Develop Reference

Set a Property in a ViewModel from Another ViewModel

I am trying to pass a value to a view model from another view model before navigating to the page attached to that view model.
I was previously passing it to the view, then passing it to the view model. This seems like a clumsy way of doing things.
I am not using any kind of framework so that is not an option.
At the moment the property is set as static and this works but im not sure if this is good practice.
The code:
View model 1:
This command opens the new page:
public void OpenRouteDetails()
{
RouteStopPopOverViewModel.RouteName = "TestRoute";
App.Page.Navigation.PushAsync(new RouteStopPopOverView());
}
View model 2: (RouteStopPopOverViewModel)
public static string RouteName { get; set; }
This does work but I would prefer not to use static as a way to achieve this.
Is there some way to set the RouteName property without using static or passing it through view-> view model.
I have seen some answers about this but they don't seem to answer to question clearly.

Share a controller class between view models.
The same instance has to be supplied to the constructor in both view models.
So you can set values, and listen for events in both view models.
The controller class becomes the intermediary.
public class SharedController : IControlSomething
{
private string _sharedValue;
public string SharedValue
{
get => _sharedValue;
set
{
if (_sharedValue == value)
return;
_sharedValue = value;
OnSharedValueUpdated();
}
}
public event EventHandler SharedValueUpdated;
protected virtual void OnSharedValueUpdated()
{
SharedValueUpdated?.Invoke(this, EventArgs.Empty);
}
}
public class ViewModel1
{
private readonly IControlSomething _controller;
public ViewModel1(IControlSomething controller)
{
// Save to access controller values in commands
_controller = controller;
_controller.SharedValueUpdated += (sender, args) =>
{
// Handle value update event
};
}
}
public class ViewModel2
{
private readonly IControlSomething _controller;
public ViewModel2(IControlSomething controller)
{
// Save to access controller values in commands
_controller = controller;
_controller.SharedValueUpdated += (sender, args) =>
{
// Handle value update event
};
}
}

here the sample you can achieve your requirement easily with navigation
public class ViewModelFrom : BaseViewModel
{
async Task ExecuteCommand()
{
string routeName="value to trasfer";
Navigation.PushAsync(new View(routeName));
}
}
public partial class View : ContentPage
{
public View(string routeName)
{
InitializeComponent();
BindingContext = new ViewModelTo(routeName);
}
}
public class ViewModelTo : BaseViewModel
{
public string RouteName { get; set; }
public ViewModelTo(string routeName)
{
RouteName=routeName;
}
}

If there is a hierarchy you could express that in a parent to both of them.
public class Route
{
private string Name;
}
public class RouteSelectedArgs : EventArgs
{
public Route Selected { get; set; }
}
public interface IRouteSelection
{
event EventHandler<RouteSelectedArgs> RouteSelected;
}
public interface IRouteDetails { }
public class RouteWizard
{
public UserControl view { get; set; }
private IRouteSelection _selection;
private IRouteDetails _details;
public RouteWizard(IRouteSelection selection, IRouteDetails details)
{
_selection = selection;
_details = details;
_selection.RouteSelected += Selection_RouteSelected;
view = MakeView(_selection);
}
private void Selection_RouteSelected(object sender, RouteSelectedArgs e)
{
_selection.RouteSelected -= Selection_RouteSelected;
view = MakeView(_details, e.Selected);
}
private UserControl MakeView(params object[] args)
{
////magic
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
}

As you are using the MVVM pattern, you can use one of the many MVVM Frameworks to achieve this.
I use FreshMvvm and it allow me to pass parameters between view models like this
await CoreMethods.PushPageModel<SecondPageModel>(myParameter, false);
Then in SecondPageModel I can see access the parameters in the Init method
private MyParamType _myParameter;
public override void Init(object initData)
{
base.Init(initData);
var param = initData as MyParamType;
if (param != null)
{
_myParameter = param;
}
}
You can find more details about FreshMvvm here although most MVVM frameworks have similar functionality.

