# Clipboard Operations > Put Cut, Copy and Paste into a WPF menu, enable items with CanCopy and CanPaste, paste one ClipboardFormat such as plain text and respect document permissions. - **Product:** TX Text Control .NET for WPF - **Section:** Documentation - **Kind:** Topic - **Path:** TX Text Control .NET for WPF > Document Editor > Editing Text > Clipboard Operations - **3300 words** - **Web URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/document-editor/editing-text/clipboard/ - **LLMs URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/document-editor/editing-text/clipboard/llms.txt - **LLMs-Full URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/document-editor/editing-text/clipboard/llms-full.txt --- The WPF `TextControl` shares the Windows clipboard with every other application: text copied in Word, a browser or an image editor can be pasted into it, and text copied in it can be pasted elsewhere. The keys work without code. Your code adds menu commands, pastes a single format such as plain text, and checks whether copying and pasting are possible. The examples assume a window with a `TextControl` named `textControl1`, as built in [Create Your First WPF Application](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/getting-started/document-editor/first-application/llms-full.txt). Copying acts on the current selection, which [Selections and Caret Position](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/document-editor/editing-text/selections/llms-full.txt) describes. ### Built-In Keys and Ribbon Buttons Ctrl+C copies the selected text to the clipboard, Ctrl+X cuts it and Ctrl+V pastes the content of the clipboard in place of the selection; [Keyboard Shortcuts](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/document-editor/editing-text/keyboard-shortcuts/#edit-text) lists them with the other editing keys. A window with the WPF ribbon offers the commands in the **Clipboard** group of the formatting tab, which is labeled **Home**. Besides **Cut** and **Copy**, its **Paste** button has a drop-down menu with paste commands for text, plain text, images, text frames, charts, barcodes and drawings. See [Built-in Ribbon Tabs](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/document-editor/ribbon-ui/ribbon/llms-full.txt). If the clipboard offers several formats, the editor pastes the one with the most information, in this order: text frame, formatted image, formatted text in the TX Text Control format, RTF, HTML, plain text and image. ### Copy, Cut and Paste in Code | Member | Does | |---|---| | [Copy](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol-wpf/textcontrol/copy-method/llms-full.txt) | Copies the selection to the clipboard | | [Cut](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol-wpf/textcontrol/cut-method/llms-full.txt) | Moves the selection to the clipboard | | [Paste](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol-wpf/textcontrol/paste-method/llms-full.txt) | Replaces the selection with the content of the clipboard; with a [ClipboardFormat](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol/clipboardformat/enumeration/llms-full.txt) value, it pastes only that format | | [CanCopy](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol-wpf/textcontrol/cancopy-property/llms-full.txt) | Whether text is selected and may be copied | | [CanPaste](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol-wpf/textcontrol/canpaste-property/llms-full.txt) | Whether the clipboard holds a format the editor can paste, and the document may be changed | | [GetClipboardFormats](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol-wpf/textcontrol/getclipboardformats-method/llms-full.txt) | The formats on the clipboard that the editor can paste, or `null` if there are none | The following window puts an **Edit** menu above the editor. In *MainWindow.xaml*, a `DockPanel` holds the menu and the `TextControl`: ```xml ``` The handlers go into *MainWindow.xaml.cs*. Replace `SampleApp` with the namespace of your project: ```csharp using System; using System.Windows; using TXTextControl; namespace SampleApp; public partial class MainWindow : Window { public MainWindow() { InitializeComponent(); } private void EditMenu_SubmenuOpened(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { // Enable only what is possible with the current selection and clipboard copyItem.IsEnabled = textControl1.CanCopy; cutItem.IsEnabled = textControl1.CanCopy && textControl1.CanEdit; pasteItem.IsEnabled = textControl1.CanPaste; // Paste(ClipboardFormat) accepts only a format the clipboard offers ClipboardFormat[] formats = textControl1.GetClipboardFormats(); pastePlainTextItem.IsEnabled = textControl1.CanPaste && formats != null && Array.IndexOf(formats, ClipboardFormat.PlainText) >= 0; } private void Cut_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) => textControl1.Cut(); private void Copy_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) => textControl1.Copy(); private void Paste_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) => textControl1.Paste(); private void PastePlainText_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) => textControl1.Paste(ClipboardFormat.PlainText); } ``` Run