ObservableCollection<T> isn't getting notified of change in property of <T> - c#

I have a an ObservableCollection of Component, a class with another ObservableCollection, a String and a ComponentVersion. The SelectedComponentVersion is being updated via my view correctly but I'm unable to get the property of Components to fire it's setter/OnPropertyChanged.
private ObservableCollection<Component> components
public ObservableCollection<Component> Components
{
get { return foo; }
set { foo = value; OnPropertyChanged(); }
}
Here is the class of Component.
public class Component : ViewModelBase
{
private string componentName;
private ObservableCollection<ComponentVersion> componentVersions;
private ComponentVersion selectedComponent;
public string ComponentName
{
get { return componentName; }
set { componentName = value; OnPropertyChanged(); }
}
public ObservableCollection<ComponentVersion> ComponentVersions
{
get { return componentVersions; }
set { componentVersions = value; OnPropertyChanged(); }
}
public ComponentVersion SelectedComponent
{
get { return selectedComponent; }
set { selectedComponent = value; OnPropertyChanged(); }
}
public Component(string componentName, List<ComponentVersion> componentVersion)
{
ComponentName = componentName;
ComponentVersions = componentVersion.ToObservableCollection();
}
}
I then have a binding from a listview onto the SelectedComponent property inside of Component.
I have read countless stack overflows about setting up CollectionChanged and have tried to implement it with no luck.
Components.CollectionChanged += stuff;
private void stuff(object sender, System.Collections.Specialized.NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
throw new System.NotImplementedException();
}
but this is never hit as tested with breakpoints.
Am I missing something entirely, losing my mind or daft! Someone please give me a point in the right direction, if any of this makes any sense at all.
P.S another solution I though of would be to place an invisible button inside the listview and have that send a command to tell the vm that a selected item has been updated.

In cases like this where I want to do something when the property on an item inside the collection changes, I usually hook up a PropertyChanged event in the CollectionChanged event
Here's a code example :
public MyViewModel()
{
// Setup Collection, with a CollectionChanged event
Components = new ObservableCollection<Component>();
Components.CollectionChanged += Components_CollectionChanged;
}
// In the CollectionChanged event (items getting added or removed from collection),
// hook up the PropertyChanged event
void Components_CollectionChanged(object sender, NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
if (e.NewItems != null)
foreach(MyType item in e.NewItems)
item.PropertyChanged += Component_PropertyChanged;
if (e.OldItems != null)
foreach(MyType item in e.OldItems)
item.PropertyChanged -= Component_PropertyChanged;
}
// In the PropertyChanged event, run some code if SelectedComponent property changed
void Component_PropertyChanged(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
if (e.PropertyName == "SelectedComponent")
DoWork();
}
Note that we are using two separate events here.
CollectionChanged event runs when the collection itself changes. This means it gets set to a new collection, or item(s) get added or removed from the collection.
This captures newly added items and hooks up the PropertyChanged
handler, or detaches the PropertyChanged handler for items being
removed from the collection.
PropertyChanged event runs when a property changes and fires the event. You'll use this event to run code when the SelectedComponent property on any item in the collection changes

Well, components hasn't changed. I'm not sure if you set up your handler correctly, but even if you did, a CollectionChanged event is only fired, if the collection changed (item added or removed).
Lets say you have a collection of cars and all are red.
You pick one car and set it's color to blue.
The collection has not changed. It's still the very same cars. No car is missing, no car was added.
You probably want to attach yourself to the handlers of all cars instead of the handler of the collection.
So to sum it up:
ObservableCollection<T> isn't getting notified of change in property of <T>
That's true and it's by design.

When adding items to the collection you want to "hook up" the events you are interested in for those items, then you can act as needed. As mentioned above, the collection isn't changing it is the individual items that are changing.
One thing you could do is extend the ObservableCollection class and override the functionality so that when the collection is changed, an item is either added or removed, you then go through the items in the collection and "hook up" the events you're interested in. One thing to note is you may have to go through the collection and remove the event handlers and "hook up" them again in order to stop getting multiple event handlers being set for the items in the list.

