

comboboxsample2.doc

(update: added a thumb to the panel, which lets you resize the panel)

comboboxsample21.doc

Getting the text of the selecteditem in Combobox

When you look at the Text property in the SelectionChanged event of the ComboBox it returns the prior value
here is a way to get the right value (cb1 is the name of the ComboBox)

Add this in Window loaded event

DependencyPropertyDescriptor dpd = DependencyPropertyDescriptor.FromProperty(ComboBox.TextProperty, typeof(ComboBox));

dpd.AddValueChanged(cb1, OnTextChanged);
 

and here is the handler

private void OnTextChanged(object sender, EventArgs args)
        {
            MessageBox.Show(cb1.Text);
        }