I have a UserControl with 2 custom DependencyPropertys (ColumnsCount, RowsCount):
public partial class CabinetGrid : UserControl
{
public static readonly DependencyProperty ColumnsCountProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("ColumnsCount", typeof (int), typeof (CabinetGrid));
public static readonly DependencyProperty RowsCountProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("RowsCount", typeof (int), typeof (CabinetGrid));
public int ColumnsCount
{
get { return (int) GetValue(ColumnsCountProperty); }
set { SetValue(ColumnsCountProperty, value); }
}
public int RowsCount
{
get { return (int) GetValue(RowsCountProperty); }
set { SetValue(RowsCountProperty, value); }
}
}
And here's the DataBinding:
<view:CabinetGrid Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="2" x:Name="GridRack" ColumnsCount="{Binding SelectedRoom.ColumnCount}" />
whereas the window's DataContext has a property SelectedRoom which invokes PropertyChanged-Event.
Thru debugging, I got to know that the DataContext of the UserControl is set properly.
However, when SelectedRoom has changed (=> I selected another item in a list), the DependencyProperty ColumnsCount of my UserControl is not updated.
I am very frustrated, as I already spent an entire day debugging through this unexpected shit, using tools like XAMLSpy and WpfSpoon.
Please, help.
EDIT:
Clemens already pointed out, that a breakpoint in the CLR-Property wrapping the DependencyProperty (ColumnsCount) is not fired. This is a major issue, since I have to call some methods on the change. I'm trying to use the PropertyChangedCallback, but am currently experiencing some errors.
In order to get notified about value changes of a dependency property, you should specify a PropertyChangedCallback in the PropertyMetadata when you register the property.
public static readonly DependencyProperty ColumnsCountProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register(
"ColumnsCount", typeof(int), typeof(CabinetGrid),
new PropertyMetadata(OnColumnsCountPropertyChanged));
private static void OnColumnsCountPropertyChanged(
DependencyObject obj, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
var cabinetGrid = (CabinetGrid)obj;
// do something with the CabinetGrid instance
}
I've a simple control with dependency property like this
public class StatusProgress : Control
{
public string Text
{
get { return (string)GetValue(TextProperty); }
set { SetValue(TextProperty, value); }
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty TextProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("Text", typeof(string), typeof(StatusProgress),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(null, (d, e) => (d as StatusProgress).TextUpdated(e.OldValue as string)));
private void TextUpdated(string text)
{
Trace.WriteLine("test");
}
}
then I have view model
public class ViewModelPageAnalyse : ViewModelPageBase
{
private string _progressText;
public string ProgressText
{
get { return _progressText; }
set
{
_progressText = value;
OnPropertyChanged(); // base class INotifyPropertyChanged implementation
}
}
}
Then there is a user control (displayed in window with ContentControl). User control is bound to view model with data template (maybe this is important)
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type local:ViewModelPageAnalyse}">
<local:UserControlAnalyse/>
</DataTemplate>
And this is the control in user control
<local:StatusProgress Text="{Binding ProgressText}"/>
Now the interesting part. When ProgressText in view model is set/changed, property changed callback is called twice. I see twice "test" in the debugger output window.
More interesting: when view is changed, for some reason callback is again called with e.NewValue = null, while there is nothing directly sets ProgressText to null.
I tried already to check if value is changed in the ProgressText setter before rising event, tried to set binding mode one-way, problem still - callback is called twice with same value, call stack looks same, but there are really a lot of calls within wpf to be really sure.
While double-shot is not a real issue, it bother me. Callback with null value is what my real problem (I think they are related). Anyone knows what is wrong?
Found a reason of the first problem: it was other control with Content. During transition it created a new Model (because Content is ViewModel) instead of reassigning existing user control. Totally my fault. Second problem still and I found this question (with workaround which is not suiting me).
Need help with
PropertyChanged callback is called with default value when ContentControl ViewModel is changed.
Which means null for Text in my case. Anyone? I couldn't figure out why is it called. My guess it is called by DataTemplate manager, if I can say so.
try to change this line:
public static readonly DependencyProperty TextProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("Text", typeof(string), typeof(StatusProgress),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(null, (d, e) => (d as StatusProgress).TextUpdated(e.OldValue as string)));
with this:
public static readonly DependencyProperty TextProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("Text", typeof(string), typeof(StatusProgress)
, new PropertyMetadata(""));
Consider this scenario, using MVVM:
On my ModelView, I have one property, of type "string", it does notify the change of properties through INotifyPropertyChanged.
