WPF custom control doesn't bind - c#

<UserControl
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"
mc:Ignorable="d"
x:Class="Menupedia.MiniRestaurantViewer"
x:Name="UserControl" Width="80" Height="100">
<Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot">
<Label x:Name="label_Name" Content="{Binding _name, Mode=OneWay}" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" Width="80" FontFamily="Public Enemy NF" FontSize="14.667" Foreground="#FFEF7B54" Margin="0" Height="20" VerticalAlignment="Bottom"/>
<Image x:Name="image_Logo" Source="{Binding _logo, Mode=OneWay}" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Width="80" Height="80" VerticalAlignment="Top"/>
<Border BorderBrush="#FFF15A28" BorderThickness="1" Height="80" CornerRadius="2" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="80" HorizontalAlignment="Left"/>
</Grid>
public partial class MiniRestaurantViewer : UserControl
{
public int _id {get{return id;}}
public string _name {get{return name;}}
public ImageSource _logo {get{return logo;}}
public MiniRestaurantViewer(int id, string name,byte[] logo)
{
this.id = id;
this.name = name;
this.logo = ByteArrayToImageSource(logo);
this.InitializeComponent();
}
private int id;
private string name;
private ImageSource logo;
private ImageSource ByteArrayToImageSource(byte[] data)
{
BitmapImage image = null;
if (null != data)
{
image = new BitmapImage();
image.BeginInit();
image.StreamSource = new System.IO.MemoryStream(data);
image.EndInit();
}
return image;
}
public MiniRestaurantViewer()
{
this.InitializeComponent();
}
}
that is my custom control. i want to do this
ListBox.Items.Add(new MiniRestaurantViewer(1,"test",null));
when i do it i see the UI element but it's empty (binding didn't work). Through the watch though i find that the public properties has values.. i don't know how to make it work and i have been tryin since 3 days please help me. :(

You need to set DataContext to itself if properties lies in code behind.
<UserControl x:Class="Menupedia.MiniRestaurantViewer"
x:Name="UserControl" Width="80" Height="100"
DataContext="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self}}">

You can do this this.DataContext = this; to make your code works but you are far far away from the best practice of wpf which means using MVVM try to read this first as it can be a good start for a begineer
public MiniRestaurantViewer(int id, string name,byte[] logo)
{
this.id = id;
this.name = name;
this.logo = ByteArrayToImageSource(logo);
this.InitializeComponent();
this.DataContext = this;
}

First of all, I think you need to use two way bindings to be able to make changes both way - from your view to model and from model to view. I did not see in your control Listbox, so probably it's from your mainWindow. In this case your have two oportunities - or to set datacontext of the mainWindow, like in an answers below, or set ListBox.Datacontext. Hope this will help you.

