I am very sorry that this question is very basic. I just learned WPF and I failed to make simple two way binding to textbox.text to string property.
XAML Code:
<Window x:Class="WpfApplication1.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:WpfApplication1"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
<Grid x:Name="StuInfo">
<TextBox x:Name="textBox" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="23" Margin="10,26,0,0" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="{Binding Path=str,Mode=TwoWay}" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="120"/>
<Button x:Name="button" Content="Check" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="10,67,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="75" Click="button_Click"/>
</Grid>
C# Code
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
str = "OK";
}
public string str { get; set; }
private void button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
Console.WriteLine(str);
}
}
First, the textbox does not show "OK", but it is blank. Then, I typed a different text into the textbox, for ex:"blablabla" without the quotes. Then I click the button to check if my str property has been updated. Apparently, str still contains "OK".
What did I do wrong here? What did I miss to make the binding work?
As a newcomer to WPF, all this Binding and DataContext jazz can be quite confusing. Let's start with your binding expression first...
<TextBox Text="{Binding Path=str, Mode=TwoWay}"/>
What this is saying is that you want to bind your Text property to whatever the DataContext of the TextBox is. DataContext is essentially the "thing" your TextBox is getting it's data from. Now here's the rub. DataContext is inherited from the element "above" it in the visual tree if not explicitly set. In your code, TextBox inherits it's DataContext from the Grid element, which in turn inherits it's DataContext from the Window element. Seeing that DataContext is not set in your Window the default value of the DataContext property will be applied, which is null. The DataContext is also not set in any of the child elements of your window, which, via inheritance, will set the DataContext of all children of that window to null.
It is important to note that you've left out the Source property in your binding expression.
<TextBox Text="{Binding Source=left_out, Path=str, Mode=TwoWay}"/>
When this property is left out, the binding's source is implied to be the elements DataContext, which in this case is null, for the reasons mentioned above. Basically, what your expression is saying here is that you want to bind your text property to DataContext.str which resolved by WPF is null.str.
OK, cool. Now, how do we set the DataContext of your TextBox.Text binding to the Code Behind for the window so we can get at that str property? There are several ways to do this, but for our purposes we'll focus on setting it explicitly in the binding of the TextBox.Text property. Now, there are three different "source" type properties of bindings. "Source" being where we want our control/element's binding to get it's data from. We have Source, RelativeSource, and ElementName. We're only going to focus on ElementName here, but the others are essential to research and understand.
So, let's name our Window element so we can access it through the ElementName property.
<Window x:Class="WpfApplication1.MainWindow"
x:Name="_window"
...
Now we can set the ElementName property on the TextBox.Text binding to refer to the window.
<TextBox Text="{Binding ElementName=_window, Path=str, Mode=TwoWay}"/>
This means the binding will look for the _window.str property when trying to resolve it's binding. At this point, you still probably won't see your str value reflected in the TextBox. This is because it's value is set after the InitializeComponent method in the window's constructor. This function is where bindings are resolved for the first time. If you were to set the value of str before calling InitializeComponent, you would see the value reflected in the TextBox.
This brings us to Dependency Properties. For now, just know that Dependency Properties have built in change notification, which your binding needs so it "knows" when the binding has changed and when to resolve the binding value again. Yes, you could use INotifyPropertyChanged in your code behind, but there are good arguments for using DependencyProperties in this case, which will only confuse the issue at this point. But, it is another one of those things that is essential to understand.
Here is the code for a DependencyProperty for your str property.
public static readonly DependencyProperty StrProperty
= DependencyProperty.Register("Str", typeof(string), typeof(MainWindow),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.BindsTwoWayByDefault));
public string Str
{
get{return (string)GetValue(StrProperty);}
set{SetValue(StrProperty,value);}
}
Now you'll be able to set the value like such and have it reflect through the binding to your TextBox.
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
Str = "OK";
}
At this point, all should be well. I hope this helps out. It took me a while get the hang of WPF. My suggestion would be to read as much as you can on DataContext, Binding, and DependencyProperty as these are the core of WPF. Good luck!
The problem is that, you dont bind to codebehind of Window, but to DataContext.
Try this:
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
DataContext = new DC();
}
public class DC
{
public string str { get; set; }
public DC()
{
str = "OK";
}
}
}
Normally, you would have two different files, but for test, you can do it in one file.
After that, your DC (DataContext) should implement INotifyPropertyChanged interface.