In the view, there is (or not) one control, with a DependencyProperty "Notification" of a type which is not a string. That control may or may not change that property depending on facts that only the control knows (neither the ModelView or the View knows about those). That control might even be on other View which may or may not be on the current visual tree.
In the View, I need a bridge between that control's DependencyProperty and the ViewModel's property, so that changing the view property makes the control change its property, and changing the control's DependencyProperty makes the viewmodel's property change its value.
I've got it to work, but I don't think it's an elegant solution. I might be thinking fuzzy these days so I'm asking if there's something obvious that I might have missed.
The obvious way would be either having the ViewModel Property be a DependencyProperty (so it could be bound two ways), however that is not possible right now (plus, it'd break the MVVM pattern, adding view-specific implementations to the viewmodel).
The other obvious way would be binding the Control's DependencyProperty to the ViewModel's property: this works, but just for one view... several properties cannot (or, I don't know how to do it) be bound to the same DependencyProperty: when I set one binding, I lose the other.
Currently this is what I do:
public class BaseViewUserControl : UserControl
{
// Dependency property, bound to the view's property
public string AudioNotification
{
get { return (string)GetValue(AudioNotificationProperty); }
set { SetValue(AudioNotificationProperty, value); }
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty AudioNotificationProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("AudioNotification", typeof(string), typeof(BaseViewUserControl), new FrameworkPropertyMetadata("None", FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.BindsTwoWayByDefault, OnAudioNotificationPropertyChanged));
// Dependency property, bound to the control's dependency property
public AudioNotificationType AudioNotificationToControl
{
get { return (AudioNotificationType)GetValue(AudioNotificationToControlProperty); }
set { SetValue(AudioNotificationToControlProperty, value); }
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty AudioNotificationToControlProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("AudioNotificationToControl", typeof(AudioNotificationType), typeof(BaseViewUserControl), new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(AudioNotificationType.None, FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.BindsTwoWayByDefault, null, OnAudioNotificationToControlCoerceValue));
// Converter
private static IValueConverter _audioNotificationTypeConverter;
private static IValueConverter AudioNotificationTypeConverter
{
get { return _audioNotificationTypeConverter ?? (_audioNotificationTypeConverter = new AudioNotificationConverter()); }
}
private Binding _audioNotificationBinding;
private bool PrepareAudioNotificationControlBinding()
{
if (_audioNotificationBinding != null) return true;
var b = this.FindVisualTreeRoot().TryFindChild<AudioNotification>();
if (b == null) return false;
_audioNotificationBinding = new Binding { Source = b, Mode = BindingMode.TwoWay, Path = new PropertyPath("Notification") };
SetBinding(AudioNotificationToControlProperty, _audioNotificationBinding);
return true;
}
private static void OnAudioNotificationPropertyChanged(DependencyObject source, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
if (!(source is BaseViewUserControl)) return;
var src = (BaseViewUserControl)source;
if(src.PrepareAudioNotificationControlBinding())
{
var val = AudioNotificationTypeConverter.ConvertValue<AudioNotificationType>(e.NewValue);
src.AudioNotificationToControl = val;
}
}
private static object OnAudioNotificationToControlCoerceValue(DependencyObject source, object basevalue)
{
if (!(source is BaseViewUserControl)) return basevalue;
var src = (BaseViewUserControl)source;
var val = AudioNotificationTypeConverter.ConvertBackValue<string>(basevalue);
src.AudioNotification = val;
return basevalue;
}
public BaseViewUserControl()
{
var ab = new Binding { Path = new PropertyPath("AudibleNotification"), Mode = BindingMode.TwoWay };
SetBinding(AudibleNotificationProperty, ab);
}
}
NOTE: I'm using this for several things, not just for audio notification (that's an example only). Do not rely on the names to give a solution (if any), this needs to be quite generic. Also, any typos come from simplifying the code to the problem (I've removed much code and changed some property names for clarification).
