Setting DataContext in XAML in WPF - c#

I have following code:
MainWindow.xaml
<Window x:Class="SampleApplication.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 Employee}">
<Grid>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
<RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="200" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Label Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" Content="ID:"/>
<Label Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="0" Content="Name:"/>
<TextBox Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="0" Margin="3" Text="{Binding EmpID}" />
<TextBox Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1" Margin="3" Text="{Binding EmpName}" />
</Grid>
</Window>
Employee.cs
namespace SampleApplication
{
public class Employee
{
public Employee()
{
EmployeeDetails employeeDetails = new EmployeeDetails();
employeeDetails.EmpID = 123;
employeeDetails.EmpName = "ABC";
}
}
public class EmployeeDetails
{
private int empID;
public int EmpID
{
get
{
return empID;
}
set
{
empID = value;
}
}
private string empName;
public string EmpName
{
get
{
return empName;
}
set
{
empName = value;
}
}
}
}
This is very simple code and I just want to bind the EmpID and EmpName properties in my Employee.cs class to Text properties of Textboxes in MainWindow.xaml but nothing is appearing in my these textboxes when I am running the code. Is the binding right?

This code will always fail.
As written, it says: "Look for a property named "Employee" on my DataContext property, and set it to the DataContext property". Clearly that isn't right.
To get your code to work, as is, change your window declaration to:
<Window x:Class="SampleApplication.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:SampleApplication"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
<Window.DataContext>
<local:Employee/>
</Window.DataContext>
This declares a new XAML namespace (local) and sets the DataContext to an instance of the Employee class. This will cause your bindings to display the default data (from your constructor).
However, it is highly unlikely this is actually what you want. Instead, you should have a new class (call it MainViewModel) with an Employee property that you then bind to, like this:
public class MainViewModel
{
public Employee MyEmployee { get; set; } //In reality this should utilize INotifyPropertyChanged!
}
Now your XAML becomes:
<Window x:Class="SampleApplication.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:SampleApplication"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
<Window.DataContext>
<local:MainViewModel/>
</Window.DataContext>
...
<TextBox Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="0" Margin="3" Text="{Binding MyEmployee.EmpID}" />
<TextBox Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1" Margin="3" Text="{Binding MyEmployee.EmpName}" />
Now you can add other properties (of other types, names), etc. For more information, see Implementing the Model-View-ViewModel Pattern

First of all you should create property with employee details in the Employee class:
public class Employee
{
public Employee()
{
EmployeeDetails = new EmployeeDetails();
EmployeeDetails.EmpID = 123;
EmployeeDetails.EmpName = "ABC";
}
public EmployeeDetails EmployeeDetails { get; set; }
}
If you don't do that, you will create instance of object in Employee constructor and you lose reference to it.
In the XAML you should create instance of Employee class, and after that you can assign it to DataContext.
Your XAML should look like this:
<Window x:Class="SampleApplication.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"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:SampleApplication"
>
<Window.Resources>
<local:Employee x:Key="Employee" />
</Window.Resources>
<Grid DataContext="{StaticResource Employee}">
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
<RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="200" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Label Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" Content="ID:"/>
<Label Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="0" Content="Name:"/>
<TextBox Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="0" Margin="3" Text="{Binding EmployeeDetails.EmpID}" />
<TextBox Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1" Margin="3" Text="{Binding EmployeeDetails.EmpName}" />
</Grid>
</Window>
Now, after you created property with employee details you should binding by using this property:
Text="{Binding EmployeeDetails.EmpID}"

There are several issues here.
You can't assign DataContext as DataContext="{Binding Employee}" because it's a complex object which can't be assigned as string. So you have to use <Window.DataContext></Window.DataContext> syntax.
You assign the class that represents the data context object to the view, not an individual property so {Binding Employee} is invalid here, you just have to specify an object.
Now when you assign data context using valid syntax like below
<Window.DataContext>
<local:Employee/>
</Window.DataContext>
know that you are creating a new instance of the Employee class and assigning it as the data context object. You may well have nothing in default constructor so nothing will show up. But then how do you manage it in code behind file? You have typecast the DataContext.
private void my_button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
Employee e = (Employee) DataContext;
}
A second way is to assign the data context in the code behind file itself. The advantage then is your code behind file already knows it and can work with it.
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
Employee employee = new Employee();
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
DataContext = employee;
}
}

