I have a UI in the MainWindow.xaml and in the window I have a ListView which I'd like to use for all logging.
How do I write to this ListView from any class without having to pass the window object the whole way through the system?
I've tried making a method in the MainWindow code behind called Log(string) and then accessing it from another class like MainWindow.Log("some text") but no joy!
Perhaps I'm just not entirely grasping the whole object oriented part of this problem :(
Help much appreciated!
Cheers,
Dave
You can implement simple binding in the following way:
<Window x:Class="WpfApplication1.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525"
DataContext="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self}}">
<Grid>
<ListView ItemsSource="{Binding Model.Items}" />
</Grid>
</Window>
Then add your model class:
public class MainWindowViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private ObservableCollection<string> items = new ObservableCollection<string>();
public ObservableCollection<string> Items
{
get { return items; }
set
{
items = value;
OnPropertyChanged("Items");
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected void OnPropertyChanged(string name)
{
PropertyChangedEventHandler handler = PropertyChanged;
if (handler != null)
{
handler(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(name));
}
}
}
And use this model i.e. in your code behind. This is little hacky and should be moved to some Controller or something like that, but this is out of the scope of this question.
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public MainWindowViewModel Model { get; set; }
public MainWindow()
{
Model = new MainWindowViewModel();
InitializeComponent();
Model.Items.Add("one");
Model.Items.Add("two");
}
}
So we have View in xaml that is bounded to its "code behind" property called Model. This is why we have 'DataContext' property set in our . Then, we have our ViewModel that holds data for our View. In MVVM pattern we call it ViewModel.
Of course you could also implement some ViewModel base and move there INotifyPropertyChange implementation but it's up to you. You can implement also implement MVVM pattern in any other way but core mechanisms are the same.
You are using WPF ! So do not use any UI control type instances inside your back end language.
Use data-binding, which WPF is mainly tailored to, to bind your list view to the instance of a back end class. And pass all around of your back-end an instance of that class .
The concrete basic implementation is not suitable for SO contest, but basic idea may look like
class Log {
.....
List<string> logData;
public List<string> LogData { //PROPERTY ACTUALLY BOUND TO LIST VIEW UI
get {
return logData;
}
}
public void AddLog(string s) {
logData.Add(s);
NotifyPropertyChanged(.. LogData ..);
}
}
after in some shared space of your code is created Log log.
Anyone who will execute AddLog, will add the string to the lost of log, and raise an event to update UI.
For data binding examples may look on:
A Very Simple Example of Data Binding in WPF
Data Binding Overview
or just google for simpler or more suitable examples to you.
You can access the MainWindow instance from everywhere in your application by Application.Current.MainWindow. It returns an object of type window so you have it to your main window class. Usually MainWindow. All together:
(Application.Current.MainWindow as MainWindow).Log("some text").
Related
My label only seems to get the data from the property it is bound to once. I have the Property raising the Property Changed event in the setter, but when the value of the property gets changed, it raises the event properly (I know this because of the break point I set), but the text in the Label on the window doesn't change. I should maybe also note that the window with the label isn't the main window, but a new one that pops up.
ViewModel:
public class PurchaseVerificationViewModel : ViewModelBase
{
private WindowService.WindowService windowService = new WindowService.WindowService();
private string _verificationQuestion = "Question"; //default so i can check if it changed in the window
public string VerificationQuestion
{
get { return _verificationQuestion; }
set
{
if (_verificationQuestion != value)
{
_verificationQuestion = value;
OnPropertyChanged(nameof(VerificationQuestion));
}
}
}
}
Window:
<Window>
<Window.DataContext>
<viewmodels:PurchaseVerificationViewModel/>
</Window.DataContext>
<Grid>
<Label Content="{Binding VerificationQuestion, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}"/>
</Grid>
</Window>
ViewModelBase:
public class ViewModelBase : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
public void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
There's no problem with your implementation of the INotifyPropertyChanged, since you are correctly invoking the notification that your property has been modified.
So if the problem is not with the one who's raising the notification, might it rather be with what is actively listening to it?
And the problem is that you're defining the DataContext of your Window to the class itself, rather than to the instance which you are utilizing and modifying in the code-behind of your application.
What is actually happening under the hoods, due to the way you defined your DataContext in xaml, is that a new PurchaseVerificationViewModel class is being constructed (is the not the one who are modifying on your logic) and therefore your VerificationQuestion will return it's default value (or rather the private backing field default value, "Question").