Background loading in MVVM and Constructor Injection

I have a question about how and where to load a large amount of data with ViewModel in WPF .NET 4.0 (so no async/await :/ ).
Here is my ViewModel:
public class PersonsViewModel : ViewModelBase
{
private readonly IRepository<Person> _personRepository;
private IEnumerable<Person> _persons;
public IEnumerable<Person> Persons
{
get { return _persons; }
private set { _persons = value; OnPropertyChanged("Persons"); }
}
public PersonsViewModel(IRepository<Person> personRepository)
{
if (personRepository == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("personRepository");
_personRepository = personRepository;
}
}
This ViewModel is used in a Window and I need to load all the persons when the Window opens. I thought of many solutions but I can't figure which is the best (or maybe there's a better way to do this). I have two contraints:
- all the data must be loaded in another thread because it can take seconds to load (huge amount of data in the database) and I don't want to freeze the UI.
- the ViewModel must be testable.
--=[ First solution: Lazy loading ]=--
public class PersonsViewModel : ViewModelBase
{
private IEnumerable<Person> _persons;
public IEnumerable<Person> Persons
{
get
{
if (_persons == null)
_persons = _personRepository.GetAll();
return _persons;
}
}
}
I don't like this solution because the data is loaded in the main thread.
--=[ Second solution: Loaded event ]=--
public class PersonsViewModel : ViewModelBase
{
// ...
private Boolean _isDataLoaded;
public Boolean IsDataLoaded
{
get { return _isDataLoaded; }
private set { _isDataLoaded = value; OnPropertyChanged("IsDataLoaded"); }
}
public void LoadDataAsync()
{
if(this.IsDataLoaded)
return;
var bwLoadData = new BackgroundWorker();
bwLoadData.DoWork +=
(sender, e) => e.Result = _personRepository.GetAll();
bwLoadData.RunWorkerCompleted +=
(sender, e) =>
{
this.Persons = (IEnumerable<Person>)e.Result;
this.IsDataLoaded = true;
};
bwLoadData.RunWorkerAsync();
}
}
public class PersonWindow : Window
{
private readonly PersonsViewModel _personsViewModel;
public PersonWindow(IRepository<Person> personRepository)
{
_personsViewModel = new PersonsViewModel(personRepository);
this.Loaded += PersonWindow_Loaded;
}
private void PersonWindow_Loaded(Object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
this.Loaded -= PersonWindow_Loaded;
_personsViewModel.LoadDataAsync();
}
}
I don't really like this solution because it forces the user of the ViewModel to call the LoadDataAsync method.
--=[ Third solution: load data in the ViewModel constructor ]=--
public class PersonsViewModel : ViewModelBase
{
// ...
public PersonsViewModel(IRepository<Person> personRepository)
{
if (personRepository == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("personRepository");
_personRepository = personRepository;
this.LoadDataAsync();
}
private Boolean _isDataLoaded;
public Boolean IsDataLoaded
{
get { return _isDataLoaded; }
private set { _isDataLoaded = value; OnPropertyChanged("IsDataLoaded"); }
}
public void LoadDataAsync()
{
if(this.IsDataLoaded)
return;
var bwLoadData = new BackgroundWorker();
bwLoadData.DoWork +=
(sender, e) => e.Result = _personRepository.GetAll();
bwLoadData.RunWorkerCompleted +=
(sender, e) =>
{
this.Persons = (IEnumerable<Person>)e.Result;
this.IsDataLoaded = true;
};
bwLoadData.RunWorkerAsync();
}
}
In this solution, the user of the ViewModel don't need to call an extra method to load data, but it violates the Single Responsability Principle as Mark Seeman says in his book "Dependency Injection" : "Keep the constructor free of any logic. The SRP implies that members should do only one thing, and now that we use the constructor to inject DEPENDENCIES, we should prefer to keep it free of other concerns".
Any ideas to resolve this problem in a proper way?