the application, copy formatted text in another application and open **Edit**: **Paste** keeps the formatting, **Paste as Plain Text** drops it. The code works as follows: - `SubmenuOpened` occurs each time the menu opens, so the items reflect the selection and the clipboard at that moment. `IsEnabled` grays out an item that cannot be used. - `CanCopy` is `false` without a selection. [CanEdit](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol-wpf/textcontrol/canedit-property/llms-full.txt) is `false` when the document is read-only, which rules out cutting. - `Paste(ClipboardFormat.PlainText)` requires plain text on the clipboard. The handler looks for it in the array that `GetClipboardFormats` returns. ### Values of ClipboardFormat | Value | Clipboard content | |---|---| | `TXTextControlFormat` | Formatted text in the internal TX Text Control format | | `RichTextFormat` | RTF | | `HTMLFormat` | HTML | | `PlainText` | Text without formatting | | `Image` | A device-dependent or device-independent bitmap, a TIFF image or a Windows metafile | | `TXTextControlImage` | An image with its position in the document, inline or geometrically positioned | | `TXTextControlTextframe` | A text frame with its content and position | | `Chart`, `Barcode` | A chart or a barcode | A "Paste Special" command follows from these values: offer the formats that `GetClipboardFormats` returns and call `Paste` with the one the user chooses. ### When Copying and Pasting Is Not Allowed The `Can…` properties follow the protection settings of the document: - With [EditMode](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol-wpf/textcontrol/editmode-property/llms-full.txt) set to `ReadOnly`, text cannot even be selected, so nothing can be copied. With `ReadAndSelect`, the document permissions decide. - [DocumentPermissions.AllowCopy](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol/documentpermissions/allowcopy-property/llms-full.txt) specifies whether content may be copied to the clipboard. [DocumentPermissions](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol-wpf/textcontrol/documentpermissions-property/llms-full.txt) returns the permissions of the document. [Document Protection and Editable Regions](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/document-editor/protection/llms-full.txt) covers both. ### Delete the Selection [Clear](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol-wpf/textcontrol/clear-method/llms-full.txt) deletes the selected text, or the character to the right of the input position when nothing is selected. The clipboard is not changed. ### Paste a Word Document With Its Page Size Pasted text flows into the pages of the current document; the page size and margins of the document it came from are not taken over. To open copied content as a document with its own page settings, read the RTF data from the WPF clipboard and load it with [Load](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol-wpf/textcontrol/load-method/llms-full.txt) and a [LoadSettings](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol/loadsettings/llms-full.txt) object: ```csharp private void PasteAsDocument() { string rtf = Clipboard.GetData(DataFormats.Rtf) as string; if (rtf != null) { LoadSettings loadSettings = new LoadSettings(); textControl1.Load(rtf, StringStreamType.RichTextFormat, loadSettings); // Take over the page size and margins of the copied document textControl1.PageSize = loadSettings.PageSize; textControl1.PageMargins = loadSettings.PageMargins; } } ``` Here, `Clipboard` and `DataFormats` are the classes of the `System.Windows` namespace. `Load` replaces the whole document. [LoadSettings.PageSize](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol/loadsettings/pagesize-property/llms-full.txt) and [PageMargins](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol/loadsettings/pagemargins-property/llms-full.txt) return the page settings found in the data, and [TextControl.PageSize](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol-wpf/textcontrol/pagesize-property/llms-full.txt) and [TextControl.PageMargins](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol-wpf/textcontrol/pagemargins-property/llms-full.txt) apply them. ### Next Steps - [Undo and Redo](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/document-editor/editing-text/undo-redo/llms-full.txt): undo a paste. - [Drag and Drop](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/document-editor/editing-text/drag-drop/llms-full.txt): move text with the mouse and accept dropped files. - [Context Menus](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/document-editor/ribbon-ui/context-menus/llms-full.txt): the built-in context menu of the editor. - [Keyboard Shortcuts](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/document-editor/editing-text/keyboard-shortcuts/llms-full.txt): all keys of the editor. --- ## Nearby - **Previous:** [Selections and Caret Position](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/document-editor/editing-text/selections/llms-full.txt) - **Next:** [Undo and Redo](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/document-editor/editing-text/undo-redo/llms-full.txt)