Develop Reference

WPF TabControl not firing Loaded event of unfocused children

I have a TabControl with a binding for the ItemsSource property. It's bound to a ObservableCollection. When I add an item to the collection, the tabs get created correctly, but only the first tab gets its Grid_Loaded event fired. I'm guessing this is because it's focused. I need to initialize stuff when a new tab opens, it contains a control that needs to be referenced.
<TabControl x:Name="tabSessions"
ItemsSource="{Binding Sessions}"
SelectedIndex="0"
BorderThickness="0"
Padding="0,0,0,0">
<TabControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type vm:MyViewModel}">
<TextBlock Margin="4,4,16,4" Text="{Binding Name}"></TextBlock>
</DataTemplate>
</TabControl.ItemTemplate>
<TabControl.ContentTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<Grid Loaded="Grid_Loaded">
<!-- View here -->
</Grid>
</DataTemplate>
</TabControl.ContentTemplate>
</TabControl>
Is there an event that I could use to initialize this? I also need the DataContext to be set, and the view to be initialized.c#

The DataTemplate is reused by the tabs, which is why you're probably only seeing one Loaded event. It's only loaded the first time and then reused when you switch tabs. Only the binded content is changed.
Instead of listening to Loaded on the Grid, you could rather listen to DataContextChanged which will tell you every time the DataContext is set to a new object.
The DataContext will change when you switch tabs. The current tab will be set as the DataContext of the DataTemplate (and by extensions the Grid).
When using a DataTemplate you assume that the view is going to be the same, but the content is going to differ. If this is not the case and the views will differ based on the content, you'll probably want to look into using a DataTemplateSelector. This will let you define several DataTemplates and select one of them to use based on the current DataContext. You can read up on DataTemplateSelector in the Microsoft Docs

WPF Ressource Dictionary match DataTemplate, Styles and Views for a Control depending of Type

I have problems with matching Ressource Dictionaries for a specific type in my project.
At start of my application my programm takes all .dll files in the folder and bind the .dlls to my project. After that I will search in all Assemblies for .xaml Files also the Ressource Dictionaries in my different dlls.
At the end I got a list with my Ressource Dictionaries.
Okay here is my problem now...How can I select the right dictionary for my type in the list View dynamicly. The second thing is how can I match the Dictionary Templates only to 1 control in my Window?
When the type of the items in my list view are changing check again for the right dictionary maybe i need another one
Here is an example of 1 dictionary
<ResourceDictionary
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:PresentObjectDataTemplate">
<Style TargetType="ListView">
<!-- My Style for my ListView Control-->
</Style>
<!-- My Data Templates only for 1 Control-->
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type local:Entity1}">
<StackPanel>
<TextBox Text="{Binding A1}"/>
<TextBox Text="{Binding A2}"/>
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type local:Entity2}">
<StackPanel>
<TextBox Text="{Binding A1}"/>
<TextBox Text="{Binding A2}"/>
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
My MainWindow has 3 Controls
A treeView to select my List
A listview to show the objects in the list
A contentcontrol to show the properties of a selected object
When I merge the dictionary to the window ressources my list view and my content control will use the datatemplates. But i want that the templates only used in the contentcontrol
Here a picture from my idea for better understanding
myPicture

Since a selection list, how can I set the navigation sequentially?

I'm starting a new project in WPF and am now looking into using Prism. For now I'm simply trying to set up the navigation of the application using Prism. Unfortunately, my lack of experience with the framework makes it a bit difficult to get started.
To be more precise about my first challenge I have an application with a "navigation/menu" region and a "main" region.
In "navigation/menu" region, I have several checkboxes, in this case we have four of them, which represents a sequential navigation. I.E. we've selected View 2 and View 4.
So, when the user click Start, in "main" region must appear each view selected in that order. Check the below image, View 2 is first. Then when the user press next, must show View 4.
I mean on a more structural level..
if I could only get through the first steps..