Difficult to give an accurate answer without knowing how you tie your ViewModels to your Views.
One practice is to have a "navigation aware" ViewModel (a ViewModel which implements a certain interface like INavigationAware and have your navigation service call this method when it instantiates the ViewModel/View and tie them together. It's the way how Prism's FrameNavigationService works.
i.e.
public interface INavigationAware
{
Task NavigatedTo(object param);
Task NavigatedFrom(...)
}
public class PersonWindow : ViewModelBase, INavigationAware
{
}
and implement your initialization code within NavigatedTo which would be called from the navigation service, if the ViewModel implements INavigationAware.
Prism for Windows Store Apps References:
INavigationAware
FrameNavigationService => Look at the NavigateToCurrentViewModel Method

caliburn.micro Condutor not working

We are using caliburn.micro for one of our projects and I'm currently having a puzzling problem:
we have the following classes:
ToolViewerViewModel : Conductor<Screen>.Collection.OneActive
DocViewerViewModel : Conductor<DocumentViewModel>
and various document-views, all with this base class:
DocumentViewModel : Screen
The ToolViewerViewModel is to manage multiple dock-able tool views which allow the user to control different aspects of the program.
The DocViewerViewModel is to show the user the data he's working on/with. It is here to present one of the many DocumentViewModel to the user. and is implemented as a special dock-able view which can not be closed or detached from the ToolViewerView. For every aspect of the data a specific DocumentViewModel is generated by the DocViewerViewModel and presented to the user.
The DocumentViewModel is the base class for all presentation aspects of the data. One may present the data as a table an other may present it as a chart, and so on...
We now encounter problems in terms of OnActivate() and OnDeactivate() which are not called when we expect them to be called.
First Problem:
The system is up and running; The DocumentViewModel is displayed in the DocViewerViewModel which is embedded in the ToolViewerViewModel along with one or two other dock-able views. The currently selected dock-able view is the DocViewerViewModel. When the user now selects one of the other dock-able views the OnDeactivate() method from the DocumentViewModel is being called. Which makes absolutely no sense to me. I'd expect the DocViewerViewModel.OnDeactivate() to be called.
Second Problem:
The system is up and running; The DocumentViewModel is displayed in the DocViewerViewModel which is embedded in the ToolViewerViewModel along with one or two other dock-able views. The currently selected dock-able view is the view that enables the user to change the DocumentViewModel presented by the DocViewerViewModel. When the user now selects an other DocumentViewModel the following code is being executed within the DocViewerViewModel:
DocViewerViewModel.DeactivateItem(oldDocumentViewModel, true);
DocViewerViewModel.ActivateItem(new DocumentViewModel());
I'd expect the DocumentViewModel.OnDeactivate() to be called upon the DocViewerViewModel.DeactivateItem(oldDocumentViewModel, true) call. but that never happens.
Conclusion:
The only proper working Conductor is the ToolViewerViewModel which is managing everything. But this behavior is not what we want or expect to happen: We'd like to have the ToolViewerViewModel only Conduct the dock-able views and the DocViewerViewModel to conduct the DocumentViewModel. This is important because there are two different use cases in place: One to manage multiple instances at the same time and the other where only one instance is active and used, the old instance shall be thrown away.
Hopefully anyone here can help me to get the behavior I'm looking for.
I Now have an example code for you:
public class ToolViewerViewModel : Conductor<Screen>.Collection.OneActive
{
private readonly IDockManager _dockManager;
private readonly DocViewerViewModel _docViewerViewModel;
private readonly IList<DockableViewModel> _toolViews = new List<DockableViewModel>();
public ToolViewerViewModel(IViewModelFactory viewModelFactory, DocViewerViewModel docViewerViewModel, IDockManager dockManager)
{
_dockManager = dockManager;