In reality the problem is that you have induced your listener to listen to the wrong thing.
Since you want the content of the Label (target) to be update based on a source change, what you have to do, is to set as the DataContextof the Window the specific instance which you are modifying on the logic of your application, and make sure you define it as a property!
public PurchaseVerificationViewModel myViewModel {get;set;}
For instance after InitializeComponent(), on your page constructor, you could initialize the property and set it as the DataContext, like this:
myViewModel = new PurchaseVerificationViewModel();
this.DataContext = myViewModel;
I am rather new to MVVC/wpf, having mostly worked with winforms.
What I want to accomplish is dynamic databinding without using code behind in WPF. The user interface consists of a devexpress grid and a couple of buttons. Each button press loads an object list and presents the objects in the grid. The lists contain different object types depending on the button pressed. For this example I have two classes to present: FatCat and FatDog.
In winforms this works:
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
((GridView)gridCtrl.MainView).Columns.Clear();
gridCtrl.DataSource = new BindingSource(itsModel.GetAll<FatDog>(), null);
}
private void button2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
((GridView)gridCtrl.MainView).Columns.Clear();
gridCtrl.DataSource = new BindingSource(itsModel.GetAll<FatCat>(), null);
}
I have configured the grid to create columns dynamically, so everything just works. itsModel is of type CatClientModel.
In wpf I have defined the DataContext to be CatClientModel.
What should I use for ItemsSource in the grid to achieve the same behaviour as my winforms solution?
dxg:GridControl ItemsSource="{Binding SomeDynamicList}"
In other words, what should SomeDynamicList be in the code above? Or am I going about this the wrong way?
I am, as I stated, using the DevExpress wpf grid control, but the question ought to be general and apply to any control presenting object lists.
In other words, what should SomeDynamicList be in the code above?
SomeDynamicList should be an ObservableCollection<T> property to which you can add any objects of type T that you want to display in the GridControl.
Set the DataContext of the GridControl, or any of its parent elements, to an instance of a class where this property is defined:
public class CatClientModel
{
public ObservableCollection<Animal> SomeDynamicList { get; } = new ObservableCollection<Animal>();
}
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
DataContext = new CatClientModel();
}
}
Ok. But the thing is that the ObservableCollection contains different types. Unfortunately there is no feasible class to inherit from. I want to bind to either ObservableCollection or ObservableCollection depending on which button was pressed
Switch the DataContext then, or change the property into an IEnumerable and set it to a new collection each time the button is clicked. This requires you to implement the INotifyPropertyChanged interface in your view model
private System.Collections.IEnumerable _collection;
public System.Collections.IEnumerable MyProperty
{
get { return _collection; }
set { _collection = value; OnPropertyChanged(); }
}
If you want to use XAML to define which data sources your code maps to for each grid that is possible. That does require at least some method of MVVM manager either prism or mvvmlight to connect the view model to the view.
so if you do go the MVVM model route, the Model would contain a description for each of your grids like this:
public BulkObservableCollection<icd10facet> FacetList
{
get { return this._facets; }
set { SetProperty(ref this._facets, value); }
}
public INotifyTaskCompletion<BulkObservableCollection<PetsConvert>> ConceptList
{
get { return this._concept; }
set
{
SetProperty(ref this._concept, value);
}
}
In the XAML for your code the grid woud bind to the grid defined by ConceptList in this way:
ItemsSource="{Binding ConceptList.Result}"
this answer does NOT address how to wire up Prism 6.0 for example to use a view model but for examples see:
https://github.com/PrismLibrary/Prism
Which contains documentation and starter code. Keep in mind that there is not any specific reason that putting code in the code behind for the view is a problem, first solve the problem and then refactor if separation of concerns is an issue for you.
Using this technique you can bind each grid to its own data source. In the MVVM space buttons and other things use a commanding model to communicate with the view model.
<Button Content="Load Rule Data" Width="100" Height="40" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="5px" Command="{Binding LoadRuleData }"/>
this requires defining a command delegate in the viewmodel for LoadRuleData
public DelegateCommand LoadRuleData { get; private set; }
and then (usually in the constructor) wire the DelegateCommand to the method that is going to do the work.
this.LoadRuleData = new DelegateCommand(this.loadRules);
Let's say I have two windows and a trayicon context menu. Each of the windows has a togglebutton and the context menu has a checkable menu item. All three controls are designed to display and toggle the status of the same value.
