How to write WPF OpenFileDialog using MVVM (Model-View-ViewModel) in c#?
I have visited some websites regarding this OpenFileDialog ,but I didn't get clear idea about it. This is my code
In View.xaml:
<Window.... xmlns:VM="clr-namespace:myproject.myViewModel"
... >
<Window.DataContext><VM:myViewModel/>
</Window.DataContext>
<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding mygroup}" >
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate >
<DataTemplate>
<Grid >....
<TextBlock Text="Color" Margin="20" VerticalAlignment="Center"/>
<ComboBox KeyboardNavigation.TabIndex="0" Grid.Column="1" Margin="45,10,10,10" Height="30" Width="200" ItemsSource="{Binding Color}" />
<TextBlock Text="Shapes" Grid.Row="1" VerticalAlignment="Center" />
<ComboBox KeyboardNavigation.TabIndex="3" Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1" Height="20" Width="150" SelectedIndex="0" HorizontalContentAlignment="Right"
VerticalAlignment="Center" ItemsSource="{Binding Shapes}">
</ComboBox>
<TextBlock Text="Open Files " VerticalAlignment="Center" Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="2" Margin="10" />
<TextBox Grid.Column="3" Text="" Height="30" Grid.Row="0" IsReadOnly="True"
TextAlignment="Right" VerticalContentAlignment="Center" Width="200" /> <Button Grid.Column="4" Content="Browse" Height="30" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" MinWidth="41" />
</Grid>
</Window>
In Model.cs:
namespace Myproject.Models
{
public class ProjectModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private ObservableCollection<string> color;
private ObservableCollection<string> shapes;
public ObservableCollection<string> Color
{
get { return color; }
set
{
color = value;
NotifyPropertyChanged("Color");
}
}
public ObservableCollection<string> Shapes
{
get { return shapes; }
set
{
shapes = value;
NotifyPropertyChanged("Shapes");
}
}
#region INotifyPropertyChanged Members
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
#endregion
#region Private Helpers
private void NotifyPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
{
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
#endregion
}
}
In ViewModel.cs:
namespace MyProject.ViewModels
{
public class myProjectViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private ObservableCollection<myprojectmodel> mygroup;
public ObservableCollection<myprojectmodel> Mygroup
{
get => this.mygroup;
set
{
if (Equals(value, this.mygroup)) return;
this.mygroup = value;
OnPropertyChanged();
}
}
public ProjectViewModel()
{
Mygroup = new ObservableCollection<myprojectmodel>();
List<string> lstColor = new List<string>();
lstCity = new List<string> {"Pink", "Blue", "Red"};
List<string> lstShapes = new List<string>();
lstTemperature = new List<string> {"Rectangle", "Triangle", "Circle"};
Mygroup.Add(
new ProjectModel
{
Color= new ObservableCollection<string>(lstColor),
Shapes = new ObservableCollection<string>(lstShapes),
});
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = null)
{
this.PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
}
How should I write code to get OpenFileDialog.
I have seen this link WPF OpenFileDialog with the MVVM pattern? but I don't know how to write it for my above code.
please someone help me by editing my code to get OpenFileDailog.
In my opinion this kind of things doesn't belong in to the ViewModel. It's View specific logic. The View alone handles user input and then sends it to the ViewModel. ViewModel never asks the View to do something. This would invert the dependency chain and couple the ViewModel to the View. The dependencies have to be like this:
View --> ViewModel --> Model. The ViewModel doesn't even know about the type of views nor that there is a View at all.
You have to open the dialog from your view and then send the result to the view model.
For this you could create a simple event handler in your code-behind and attach it to a button's click event. You take the picked file and use an ICommand to invoke e.g. an open file action. That's MVVM (or MVP). Separate the concerns of the views from your models.
MainWindow.xaml:
<Window x:Class="WpfOpenDialogExample.OpenFileDialogSample"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="OpenFileDialogSample" Height="300" Width="300">
<Window.DataContext>
<ViewModel />
</Window.DataContext>
<Grid>
<Button Name="ShowFilePickerButton" Click="ShowFilePicker_OnClick" Content="Open file" />
</Grid>
</Window>
MainWindow.xaml.cs:
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Windows;
using Microsoft.Win32;
namespace WpfOpenDialogExample
{
public partial class OpenFileDialogSample : Window
{
public OpenFileDialogSample()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void ShowFilePicker_OnClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
var viewModel = this.DataContext as ViewModel;
OpenFileDialog openFileDialog = new OpenFileDialog();
if(openFileDialog.ShowDialog() == true && viewModel.OpenFileCommand.CanExecute(openFileDialog.FileName))
{
viewModel.OpenFileCommand.Execute(openFileDialog.FileName);
}
}
private void ShowFolderPicker_OnClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
var viewModel = this.DataContext as ViewModel;
FolderBrowserDialog openFolderDialog = new FolderBrowserDialog();
if(openFolderDialog.ShowDialog() == DialogResul.Ok && viewModel.OpenFolderCommand.CanExecute(openFolderDialog.SelectedPath ))
{
viewModel.OpenFolderCommand.Execute(openFolderDialog.SelectedPath );
}
}
}
}
ViewModel.cs:
public ICommand OpenFileCommand { get => new RelayCommand(OpenFile, CanOpenFile); }
private void OpenFile(string filePath)
{
...