_viewModelFactory = viewModelFactory;
_docViewerViewModel = docViewerViewModel;
}
protected override void OnViewLoaded(object view)
{
_dockManager.Link(this);
_dockManager.CreateSpecialPaneFor(_docViewerViewModel);
ActivateItem(_docViewerViewModel);
ShowToolView<ProjectExplorerViewModel>();
base.OnViewLoaded(view);
}
public void ShowToolView<T>() where T : DockableViewModel
{
if (!IsToolViewOpen<T>())
{
var viewModel = _viewModelFactory.Create<T>();
ActivateItem(viewModel);
RefreshMenu(typeof(T));
}
}
}
Next class:
public class DocViewerViewModel : Conductor<DocumentViewModel>
{
private readonly IViewModelFactory _viewModelFactory;
public DocViewerViewModel(IViewModelFactory viewModelFactory)
{
_viewModelFactory = viewModelFactory;
}
public bool ShowInMainView<T>() where T : DocumentViewModel
{
return ShowInMainView(typeof(T));
}
private bool ShowInMainView(Type viewModelType)
{
var ret = false;
// close the current view
if (ActiveItem != null)
{
DeactivateItem(ActiveItem, true); //The close flag is on true since we want to remove the current instance from the memory
}
// check whether the current viewModel has been closed successfully
if (ActiveItem == null)
{
try
{
var viewModel = _viewModelFactory.Create(viewModelType) as DocumentViewModel;
if (viewModel != null)
{
ActivateItem(viewModel);
ret = true;
}
else
{
ActivateItem(_viewModelFactory.Create<NoDataViewModel>());
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
ActivateItem(_viewModelFactory.Create<NoDataViewModel>());
}
}
return ret;
}
}
and the last one:
public abstract class DocumentViewModel : Screen
{
private bool _isDirty;
protected IViewModelFactory ViewModelFactory { get; private set; }
protected IEventAggregator EventAggregator { get; private set; }
public bool IsDirty
{
get
{
return _isDirty;
}
protected set
{
if (value.Equals(_isDirty))
{
return;
}
_isDirty = value;
NotifyOfPropertyChange(() => IsDirty);
}
}
protected DocumentViewModel(IViewModelFactory viewModelFactory, IEventAggregator eventAggregator)
{
ViewModelFactory = viewModelFactory;
EventAggregator = eventAggregator;
}
protected override void OnDeactivate(bool close)
{
if (close)
{
if (EventAggregator != null)
{
EventAggregator.Unsubscribe(this);
}
}
base.OnDeactivate(close);
}
protected override void OnActivate()
{
if (EventAggregator != null)
{
EventAggregator.Subscribe(this);
}
base.OnActivate();
}
public override void CanClose(Action<bool> callback)
{
var ret = true;
if (IsDirty && (ViewModelFactory != null))
{
var saveDialog = ViewModelFactory.Create<SaveDialogViewModel>();
saveDialog.Show();
if (saveDialog.DialogResult == DialogResult.Cancel)
{
ret = false;
}
else
{
if (saveDialog.DialogResult == DialogResult.Yes)
{
Save();
}
else
{
Discard();
}
IsDirty = false;
}
}
callback(ret);
}
public abstract void Save();
public virtual void Discard()
{
}
}
With this code the only time the DocumentViewModel.OnDeactivate() is being called when the user brings an other dock-able view into focus while the DocViewerViewModel was having the focus. This should not happen!
When the user is changing the focus between the dock-able views the DocumentViewModel.OnDeactivate() should not get call. But it must get called when ever the Method DocViewerViewModel.ShowInMainView<SomeDocumentViewModel>() is being called. Which isn't the case currently.

As far as I can tell, there is nothing wrong with the way your code is written. Since you are using MVVM, I suggest you design a test case like I've provided here.
And here's a snippet of the test case
// TestHarness.cs
[TestMethod]
public void CheckDeactivation()
{
// We'd like to have the ToolViewerViewModel only Conduct the dock-able views
// and the DocViewerViewModel to conduct the DocumentViewModel.
IViewModelFactory factory = new ViewModelFactory();
DocViewerViewModel docViewer = new DocViewerViewModel(factory);
IDockManager dockManager = null;
var toolViewer = new ToolViewerViewModel(factory, docViewer, dockManager);
var mockToolView = new UserControl();
(toolViewer as IViewAware).AttachView(mockToolView);
DocumentViewModel docView1 = new NoDataViewModel();
DocumentViewModel docView2 = new NoDataViewModel();
docViewer.ActivateItem(docView1);
docViewer.ActivateItem(docView2);
Assert.AreEqual(0, docViewer.CountDeactivated());
}