As I said, it works... I just find it quite not-elegant and I'm sure there should be a better solution than this.
Any suggestions will be more than welcome.
Update
Based on Julien's code, I made this Behavior, which does exactly what I wanted. I implemented it using Converter, but for clarity's sake, I ended up doing the conversion on the control itself and using strings to pass variables along (with an undocumented property in the control's if I still want to use the native data type)
public class BridgePropertyBinderBehavior : Behavior<DependencyObject>
{
public static BridgePropertyBinderBehavior PrepareBindingToControl(FrameworkElement sourceView, string viewModelPropertyPath, FrameworkElement targetControl, string controlPropertyPath)
{
var b = new BridgePropertyBinderBehavior();
BindingOperations.SetBinding(b, AProperty, new Binding(viewModelPropertyPath) { Source = sourceView.DataContext, Mode = BindingMode.TwoWay, BindsDirectlyToSource = true, UpdateSourceTrigger = UpdateSourceTrigger.PropertyChanged });
BindingOperations.SetBinding(b, BProperty, new Binding(controlPropertyPath) { Source = targetControl, Mode = BindingMode.TwoWay });
Interaction.GetBehaviors(sourceView).Add(b);
return b;
}
public object A { get { return GetValue(AProperty); } set { SetValue(AProperty, value); } }
public static readonly DependencyProperty AProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("A", typeof(object), typeof(BridgePropertyBinderBehavior), new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(null, (d, e) => ((BridgePropertyBinderBehavior)d).OnAChanged(e.NewValue)));
public object B { get { return GetValue(BProperty); } set { SetValue(BProperty, value); } }
public static readonly DependencyProperty BProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("B", typeof(object), typeof(BridgePropertyBinderBehavior), new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(null, (d, e) => ((BridgePropertyBinderBehavior)d).OnBChanged(e.NewValue)));
private void OnAChanged(object value) { B = value; }
private void OnBChanged(object value) { A = value; }
protected override Freezable CreateInstanceCore()
{
return new BridgePropertyBinderBehavior();
}
}
Which I use like this on my view:
var audioNotificationControl = this.FindVisualTreeRoot().TryFindChild<AudioNotification>();
BridgePropertyBinderBehavior.PrepareBindingToControl(this, "AudioNotification", audioNotificationControl, "Notification");
or
<AudioNotification x:Name="Control">
<ia:Interaction.Behaviors>
<BridgePropertyBinderBehavior
A="{Binding Path=Notification, ElementName=Control, Mode=TwoWay}"
B="{Binding Path=AudioNotification, Mode=TwoWay}" />
</ia:Interaction.Behaviors>
</AudioNotification>
I've accepted his answer since it's what got me on the right track, thanks
If I understand you correctly, you need to bind one DP to two sources, one as a source and the other as a target. I actually have a behavior to do that.
The principle of this behavior is quite simple: it uses two dependency properties and makes the data of one (In) flows into the other (Out). Bind In with a one way binding and Out with a one way to source binding and you're done.
public class BindingBehavior : Behavior<DependencyObject> {
public static readonly DependencyProperty InProperty = DependencyProperty.Register(
"In",
typeof(object),
typeof(BindingBehavior),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(null, (d, e) => ((BindingBehavior) d).OnInPropertyChanged(e.NewValue)));
public static readonly DependencyProperty OutProperty = DependencyProperty.Register(
"Out",
typeof(object),
typeof(BindingBehavior),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(null));
// Bind OneWay
public object In {
get { return GetValue(InProperty); }
set { SetValue(InProperty, value); }
}
// Bind OneWayToSource
public object Out {
get { return GetValue(OutProperty); }
set { SetValue(OutProperty, value); }
}
private void OnInPropertyChanged(object value) {
Out = value;
}
protected override Freezable CreateInstanceCore() {
return new BindingBehavior();
}
}
This behavior needs a reference to System.Windows.Interactivity from Blend SDK, which you might be familiar with.