}
private bool CanOpenFile(string filePath)
{
return File.Exists(filePath);
}
public ICommand OpenFolderCommand { get => new RelayCommand(OpenFolder, CanOpenFolder); }
private void OpenFolder(string folderPath)
{
...
}
private bool CanOpenFolder(string folderPath)
{
return Directory.Exists(filePath);
}
RelayCommand.cs:
using System;
using System.Windows.Input;
namespace WpfOpenDialogExample
{
/// <summary>
/// An implementation independent ICommand implementation.
/// Enables instant creation of an ICommand without implementing the ICommand interface for each command.
/// The individual Execute() an CanExecute() members are suplied via delegates.
/// <seealso cref="System.Windows.Input.ICommand"/>
/// </summary>
/// <remarks>The type of <c>RelaisCommand</c> actually is a <see cref="System.Windows.Input.ICommand"/></remarks>
public class RelayCommand : ICommand
{
/// <summary>
/// Default constructor to declare the concrete implementation of Execute(object):void and CanExecute(object) : bool
/// </summary>
/// <param name="executeDelegate">Delegate referencing the execution context method.
/// Delegate signature: delegate(object):void</param>
/// <param name="canExecuteDelegate">Delegate referencing the canExecute context method.
/// Delegate signature: delegate(object):bool</param>
public RelayCommand(Action<object> executeDelegate , Predicate<object> canExecuteDelegate)
{
this.executeDelegate = executeDelegate;
this.canExecuteDelegate = canExecuteDelegate;
}
/// <summary>
/// Invokes the custom <c>canExecuteDelegate</c> which should check wether the command can be executed.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="parameter">Optional parameter of type <see cref="System.Object"/></param>
/// <returns>Expected to return tue, when the preconditions meet the requirements and therefore the command stored in <c>executeDelegate</c> can execute.
/// Expected to return fals when command execution is not possible.</returns>
public bool CanExecute(object parameter)
{
if (this.canExecuteDelegate != null)
{
return this.canExecuteDelegate(parameter);
}
return false;
}
/// <summary>
/// Invokes the custom <c>executeDelegate</c>, which references the command to execute.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="parameter">Optional parameter of type <see cref="System.Object"/></param>
public void Execute(object parameter)
{
if (this.executeDelegate != null)
this.executeDelegate(parameter);
}
/// <summary>
/// The event is triggered every time the conditions regarding the command have changed. This occures when <c>InvalidateRequerySuggested()</c> gets explicitly or implicitly called.
/// Triggering this event usually results in an invokation of <c>CanExecute(object):bool</c> to check if the occured change has made command execution possible.
/// The <see cref="System.Windows.Input.CommandManager"/> holds a weakrefernce to the observer.
/// </summary>
public event EventHandler CanExecuteChanged
{
add { CommandManager.RequerySuggested += value; }
remove { CommandManager.RequerySuggested -= value; }
}
private readonly Action<object> executeDelegate;
private readonly Predicate<object> canExecuteDelegate;
}
}
I'm currently in the process of writing a launcher and I'm in the prototyping phase of it.
I'm really new to WPF but not to the MVVM architecture, however, I'm not sure how to bind my ViewModel to the CommandBox view because I'm using methods in my ViewModel, maybe I'm looking at it from the wrong angle so if I'm doing something wrong please enlighten me! :)
I have the following ViewModel that basically is really the essence of the launcher in terms of its input:
/// <summary>
/// Provides a buffer of characters in order to search for candidates that matches the buffer.
/// </summary>
public class CommandBufferViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private readonly StringBuilder _input;
public CommandBufferViewModel()
{
_input = new StringBuilder();
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
/// <summary>
/// Deletes a character from the buffer.
/// </summary>
public void DeleteKey(int index, int length = 1)
{
_input.Remove(index, length);
OnPropertyChanged(nameof(DeleteKey));
}
/// <summary>
/// Adds a character to the buffer.
/// </summary>
public void ProcessKey(int index, char key)
{
_input.Insert(index, key);
OnPropertyChanged(nameof(ProcessKey));
}
/// <summary>
/// Returns results that matches the current buffer.
/// </summary>
/// <returns>Results that matches the current buffer.</returns>
public async Task<CommandResults> Search()
{
// NYI
return default(CommandResults);
}
protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName = null)
{
PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
The idea here is that commands can be stored in a remote database or whatever storage you may like as well as locally.
The (CommandBox view) TextBox looks like this:
<TextBox
x:Class="Yalla.Launcher.Views.CommandBox"
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:i="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/2010/interactivity"
xmlns:bs="clr-namespace:Yalla.Launcher.Behaviors"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Width="Auto" Height="Auto" VerticalContentAlignment="Center" BorderThickness="1">
<i:Interaction.Behaviors>
<bs:WatermarkBehavior Text="Enter Command... (type ? for help)" />
</i:Interaction.Behaviors>
</TextBox>
I think I figured this out, I'll simply have a ViewModel that holds the text that is the command the user is searching for and I'll use this as the glue between the view and the search service of the launcher.