How can I bind, in this case IsChecked, of the three controls to a single global variable that when one of the controls is checked/unchecked that the other controls will update accordingly? Should I just do an invoke or is there an MVVM solution? I'm new to WPF so I'm not sure the best/most correct way to accomplish this.
Lets say you have WindowA, WindowB, ..., WindowN and assume that they all are of different type.
Create a class, lets say CommonState, that encapsulates all common properties, commands, etc. and implements INotifyPropertyChanged
public class CommonState : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private void OnPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = null)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
private bool _isChecked;
public bool IsChecked
{
get { return _isChecked; }
set
{
if (value != _isChecked)
{
_isChecked = value;
OnPropertyChanged();
}
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
}
Then declare an interface:
public interface ICommonStateWindow
{
CommonState { get; set; }
}
Make each window implement this interface:
public partial class WindowA : Window, ICommonState
{
public WindowA()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
// This property will be injected, do not re-assign
public CommonState CommonState { get; set; }
}
Inject the common state in each window prior to showing it, for example:
public partial class App : Application
{
private CommonState _state;
protected override void OnStartup(StartupEventArgs e)
{
_state = new CommonState() {IsChecked = true};
var wndA = new WindowA() { CommonState = _state };
var wndB = new WindowB() { CommonState = _state };
wndA.Show();
wndB.Show();
}
}
Remember to keep at least one reference to the created CommonState in some long living object (like App or the main window), so it does not get garbage collected at some point.
In the XAML you should bind using a RelativeSource, so that each new type of window you create can have its own independent ViewModel (DataContext):
<Window x:Class="Example.WindowA"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="WindowA" Height="300" Width="300">
<Grid>
<CheckBox IsChecked="{Binding CommonState.IsChecked, RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type Window}}}"/>
</Grid>
</Window>
The example, I've demonstrated is not the only way and I won't say "the best", but it solves the following problems:
Encapsulates the common (shared) state
Synchronizes the state between different instances (or types) of windows
Allows the CommonState to be extended independently of the window implementation (only the XAML needs to be updated)
Another possible solution is to register a singleton instance of the CommonState into a statically exposed inversion of control container (IoC) and make each concrete window's ViewModel obtain an instance to it. In this way you will avoid the injection step. This would be an overkill for small projects
I anyone is trying to run the above code, remember to remove StartupUri="MainWindow.xaml" from App.xaml
You can add to your codebehind bool IsChecked property and use it for all component you want. And you can change it components' event method to true or false.
I'm having difficulties with getting a bound textbox to update. I'm still new to WPF development and I must be missing a fundamental concept as I've read nearly everything available on the internet at this point and I'm still confused. Below is my code. First, an overview of what I'm doing to better set the context for my question.
Mainwindow is a Window that contains tabs that load various pages using frame source tags. I believe this might be causing me issues as I'm not sure where the actual object is getting instantiated for each tab, just that the XAML is being loaded.
Scratchpad is a class that contains a textbox, which is going to be updated and used by almost all classes that perform any type of operation to report status and any errors.
Textbox XAML (this is in "ScratchPad_View.xaml" for context)
<TextBox x:Name="scratchMessage"
Text="{Binding Path=ScratchMessage, Mode=TwoWay, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}"
HorizontalAlignment="Right"
Height="300"
Width ="500"
TextWrapping="Wrap"
VerticalAlignment="Top"/>
Code behind XAML
public partial class ScratchPad : Page
{
public ScratchPad()
{
InitializeComponent();
ScratchPad_Model ScratchPad_Model = new ScratchPad_Model();
this.DataContext = ScratchPad_Model;
}
}
Model Implementation
class ScratchPad_Model : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
public string _scratchMessage;
public string ScratchMessage;
{
get
{
return _scratchMessage;
}
set
{
if (value != _scratchMessage)
{
_scratchMessage = value;
OnPropertyChanged("ScratchMessage");
}
}
}
// Create the OnPropertyChanged method to raise the event
protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = null)
{
PropertyChangedEventHandler handler = PropertyChanged;
if (handler != null)
{
handler(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
}
Most of this I have cobbled together via responses to other questions on StackOverflow and reading numerous databinding tutorials however it's still not clicking. I'm not sure how to update the contents of the textbox and since I'm loading the page that contains the textbox in the XAML of my mainwindow I'm not sure I'm even referencing the correct object. The mainwindow loads this page in a frame tag, copied below.