Try to find some article about MVVM like this http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/165368/WPF-MVVM-Quick-Start-Tutorial
Related
So I'm missing something simple or losing my mind. I am trying to reuse a class for multiple pages in a WPF application and bind the properties to the pages that instance it. I've tried setting the DataContext but I'm missing something. I'm loading the StockAnalysis page and then creating instance of the PriceChart class (this is the class for reuse) and I want the properties set in the PriceChart class to be the data to bind to the Stock.xaml.cs page. Even in setting the DataContext it is still looking for the StockAnalysis object. Why?
Stock.xaml.cs
public partial class StockAnalysis : Page
{
PriceChart PChart = new PriceChart();
public StockAnalysis()
{
InitializeComponent();
//Load The Data
List<Stock> HistoricalPrice = Database.GetPrices(ticker);
//Create The Charts
this.DataContext = PChart;
PChart.ShowPriceChart(HistoricalPrice);
}
}
Stock.xaml (Look at the Last TexBlock for the Binding of "LastPrice")
<Page x:Class="Stock.StockAnalysis"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:lvc="clr-namespace:LiveCharts.Wpf;assembly=LiveCharts.Wpf"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:Stock"
mc:Ignorable="d"
d:DesignHeight="1000" d:DesignWidth="1200"
Title="Stock Analysis">
<StackPanel x:Name="LastClosePanel" Grid.Row="0" Grid.RowSpan="2" Grid.Column="5" Height="60" VerticalAlignment="Top" Margin="1,0,0,1" Style="{StaticResource LastCloseBackground}">
<TextBlock x:Name="LastCloseText" Foreground="OrangeRed" FontSize="12" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Margin="0,10,0,8">Last Close</TextBlock>
<TextBlock x:Name="LastCloseBind" Foreground="White" FontSize="16" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Text="{Binding LastPrice}"></TextBlock>
</StackPanel>
</Page>
PriceChart.cs (This is where I assign "LastPrice" in hopes to bind it to the TextBlock in stock.xaml.cs)
public class PriceChart
{
public string LastPrice { get; set; }
public void ShowPriceChart(List<Stock> FullList)
{
LastPrice = FullList[0].LastPrice.ToString("C");
//DO OTHER THINGS
}
}
The problem is that PriceChart doesn't implement any change notification. With the current code, this is how things will go when StockAnalysis gets created:
InitializeComponent() will create the TextBlocks and the binding. At this point, DataContext is null, so the binding will fail and the TextBlock stay empty.
this.DataContext = PChart will trigger a binding update (because DataContext is a DependencyProperty, which means it does support change notification). When the binding updates, it will pull the value of LastPrice, which is currently still empty.
ShowPriceChart will set the value of LastPrice, but because PriceChart doesn't support change notification, the binding doesn't know it needs to update, so the TextBlock stays empty.
To solve this, I would recomend your PriceChart implement the INotifyPropertyChanged interface per this article: How to: Implement Property Change Notification.
(Technically, moving PChart.ShowPriceChart(HistoricalPrice) before this.DataContext = PChart would also "solve" the problem, but only if you never need to update the bindings again after initialization.)
I have a UserControl who's DataContext is being set to an instance of a ViewModel (using MVVM). But, I have controls within the UserControl which need to be bound to properties that only pertain to the view (which is why I placed them in code behind). I'm not sure how to bind this in xaml appropriately:
Note: SelectedOrderType is a property on the View-Model, and OrderTypes is a property on the UserControl itself.
<UserControl x:Class="MyNamespace.OrderControl"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
x:Name="OrderUserControl">
<Grid>
...
<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Path=OrderTypes, ElementName=OrderUserControl}"
SelectedValue="{Binding Path=SelectedOrderType}"
SelectedValuePath="OrderTypeCode"
DisplayMemberPath="OrderTypeName" />
</Grid>
</UserControl>
public partial class OrderControl : UserControl
{
public OrderControl()
{
InitializeComponent();
OrderTypes = ...;
}
public IReadOnlyCollection<OrderTypeInfo> OrderTypes { get; private set; }
}
Also, I know I can simply create a property on the View-Model, and I get that some people would suggest that that would be the correct place to put it... but I really would like to know how I could do what I'm attempting to do if not for this scenario, maybe for other scenarios in the future?
I may be wrong but would you not need to make a dependency property on your user control for "SelectedOrderType" and bind the the View Model to that property not bind directly to the view model from the user control.
That way your UserControl is not dependent on the view model?
Edit:
I think you could set it up the way you have it, but the binding for SelectedOrderType would need to be something like {Binding Path=DataContext.SelectedOrderType, ElementName=OrderUserControl}
I am currently facing a little problem with specifing or not specifing the datacontext of a window, and why there is a difference between various methods. Hope you can help me out.