Related

C# WPF Databinding and Datacontext

I am (new in C# and WPF and) trying to bind data from more sources (class properties) and I am a bit confused from different guides and advices. I want to dynamically add Users in userList and showing for example the last insert and whole list at the same time. That is done on different place in source code, but simple like in contructor of my example. How and where should I set binding and datacontext for those three elements (myName,myTitle and myUserList) to reflect changes in main class properties? Should I call every time function for update binding target, or set this.datacontext after editing properties? Or should I bind to some function (if it's possible) which returns the value I need? I am a bit lost with binding to property of object and datacontexts etc. Here is an example from what I have:
<Window x:Name="Window" x:Class="WpfTest.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:WpfTest">
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="200"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="200"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<StackPanel>
<TextBox x:Name="myName" Text="" Grid.Column="1"/>
<TextBox x:Name="myTitle" Text="" Grid.Column="0"/>
</StackPanel>
<ListBox x:Name="myUserList">
</ListBox>
</Grid>
</Window>
And
public partial class MainWindow : Window {
public User myUser;
public Dictionary<int,User> userList= new Dictionary<int, User>();
public object SubWindow { get; private set; }
public MainWindow() {
newUser = new User();
newUser.Title = "John Doe";
newUser.Name = "Dr.";
this.userList.Add(index,newUser);
this.myUser=newUser;
InitializeComponent();
}
}
And
public class User
{
public String Name { get; set; }
public String Title { get; set; }
}
Thanks for any advice.
First thing is first, WPF works best when you are working with MVVM, the general idea is implementing the INotifyPropertyChanged, what ever items you add to you change, will propagate to the framework and update your views.
When working with Lists, use an ObservableCollection. If you want to add items dynamically to it, you would need to modify the ObservableCollection instead. For best results, in your UserControl, use a DataTemplate for the specific type to display a formatted version of your values.
For the second part, showing the last added item, there are a few ways you can go about this, the best would be to add a new Items(Grid, Stackpanel, etc) that can hold data, use Binding to set its value to a the same context as your list(i.e the ObservableCollection) and create a Converter that will use the ObservableCollection as input, inside your specific converter implementation, just get the last item added and Display it to the control you want( you can use a dataTemplate for this as well)
Solution: You have to bind input data in model class(User) and use model to insert data in the listbox like below
<Window x:Class="WpfRegistration.Listbox"
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:WpfRegistration"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Title="Listbox" Height="450" Width="800">
<Grid>
<Grid>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="0.15*"></RowDefinition>
<RowDefinition Height="0.85*"></RowDefinition>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="63*"></ColumnDefinition>
<ColumnDefinition Width="26*"></ColumnDefinition>
<ColumnDefinition Width="109*"></ColumnDefinition>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<StackPanel>
<TextBox x:Name="myName" Text="" Grid.Column="1"/>
<TextBox x:Name="myTitle" Text="" Grid.Column="0"/>
</StackPanel>
<StackPanel>
<Button Height="23" Margin="50,40,0,0" Name="button1" VerticalAlignment="Top" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Width="76" Click="Button1_OnClick" >Add Item</Button>
</StackPanel>
<StackPanel>
<Button Height="23" Margin="140,40,10,12" Name="DeleteButton" VerticalAlignment="Top" Click="DeleteButton_Click">Delete Item</Button>
</StackPanel>
<ListBox Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="0" BorderThickness="3" BorderBrush="Black" Margin="0,60,0,100" x:Name="myUserList">
</ListBox>
</Grid>
</Grid>
Xaml.cs
public partial class Listbox : Window
{
public Listbox()
{
InitializeComponent();
User newUser = new User();
newUser.Title = "John Doe";
newUser.Name = "Dr.";
this.myUserList.Items.Add(newUser.Title + newUser.Name);
}
private void Button1_OnClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
User newUser = new User();
newUser.Title = myTitle.Text;
newUser.Name = myName.Text;
myUserList.Items.Add(newUser.Name + " " + newUser.Title );
myTitle.Text=String.Empty;
myName.Text=String.Empty;
}
private void DeleteButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
myUserList.Items.RemoveAt(myUserList.Items.IndexOf(myUserList.SelectedItem));
}
}
public class User
{
public string name;
public string title;
public String Name
{
get { return name; }
set
{
name = value;
OnPropertyChanged("name");
}
}
public string Title
{
get { return title; }
set
{
title = value;
OnPropertyChanged("title");
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
{
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
}