ObservableCollection<T> does not send notifications about property changes of the elements. However, the System.ComponentModel namespace contains another collection, which supports that: you can consider to use BindingList<T> instead, which is also supported by WPF (elements must implement INotifyPropertyChanged).
Please note though that BindingList<T> scales poorly and its performance starts to decline above hundreds and thousands of elements as it always searches for the changed element sequentially in order to return the element index in its ListChanged event.

Related

How to subscribe to events fired from any collection element in C#?

I have made the following Dictionary, and I would like to be able to subscribe to the event fired from any of its' elements, in order to know which dictionary elements' properties were changed.
Here is my class:
public class BlockInput : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
public void NotifyPropertyChanged(string PropertyName)
{
PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(PropertyName));
}
private int _value;
public int Value
{
get
{
return _value;
}
set
{
_value = Value;
NotifyPropertyChanged("Value");
}
}
}
I create a concurrent dictionary like the following:
public ConcurrentDictionary<string, BlockInput> Inputs;
How would this be achieved, in order for me to find every time that one of the BlockInput values were changed/event for each element fired?
Thanks for your time.
I don't believe you have another way than manually subscribing to all events yourself:
foreach (BlockInput item in Inputs.Values) {
item.PropertyChanged += BlockInput_PropertyChanged;
}
private void BlockInput_PropertyChanged(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e) {
var blockInput = sender as BlockInput; // Get the item that was changed
// Do stuff
}
You would have to subscribe to all added items and unsubscribe from removed ones as well if you plan to add or remove items from the Dictionary.
In practical use of this Interface (wich is primarily MVVM) usually this is enough. You have the GUI classes do all the plumbing work of subscribing to events. You only need to provide 3 Change Notifications:
The one of each property of BlockInput. You did that in your example code.
The one if something is added or removed from the Collection. That is what ObservableCollection<BlockInput> will take care off. It is also the only thing the OC will take care off.
The one on the property exposing the ObservableCollection<BlockInput>. The OC is notoriously bad at bulk modifications, so often you need to prepare a new instance in code, with Exposing being the last step.
If you do not have a MVVM use case, please leave a comment. I can think of 2 ways on top of manually subscribing to each Event.

ObservableCollection: raising event when updating values

"Occurs when an item is added, removed, changed, moved, or the entire list is refreshed." This is written in MSDN, talking about CollectionChanged event... but.. what does it mean with "changed"??
I have an observableCollection. It's populated from db and it is binded in my view (i'm working with mvvm pattern).
So, I think: "well, from my view I edit my fields, binded with the observableCollection". With the debug, I see the fields updated, but... the event is not fired... why?
What does the msdn mean with "changed"? and, if this way is wrong, how can I trigger my action when the value of the observablecollection are updated in the way I explained before?
In this context changed means replacing the item at a certain index with another item, not mutating an existing item. Mutating an item in the collection is not a change in the collection, nor does it have a way of observing such changes in the general case.
You're confusing the INotifyCollectionChanged interface with the INotifyPropertyChanged interface. It sounds like you want to know when any property of any item in the collection changes. In order to make that happen, you will need to implement the INotifyPropertyChanged interface in your data type class and attach a handler to the INotifyPropertyChanged.PropertyChanged event:
item.PropertyChanged += Item_PropertyChanged;
private void Item_PropertyChanged(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
// The 'e.PropertyName' property changed
}
You can improve this further by extending the ObservableCollection<YourDataType> class and adding this code into that class:
public new void Add(T item)
{
item.PropertyChanged += Item_PropertyChanged;
base.Add(item);
}
...
public new bool Remove(T item)
{
if (item == null) return false;
item.PropertyChanged -= Item_PropertyChanged;
return base.Remove(item);
}
There are also other methods that you should override in this way, but once you have, you can just let this class do all of the work for you... even better if you put it into some kind of generic base class. If you make that class also implement the INotifyPropertyChanged interface, then you can also 'forward' all property changes for convenience:
private void Item_PropertyChanged(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
NotifyPropertyChanged(e.PropertyName);
}