Something like this:
namespace Yalla.Launcher.ViewModels
{
using System.ComponentModel;
using Commands;
using Features.Commands.Search;
public class SearchViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged, ISearchableText
{
private SearchCommandHandler _enterCommandHandler;
private string _searchText;
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
public SearchCommandHandler Search => _enterCommandHandler ?? (_enterCommandHandler = new SearchCommandHandler(new SearchService(this)));
public string SearchText
{
get
{
return _searchText;
}
set
{
_searchText = value;
OnPropertyChanged(nameof(SearchText));
}
}
protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName = null)
{
PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
}
Finally, I bind it to the TextBox like this:
<ctrls:LauncherTextBox
x:Class="Yalla.Launcher.Views.LauncherSearchBox"
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:i="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/2010/interactivity"
xmlns:bs="clr-namespace:Yalla.Launcher.Behaviors"
xmlns:ctrls="clr-namespace:Yalla.Launcher.Controls"
xmlns:vm="clr-namespace:Yalla.Launcher.ViewModels"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Width="Auto" Height="Auto"
VerticalContentAlignment="Center" BorderThickness="1"
Text="{Binding SearchText, Mode=TwoWay, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}">
<ctrls:LauncherTextBox.DataContext>
<vm:SearchViewModel />
</ctrls:LauncherTextBox.DataContext>
<i:Interaction.Behaviors>
<bs:WatermarkBehavior Text="Enter Command... (type ? for help)" />
</i:Interaction.Behaviors>
<TextBox.InputBindings>
<KeyBinding Key="Return" Command="{Binding Search}"></KeyBinding>
</TextBox.InputBindings>
</ctrls:LauncherTextBox>
Quite simple but that's probably what I need to start with.
I am writing a wpf application and implements mvvm light tool. The GUI looks like:
Every time when a user click on button, it should change the content on the right side, marked with red border. The XAML code:
<igWpf:XamRibbonWindow x:Class="BackupCustomizing.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:ignore="http://www.ignore.com"
xmlns:ig="http://schemas.infragistics.com/xaml"
xmlns:views="clr-namespace:BackupCustomizing.Views"
xmlns:igWpf="http://schemas.infragistics.com/xaml/wpf"
mc:Ignorable="d ignore"
Height="400"
Width="700"
Title="Backup customizing V0.1"
DataContext="{Binding Main, Source={StaticResource Locator}}" ResizeMode="NoResize">
<igWpf:XamRibbonWindow.Resources>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type views:ServerView}"></DataTemplate>
</igWpf:XamRibbonWindow.Resources>
<ig:ThemeManager.Theme>
<ig:Office2013Theme />
</ig:ThemeManager.Theme>
<igWpf:RibbonWindowContentHost x:Name="_content"
Theme="Office2013"
igWpf:RibbonWindowContentHost.ApplicationAccentColor="#0072C6">
<Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot">
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="200"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<views:NavigationView Grid.Column="0"/>
<ContentPresenter Content="{Binding}" Grid.Column="1"/>
</Grid>
</igWpf:RibbonWindowContentHost>
</igWpf:XamRibbonWindow>
and the code behind:
using System.Windows;
using BackupCustomizing.ViewModel;
using Infragistics.Themes;
using Infragistics.Windows.Ribbon;
namespace BackupCustomizing
{
/// <summary>
/// Interaction logic for MainWindow.xaml
/// </summary>
public partial class MainWindow : XamRibbonWindow
{
/// <summary>
/// Initializes a new instance of the MainWindow class.
/// </summary>
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
Closing += (s, e) => ViewModelLocator.Cleanup();
}
}
}
As you can see the code above, I tried with:
<igWpf:XamRibbonWindow.Resources>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type views:ServerView}"></DataTemplate>
</igWpf:XamRibbonWindow.Resources>
and the content presenter:
<ContentPresenter Content="{Binding}" Grid.Column="1"/>
and here I stocked, how to continue?
The ViewModel code:
using BackupCustomizing.Model;
using GalaSoft.MvvmLight;
namespace BackupCustomizing.ViewModel
{
/// <summary>
/// This class contains properties that the main View can data bind to.
/// <para>
/// See http://www.galasoft.ch/mvvm
/// </para>
/// </summary>
public class MainViewModel : ViewModelBase
{
private readonly IDataService _dataService;
private string _welcomeTitle = string.Empty;
/// <summary>
/// Initializes a new instance of the MainViewModel class.
/// </summary>
public MainViewModel(IDataService dataService)
{
_dataService = dataService;
_dataService.GetData(
(item, error) =>
{
});
}
}
}
To get you code working in minimum changes
public class MainViewModel : ViewModelBase
{
private readonly IDataService _dataService;
private string _welcomeTitle = string.Empty;
private ViewModelBase detailsViewModel = null;
public ViewModelBase DetailsViewModel{
get { return detailsViewModel;}
set { detailsViewModel = value; RaisePropertyChanged("DetailsViewModel"); }
}
/// <summary>
/// Initializes a new instance of the MainViewModel class.
/// </summary>
public MainViewModel(IDataService dataService)
{
_dataService = dataService;
_dataService.GetData(
(item, error) =>
{
detailsViewModel = new ServerViewModel(item); //ViewModel for the ServerView
});
}
}
<igWpf:XamRibbonWindow.Resources>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type viewModel:ServerViewModel}">
<views:ServerView />
</DataTemplate>
</igWpf:XamRibbonWindow.Resources>
<ContentPresenter Content="{Binding DetailsViewModel}" Grid.Column="1"/>
There are other techniques to do MVVM, I am just showing the way to do it with the approach you have started with. Problem with this approach is that it will not scale well to large number of views in the ContentPresenter.
I have a combobox binded to a Observeable Collection. The Collection is a container for a selfdefined class.
I need to delete an arbitary item from the combobox by pressing the right mouse button when hovering my mouse cursor over the item of the dropdown list. I also need to delete it by pressing the delete button when the item is highlighted.