DataContext does not work using MVVM

I have an AccView.xaml UserControl with following labels:
<UserControl.DataContext>
<vm:SetGetAccValues />
</UserControl.DataContext>
<Label x:Name="labelValX" Content="{Binding SensorAcc.X}" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="282,51,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" FontSize="30" RenderTransformOrigin="0.519,0.24" Width="88" Height="44"/>
<Label x:Name="labelValY" Content="{Binding SensorAcc.Y}" Content="{Binding SensorAcc.Y}" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="282,95,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" FontSize="30" RenderTransformOrigin="0.519,0.24" Width="88" Height="44"/>
<Label x:Name="labelValZ" Content="{Binding SensorAcc.Z}" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="282,139,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Height="48" Width="88" FontSize="30" RenderTransformOrigin="0.759,0.459"/>
As shown in my xaml, I have declared the DataContext to a SetGetAccValues class:
public GetAccNotifications.Accelerometer SensorAcc { get; set; }
public bool SensorInitialiseringOK { get; set; }
public bool SensorOK { get { var Retval = SensorAcc != null && SensorInitialiseringOK == true; return Retval; } }
public int SensorIndex { get; set; }
public async Task InitializeAsync(GetAccNotifications.Readings readings, int serviceNumb)
{
if (!SensorOK)
{
var tagsAcc = await GetAccNotifications.Accelerometer.CreateAllAsync(GetAccNotifications.Readings.None, this);
if (tagsAcc.Count <= SensorIndex) return;
SensorAcc = tagsAcc[SensorIndex].Sensor as GetAccNotifications.Accelerometer;
SensorInitialiseringOK = SensorAcc != null && tagsAcc[SensorIndex].NError == 0;
}
this.DataContext = this;
if (SensorOK)
{
await SensorAcc.InitializeAsync(null, readings, this);
}
}
and I'm actually getting the X,Y and Z values from GetAccNotificaions.Accelerometer subclass (INotifyPropertyChanged), which I have declared to "SensorAcc".
In this case, there might be a DataContext problem on following:
this.DataContext = this;
since the values do not update in the View. I have also tried implementing exactly the same in the background class of AccView (AccView.xaml.cs) instead of defining the DataContext to this SetGetAccValues class and in this case, it works without any problem. I took some screenshot while debugging:
AccView.xaml.cs case:
and in the SetGetAccValues.cs case, the three labels are not included in "this.DataContext". Is that the reason of the problem ?. If yes, how do I handle this ?, Do I have to include the InitializeComponent() method in this SetGetAccValues class as well ?.
i gave you a general answer:
within a usercontrol you bind just to your own DependencyProperties and you do that with ElementName or RelativeSource binding and you should never set the DataContext within a UserControl.
<UserControl x:Name="myRealUC" x:class="MyUserControl">
<TextBox Text="{Binding ElementName=myRealUC, Path=MyOwnDPIDeclaredInMyUc, Path=TwoWay}"/>
<UserControl>
if you do that you can easily use this Usercontrol in any view like:
<myControls:MyUserControl MyOwnDPIDeclaredInMyUc="{Binding MyPropertyInMyViewmodel}"/>