Related

In WPF MVVM, i have a usercontrol with a check box, how do i connect a command to the viewmodel

I am still new to WPF and MVVM and am trying to keep the seperation between View and View Model.
i have an app, essentially a projects task list app, in this i create projects and within each project i can create a set of tasks. Most is working well, but essentially i cannot get a command binding on a checkbox in a user control to work using DP, inherited datacontext etc. i always ge a binding failed error when running the app. i am trying to bing to a command in the viewmodel of the view which contains the user controls.
i created a user control to pull the task data together in the view, the command is on the checkbox
<UserControl x:Class="TaskProjectApp.Controls.TaskControl"
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:local="clr-namespace:TaskProjectApp.Controls"
mc:Ignorable="d"
d:DesignHeight="100" d:DesignWidth="300">
<Grid Background="LightBlue">
<StackPanel Margin="5,5,5,5">
<TextBlock x:Name="titleTB"
Text="title"
FontSize="20"
FontWeight="Bold"/>
<TextBlock x:Name="DescriptionTB"
Text="description.."
FontSize="15"
Foreground="DodgerBlue"/>
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="auto"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<TextBlock x:Name="priority"
Text="0"
FontSize="15"
FontStyle="Italic"/>
<CheckBox Grid.Column="1"
x:Name="iscomplete"
Command="{Binding SetComplete}"/>
</Grid>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
</UserControl>
in the user control code behind i have set the DP and the set text function is working
namespace TaskProjectApp.Controls
{
/// <summary>
/// Interaction logic for TaskControl.xaml
/// </summary>
public partial class TaskControl : UserControl
{
public UserTask Task
{
get { return (UserTask)GetValue(TaskProperty); }
set { SetValue(TaskProperty, value); }
}
// Using a DependencyProperty as the backing store for Task. This enables animation, styling, binding, etc...
public static readonly DependencyProperty TaskProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("Task", typeof(UserTask), typeof(TaskControl), new PropertyMetadata(new UserTask()
{
Title = "title",
Description = "none",
Comments = "none"
}, SetText));
private static void SetText(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
TaskControl task = d as TaskControl;
if (task != null)
{
task.titleTB.Text = (e.NewValue as UserTask).Title;
task.DescriptionTB.Text = (e.NewValue as UserTask).Description;
task.priority.Text = (e.NewValue as UserTask).Priority.ToString();
task.iscomplete.IsChecked = (e.NewValue as UserTask).IsComplete;
}
}
public TaskControl()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
}
}
now to make this work i set the binding of the user control in the window as so, the listview takes the usercontrols and implements the observable collection of tasks.
<Window x:Class="TaskProjectApp.Views.ProjectsView"
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:TaskProjectApp.Views"
xmlns:uc="clr-namespace:TaskProjectApp.Controls"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Title="ProjectsView" Height="450" Width="800">
<Grid>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="auto"/>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<uc:ProjectControl Project="{Binding UserProject}" />
<StackPanel Grid.Row="1">
<TextBlock Text="Task List"/>
<ListView ItemsSource="{Binding Tasks}"
SelectedItem="{Binding SelectedTask}">
<ListView.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<uc:TaskControl Task="{Binding}"/>
</DataTemplate>
</ListView.ItemTemplate>
</ListView>
<Button Content="Add Task"
Command="{Binding NewProjectTask}"/>
<Button Content="Delete Task"
Command="{Binding DeleteProjectTask}"/>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
</Window>
this seems to completely stop me using the command, i set the datacontext in the code behind, to the whole window
public partial class ProjectsView : Window
{