I already have a solution in the code behind, but i need to do it with the MVVM-Pattern.
Can anyone help me in this issue pls?
Thx in advance :).
Here are my codes:
My ViewModel:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using Catel.MVVM;
using System.Windows.Input;
using DeleteItemFromComboBox.Models;
using Catel.Data;
namespace DeleteItemFromComboBox.ViewModels
{
public class MainWindowVM : ViewModelBase
{
#region Constructors
/// <summary>
/// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="MainWindowVM"/> class.
/// </summary>
public MainWindowVM()
{
PreviewKeyDownCmd = new Command<KeyEventArgs>(PreviewKeyDownCmdExecute);
PersonList = new ObservableCollection<Person>();
PersonList.Add(new Person("AA"));
PersonList.Add(new Person("BB"));
}
#endregion
#region Properties
/// <summary>
/// Gets or sets the property value.
/// </summary>
public ObservableCollection<Person> PersonList
{
get { return GetValue<ObservableCollection<Person>>(PersonListProperty); }
set { SetValue(PersonListProperty, value); }
}
/// <summary>
/// Register the PersonList property so it is known in the class.
/// </summary>
public static readonly PropertyData PersonListProperty =
RegisterProperty("PersonList", typeof(ObservableCollection<Person>), null);
#endregion
#region Commands
/// <summary>
/// Gets the PreviewKeyDownCmd command.
/// </summary>
public Command<KeyEventArgs> PreviewKeyDownCmd { get; private set; }
/// <summary>
/// Method to invoke when the PreviewKeyDownCmd command is executed.
/// </summary>
private void PreviewKeyDownCmdExecute(KeyEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Key == Key.Delete)
{
//********************What Should i do here?***************************
}
}
#endregion
}
}
XAML File:
<Window x:Class="DeleteItemFromComboBox.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:ViewModels="clr-namespace:DeleteItemFromComboBox.ViewModels"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525"
xmlns:i="clr-namespace:System.Windows.Interactivity;assembly=System.Windows.Interactivity"
xmlns:catel="http://catel.codeplex.com">
<Window.Resources>
<ViewModels:MainWindowVM x:Key="ViewModel"/>
</Window.Resources>
<Grid DataContext="{Binding Source={StaticResource ViewModel}}">
<ComboBox Height="44"
HorizontalAlignment="Left"
Margin="12,12,0,0"
Name="comboBox1"
VerticalAlignment="Top"
Width="479"
ItemsSource="{Binding PersonList, Mode=TwoWay}" >
<i:Interaction.Triggers>
<i:EventTrigger EventName="PreviewKeyDown">
<catel:EventToCommand Command="{Binding PreviewKeyDownCmd}" DisableAssociatedObjectOnCannotExecute="False" />
</i:EventTrigger>
</i:Interaction.Triggers>
</ComboBox>
</Grid>
Person Class:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using Catel.MVVM;
using Catel.Data;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
namespace DeleteItemFromComboBox.Models
{
#if !SILVERLIGHT
[Serializable]
#endif
public class Person : ModelBase
{
#region Constructors
public Person() { }
public Person(string name)
{
this.Name = name;
}
#if !SILVERLIGHT
protected Person(SerializationInfo info, StreamingContext context)
: base(info, context) { }
#endif
#endregion
/// <summary>
/// Gets or sets the property value.
/// </summary>
[Model]
public string Name
{
get { return GetValue<string>(NameProperty); }
private set { SetValue(NameProperty, value); }
}
/// <summary>
/// Register the Name property so it is known in the class.
/// </summary>
public static readonly PropertyData NameProperty =
RegisterProperty("Name", typeof(string));
public override string ToString()
{
return Name;
}
}
}
Solution in Codebehind in a non MVVM-Project:
private void comboBox1_PreviewKeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Key == Key.Delete)
{
foreach (People item in comboBox1.Items)
{
ComboBoxItem cbi = this.comboBox1.ItemContainerGenerator.ContainerFromItem(item) as ComboBoxItem;
if (cbi.IsHighlighted == true)
{
peoples.Remove(item);
return;
}
}
}
}
The easiest way is to create a property SelectedPerson. As soon as the user right-clicks on an item, it will automatically set the SelectedPerson. Then you can also create a toolbar which uses the same command as the popup to delete the selected item in a list.
When you use the SelectedPerson method, you can use code like this:
MyCollection.Remove(SelectedPerson);
SelectedPerson = null;
Make sure that in your OnCanExecute, you check whether SelectedPerson != null.
I used one of these approaches to solve the problem:
Cast the MouseButtonEventArgs e.Source to Combobox and then apply the solution i mentioned above to do the task. Just remove IPlan with a type of your choice.
private void Plan_PreviewMouseRightButtonDownCmd_Execute(MouseButtonEventArgs e)
{
ComboBox comboBox = e.Source as ComboBox;
if(comboBox!=null)
{
foreach (IPlan item in comboBox.Items)
{
ComboBoxItem cbi = comboBox.ItemContainerGenerator.ContainerFromItem(item) as ComboBoxItem;
if (cbi.IsHighlighted == true)
SelectedPlans.Remove(item);
if (item == SelectedPlan)
SelectedPlan = null;
}
}
}
Use this custom implementation of combobox and bind the itemindex to an property in code behind. Then you can delete the item via MyCollection.RemoveAt();
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/14255/ComboBox-firing-events-when-hovering-on-the-dropdo
I'm pretty much new to the MVVM architecture design...