Dynamic user control change - WPF

I'm developing an app in WPF and I need to change in runtime a content of a ContentControl depending than the user selected on ComboBox.
I have two UserControls and at my combo exists two itens, corresponding each one each.
First usercontrol:
<UserControl x:Class="Validator.RespView"
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="167" d:DesignWidth="366" Name="Resp">
<Grid>
<CheckBox Content="CheckBox" Height="16" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="12,12,0,0" Name="checkBox1" VerticalAlignment="Top" />
<ListBox Height="112" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="12,43,0,0" Name="listBox1" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="168" />
<Calendar Height="170" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="186,0,0,0" Name="calendar1" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="180" />
</Grid>
Second usercontrol:
<UserControl x:Class="Validator.DownloadView"
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="76" d:DesignWidth="354" Name="Download">
<Grid>
<Label Content="States" Height="28" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="12,12,0,0" Name="label1" VerticalAlignment="Top" />
<ComboBox Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="12,35,0,0" Name="comboBox1" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="120" />
<RadioButton Content="Last 48 hs" Height="16" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="230,42,0,0" Name="rdbLast48" VerticalAlignment="Top" />
<Label Content="Kind:" Height="28" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="164,12,0,0" Name="label2" VerticalAlignment="Top" />
<RadioButton Content="General" Height="16" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="165,42,0,0" Name="rdbGeral" VerticalAlignment="Top" />
</Grid>
At MainWindowView.xaml
<Window x:Class="Validator.MainWindowView"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:sys="clr-namespace:System;assembly=mscorlib"
xmlns:du="clr-namespace:Validator.Download"
xmlns:resp="clr-namespace:Validator.Resp"
Title="Validator" Height="452" Width="668"
WindowStartupLocation="CenterScreen" ResizeMode="NoResize">
<Window.Resources>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type du:DownloadViewModel}">
<du:DownloadView/>
</DataTemplate>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type resp:RespViewModel}">
<resp:RespView/>
</DataTemplate>
</Window.Resources>
<Grid>
<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Path=PagesName}"
SelectedValue="{Binding Path=CurrentPageName}"
HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="251,93,0,0"
Name="cmbType"
Width="187" VerticalAlignment="Top" Height="22"
SelectionChanged="cmbType_SelectionChanged_1" />
<ContentControl Content="{Binding CurrentPageViewModel}" Height="171" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="251,121,0,0" Name="contentControl1" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="383" />
</Grid>
</Window>
I assigned to the DataContext of the MainView, the viewmodel below:
public class MainWindowViewModel : ObservableObject
{
#region Fields
private ICommand _changePageCommand;
private ViewModelBase _currentPageViewModel;
private ObservableCollection<ViewModelBase> _pagesViewModel = new ObservableCollection<ViewModelBase>();
private readonly ObservableCollection<string> _pagesName = new ObservableCollection<string>();
private string _currentPageName = "";
#endregion
public MainWindowViewModel()
{
this.LoadUserControls();
_pagesName.Add("Download");
_pagesName.Add("Resp");
}
private void LoadUserControls()
{
Type type = this.GetType();
Assembly assembly = type.Assembly;
UserControl reso = (UserControl)assembly.CreateInstance("Validator.RespView");
UserControl download = (UserControl)assembly.CreateInstance("Validator.DownloadView");
_pagesViewModel.Add(new DownloadViewModel());
_pagesViewModel.Add(new RespViewModel());
}
#region Properties / Commands
public ICommand ChangePageCommand
{
get
{
if (_changePageCommand == null)
{
_changePageCommand = new RelayCommand(
p => ChangeViewModel((IPageViewModel)p),
p => p is IPageViewModel);
}
return _changePageCommand;
}
}
public ObservableCollection<string> PagesName
{
get { return _pagesName; }
}
public string CurrentPageName
{
get
{
return _currentPageName;
}
set
{
if (_currentPageName != value)
{
_currentPageName = value;
OnPropertyChanged("CurrentPageName");
}
}
}
public ViewModelBase CurrentPageViewModel
{
get
{
return _currentPageViewModel;
}
set
{
if (_currentPageViewModel != value)
{
_currentPageViewModel = value;
OnPropertyChanged("CurrentPageViewModel");
}
}
}
#endregion
#region Methods
private void ChangeViewModel(IPageViewModel viewModel)
{
int indexCurrentView = _pagesViewModel.IndexOf(CurrentPageViewModel);
indexCurrentView = (indexCurrentView == (_pagesViewModel.Count - 1)) ? 0 : indexCurrentView + 1;
CurrentPageViewModel = _pagesViewModel[indexCurrentView];
}
#endregion
}
On MainWindowView.xaml.cs, I wrote this event to do the effective change:
private void cmbType_SelectionChanged_1(object sender, SelectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
MainWindowViewModel element = this.DataContext as MainWindowViewModel;
if (element != null)
{
ICommand command = element.ChangePageCommand;
command.Execute(null);
}
}
The app run ok and I inspected the application with WPFInspector and saw that the view changes when the combobox is changed internally, but the ContentControl still empty visually..
Sorry about the amount of code that I posted and my miss of knowledge but I'm working with this a long time and can't solve this problem.
Thanks
Issues:
Firstly don't ever create View related stuff in the ViewModel (UserControl). This is no longer MVVM when you do that.
Derive ViewModels from ViewModelBase and not ObservableObject unless you have a compelling reason to not use ViewModelBase when using MVVMLight. Keep ObservableObject inheritence for Models. Serves as a nice separation between VM's and M's
Next you do not need to make everything an ObservableCollection<T> like your _pagesViewModel. You do not have that bound to anything in your View's so it's just a waste. Just keep that as a private List or array. Check what a type actually does in difference to a similar other one.
Not sure about this one, maybe you pulled this code snippet as a demo, but do not use margins to separate items in a Grid. Your Layout is essentially just 1 Grid cell and the margins have the items not overlap. If you're not aware of that issue, Check into WPF Layout Articles.
Please don't forget principles of OOP, Encapsulation and sorts when writing a UI app. When having Properties like CurrentPageViewModel which you don't intend the View to switch make the property setter private to enforce that.
Don't resort to code-behind in the View too soon. Firstly check if it's only a View related concern before doing so. Am talking about your ComboBox SelectionChanged event handler. Your purpose of that in this demo is to switch the Bound ViewModel which is held in the VM. Hence it's not something that the View is solely responsible for. Thus look for a VM involved approach.
Solution:
You can get a working example of your code with the fixes for above from Here and try it out yourself.
Points 1 -> 5 are just basic straightforward changes.
For 6, I've created a SelectedVMIndex property in the MainViewModel which is bound to the SelectedIndex of the ComboBox. Thus when the selected index flips, the property setter after updating itself updates the CurrentPageViewModel as well such as
public int SelectedVMIndex {
get {
return _selectedVMIndex;
}
set {
if (_selectedVMIndex == value) {
return;
}
_selectedVMIndex = value;
RaisePropertyChanged(() => SelectedVMIndex);
CurrentPageViewModel = _pagesViewModel[_selectedVMIndex];
}
}