Prism support TabControl Region Adapter, navigation can be done using standard requestNavigation method.
You need add all your tab content using Region.Add method to the region in your module's init phase.
view:
<TabControl prism:RegionManger.RegionName="tabRegion" />
C# code:
IRegionManager manager;
manager.Regions["tabRegion"].Views.Add(Container.Resolve(typeof(YourViewType)));
In your viewModel, you should write you navigation command:
public void NextView() {
regionManager.RequestNavigation("tabRegion", new Uri("YourViewType", UriKind.Relative));
}
bind to your "next" button:
<Button Command="{Binding NextViewCommand}" />
If you want to control whether user can navigate to next page, you can implement INavigationAware interface.
If you don't want lost data between navigation, you can make your view model has ContainerMangedLifeCycle or implement IsNavigationTarget method to return true.
Sorry for untested code sample, but you should get the point.

Create a class named ViewVM with a property IsSelected. Must implement INotifyPropertyChanged.
Add an ObservableCollection<View> named Views to your datacontext. Populate it with new instances of ViewVM.
Put an ItemsControl in your Window, with ItemsSource set to Views. The DataTemplate for the ItemsControl items should contain a CheckBox (with IsChecked bound to IsSelected) and a Label.
Add a TabControl to your Window, with ItemSource set to Views. Add a Style for TabItem such that TabItems are only visible if IsSelected is true.
Following the above steps will give you a window containing a list of views with checkboxes, as you requested, and a TabControl displaying only the selected views. Below is the XAML (I have tested this):
<StackPanel>
<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding Path=Views}">
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<CheckBox IsChecked="{Binding Path=IsSelected}"></CheckBox>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Title}"></TextBlock>
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
</ItemsControl>
<TabControl ItemsSource="{Binding Path=Views}">
<TabControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<Grid>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Title}"></TextBlock>
</Grid>
</DataTemplate>
</TabControl.ItemTemplate>
<TabControl.Resources>
<Style TargetType="TabItem">
<Style.Triggers>
<DataTrigger Binding="{Binding Path=IsSelected}" Value="False">
<Setter Property="Visibility" Value="Collapsed"></Setter>
</DataTrigger>
</Style.Triggers>
</Style>
</TabControl.Resources>
</TabControl>
</StackPanel>
This addresses the structural/design aspect and should give you a good start to creating your solution - you'll also need to create a custom control to use instead of the TabControl. Instead of having tabs, your custom control should contain Next and Previous buttons to navigate between views.

How to add controls in the tab item programmatically in wpf with MVVM

I have created a tab control and Created the tabItems dynamically, but i dont know how to add controls into the tabItems using MVVM. Could any one help me