I was struggling lately to find a suitable control already written for such a purpose but had no luck, so I reused parts of XAML from another similar control and got make my own.
What I want to achieve is:
Have a reusable View (usercontrol) + viewmodel (to bind to) to be able to use inside other views as a modal overlay showing a dialog that disables the rest of the view, and shows a dialog over the it.
How I wanted to implement it:
create a viewmodel that takes string(message) and action+string collection(buttons)
viewmodel creates a collection of ICommands that call those actions
dialog view binds to the its viewmodel that will be exposed as property of another viewmodel (parent)
dialog view is put into the xaml of the parent like this:
pseudoXAML:
<usercontrol /customerview/ ...>
<grid>
<grid x:Name="content">
<various form content />
</grid>
<ctrl:Dialog DataContext="{Binding DialogModel}" Message="{Binding Message}" Commands="{Binding Commands}" IsShown="{Binding IsShown}" BlockedUI="{Binding ElementName=content}" />
</grid>
</usercontrol>
So here the modal dialog gets the datacontext from the DialogModel property of the Customer viewmodel, and binds commands and message. It would be also bound to some other element (here 'content') that needs to be disabled when the dialog shows (binding to IsShown). When you click some button in the dialog the associated command is called that simply calls the associated action that was passed in the constructor of the viewmodel.
This way I would be able to call Show() and Hide() of the dialog on the dialog viewmodel from inside the Customer viewmodel and alter the dialog viewmodel as needed.
It would give me only one dialog at a time but that is fine.
I also think that the dialog viewmodel would remain unittestable, since the unittests would cover the calling of the commands that ought to be created after it being created with Actions in the constructor. There would be a few lines of codebehind for the dialog view, but very little and pretty dumb (setters getters, with almost no code).
What concerns me is:
Is this ok?
Are there any problems I could get into?
Does this break some MVVM principles?
Thanks a lot!
EDIT: I posted my complete solution so you can have a better look. Any architectural comments welcome. If you see some syntax that can be corrected the post is flagged as community wiki.
Well not exactly an answer to my question, but here is the result of doing this dialog, complete with code so you can use it if you wish - free as in free speech and beer:
XAML Usage in another view (here CustomerView):
<UserControl
x:Class="DemoApp.View.CustomerView"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:controls="clr-namespace:DemoApp.View"
>
<Grid>
<Grid Margin="4" x:Name="ModalDialogParent">
<put all view content here/>
</Grid>
<controls:ModalDialog DataContext="{Binding Dialog}" OverlayOn="{Binding ElementName=ModalDialogParent, Mode=OneWay}" IsShown="{Binding Path=DialogShown}"/>
</Grid>
</UserControl>
Triggering from parent ViewModel (here CustomerViewModel):
public ModalDialogViewModel Dialog // dialog view binds to this
{
get
{
return _dialog;
}
set
{
_dialog = value;
base.OnPropertyChanged("Dialog");
}
}
public void AskSave()
{
Action OkCallback = () =>
{
if (Dialog != null) Dialog.Hide();
Save();
};
if (Email.Length < 10)
{
Dialog = new ModalDialogViewModel("This email seems a bit too short, are you sure you want to continue saving?",
ModalDialogViewModel.DialogButtons.Ok,
ModalDialogViewModel.CreateCommands(new Action[] { OkCallback }));
Dialog.Show();
return;
}
if (LastName.Length < 2)
{
Dialog = new ModalDialogViewModel("The Lastname seems short. Are you sure that you want to save this Customer?",
ModalDialogViewModel.CreateButtons(ModalDialogViewModel.DialogMode.TwoButton,
new string[] {"Of Course!", "NoWay!"},
OkCallback,
() => Dialog.Hide()));
Dialog.Show();
return;
}
Save(); // if we got here we can save directly
}
Here is the code:
ModalDialogView XAML:
<UserControl x:Class="DemoApp.View.ModalDialog"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
x:Name="root">
<UserControl.Resources>
<ResourceDictionary Source="../MainWindowResources.xaml" />
</UserControl.Resources>
<Grid>
<Border Background="#90000000" Visibility="{Binding Visibility}">
<Border BorderBrush="Black" BorderThickness="1" Background="AliceBlue"
CornerRadius="10,0,10,0" VerticalAlignment="Center"
HorizontalAlignment="Center">
<Border.BitmapEffect>
<DropShadowBitmapEffect Color="Black" Opacity="0.5" Direction="270" ShadowDepth="0.7" />
</Border.BitmapEffect>
<Grid Margin="10">
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition />
<RowDefinition />
<RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<TextBlock Style="{StaticResource ModalDialogHeader}" Text="{Binding DialogHeader}" Grid.Row="0"/>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding DialogMessage}" Grid.Row="1" TextWrapping="Wrap" Margin="5" />
<StackPanel HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" Grid.Row="2">
<ContentControl HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"
DataContext="{Binding Commands}"
Content="{Binding}"
ContentTemplate="{StaticResource ButtonCommandsTemplate}"
/>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
</Border>
</Border>
</Grid>
</UserControl>
ModalDialogView code behind:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Data;
namespace DemoApp.View
{
/// <summary>
/// Interaction logic for ModalDialog.xaml
/// </summary>
public partial class ModalDialog : UserControl
{
public ModalDialog()
{
InitializeComponent();
Visibility = Visibility.Hidden;
}
private bool _parentWasEnabled = true;
public bool IsShown
{
get { return (bool)GetValue(IsShownProperty); }
set { SetValue(IsShownProperty, value); }
}
// Using a DependencyProperty as the backing store for IsShown. This enables animation, styling, binding, etc...