How to access objects in code from XAML

I am new to WPF and am trying to understand how to use data binding to bind the controls on my window to objects in my code behind. I see several questions about accessing XAML objects from the codebehind, but that's not what I'm looking for. I already know how to do that.
label1.Content = LabelText;
listbox1.ItemsSource = ListItems;
I have also seen answers about how to access a class in the codebehind from XAML.
<local:MyClass x:Key="myClass" />
But I don't see how to apply that to a specific instance of the class. Here is an example of what I'm trying to do. The 'Bindings' are obviously incorrect. That is what I need help with.
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
private string _labelText;
private List<string> _listItems = new List<string>();
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
_labelText = "Binding";
_listItems.Add("To");
_listItems.Add("An");
_listItems.Add("Object");
}
public string LabelText
{
get { return _labelText; }
set { _labelText = value; }
}
public List<string> ListItems
{
get { return _listItems; }
set { _listItems = value; }
}
}
<Window x:Class="SO_Demo.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="SO Demo" Height="160" Width="225">
<Grid DataContext="MainWindow">
<Label x:Name="label1" Width="80" Height="25" Margin="12,12,0,0"
Content="{Binding Path=LabelText}"
HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" />
<ListBox x:Name="listbox1" Width="100" Height="60" Margin="12,44,0,0"
ItemsSource="{Binding Path=ListItems}" DisplayMemberPath="ListItems"
HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" />
</Grid>
</Window>
The books and tutorials I have read make it sound like this should be very simple. What am I missing?
While you can DataBind directly to the class in the manner you're attempting, it is not how this is commonly done. The recommended approach is to create an object (ViewModel) that aggregates all the model data you want displayed in your UI, and then set that ViewModel as the DataContext of your View (Window in this case). I would recommend reading about MVVM, which is how most WPF application are built. But the example below can get you started.
Here is a simple example based on your sample above:
ViewModel
public class MyViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private string _title;
private ObservableCollection<string> _items;
public string LabelText
{
get { return _title; }
set
{
_title = value;
this.RaisePropertyChanged("Title");
}
}
public ObservableCollection<string> ListItems {
get { return _items; }
set
{
_items = value; //Not the best way to populate your "items", but this is just for demonstration purposes.
this.RaisePropertyChanged("ListItems");
}
}
//Implementation of INotifyPropertyChanged
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected void RaisePropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
CodeBehind
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
private MyViewModel _viewModel;
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
_viewModel = new MyViewModel();
//Initialize view model with data...
this.DataContext = _viewModel;
}
}
View (Window)
<Window x:Class="SO_Demo.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="SO Demo" Height="160" Width="225">
<Grid>
<Label x:Name="label1" Width="80" Height="25" Margin="12,12,0,0" Content="{Binding Path=LabelText}"
HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" />
<ListBox x:Name="listbox1" Width="100" Height="60" Margin="12,44,0,0"
ItemsSource="{Binding Path=ListItems}"
HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" />
</Grid>
</Window>
<Grid DataContext="MainWindow"> is invalid.
If you want to reference the window you must either:
<Window x:Name="MyWindow">
<Grid DataContext="{Binding ElementName=MyWindow}"/>
</Window>
or
<Grid DataContext="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource FindAncestor, AncestorType={x:Type Window}}}"/>