C# ObservableCollection OnCollectionChanged not firing when item changes

From the MSDN about OnCollectionChanged: "Occurs when an item is added, removed, changed, moved, or the entire list is refreshed."
I'm changing a property attached to an obj that resides in my collection, but OnCollectionChanged isn't fired. I am implementing iNotifyPropertyChanged on the obj class.
public class ObservableBatchCollection : ObservableCollection<BatchData>
{
protected override void OnCollectionChanged(System.Collections.Specialized.NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
if(e.Action == System.Collections.Specialized.NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Add)
{
foreach (BatchData item in e.NewItems)
{
}
}
base.OnCollectionChanged(e);
}
public ObservableBatchCollection(IEnumerable<BatchData> items)
: base(items)
{
}
}
To me, that reads that when an item in the collection is changed, such as a property of the object, that this event should fire. It's not, however. I want to be able to know when an item in my custom collection changes so I can perform a calculation on it, if needed.
Any thoughts?
ObservableCollection<T> raises events only when the collection itself changes. An item contained in the collection that has its internal state mutated has not altered the structure of the collection, and ObservableCollection<T> will not report it.
One option is to subclass ObservableCollection<T> and subscribe to each item's OnPropertyChanged event when it is added. In that handler, you can raise either a custom event, or fall back to the collection's own PropertyChanged event. Note that if you do go this route, you should add a generic constraint so that T : INotifyPropertyChanged.