public static readonly DependencyProperty IsShownProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("IsShown", typeof(bool), typeof(ModalDialog), new UIPropertyMetadata(false, IsShownChangedCallback));
public static void IsShownChangedCallback(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
if ((bool)e.NewValue == true)
{
ModalDialog dlg = (ModalDialog)d;
dlg.Show();
}
else
{
ModalDialog dlg = (ModalDialog)d;
dlg.Hide();
}
}
#region OverlayOn
public UIElement OverlayOn
{
get { return (UIElement)GetValue(OverlayOnProperty); }
set { SetValue(OverlayOnProperty, value); }
}
// Using a DependencyProperty as the backing store for Parent. This enables animation, styling, binding, etc...
public static readonly DependencyProperty OverlayOnProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("OverlayOn", typeof(UIElement), typeof(ModalDialog), new UIPropertyMetadata(null));
#endregion
public void Show()
{
// Force recalculate binding since Show can be called before binding are calculated
BindingExpression expressionOverlayParent = this.GetBindingExpression(OverlayOnProperty);
if (expressionOverlayParent != null)
{
expressionOverlayParent.UpdateTarget();
}
if (OverlayOn == null)
{
throw new InvalidOperationException("Required properties are not bound to the model.");
}
Visibility = System.Windows.Visibility.Visible;
_parentWasEnabled = OverlayOn.IsEnabled;
OverlayOn.IsEnabled = false;
}
private void Hide()
{
Visibility = Visibility.Hidden;
OverlayOn.IsEnabled = _parentWasEnabled;
}
}
}
ModalDialogViewModel:
using System;
using System.Windows.Input;
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Windows;
using System.Linq;
namespace DemoApp.ViewModel
{
/// <summary>
/// Represents an actionable item displayed by a View (DialogView).
/// </summary>
public class ModalDialogViewModel : ViewModelBase
{
#region Nested types
/// <summary>
/// Nested enum symbolizing the types of default buttons used in the dialog -> you can localize those with Localize(DialogMode, string[])
/// </summary>
public enum DialogMode
{
/// <summary>
/// Single button in the View (default: OK)
/// </summary>
OneButton = 1,
/// <summary>
/// Two buttons in the View (default: YesNo)
/// </summary>
TwoButton,
/// <summary>
/// Three buttons in the View (default: AbortRetryIgnore)
/// </summary>
TreeButton,
/// <summary>
/// Four buttons in the View (no default translations, use Translate)
/// </summary>
FourButton,
/// <summary>
/// Five buttons in the View (no default translations, use Translate)
/// </summary>
FiveButton
}
/// <summary>
/// Provides some default button combinations
/// </summary>
public enum DialogButtons
{
/// <summary>
/// As System.Window.Forms.MessageBoxButtons Enumeration Ok
/// </summary>
Ok,
/// <summary>
/// As System.Window.Forms.MessageBoxButtons Enumeration OkCancel
/// </summary>
OkCancel,
/// <summary>
/// As System.Window.Forms.MessageBoxButtons Enumeration YesNo
/// </summary>
YesNo,
/// <summary>
/// As System.Window.Forms.MessageBoxButtons Enumeration YesNoCancel
/// </summary>
YesNoCancel,
/// <summary>
/// As System.Window.Forms.MessageBoxButtons Enumeration AbortRetryIgnore
/// </summary>
AbortRetryIgnore,
/// <summary>
/// As System.Window.Forms.MessageBoxButtons Enumeration RetryCancel
/// </summary>
RetryCancel
}
#endregion
#region Members
private static Dictionary<DialogMode, string[]> _translations = null;
private bool _dialogShown;
private ReadOnlyCollection<CommandViewModel> _commands;
private string _dialogMessage;
private string _dialogHeader;
#endregion
#region Class static methods and constructor
/// <summary>
/// Creates a dictionary symbolizing buttons for given dialog mode and buttons names with actions to berform on each
/// </summary>
/// <param name="mode">Mode that tells how many buttons are in the dialog</param>
/// <param name="names">Names of buttons in sequential order</param>
/// <param name="callbacks">Callbacks for given buttons</param>
/// <returns></returns>
public static Dictionary<string, Action> CreateButtons(DialogMode mode, string[] names, params Action[] callbacks)
{
int modeNumButtons = (int)mode;
if (names.Length != modeNumButtons)
throw new ArgumentException("The selected mode needs a different number of button names", "names");
if (callbacks.Length != modeNumButtons)
throw new ArgumentException("The selected mode needs a different number of callbacks", "callbacks");
Dictionary<string, Action> buttons = new Dictionary<string, Action>();
for (int i = 0; i < names.Length; i++)
{
buttons.Add(names[i], callbacks[i]);
}
return buttons;
}
/// <summary>
/// Static contructor for all DialogViewModels, runs once
/// </summary>
static ModalDialogViewModel()
{
InitTranslations();
}
/// <summary>
/// Fills the default translations for all modes that we support (use only from static constructor (not thread safe per se))
/// </summary>
private static void InitTranslations()
{
_translations = new Dictionary<DialogMode, string[]>();
foreach (DialogMode mode in Enum.GetValues(typeof(DialogMode)))
{
_translations.Add(mode, GetDefaultTranslations(mode));
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Creates Commands for given enumeration of Actions
/// </summary>
/// <param name="actions">Actions to create commands from</param>