Lets start with some code to show my problem. This is the code behind for my TestWindow.xaml.cs, nothing really special about it just a simple string property
public partial class TestWindow : Window
{
private string _helloWorld = "Hello World!";
public string HelloWorld
{
get { return _helloWorld; }
set { _helloWorld = value; }
}
public TestWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
}
This code will be the same for all 3 following XAML layouts, so no changes behind the code only in XAML.
1.) Databinding with given ElementName
<Window x:Class="Ktsw.Conx.ConxClient.TestWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="TestWindow" Height="300" Width="300"
Name="TestWin">
<Grid>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding HelloWorld, ElementName=TestWin}"></TextBlock>
</Grid>
</Window>
2.) Databinding with specifing DataContext on Window
<Window x:Class="Ktsw.Conx.ConxClient.TestWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="TestWindow" Height="300" Width="300"
DataContext="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self}}">
<Grid>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding HelloWorld}"></TextBlock>
</Grid>
</Window>
3.) Neither ElementName nor specifing DataContext
<Window x:Class="Ktsw.Conx.ConxClient.TestWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="TestWindow" Height="300" Width="300">
<Grid>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding HelloWorld}"></TextBlock>
</Grid>
</Window>
The first two methods work just fine, but why fails the 3rd?
In the first method I am not specifing the DataContext and it works automatically, in the second method I am not specifing the ElementName and it works, but without declaring one of those it fails. Why would it fail getting both automatically, but work fine with getting each individually?
Read the Remarks for the Binding.Source property. The binding source is the object on which to look up the property specified by Path (HelloWorld). ElementName, RelativeSource, and Source set the binding source. If they are null, the source is the DataContext of the element that you are binding (TextBlock). If an element's DataContext is not explicitly set, it's inherited from a containing element.
In the first case, any DataContext is irrelevant to the TextBlock binding, because the source is being set explicitly through ElementName.
In the second case, a DataContext is necessary to specify a source because it is not being set explicitly through ElementName, RelativeSource, or Source. TextBlock's DataContext is not set, so Window's is inherited.
In the third case, there is no explicit source and no DataContext to inherit, so the source is null and binding fails. There is no default source.
{Binding} by default always refers to the DataContext.
In your first example you simply deactivate the default behavior by using elementName, this uses the element as source then.
In your second example you explicitly change the DataContextto point at your Window.
So in the last example the {Binding HelloWorld} tries to convert null into and Object with a HelloWorld property which fails.
It is working in 1st and 2nd case because TextBlock is able to find HelloWorld property
In 1st case you are specifying ElemtnName so TextBlock will refer to Window and search for property HelloWorld in Window class.
In 2nd case you are specifying DataContext of Window so Textblock will inherit that and will look for HelloWorld property in DataContext i.e. again Window class
In 3rd case you aren't specifying anything so TextBlock is unable to find HelloWorld property
In 1st case I am not specifing a DataContext so why should it know
what to get?
When you are setting ElementName, TextBlock will try to find HelloWorld from that element
In 2nd case I am not specifing what it should get?
You are setting the DataContext of it's parent that is Window so it automatically inherits that and you are telling it to extract HelloWorld property from DataContext
The third fails because the DataContext is not inferred. If you wanted the third to work, you'd do something like this:
public TestWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
this.DataContext = this;
}
It doesn't know anything about the path HelloWorld because it doesn't have a DataContext.
I have a GridView that has several buttons. One of them is defined by the following template:
<DataTemplate x:Name="SubjectItemTemplate">
<Canvas Width="340" Height="170" VerticalAlignment="Top">
<Controls:ThreeImageButton HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Top" Margin="0,0,0,0"
NormalStateImageSource="{Binding NormalImage}"
HoverStateImageSource="{Binding HoverImage}"
PressedStateImageSource="{Binding PressedImage}" Command="{Binding Path=NavigateToUnitsPage}"
CommandParameter="{Binding}" Canvas.Left="0" Canvas.Top="0">
</Controls:ThreeImageButton>
</Canvas>
</DataTemplate>
Now I have a custom control as you can see, called ThreeImageButton. The button works fine when I use it on its own. But when I have it in the DataTemplate it won't bind properties to the code behind.
Right now, I have
x:Name="MyThreeImageButton"
in the custom button definition. And I connect to the code-behind like this:
<TextBlock Text="{Binding ElementName=MyThreeImageButton, Path=NormalStateImageSource}"/>
(This is just a test to display the text, in the actual code I would assign an image source to another property that is referred to by an element).
Right now, nothing is displayed in the TextBlock. What is the correct binding syntax I'm supposed to use to reach my properties?