WPF Binding ListBox Master/Detail

I can get this working with an XmlDataSource but not with my own classes. All I want to do is bind the listbox to my collection instance and then link the textbox to the listbox so I can edit the person's name (two-way). I've deliberately kept this as simple as possible in the hope that somebody can fill in the blanks.
XAML:
<Window x:Class="WpfListTest.Window1"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:WpfListTest"
Title="Window1" Height="300" Width="600">
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="160"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="3"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="1*"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<DockPanel Grid.Column="0">
<ListBox />
</DockPanel>
<DockPanel Grid.Column="2">
<StackPanel>
<Label>Name</Label>
<TextBox />
</StackPanel>
</DockPanel>
</Grid>
</Window>
C# code behind:
namespace WpfListTest
{
/// <summary>
/// Interaction logic for Window1.xaml
/// </summary>
public partial class Window1 : Window
{
public People MyPeeps = new People();
public Window1()
{
InitializeComponent();
MyPeeps.Add(new Person("Fred"));
MyPeeps.Add(new Person("Jack"));
MyPeeps.Add(new Person("Jill"));
}
}
public class Person
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public Person(string newName)
{
Name = newName;
}
}
public class People : List<Person>
{
}
}
All the examples on the web seem to have what is effectively a static class returning code-defined data (like return new Person("blah blah")) rather than my own instance of a collection - in this case MyPeeps. Or maybe I'm not uttering the right search incantation.
One day I might make a sudden breakthrough of understanding this binding stuff but at the moment it's baffling me. Any help appreciated.
The correct way would be to use the MVVM pattern and create a ViewModel like so:
public class MainWindowViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private People _myPeeps;
private Person _selectedPerson;
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
public People MyPeeps
{
get { return _myPeeps; }
set
{
if (_myPeeps == value)
{
return;
}
_myPeeps = value;
RaisePropertyChanged("MyPeeps");
}
}
public Person SelectedPerson
{
get { return _selectedPerson; }
set
{
if (_selectedPerson == value)
{
return;
}
_selectedPerson = value;
RaisePropertyChanged("SelectedPerson");
}
}
private void RaisePropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
var handler = PropertyChanged;
if (handler != null)
{
handler(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
}
Initialize it in your View's code behind like so:
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
private readonly MainWindowViewModel _viewModel;
public MainWindow()
{
_viewModel = new MainWindowViewModel();
_viewModel.MyPeeps = new People();
_viewModel.MyPeeps.Add(new Person("Fred"));
_viewModel.MyPeeps.Add(new Person("Jack"));
_viewModel.MyPeeps.Add(new Person("Jill"));
DataContext = _viewModel;
InitializeComponent();
}
}
And bind the data like so:
<Window x:Class="WpfApplication3.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">
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="160" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="3" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="1*" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<DockPanel Grid.Column="0">
<ListBox SelectedItem="{Binding SelectedPerson}"
DisplayMemberPath="Name"
ItemsSource="{Binding MyPeeps}" />
</DockPanel>
<DockPanel Grid.Column="2">
<StackPanel>
<Label>Name</Label>
<TextBox Text="{Binding SelectedPerson.Name}" />
</StackPanel>
</DockPanel>
</Grid>
</Window>
The binding will work like this:
The DataContext of the window itself is set to the ViewModel instance. Because the ListBox and the TextBox don't specify any DataContext, they inherit it from the Window. The bindings on an object always work relative to the DataContext if nothing else is being specified. That means that the TextBox binding looks for a property SelectedPerson in its DataContext (i.e., in the MainWindowViewModel) and for a Property Name in that SelectedPerson.
The basic mechanics of this sample are as follows:
The SelectedPerson property on the ViewModel is always synchronized with the SelectedItem of the ListBox and the Text property of the TextBox is always synchronized with the Name property of the SelectedPerson.
Try to inherit your People class from ObservableCollection<Person>

Categories