/// <returns>Array of commands for given actions</returns>
public static ICommand[] CreateCommands(IEnumerable<Action> actions)
{
List<ICommand> commands = new List<ICommand>();
Action[] actionArray = actions.ToArray();
foreach (var action in actionArray)
{
//RelayExecuteWrapper rxw = new RelayExecuteWrapper(action);
Action act = action;
commands.Add(new RelayCommand(x => act()));
}
return commands.ToArray();
}
/// <summary>
/// Creates string for some predefined buttons (English)
/// </summary>
/// <param name="buttons">DialogButtons enumeration value</param>
/// <returns>String array for desired buttons</returns>
public static string[] GetButtonDefaultStrings(DialogButtons buttons)
{
switch (buttons)
{
case DialogButtons.Ok:
return new string[] { "Ok" };
case DialogButtons.OkCancel:
return new string[] { "Ok", "Cancel" };
case DialogButtons.YesNo:
return new string[] { "Yes", "No" };
case DialogButtons.YesNoCancel:
return new string[] { "Yes", "No", "Cancel" };
case DialogButtons.RetryCancel:
return new string[] { "Retry", "Cancel" };
case DialogButtons.AbortRetryIgnore:
return new string[] { "Abort", "Retry", "Ignore" };
default:
throw new InvalidOperationException("There are no default string translations for this button configuration.");
}
}
private static string[] GetDefaultTranslations(DialogMode mode)
{
string[] translated = null;
switch (mode)
{
case DialogMode.OneButton:
translated = GetButtonDefaultStrings(DialogButtons.Ok);
break;
case DialogMode.TwoButton:
translated = GetButtonDefaultStrings(DialogButtons.YesNo);
break;
case DialogMode.TreeButton:
translated = GetButtonDefaultStrings(DialogButtons.YesNoCancel);
break;
default:
translated = null; // you should use Translate() for this combination (ie. there is no default for four or more buttons)
break;
}
return translated;
}
/// <summary>
/// Translates all the Dialogs with specified mode
/// </summary>
/// <param name="mode">Dialog mode/type</param>
/// <param name="translations">Array of translations matching the buttons in the mode</param>
public static void Translate(DialogMode mode, string[] translations)
{
lock (_translations)
{
if (translations.Length != (int)mode)
throw new ArgumentException("Wrong number of translations for selected mode");
if (_translations.ContainsKey(mode))
{
_translations.Remove(mode);
}
_translations.Add(mode, translations);
}
}
#endregion
#region Constructors and initialization
public ModalDialogViewModel(string message, DialogMode mode, params ICommand[] commands)
{
Init(message, Application.Current.MainWindow.GetType().Assembly.GetName().Name, _translations[mode], commands);
}
public ModalDialogViewModel(string message, DialogMode mode, params Action[] callbacks)
{
Init(message, Application.Current.MainWindow.GetType().Assembly.GetName().Name, _translations[mode], CreateCommands(callbacks));
}
public ModalDialogViewModel(string message, Dictionary<string, Action> buttons)
{
Init(message, Application.Current.MainWindow.GetType().Assembly.GetName().Name, buttons.Keys.ToArray(), CreateCommands(buttons.Values.ToArray()));
}
public ModalDialogViewModel(string message, string header, Dictionary<string, Action> buttons)
{
if (buttons == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("buttons");
ICommand[] commands = CreateCommands(buttons.Values.ToArray<Action>());
Init(message, header, buttons.Keys.ToArray<string>(), commands);
}
public ModalDialogViewModel(string message, DialogButtons buttons, params ICommand[] commands)
{
Init(message, Application.Current.MainWindow.GetType().Assembly.GetName().Name, ModalDialogViewModel.GetButtonDefaultStrings(buttons), commands);
}
public ModalDialogViewModel(string message, string header, DialogButtons buttons, params ICommand[] commands)
{
Init(message, header, ModalDialogViewModel.GetButtonDefaultStrings(buttons), commands);
}
public ModalDialogViewModel(string message, string header, string[] buttons, params ICommand[] commands)
{
Init(message, header, buttons, commands);
}
private void Init(string message, string header, string[] buttons, ICommand[] commands)
{
if (message == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("message");
if (buttons.Length != commands.Length)
throw new ArgumentException("Same number of buttons and commands expected");
base.DisplayName = "ModalDialog";
this.DialogMessage = message;
this.DialogHeader = header;
List<CommandViewModel> commandModels = new List<CommandViewModel>();
// create commands viewmodel for buttons in the view
for (int i = 0; i < buttons.Length; i++)
{
commandModels.Add(new CommandViewModel(buttons[i], commands[i]));
}
this.Commands = new ReadOnlyCollection<CommandViewModel>(commandModels);
}
#endregion
#region Properties
/// <summary>
/// Checks if the dialog is visible, use Show() Hide() methods to set this
/// </summary>
public bool DialogShown
{
get
{
return _dialogShown;
}
private set
{
_dialogShown = value;
base.OnPropertyChanged("DialogShown");
}
}
/// <summary>
/// The message shown in the dialog
/// </summary>
public string DialogMessage
{
get
{
return _dialogMessage;
}
private set
{
_dialogMessage = value;
base.OnPropertyChanged("DialogMessage");
}
}
/// <summary>
/// The header (title) of the dialog
/// </summary>