Assuming you remove your string property and only keep a AudioNotificationType one named AudtioNotification, the usage should be similar to:
<YourView x:Name="View">
<YourControl x:Name="Control" AudioNotification="{Binding Notification, ElementName=View}>
<i:Interaction.Behaviors>
<BindingBehavior
In="{Binding AudioNotification, ElementName=Control, Mode=OneWay}"
Out="{Binding YourVmProperty, Mode=OneWayToSource, Converter=YourConverter}" />
</i:Interaction.Behaviors>
</YourControl>
</YourView>
You can place the behavior on any element being on the correct name scope for resolving element names and having the view model as the data context.
This looks like it might be a useful time to add a layer of abstraction. I know. Ick. But bear with me.
What if you had a bridge object that an abitrary number of things can bind to that handles the notifications on change. It doesn't even need to be that complex. Just something that implements INotifyPropertyChanged and then has a property (or properties) that release a notification on change. That way, your ViewModel, your View and your control can all bind to the same property on this bridge object and when one of those changes the bridge object's property, all the others will know that it's time to change as well. As long as all the objects are bound two-way, everything should synch just fine.
That's essentially what you've done on your BaseViewUserControl, but encapsulating the behavior in a separate object might provide you flexibility benefits.
I have a user control with a property defined as follows:
public partial class ChartEx : UserControl
{
private object _dataSource;
public object DataSource
{
get { return _dataSource; }
set
{
_dataSource = value; //break here
}
}
}
In my xaml, I'm trying to bind it to a collection (from inside data template):
<DataTemplate x:Key="tmplCounter">
<my:ChartEx
DataContext="{Binding Converter={StaticResource convTest}, ConverterParameter='DataContext'}"
DataSource="{Binding Converter={StaticResource convTest}, ConverterParameter='DataSource'}">
</my:ChartEx>
</DataTemplate>
But in debugger I see that value that comes to DataSource setter is of type System.Windows.Data.Binding!
Value converter is never entered with parameter "DataSource", but for "DataContext" it works perfectly. Converter is there merely for debugging purposes, without it things work same way.
How do I make Binding work for properties I defined?
OK, sorry all, I'm a moron.
Turns out in XAML you can't bind to "simple" properties. The prop must be a dependency property. Following works:
public partial class ChartEx : UserControl
{
public event EventHandler DataSourceChanged;
public object DataSource
{
get { return GetValue(DataSourceProperty); }
set { SetValue(DataSourceProperty, value); }
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty DataSourceProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register(
"DataSource",
typeof(object),
typeof(ChartEx),
new PropertyMetadata(true, OnDataSourcePropertyChanged));
private static void OnDataSourcePropertyChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
ChartEx source = d as ChartEx;
if (source.DataSourceChanged != null)
source.DataSourceChanged(source, new EventArgs());
}
Trying to create my own custom AttachedProperty for a WPF DependencyObject failed to actually do what I wanted it to do, and I am a bit worried that I (again) did not understand a WPF concept fully.
I made a very simple test class to show where my problem lies. From the MSDN Documentation, I copied
public class TestBox : TextBox
{
public static readonly DependencyProperty IsBubbleSourceProperty = DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached(
"IsBubbleSource",
typeof(Boolean),
typeof(TestBox)
);
public static void SetIsBubbleSource(UIElement element, Boolean value)
{
element.SetValue(IsBubbleSourceProperty, value);
}
public static Boolean GetIsBubbleSource(UIElement element)
{
return (Boolean)element.GetValue(IsBubbleSourceProperty);
}
public Boolean IsBubbleSource
{
get
{
return (Boolean)GetValue(IsBubbleSourceProperty);
}
set
{
SetValue(IsBubbleSourceProperty, value);
}
}
}
Now, placing my new and funky TextBox into a Grid like this
<Grid vbs:TestBox.IsBubbleSource="true">
<vbs:TestBox x:Name="Test" Text="Test" >
</vbs:TestBox>
</Grid>
I expected every child that does not set the IsBubbleSource property itself to "inherit" it from its parent grid. It does not do this; a MessageBox.Show(Test.IsBubbleSource.ToString()) shows "false". The attached property is set to true. I checked this using an OnPropertyChanged event handler. Did I miss something?
Thanks!
By default, attached properties are not inherited. You have to specify it when you define the property:
public static readonly DependencyProperty IsBubbleSourceProperty = DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached(
"IsBubbleSource",
typeof(Boolean),
typeof(TestBox),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(false, FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.Inherits)
);