public ProjectViewModel ProjectViewModel { get; set; }
public ProjectsView()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
public ProjectsView(UserProject userProject)
{
InitializeComponent();
ProjectViewModel = new ProjectViewModel(userProject);
DataContext = ProjectViewModel;
}
}
and reading trying to solve this has shown that the usercontrol should inherit the datacontext of the parent window.
i have seen solutions using relative paths and DPs for the commands as well as people saying these are not needed just let the inherited datacontext handle it.
but i have tried all three an neither works.
the interface shows me a message box saying no datacontext found, although i notice this is the case when you set the datacontext in code behind and not the xaml.
the SetCommand is created in the projects view model and its a property not a field as i have seen this fail for that reason too.
namespace TaskProjectApp.ViewModels
{
public class ProjectViewModel
{
public UserProject UserProject { get; set; }
public ProjectViewModel(UserProject userProject)
{
UserProject = userProject;
Tasks = new ObservableCollection<UserTask>();
NewProjectTask = new NewProjectTaskCommand(this);
DeleteProjectTask = new DeleteProjectTaskCommand(this);
SetComplete = new SetCompleteCommand();
ReadTaskDatabase();
}
public ObservableCollection<UserTask> Tasks { get; set; }
public NewProjectTaskCommand NewProjectTask { get; set; }
public DeleteProjectTaskCommand DeleteProjectTask { get; set; }
public SetCompleteCommand SetComplete { get; set; }
public UserTask SelectedTask { get; set; }
public void ReadTaskDatabase()
{
List<UserTask> list = new List<UserTask>();
using (SQLiteConnection newConnection = new SQLiteConnection(App.databasePath))
{
newConnection.CreateTable<UserTask>();
list = newConnection.Table<UserTask>().ToList().OrderBy(c => c.Title).ToList();
}
Tasks.Clear();
foreach (UserTask ut in list)
{
if (ut.ProjectId == UserProject.Id)
{
Tasks.Add(ut);
}
}
}
}
}
if anyone can point out where i am going wrong tat will be great as i fear i am now not seeing the wood for the trees.
I found the solution thanks to Ash link Binding to Window.DataContext.ViewModelCommand inside a ItemsControl not sure how i missed it, maybe wrong key words. anyway because the datacontext of the usercontrol is being made into my data class in the observable list Tasks
<StackPanel Grid.Row="1">
<TextBlock Text="Task List"/>
<ListView ItemsSource="{Binding Tasks}"
SelectedItem="{Binding SelectedTask}">
<ListView.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<uc:TaskControl Task="{Binding}"/>
</DataTemplate>
</ListView.ItemTemplate>
</ListView>
<Button Content="Add Task"
Command="{Binding NewProjectTask}"/>
<Button Content="Delete Task"
Command="{Binding DeleteProjectTask}"/>
</StackPanel>
you need to use a relative path inside the user control to look up past the ItemTemplate to the ListView itself as this uses the viewmodel data context to bind to, so has access to the right level
<UserControl x:Class="TaskProjectApp.Controls.TaskControl"
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:local="clr-namespace:TaskProjectApp.Controls"
mc:Ignorable="d"
d:DesignHeight="100" d:DesignWidth="300">
<Grid Background="LightBlue">
<StackPanel Margin="5,5,5,5">
<TextBlock x:Name="titleTB"
Text="title"
FontSize="20"
FontWeight="Bold"/>
<TextBlock x:Name="DescriptionTB"
Text="description.."
FontSize="15"
Foreground="DodgerBlue"/>
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="auto"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<TextBlock x:Name="priority"
Text="0"
FontSize="15"
FontStyle="Italic"/>
<CheckBox Grid.Column="1"
x:Name="iscomplete"
Command="{Binding DataContext.SetComplete, RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType=ListView}}"/>
</Grid>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
</UserControl>
this might be limiting in future as it measn the usercontrol will look for a listview to bind the command, but it solves the immediate issue.

