How can I have a ListBox auto-scroll when a new item is added?

I found an really slick way to do this, simply update the listbox scrollViewer and set position to the bottom. Call this function in one of the ListBox Events like SelectionChanged for example.

 private void UpdateScrollBar(ListBox listBox)
    {
        if (listBox != null)
        {
            var border = (Border)VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(listBox, 0);
            var scrollViewer = (ScrollViewer)VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(border, 0);
            scrollViewer.ScrollToBottom();
        }

    }

You can extend the behavior of the ListBox by using attached properties. In your case I would define an attached property called ScrollOnNewItem that when set to true hooks into the INotifyCollectionChanged events of the list box items source and upon detecting a new item, scrolls the list box to it.

Example:

class ListBoxBehavior
{
    static readonly Dictionary<ListBox, Capture> Associations =
           new Dictionary<ListBox, Capture>();

    public static bool GetScrollOnNewItem(DependencyObject obj)
    {
        return (bool)obj.GetValue(ScrollOnNewItemProperty);
    }

    public static void SetScrollOnNewItem(DependencyObject obj, bool value)
    {
        obj.SetValue(ScrollOnNewItemProperty, value);
    }

    public static readonly DependencyProperty ScrollOnNewItemProperty =
        DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached(
            "ScrollOnNewItem",
            typeof(bool),
            typeof(ListBoxBehavior),
            new UIPropertyMetadata(false, OnScrollOnNewItemChanged));

    public static void OnScrollOnNewItemChanged(
        DependencyObject d,
        DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        var listBox = d as ListBox;
        if (listBox == null) return;
        bool oldValue = (bool)e.OldValue, newValue = (bool)e.NewValue;
        if (newValue == oldValue) return;
        if (newValue)
        {
            listBox.Loaded += ListBox_Loaded;
            listBox.Unloaded += ListBox_Unloaded;
            var itemsSourcePropertyDescriptor = TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(listBox)["ItemsSource"];
            itemsSourcePropertyDescriptor.AddValueChanged(listBox, ListBox_ItemsSourceChanged);
        }
        else
        {
            listBox.Loaded -= ListBox_Loaded;
            listBox.Unloaded -= ListBox_Unloaded;
            if (Associations.ContainsKey(listBox))
                Associations[listBox].Dispose();
            var itemsSourcePropertyDescriptor = TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(listBox)["ItemsSource"];
            itemsSourcePropertyDescriptor.RemoveValueChanged(listBox, ListBox_ItemsSourceChanged);
        }
    }

    private static void ListBox_ItemsSourceChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        var listBox = (ListBox)sender;
        if (Associations.ContainsKey(listBox))
            Associations[listBox].Dispose();
        Associations[listBox] = new Capture(listBox);
    }

    static void ListBox_Unloaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        var listBox = (ListBox)sender;
        if (Associations.ContainsKey(listBox))
            Associations[listBox].Dispose();
        listBox.Unloaded -= ListBox_Unloaded;
    }

    static void ListBox_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        var listBox = (ListBox)sender;
        var incc = listBox.Items as INotifyCollectionChanged;
        if (incc == null) return;
        listBox.Loaded -= ListBox_Loaded;
        Associations[listBox] = new Capture(listBox);
    }

    class Capture : IDisposable
    {
        private readonly ListBox listBox;
        private readonly INotifyCollectionChanged incc;

        public Capture(ListBox listBox)
        {
            this.listBox = listBox;
            incc = listBox.ItemsSource as INotifyCollectionChanged;
            if (incc != null)
            {
                incc.CollectionChanged += incc_CollectionChanged;
            }
        }

        void incc_CollectionChanged(object sender, NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs e)
        {
            if (e.Action == NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Add)
            {
                listBox.ScrollIntoView(e.NewItems[0]);
                listBox.SelectedItem = e.NewItems[0];
            }
        }

        public void Dispose()
        {
            if (incc != null)
                incc.CollectionChanged -= incc_CollectionChanged;
        }
    }
}

Usage:

<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding SourceCollection}" 
         lb:ListBoxBehavior.ScrollOnNewItem="true"/>

UPDATE As per Andrej's suggestion in the comments below, I added hooks to detect a change in the ItemsSource of the ListBox.

I use this solution: http://michlg.wordpress.com/2010/01/16/listbox-automatically-scroll-currentitem-into-view/.

It works even if you bind listbox's ItemsSource to an ObservableCollection that is manipulated in a non-UI thread.

<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding SourceCollection}">
    <i:Interaction.Behaviors>
        <Behaviors:ScrollOnNewItem/>
    </i:Interaction.Behaviors>              
</ItemsControl>

public class ScrollOnNewItem : Behavior<ItemsControl>
{
    protected override void OnAttached()
    {
        AssociatedObject.Loaded += OnLoaded;
        AssociatedObject.Unloaded += OnUnLoaded;
    }

    protected override void OnDetaching()
    {
        AssociatedObject.Loaded -= OnLoaded;
        AssociatedObject.Unloaded -= OnUnLoaded;
    }

    private void OnLoaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        var incc = AssociatedObject.ItemsSource as INotifyCollectionChanged;
        if (incc == null) return;

        incc.CollectionChanged += OnCollectionChanged;
    }

    private void OnUnLoaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        var incc = AssociatedObject.ItemsSource as INotifyCollectionChanged;
        if (incc == null) return;

        incc.CollectionChanged -= OnCollectionChanged;
    }

    private void OnCollectionChanged(object sender, NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        if(e.Action == NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Add)
        {
            int count = AssociatedObject.Items.Count;
            if (count == 0) 
                return; 

            var item = AssociatedObject.Items[count - 1];

            var frameworkElement = AssociatedObject.ItemContainerGenerator.ContainerFromItem(item) as FrameworkElement;
            if (frameworkElement == null) return;

            frameworkElement.BringIntoView();
        }
    }