Thanks!
Edit: I am setting the variable in the InitializeComponent function and I am using SetValue on the DependencyProperty.
Edit: Let me add the following information to be more clear
Scenario I:
In DataTemplate for GridView:
<UserControl CustomParameter="Literal Text">
In UserControl:
<TextBlock Text="{Binding CustomParameter}">
in UserControl .cs: this.DataContext = this
works!
Scenario II:
In DataTemplate for GridView:
<UserControl CustomParameter="{Binding ValueFromDataItem">
In UserControl:
<TextBlock Text="{Binding CustomParameter}">
in UserControl .cs: this.DataContext = this
nope!
I see,
So setting up a two-way binding to a custom property in a user control can be tricky because a user control cannot bind to a CLR property. Not only that but setting the data context on a user control has an unexpected effect on the binding inside it.
You can solve these problems with a little slight of code. Basically back your CLR properties with dependency properties and set the data context on a child element instead of the root user control.
Take a look at this sample. Let's pretend you have the following MainPage. That MainPage will eventually use our custom user control. So let's set the stage.
Here's the code-behind:
public sealed partial class MainPage : Page
{
public MainPage()
{
this.InitializeComponent();
this.DataContext = new /* your view model */
{
Title = Guid.NewGuid().ToString(),
};
}
}
In the code above I am simulating a complex view model with a simple anonymous class. It would be silly for you to implement your own like this, but at the same time it is silly for me to build a simple sample with the complete scaffolding. I bring this up only so it does not confuse you - as it could look like I am suggesting this approach in prod.
Here's the XAML:
<Grid Background="{StaticResource ApplicationPageBackgroundThemeBrush}">
<local:MyUserControl Text="{Binding Title}" />
</Grid>
In the XAML above, there is absolutely nothing special. I already have reference to the user control in the local namespace and I simply declare it here.
Okay, now that we have a consumer of the control, it's worth pointing out that in testing developers can mistakenly think that their binding is working because they test with literal values. Literal values bind fine. It's binding from the underlying view model that hick-ups.
Let's say another thing, some developers tend to avoid dependency properties because the require a little more typing. People remember that [kbd]propdp[/kbd] is a handy Visual Studio snippet that stubs out a dependency property for you.
Take a look at this user control. It has two controls, a TextBox and a TextBlock which are there to demonstrate the OneWay and TwoWay functionality of this binding approach. We also implement INotifyPropertyChanged on the user control. For the most part, adding a view model in the case of a user control is overkill because the user control already acts like a view model. It's up to the developer, but it seems dumb to me.
Here's the code behind:
public sealed partial class MyUserControl : UserControl, INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public MyUserControl()
{
this.InitializeComponent();
}
// text property
public string Text
{
get { return (string)GetValue(TextProperty); }
set { SetValueDp(TextProperty, value); }
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty TextProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("Text", typeof(string), typeof(MyUserControl), null);
// bindable
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
void SetValueDp(DependencyProperty property, object value,
[System.Runtime.CompilerServices.CallerMemberName] String propertyName = null)
{
SetValue(property, value);
if (PropertyChanged != null)
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
In the ode above, I have create a "Text" property and backed it with a dependency property. For a matter of reuse I have also implemented SetValueDp() which could be used again and again if I had more than a single property. Even though this demo has but one, I wanted to include this because the repetitive logic should certainly be abstracted out like this.
Here's the XAML:
<Grid Background="Black" DataContext="{Binding ElementName=userControl}">
<StackPanel>
<TextBox Text="{Binding Text, Mode=TwoWay}"
MinHeight="100" Padding="15" FontWeight="Light" FontSize="50" />
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Text}"
MinHeight="100" Padding="15" FontWeight="Light" FontSize="50" />
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
In the XAML above, I do nothing special insofar as binding. The syntax simply binds to the Text property using the Mode appropriate to the control. Just like you would do normally. However, what's worth noticing is that the DataContext is NOT set on the user control. Instead, it is set on the Grid. As a point of fact, any control in the tree other than the user control could be used like this. Just don't set the data context of the user control.
That is it by the way.
I have tested it to make sure it works. Demonstrating both one and two way binding is pretty handy here. I might even turn this into a blog in case other developers want to find it and don't discover this question. Thanks for your question!
Best of luck!
As the comments alluded to, your DataTemplate is placing the datacontext of the items to whatever object you are adding to your list. This is not the same as the surrounding user control's data context. If you want to reference that datacontext's commands, do the following in the DataTemplate's bindings:
{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource FindAncestor, AncestorType={x:Type UserControl}}, Path=DataContext.NormalImage}
What this is saying is to go out and find the user control ancestor and use its datacontext and then look for the NormalImage property. If you run into problems, check your output window for binding errors. It is very helpful in finding binding problems.