Is it possible to set child controls properties in a user control without code?

I have a sample UserControl I snagged from somewhere and I'm using it to try and understand the capabilities of UserControls. What I'm trying to do is set properties of the embedded controls (say, txtInput from the UserControl below) in the window xaml.
I know that I can define new properties in the UserControl code (and have done so, see below), but with the UserControl defined as is, can a user of the control txtInput set some random properties, like say FontSize in xaml without me having to have defined FontSize as a property of the UserControls. Something like:
<uc:LimitedInputUserControl x:Name="liucDescription" Title="Enter description:" InitialText="Enter text here" MaxLength="140" Grid.Row="1">
<txtInput FontSize=20/>
</uc:LimitedInputUserControl>
<UserControl x:Class="TestBed.UserControls.LimitedInputUserControl"
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:local="clr-namespace:TestBed"
mc:Ignorable="d"
d:DesignHeight="450" d:DesignWidth="800">
<Grid x:Name="grdGrid">
<Grid.Background>
<SolidColorBrush Opacity="0.5" Color="Orange" />
</Grid.Background>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
<RowDefinition Height="*" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Label x:Name="lblTitle" Content="{Binding Title}" />
<Label x:Name="lblLength" Grid.Column="1">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding ElementName=txtInput, Path=Text.Length}" />
<TextBlock Text="/" />
<TextBlock Text="{Binding MaxLength}" />
</StackPanel>
</Label>
<TextBox x:Name="txtInput" MaxLength="{Binding MaxLength}" Grid.Row="1" Grid.ColumnSpan="2" ScrollViewer.VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" TextWrapping="Wrap" />
</Grid>
</UserControl>
Code is as follows:
namespace TestBed.UserControls
{
/// <summary>
/// Interaction logic for LimitedInputUserControl.xaml
/// </summary>
public partial class LimitedInputUserControl : UserControl
{
public LimitedInputUserControl()
{
InitializeComponent();
this.DataContext = this;
}
public string Title { get; set; }
private string sInitialText;
public string InitialText { get => sInitialText;
set
{
sInitialText = value;
txtInput.Text = value;
txtInput.SelectAll();
}
}
public int MaxLength { get; set; }
}
}

Error in data binding in Xaml

I have tried data binding in WPF.
But it is showing few errors.Please help me.
I am attaching the code.I have create a simple text block and tried to bind the string. Also I want to know how Windows.datacontext works? In my code it is giving an error. please help me out.
Xaml code
<Window x:Class="Shweta.DataBinding"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="DataBinding" Height="300" Width="300">
<Window.DataContext>
<l:DataBinding />
</Window.DataContext>
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="54*" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="224*" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="59*" />
<RowDefinition Height="202*" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Grid Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1">
<TextBlock Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="10,10,0,0" Name="textBlock1" Text="{Binding TextString, TargetNullValue=Test}" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="68" />
</Grid>
</Grid>
</Window>
**Code behind**
namespace Shweta
{
public partial class DataBinding : Window
{
public DataBinding()
{
InitializeComponent();
Setupviewmodel();
}
private void Setupviewmodel
{
TextString="this worked";
}
public string TextString{get;set;}
}
}
Okay so first of all read the error messages ... It clearly says that l is not defined in XAML but still you're trying to use it : <l:DataBinding />...
Fix this by declaring l in your XAML :
<Window x:Class="Shweta.DataBinding"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:l="<your l declaration"/>
Another thing is that you haven't implemented INotifyPropertyChanged so you'r value wont get updated anyway.
Implement this like such :
public partial class DataBinding : Window, INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
void NotifyPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName]string propertyName = "")
{
if ( PropertyChanged != null )
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
string text;
public string TextString
{
get { return text; }
set { text = value; NotifyPropertyChanged(); }
}
public DataBinding()
: base()
{
InitializeComponent();
Setupviewmodel();
// as #Nahuel Ianni stated, he has to set DataContext to CodeBehind
// in order to be able to get bindings work
DataContext = this; // <-- only if not binded before
}
public void Setupviewmodel() // forgot to to place ()
// produced error : `A get or set accessor expected`
{
TextString = "this worked";
}
}
Yet another thing is that you have to specify DataContext only when it's not the same as your code behind so you do not need this part :
<Window.DataContext>
<l:DataBinding />
</Window.DataContext>
You are not specifying the DataContext correctly as you are trying to set it up on XAML by using a namespace that has not been declared. For more info on XAML namespaces, check the following link.
In your example it would be on the xaml side:
<Window x:Class="Shweta.DataBinding"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="DataBinding" Height="300" Width="300">
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="54*" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="224*" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="59*" />
<RowDefinition Height="202*" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Grid Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1">
<TextBlock Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="10,10,0,0" Name="textBlock1" Text="{Binding TextString, TargetNullValue=Test}" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="68" />
</Grid>
</Grid>
</Window>
And in your code behind:
namespace Shweta
{
public partial class DataBinding : Window
{
public DataBinding()
{
InitializeComponent();
this.DataContext = this; // Pay attention to this line!
Setupviewmodel();
}
private void Setupviewmodel()
{
TextString="this worked";
}
public string TextString{get;set;}
}
}
The difference with the original version is that I'm not specifying the DataContext on XAML but on the code behind itself.
The DataContext can be considered as the place where the view will retrieve the information from. When in doubt, please refer to this MSDN article or you could learn about the MVVM pattern which is the pillar of working with XAML.
In order to make this work you have to set the DataContext properly. I'd suggest to create a viewmodel class and bind to that. Also I initialized the binding in the codebehind because your namespaces are missing. You can do that in xaml aswell. For now to give you something to work with try this for your codebehind:
public partial class DataBinding : Window
{
public DataBinding()
{
InitializeComponent();
DataContext = new DataBindingViewModel();
}
}
public class DataBindingViewModel
{
public DataBindingViewModel()
{
Setupviewmodel();
}
private void Setupviewmodel()
{
TextString = "this worked";
}
public string TextString { get; set; }
}
And change your view to this:
<Window x:Class="Shweta.DataBinding"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="DataBinding" Height="300" Width="300">
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="54*" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="224*" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="59*" />
<RowDefinition Height="202*" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Grid Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1">
<TextBlock Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="10,10,0,0" Name="textBlock1" Text="{Binding TextString, TargetNullValue=Test}" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="68" />
</Grid>
</Grid>
Note that the Text property will only be set at initialization. If you want DataBinding at runtime your DataBindingViewModel will have to implememnt INPC and throw the PropertyChanged Event after setting the property bound to.