Implementing CollectionChanged

I have added CollectionChanged eventhandler(onCollectionChanged) to one of the ObservableCollection property.
I have found out that onCollectionChanged method gets invoked only in case of add items or remove items to the collection, but not in the case of collection item gets edited.
I would like to know how to send the list/collection of newly added, removed and edited items in a single collection.
Thanks.
You have to add a PropertyChanged listener to each item (which must implement INotifyPropertyChanged) to get notification about editing objects in a observable list.
public ObservableCollection<Item> Names { get; set; }
public List<Item> ModifiedItems { get; set; }
public ViewModel()
{
this.ModifiedItems = new List<Item>();
this.Names = new ObservableCollection<Item>();
this.Names.CollectionChanged += this.OnCollectionChanged;
}
void OnCollectionChanged(object sender, NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
if (e.NewItems != null)
{
foreach(Item newItem in e.NewItems)
{
ModifiedItems.Add(newItem);
//Add listener for each item on PropertyChanged event
newItem.PropertyChanged += this.OnItemPropertyChanged;
}
}
if (e.OldItems != null)
{
foreach(Item oldItem in e.OldItems)
{
ModifiedItems.Add(oldItem);
oldItem.PropertyChanged -= this.OnItemPropertyChanged;
}
}
}
void OnItemPropertyChanged(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
Item item = sender as Item;
if(item != null)
ModifiedItems.Add(item);
}
Maybe you have to check if some item is already in the ModifedItems-List (with List's method Contains(object obj)) and only add a new item if the result of that method is false.
The class Item must implement INotifyPropertyChanged. See this example to know how. As Robert Rossney said you can also make that with IEditableObject - if you have that requirement.
An ItemsControl listens to CollectionChanged to manage the display of the collection of items it's presenting on the screen. A ContentControl listens to PropertyChanged to manage the display of the specific item that it's presenting on the screen. It's pretty easy to keep the two concepts separate in your mind once you understand this.
Tracking whether or not an item is edited isn't something either of these interfaces does. Property changes aren't edits - that is, they don't necessarily represent some kind of user-initiated change to the state of the object. For instance, an object might have an ElapsedTime property that's being continuously updated by a timer; the UI needs to be notified of these property-change events, but they certainly don't represent changes in the object's underlying data.
The standard way to track whether or not an object is edited is to first make that object implement IEditableObject. You can then, internally to the object's class, decide what changes constitute an edit (i.e. require you to call BeginEdit) and what changes don't. You can then implement a boolean IsDirty property that gets set when BeginEdit is called and cleared when EndEdit or CancelEdit is called. (I really don't understand why that property isn't part of IEditableObject; I haven't yet implemented an editable object that didn't require it.)
Of course, there's no need to implement that second level of abstraction if you don't need it - you can certainly listen PropertyChanged event and just assume that the object has been edited if it gets raised. It really depends on your requirements.
My edit to 'this answer' is rejected!
So I put my edit here:
void OnCollectionChanged(object sender, NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
if (e.NewItems != null)
{
foreach(Item newItem in e.NewItems)
{
ModifiedItems.Add(newItem);
//Add listener for each item on PropertyChanged event
if (e.Action == NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Add)
newItem.PropertyChanged += this.ListTagInfo_PropertyChanged;
else if (e.Action == NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Remove)
newItem.PropertyChanged -= this.ListTagInfo_PropertyChanged;
}
}
// MSDN: OldItems:Gets the list of items affected by a Replace, Remove, or Move action.
//if (e.OldItems != null) <--- removed
}
I think that populating the ObservableCollection with items that implement INotifyPropertyChanged will cause the CollectionChanged event to fire when an item raises its PropertyChanged notification.
On second thought, I think you need to use BindingList<T> to get individual item changes to propagate in this way out-of-the-box.
Otherwise, you'll need to manually subscribe to each item's change notifications and raise the CollectionChanged event. Note that if you're creating your own, derived ObservableCollection<T>, you'll have to subscribe at instantiation and on Add() and Insert(), and unsubscribe on Remove(), RemoveAt() and Clear(). Otherwise, you can subscribe to the CollectionChanged event and use the added and removed items from the event args to subscribe/unsubscribe.
INotifyCollectionChanged is not one in the same with INotiftyPropertyChanged. Changing properties of underlying objects does not in any way suggest the collection has changed.
One way to achieve this behavior is to create a custom collection which will interrogate the object once added and register for the INotifyPropertyChanged.PropertyChanged event; it would then need to de-register appropriately when an item is removed.
One caveat with this approach is when your objects are nested N levels deep. To solve this you will need to essentially interrogate each property using reflection to determine if it is perhaps yet another collection implementing INotifyCollectionChanged or other container which will need to be traversed.
Here is a rudimentary un-tested example...
public class ObservableCollectionExt<T> : ObservableCollection<T>
{
public override event System.Collections.Specialized.NotifyCollectionChangedEventHandler CollectionChanged;
protected override void SetItem(int index, T item)
{
base.SetItem(index, item);
if(item is INotifyPropertyChanged)
(item as INotifyPropertyChanged).PropertyChanged += new PropertyChangedEventHandler(OnPropertyChanged);
}
protected override void ClearItems()
{
for (int i = 0; i < this.Items.Count; i++)
DeRegisterINotifyPropertyChanged(this.IndexOf(this.Items[i]));
base.ClearItems();
}
protected override void InsertItem(int index, T item)
{
base.InsertItem(index, item);
RegisterINotifyPropertyChanged(item);
}
protected override void RemoveItem(int index)
{
base.RemoveItem(index);
DeRegisterINotifyPropertyChanged(index);
}
private void RegisterINotifyPropertyChanged(T item)
{
if (item is INotifyPropertyChanged)
(item as INotifyPropertyChanged).PropertyChanged += new PropertyChangedEventHandler(OnPropertyChanged);
}
private void DeRegisterINotifyPropertyChanged(int index)
{
if (this.Items[index] is INotifyPropertyChanged)
(this.Items[index] as INotifyPropertyChanged).PropertyChanged -= OnPropertyChanged;
}
private void OnPropertyChanged(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
T item = (T)sender;
OnCollectionChanged(new NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs(NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Reset, item));
}
}
in winforms, BindingList is standard practice. in WPF & Silverlight, you are usually stuck working with ObservableCollection and need to listen for PropertyChanged on each item
Use the following code:
-my Model:
public class IceCream: INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private int liczba;
public int Liczba
{
get { return liczba; }
set { liczba = value;
Zmiana("Liczba");
}
}
public IceCream(){}
//in the same class implement the below-it will be responsible for track a changes
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private void Zmiana(string propertyName)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
{
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
}
And in my class PersonList implement method responsible for active increasing the value of one after button click in AppBarControl
async private void Add_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
List<IceCream> items = new List<IceCream>();
foreach (IceCream item in IceCreamList.SelectedItems)
{
int i=Flavors.IndexOf(item);
Flavors[i].Liczba =item.Liczba+ 1;
//Flavors.Remove(item);
//item.Liczba += 1;
// items.Add(item);
// Flavors.Add(item);
}
MessageDialog d = new MessageDialog("Zwiększono liczbę o jeden");
d.Content = "Zwiększono liczbę o jeden";
await d.ShowAsync();
IceCreamList.SelectedIndex = -1;
}
}
I hope that it will be useful for someone to
Note that:
private ObservableCollection<IceCream> Flavors;
-
The easiest solution I found to this limitation, is to remove the item using RemoveAt(index) then add the modified item on the same index using InsertAt(index) and thus the ObservableCollection will notify the View.