I have some UserControl, It's DataContext is binded to the ViewModel,
How to set a ViewModel's property from XAML? Is it possible?
UPD :
Sorry for being not very clear,
I'm trying to get something like this :
UserControl's DataContext is binded to ViewModel, I need to set ViewModel's property to something (let's say, UserControl's Width property).
Is it possible?
UPD2: It seems to be not possible.I know about TwoWay binding mode, etc, thing I wanted to do - to set ViewModel's property to UserControl's one
This example should be very clear
<Set Property={Binding SomePropertyOnViewModel}
Value={Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self},
Path=SomePropertyOnUserControl}>
I am not sure whether I understand the question exactly.
But here is an example.
It will:
Create a view model of type ExampleViewModel inside the user control by setting the user
controls DataContext property in xaml
Create a text box in xaml and bind it to the view models
TextInViewModel string property.
Set up the usual INotifyPropertyChanged interface (this was extracted to the base class ViewModelBase)
Create the view model in xaml and set the user controls data context to it:
<UserControl x:Class="MyUserControl"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="Test"
xmlns:viewModel="clr-namespace:ViewModels">
<UserControl.DataContext>
<viewModel:ExampleViewModel/>
</UserControl.DataContext>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal" >
<Label>Enter Text here: </Label>
<TextBox Text="{Binding TextInViewModel}"></TextBox>
</StackPanel>
</UserControl>
ViewModel:
public abstract class ViewModelBase : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
public void RaisePropertyChanged(string prop)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
{
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(prop));
}
}
}
public class ExampleViewModel : ViewModelBase
{
/// <summary>
/// Property bound to textbox in xaml.
/// </summary>
public String TextInViewModel
{
get { return _textInViewModel; }
set
{
_textInViewModel= value;
RaisePropertyChanged("TextInViewModel");
}
}
private string _textInViewModel;
/// <summary>
/// Constructor.
/// </summary>
public ExampleViewModel()
{
}
}
Binding works both ways: i.e. from source (e.g. viewmodel) to target (e.g. usercontrol) and from target back to source.
You specify the direction via Mode of binding.
Following are the BindingModes:
TwoWay
OneWay
OneTime
OneWayToSource
In your case, if you want to bind width property of usercontrol to the TheWidth property of ViewModel:
Case A:
Want to bind in both directions, use Mode=TwoWay
<UserControl Width="{Binding TheWidth, Mode=TwoWay}">
<!-- your rest of code -->
</UserControl>
Case B:
Want to bind only from usercontrol to viewmodel, use Mode=OneWayToSource
<UserControl Width="{Binding TheWidth, Mode=OneWayToSource}">
<!-- your rest of code -->
</UserControl>
XAML
<UserControl.DataContext>
<vm:ViewModel/>
</UserControl.DataContext>
I prefer the ViewModel Locator approach (this is like a service locator pattern for ViewModel).
Because as soon as your ViewModel has constructor parameters, you are either tightly coupled, or you can't use the above described xaml way....
There are many ViewModel-Locator ways. One is described here using MEF and silverlight.
http://johnpapa.net/simple-viewmodel-locator-for-mvvm-the-patients-have-left-the-asylum
here is another one:
http://brendan.enrick.com/post/Wire-up-your-ViewModels-using-a-Service-Locator.aspx
Well, you bind your UI elements to them:
<UserControl Width="{Binding Path=DisplayWidth, Mode=OneWayToSource}">
<Grid>
<TextBox MinWidth=100 Text="{Binding MyProperty}"/>
</Grid>
</UserControl>
assuming a view model like this:
class ViewModel
{
public string MyProperty { get; set; }
public int DisplayWidth { get; set; }
}
Through binding my dear friend..
for example: (Assuming in your context)
If you have class "Person" and your person has a Name and SurName public property and you want to bind it to a textbox. You do the following:
<TextBox Text="{Binding Path=Name}" />
This only works if the name is your public property, it is best practice to make you object ( in this case Person) as a public property and use the Path parameter differently.
Example:
<TextBox Text="{Binding Path=Person.Name}" />
It does clutter your code way less, then to make a property in your viewmodel for every property of any object in your viewmodel.
"How to set a ViewModel's property from XAML? Is it possible?"
So, that seems to be not possible, max you can accomplish - two-way binding, which is, unfortunately not I wanted.
All in all it's rather bad design than a problem