Bind property of childcontrol to parentcontrol

I have a UserControl (Parent) in which is another UserControl (Child). I want to Bind a property in the Child-Control to a property in the Parent-Control. Both UserControls are developed within MVVM. My question now is, how do I access the property of the child-control in the xaml of the parent-control?
Do I have to do something in the code-behind of the child-control or is there another way?
I have an interface called IPerson which looks like:
public interface IPerson
{
string Firstname {get;set;}
string Lastname {get;set;}
}
The parent-control (PersonsView) has a TreeView on the left side and on the right side there's the child-control (PersonView).
The XAML of Persons-View is:
<UserControl x:Class="ScM.Contents.View.PersonsView"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:viewModel="clr-namespace:ScM.Contents.ViewModel"
xmlns:view="clr-namespace:ScM.Contents.View"
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"
mc:Ignorable="d" d:DesignHeight="300" d:DesignWidth="300">
<UserControl.DataContext>
<viewModel:PersonsViewModel />
</UserControl.DataContext>
<UserControl.Resources>
<ResourceDictionary>
<ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
<ResourceDictionary Source="/ScM.Interface;component/GUI/ScMStyles.xaml" />
</ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
</ResourceDictionary>
</UserControl.Resources>
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="200" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="*"/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<view:PersonsTreeView Grid.Column="0" Margin="2"
OpenPupil="{Binding DataContext.OpenPersonCommand, RelativeSource={RelativeSource FindAncestor, AncestorType=UserControl}}"
Persons="{Binding DataContext.Persons, Mode=TwoWay, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged,
RelativeSource={RelativeSource FindAncestor, AncestorType=UserControl}}" />
<GridSplitter Grid.Column="1" Width="2" ShowsPreview="True" VerticalAlignment="Stretch"
HorizontalAlignment="Center" Margin="0,2" />
<view:PersonView Grid.Column="2" Margin="2"></view:PersonView>
</Grid>
</UserControl>
The Person-View consist only of labels and textboxes. The PersonViewModel looks like:
internal class PersonViewModel : ViewModelBase
{
private readonly PersonModel _personModel;
private IPerson _person;
public PersonViewModel()
{
_personModel = new PersonModel();
}
public IPerson Person
{
get { return _person; }
set
{
_person = value;
OnPropertyChanged();
}
}
}
You can either name your parent control to point to it using ElementName
<ParentControl x:Name=ParentControl>
<ChildControl SomeChildControlProperty="{Binding SomeParentControlProperty,
ElementName=ParentControl}"/>
</ParentControl>
or you can use RelativeSource with FindAncestor :
<ParentControl>
<ChildControl SomeChildControlProperty="{Binding SomeParentControlProperty,
RelativeSource={RelativeSource FindAncestor,
AncestorType={x:Type ParentControl}}}"/>
</ParentControl>
I didn't test this code though so the syntax might not be exactly right