There are a few ways to programmatically add Tab Items in WPF and I am going to show you a simple example on how I deal with this in my application.
First I host a collection of the ViewModels for the TabItems (or Workspaces as I refer to them) in my MainWindowViewModel.cs:
private ObservableCollection<WorkspaceViewModel> _workspaces;
public ObservableCollection<WorkspaceViewModel> Workspaces
{
get
{
if (_workspaces == null)
{
_workspaces = new ObservableCollection<WorkspaceViewModel>();
}
return _workspaces;
}
}
Next I add a reference to the various controls in my MainWindow.xaml. This is important as we want to make sure that whenever the collection contains a ViewModel that it displays the appropriate View for that Model.
<Window.Resources>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type vm:MyUserControlViewModel}">
<vw:MyUserControlView/>
</DataTemplate>
</Window.Resources>
If you have multiple types of UserControls you simply add them all here like this:
<Window.Resources>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type vm:FirstUserControlViewModel}">
<vw:FirstUserControlView/>
</DataTemplate>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type vm:SecondUserControlViewModel}">
<vw:SecondUserControlView/>
</DataTemplate>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type vm:ThirdUserControlViewModel}">
<vw:ThirdUserControlView/>
</DataTemplate>
</Window.Resources>
Next we add the TabControl and bind it to our Workspace Collection.
<TabControl ItemsSource="{Binding Workspaces}"/>
Then I simply add my ViewModels to the Collection to have them show up in the TabControl.
Workspaces.Add(new FirstUserControlViewModel());
Workspaces.Add(new SecondUserControlViewModel());
Workspaces.Add(new ThirdUserControlViewModel());
My WorkspaceViewModel that I base the TabItem collection of is very simple and looks something like this:
public abstract class WorkspaceViewModel : BaseViewModel
{
public String HeaderText { get; set; }
public override string ToString()
{
return HeaderText;
}
}
Adding a TabItem:
To create a TabItem you simply create a UserControl and ViewModel like you normally would using WPF and the MVVM pattern.
namespace MyApplication.ViewModel
{
public class FirstUserControlViewModel : WorkspaceViewModel
{
public FirstUserControlViewModel ()
{
base.HeaderText = "My First Tab";
}
}
}
Next you need to bind a View to your new ViewModel.
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type vm:FirstUserControlViewModel }">
<vw:FirstUserControlView/>
</DataTemplate>
Then you create an instance of the ViewModel and add it to the collection in your MainWindowViewModel.
FirstUserControlViewModel firstvm = new FirstUserControlViewModel();
Workspaces.Add(firstvm);
And now the TabItem should show up in your TabControl.
Loading TabItems dynamically using Extensions:
In some cases you might even need to load TabItems from plugins dynamically without the host application first knowing about the TabItem. In these cases you need to have the plugin register the View and ViewModel with the application domain.
This is very easy to do, and actually something I do for one of my MEF based projects. I have an post here, with some additional details as well.
All you need to do is add a Resource Dictionary to your plugin/extension and make sure that the host application loads it once the plugin has been imported.
To show you a fast example I would have a View.xaml in my extensions:
<ResourceDictionary
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:vw="clr-namespace:MyExtension.Test">
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type vw:TestViewModel}">
<vw:TestView/>
</DataTemplate>
</ResourceDictionary>
I then expose the ResourceDictinary using MEF to the Host like this:
private ResourceDictionary _viewDictionary = new ResourceDictionary();
public ResourceDictionary Dict
{
get
{
return _viewDictionary;
}
}
_viewDictionary.Source =
new Uri("/MyExtension.Test;component/View.xaml",
UriKind.RelativeOrAbsolute);
Last you use Application.Current.Resources.MergedDictionaries.Add to load the View.xaml into the host.

You Dont have to add controls you just have to specify the UserControl.
TabControl has two properties ItemTemplate && Content Template
ItemTemplate is for how the Tab will look where as
ContentTemplate is how the Tab Content will Look... so...
Xaml for the above
<TabControl Grid.Row="1"
ItemsSource="{Binding Path=TabList}"
SelectedItem="{Binding Path=SelectedTab,
Mode=TwoWay}"
<!--This is How tab will look--> >
<TabControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<Image Width="20"
Height="20"
Margin="0,0,2,0"
Source="Images\TreeView\yourFavImg.png" />
<TextBlock Margin="0,4,0,0"
VerticalAlignment="Center"
FontWeight="Bold"
Text="{Binding Path=TabText}" />
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
</TabControl.ItemTemplate>
<!--This will be the content for the tab control-->
<TabControl.ContentTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<!--This User Control will contain the controls you like-->
<ViewLayer:YourFavUserControl />
</DataTemplate>
</TabControl.ContentTemplate>

you dont have to add controls if you use mvvm. you just have to create datatemplates for your viewmodel objects you wanna display.
all you need is a contentcontrol/presenter which is bind to your viewmodel and the datatemplate will show what you want.

How to create a template to display data from a class in WPF

I have a data layer which is returning lists of classes containing data. I want to display this data in my form in WPF. The data is just properties on the class such as Class.ID, Class.Name, Class.Description (for the sake of example)
How can i create a custom control or template an existing control so that it can be given one of these classes and display its data in a data-bound fashion.
Thanks :)

You could use a ListBox and set its ItemsSource property to the list containing your data items. Then you define a DataTemplate for your type like this:
<DataTemplate x:Key="MyDataTemplate" DataType="{x:Type MyType}">
<StackPanel>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding ID}"/>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Name}"/>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Description}"/>
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
...and tell the ListBox to use this DataTemplate by setting the ItemTemplate property.
It is also sufficient to just define the DataTemplate as above and give it no key. Then it will be used for all items which have the respective type.
BTW: You can find a more detailed example in MSDN on the page for the ItemTemplate property.