INotifyPropertyChange ~ PropertyChanged not firing when property is a collection and a new item is added to the collection

I have a class that implements the INotifyPropertyChanged interface. Some of the properties of the class are of type List. For example:
public List<string> Answers
{
get { return _answers; }
set
{
_answers = value;
onPropertyChanged("Answers")
}
}
...
private void onPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
if(this.PropertyChanged != null)
this.PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
If I assign a new List<string> to Answer, then the PropertyChanged event fires as expected; but if I add a string string to the Answer list using the List Add method, then PropertyChanged event doesn't fire.
I was considering adding an AddAnswer() method to my class, which would handle calling the lists's Add method and would call onPropertyChanged() from there, but is that the right way to do it? Is there a more elegant way of doing it?
Cheers,
KT
You should expose an ObservableCollection<string>, which implements the INotifyCollectionChange interface to raise its own change events.
You should also remove the property setter; Collection properties should be read only.
You should not raise the PropertyChanged event when the contents of the collection change.
Ok I just finally experienced this issue, and there are NO complete answers on the Internet afaikt, so here is the missing piece that no one mentions (maybe because the assume that we are not complete morons and have NOT deleted the default constructor, or have alteast extended the default constructor) anyhow:
Make certain that you DID NOT delete the InitializeComponent(); call in the constructor of your View.
Without this call BEFORE you set DataContext of the view, NotifyPropertyChanged Event will ALWAYS BE NULL. I spent about 2 hours trying to figure out what was different between two different MVVM userControls. I guess my mind is so used to seeing InitializeComponent(); that it did not register that it was missing. I added that back and viola!
Hope This Helps Other Dummies Like Me!
Cheers,
Code Warrior Malo
It's not firing because the collection reference isn't changing, just the contents. You'd need the collection's Add() method to fire the event to be able to see it.
have a look at System.Collections.ObjectModel.ObservableCollection. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms668604.aspx
It can be used like a List but has events built in for when its contents change.
ObservableCollection is your answer. If you want to fire on collection property changes, you'll need to implement INotifyPropertyChanged for each of the properties you'd like to track.
You should add an event listener to your _answers collection. Unfortunately, List<T> doesn't provide such an event.
As a suggestion, manage _answers as an ObservableCollection<string>, and properly attach/detach an event handler for the CollectionChanged event, as follows:
public ObservableCollection<string> Answers
{
get { return _answers; }
set
{
// Detach the event handler from current instance, if any:
if (_answers != null)
{
_answers.CollectionChanged -= _answers_CollectionChanged;
}
_answers = value;
// Attatach the event handler to the new instance, if any:
if (_answers != null)
{
_answers.CollectionChanged += _answers_CollectionChanged;
}
// Notify that the 'Answers' property has changed:
onPropertyChanged("Answers");
}
}
private void _answers_CollectionChanged(object sender,
NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
onPropertyChanged("Answers");
}

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