How to bind a property in the view model of a usercontrol to a property in another usercontrol

I am currently working within a WPF user control using MVVM. My MainWindow.xaml looks like below.
MainWindow.xaml
<Window.Resources>
<ObjectDataProvider x:Key="TabsList" ObjectType="{x:Type local:MainWindowModel}" MethodName="GetTabs"/>
</Window.Resources>
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
<ColumnDefinition/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ListBox Grid.Column="0" ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource TabsList}}" IsSynchronizedWithCurrentItem="True">
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<Label Content="{Binding Path=TabName}" Margin="10"/>
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
<ContentControl Grid.Column="1" Content="{Binding Source={StaticResource TabsList}, Path=MyUserControl}"/>
</Grid>
Data provider class is as below
public class MainWindowModel
{
public List<TabInfo> GetTabs()
{
return new List<TabInfo>()
{
new TabInfo() { TabName="Tab1", MyUserControl = new UserControl1()},
new TabInfo() { TabName="Tab2", MyUserControl = new UserControl2()}
};
}
}
public class TabInfo
{
public string TabName { get; set; }
public UserControl MyUserControl { get; set; }
}
And now I have two usercontrols UserControl1 and UserControl2 each has a text box control. I would like to update the Text property of the textbox control in the UserControl1 whenever the Text property of the Textbox control in the UserControl2 is updated. To do this, I tried as below.
UserControl1
<UserControl x:Class="MoreOnBinding2.UserControl1"
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"
mc:Ignorable="d"
d:DesignHeight="300" d:DesignWidth="300">
<Grid>
<TextBox Width="200" Height="20" Text="{Binding Path=UserControl1Text}"/>
</Grid>
UserControl1ViewModel
public class UserControl1VM : ViewModelBase
{
public UserControl1VM()
{
this.UserControl1Text = "10";
}
private string userControl1Text;
public string UserControl1Text
{
get { return userControl1Text; }
set
{
if (userControl1Text != value)
{
userControl1Text = value;
RaisePropertyChanged(() => UserControl1Text);
}
}
}
}
UserControl2
<UserControl x:Class="MoreOnBinding2.UserControl2"
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:local="clr-namespace:MoreOnBinding2"
mc:Ignorable="d"
d:DesignHeight="300" d:DesignWidth="300">
<Grid>
<TextBox Width="200" Height="20"
Text="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Mode=FindAncestor, AncestorType={x:Type local:UserControl1}},
UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged, Path=UserControl1Text}" />
</Grid>
But it is not working. It seems there is a problem in the RelativeSource tag in the UserControl2. Can someone help on this.
You could use a Dependency Property on your user controls this would give you a bind able property. see link
EDIT 1
Just had another look at your class setup. If you are following the MVVM approach I don't think you should have a reference to your user control in your view model
View Model should be more Like
public Class
{
ObservableCollection<TabInfo> _Tabs = new ObservableCollection<TabInfo>();
public ObservableCollection<TabInfo> Tabs
{
get{return _Tabs;}
set {_Tabs = value;}//Need to implement INotifyPropertyChanged [Link][2]
}
public TabInfo SelectedTab {get;set;}
}
public class TabInfo
{
public string TabName { get; set; }
public UserControlViewModel MyUserControlViewModel{ get; set; }
}
Then in your View
<Window.DataContext>
<vm:MainWindowModel />
</Window.DataContext>
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="Auto"/>
<ColumnDefinition/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ListBox Grid.Column="0" ItemsSource="{Binding Tabs}" IsSynchronizedWithCurrentItem="True" SelectedValue="{Binding SelectedTab}">
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<Label Content="{Binding Path=TabName}" Margin="10"/>
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
<ContentControl Grid.Column="1" Content="{Binding SelectedTab.MyUserControlViewModel"/>
</Grid>
This should give you a list of Tabs and then when one is selected it will set the content of the ContentControl to the MyUserControlViewModel.
You would then need to use some sort of template selector to control the ContentTemplate to load different UserControls into the ContentControl
I haven't tested the code works and you would need to implement the INotifyPropertyChanged on all the public properties so the bindings update as the properties value is changed.
Hope that helps a bit.

Categories