<Frame Source="Common/View/ScratchPad_View.xaml" ></Frame>
In the code behind for this XAML, I have the following.
public partial class MainWindow
{
// Create scratchpad object for logging and status display
ScratchPad scratchPad = new ScratchPad();
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void StartVault(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
// Creates the authentication prompt view object and pass the scratchPad reference for reporting
authPrompt_View _authPrompt_View = new authPrompt_View(scratchPad);
}
}
I pass the reference to the ScratchPad object that I created in the initialization of the mainwindow to all classes so that they can update the contents of the textbox, however I haven't had much luck in getting the binding to work. Once it works, I'm still not quite sure how I'm supposed to append text to the textbox. There's probably a great deal of problems here but I'm hoping to fix some of my conceptual problems and get a better understanding of what I'm doing wrong, thanks in advance!
You can use Application.Properties to set global properties for your project. So probably in SETTER method of textbox bound variable (in your case ScratchMessage), you need to set property in global application properties collection.
Below links explains it very well:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa348545(v=vs.100).aspx
http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/Resources/842/application-properties-in-wpf-and-c-sharp.aspx
My understanding is that , You have created the ViewModel for ScratchPad inside the constructor and assigning the DataContext in the same.
So, other windows will not have access to the DataContext.
My suggestion is that Maintain a base ViewModel class and inherit the base Viewmodel in all other ViewModel's.
Add ScratchMessage property inside base viewModel.
So you can access the ScratchMessage property from other viewModel's too.
public class BaseViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private string _scratchMessage;
public string ScratchMessage
{
get { return _scratchMessage; }
set
{
_scratchMessage = value;
this.OnPropertyChanged("ScratchMessage");
}
}
// Create the OnPropertyChanged method to raise the event
protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName = null)
{
PropertyChangedEventHandler handler = PropertyChanged;
if (handler != null)
{
handler(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
}
public class ViewModel1 : BaseViewModel
{
ViewModel1()
{
this.ScratchMessage = "Message";
}
}
I have been trying to create a fairly simple application in WPF following the MVVM development pattern but I have been going crazy over how difficult it seems to be to do simple things. I have already created this app in Forms and had it successfully running, but my boss requested I rewrite the interface in WPF as a demo of the technology. I decided to try to follow as many best practices as I can in order to make the app and code as educational as possible. My current dilemma is using a listbox to run some code every time the selection changes. I'm ready to just use the code-behind with an event to call the method on the view-model. To me this seems to still be essentially MVVM since no logic is executing. Thanks for any help/insight.
You can do that simply binding selecteditem property of listbox... on selection change a setter in the view model will be called and you can do what ever you want...
Here is a sample which will help you
XAML
<Grid Canvas.Left="0" Canvas.Bottom="0" Height="300" Width="300" Background="Bisque">
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding Employes}" SelectedItem="{Binding SelectedEmploye}"/>
</Grid>
View Model
public class ViewModel : ViewModelBase
{
private List<Employee> _employes;
public List<Employee> Employes
{
get { return _employes; }
set { _employees = value; OnPropertyChanged("Employes"); }
}
private Employee _selectedEmploye;
public Employee SelectedEmploye
{
get { return _selectedEmploye; }
set
{
_selectedEmployee = value;
OnPropertyChanged("SelectedEmploye");
}
}
}
View model base
public class ViewModelBase : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
if (this.PropertyChanged != null)
{
this.PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
}
Employee Class
public class Employee : ViewModelBase
{
private string _name;
public string Name
{
get { return _name; }
set { _name = value; }
}
}
In your ViewModel you can create a Property "SelectedItem". Bind then the SelectedItem-property if your ListBox to your property.
If it's a POCO clr-property (INotifyPropertyChanged), then you can trigger your code from the properties setter.
IF it's a DependencyProperty, you have to add a PropertyChangedCallback and trigger your code from there.
Don't be afraid to use code-behind. No code-behind is a guideline to avoid too much logic being placed in the view, not a hard and fast rule. In this case (as others have suggested) you can bind the SelectedItem property to some property on your viewmodel. With non-data-related events, my recommendation would be to handle the event as normal and delegate execution logic to the viewmodel.
In my opinion, design patterns should always be taken as rule of thumb and used with some judgement as it's quite easy to apply them too strictly in areas where they don't belong, which usually makes things worse.
Checkout the EventToCommand behavior in Galasoft MVVM Light
Here's the SO post
you can bind to ListBox.SelectedItem to get the selected item in your vm.