public string DialogHeader
{
get
{
return _dialogHeader;
}
private set
{
_dialogHeader = value;
base.OnPropertyChanged("DialogHeader");
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Commands this dialog calls (the models that it binds to)
/// </summary>
public ReadOnlyCollection<CommandViewModel> Commands
{
get
{
return _commands;
}
private set
{
_commands = value;
base.OnPropertyChanged("Commands");
}
}
#endregion
#region Methods
public void Show()
{
this.DialogShown = true;
}
public void Hide()
{
this._dialogMessage = String.Empty;
this.DialogShown = false;
}
#endregion
}
}
ViewModelBase has :
public virtual string DisplayName { get; protected set; }
and implements INotifyPropertyChanged
Some resources to put in the resource dictionary:
<!--
This style gives look to the dialog head (used in the modal dialog)
-->
<Style x:Key="ModalDialogHeader" TargetType="{x:Type TextBlock}">
<Setter Property="Background" Value="{StaticResource Brush_HeaderBackground}" />
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="White" />
<Setter Property="Padding" Value="4" />
<Setter Property="HorizontalAlignment" Value="Stretch" />
<Setter Property="Margin" Value="5" />
<Setter Property="TextWrapping" Value="NoWrap" />
</Style>
<!--
This template explains how to render the list of commands as buttons (used in the modal dialog)
-->
<DataTemplate x:Key="ButtonCommandsTemplate">
<ItemsControl IsTabStop="False" ItemsSource="{Binding}" Margin="6,2">
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<Button MinWidth="75" Command="{Binding Path=Command}" Margin="4" HorizontalAlignment="Right">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=DisplayName}" Margin="2"></TextBlock>
</Button>
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<ItemsControl.ItemsPanel>
<ItemsPanelTemplate>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal" HorizontalAlignment="Center" />
</ItemsPanelTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemsPanel>
</ItemsControl>
</DataTemplate>
I have a custom open source FrameworkElement on my GitHub page that allows you to display modal content over the primary content.
The control can be used like this:
<c:ModalContentPresenter IsModal="{Binding DialogIsVisible}">
<TabControl Margin="5">
<Button Margin="55"
Padding="10"
Command="{Binding ShowModalContentCommand}">
This is the primary Content
</Button>
</TabItem>
</TabControl>
<c:ModalContentPresenter.ModalContent>
<Button Margin="75"
Padding="50"
Command="{Binding HideModalContentCommand}">
This is the modal content
</Button>
</c:ModalContentPresenter.ModalContent>
</c:ModalContentPresenter>
Features:
Displays arbitrary content.
Does not disable the primary content whilst the modal content is being displayed.
Disables mouse and keyboard access to the primary content whilst the modal content is displayed.
Is only modal to the content it is covering, not the entire application.
can be used in an MVVM friendly way by binding to the IsModal property.
I would approach this as a service that gets injected into your ViewModel, along the lines of the sample code below. To the extent what you want to do is in fact message box behavior, I would have my service implementation use a MessageBox!
I am using KISS here in order to present the concept. No code behind, and completely unit testable as shown.
As an aside, that Josh Smith example you are working off of was incredibly helpful to me also, even if it doesn't cover everything
HTH,
Berry
/// <summary>
/// Simple interface for visually confirming a question to the user
/// </summary>
public interface IConfirmer
{
bool Confirm(string message, string caption);
}
public class WPFMessageBoxConfirmer : IConfirmer
{
#region Implementation of IConfirmer
public bool Confirm(string message, string caption) {
return MessageBox.Show(message, caption, MessageBoxButton.YesNo) == MessageBoxResult.Yes;
}
#endregion
}
// SomeViewModel uses an IConfirmer
public class SomeViewModel
{
public ShellViewModel(ISomeRepository repository, IConfirmer confirmer)
{
if (confirmer == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("confirmer");
_confirmer = confirmer;
...
}
...
private void _delete()
{
var someVm = _masterVm.SelectedItem;
Check.RequireNotNull(someVm);
if (detailVm.Model.IsPersistent()) {
var msg = string.Format(GlobalCommandStrings.ConfirmDeletion, someVm.DisplayName);
if(_confirmer.Confirm(msg, GlobalCommandStrings.ConfirmDeletionCaption)) {
_doDelete(someVm);
}
}
else {
_doDelete(someVm);
}
}
...
}
// usage in the Production code
var vm = new SomeViewModel(new WPFMessageBoxConfirmer());
// usage in a unit test
[Test]
public void DeleteCommand_OnExecute_IfUserConfirmsDeletion_RemovesSelectedItemFrom_Workspaces() {
var confirmerMock = MockRepository.GenerateStub<IConfirmer>();
confirmerMock.Stub(x => x.Confirm(Arg<string>.Is.Anything, Arg<string>.Is.Anything)).Return(true);
var vm = new ShellViewModel(_repository, _crudConverter, _masterVm, confirmerMock, _validator);
vm.EditCommand.Execute(null);
Assert.That(vm.Workspaces, Has.Member(_masterVm.SelectedItem));
Assert.That(vm.Workspaces, Is.Not.Empty);
vm.DeleteCommand.Execute(null);
Assert.That(vm.Workspaces, Has.No.Member(_masterVm.SelectedItem));
Assert.That(vm.Workspaces, Is.Empty);
}