I have had the exact same problem as you, and ended up using PropertyChangedBase instead of Screen and got the problem to disappear.
Later, after reading the docs on Screens and Conductors here, I realized that I wasn't activating the conductor itself further up in the view hierarchy!
So have a look at wherever you use your ToolViewerViewModel, and make sure you activate that instance!

Thank you very much for your Test. Even thought it is really nice code it tests the wrong code part. Your code simply tests whether the Method ActivateItem() or DeactivateItem() is being called:
public override void ActivateItem(DocumentViewModel item)
{
_countActivated++;
base.ActivateItem(item);
}
public override void DeactivateItem(DocumentViewModel item, bool close)
{
_countDeactivated++;
base.DeactivateItem(item, close);
}
But since these Methods are being called explicitly we don't need to test for that...
The real Problem is that the Conductor is not calling the OnActivate() or OnDeactivate() on the DocumentViewModel class. To enhance your test I used the following code:
public class DummyViewModelFactory : IViewModelFactory
{
private readonly Dictionary<Type, Func<object>> _registredCreators = new Dictionary<Type, Func<object>>();
public T Create<T>() where T : PropertyChangedBase
{
return Create(typeof(T)) as T;
}
public object Create(Type type)
{
if (type == null)
{
return null;
}
if (_registredCreators.ContainsKey(type))
{
return _registredCreators[type]();
}
return null;
}
public void Release(object instance)
{
}
public void RegisterCreatorFor<T>(Func<T> creatorFunction)
{
_registredCreators.Add(typeof(T), () => creatorFunction());
}
}
As concrete DocumentViewModel implementation I made:
public class NoDataViewModel : DocumentViewModel
{
public NoDataViewModel(IEventAggregator eventAggregator,
IViewModelFactory viewModelFactory)
: base(viewModelFactory, eventAggregator, )
{
}
public override void Save()
{
// nothing to do
}
public override void Reload()
{
// nothing to do
}
}
public class NoDataViewModelMock : NoDataViewModel
{
private static int activationCounterForTesting = 0;
private static int deactivationCounterForTesting = 0;
public static int ActivationCounterForTesting
{
get
{
return activationCounterForTesting;
}
}
public static int DeactivationCounterForTesting
{
get
{
return deactivationCounterForTesting;
}
}
public NoDataViewModelMock()
: base(null, null)
{
}
protected override void OnActivate()
{
activationCounterForTesting++;
base.OnActivate();
}
protected override void OnDeactivate(bool close)
{
deactivationCounterForTesting++;
base.OnDeactivate(close);
}
}
And I changed your Testmethod to this:
[TestMethod]
public void CheckDeactivation()
{
var viewModelFactory = new DummyViewModelFactory();
viewModelFactory.RegisterCreatorFor<NoDataViewModel>(() => new NoDataViewModelMock());
var docViewer = new DocViewerViewModel(viewModelFactory);
IDockManager dockManager = null;
var toolViewer = new ToolViewerViewModel(viewModelFactory, docViewer, dockManager);
var mockToolView = new UserControl();
(toolViewer as IViewAware).AttachView(mockToolView);
docViewerViewModel.ShowInMainView<NoDataViewModel>();
docViewerViewModel.ShowInMainView<NoDataViewModel>();
docViewerViewModel.ShowInMainView<NoDataViewModel>();
Assert.AreEqual(3, NoDataViewModelMock.ActivationCounterForTesting);
Assert.AreEqual(2, NoDataViewModelMock.DeactivationCounterForTesting);
}
Then you'll see that the OnActivate() and OnDeactivate() methods are never been called.
With a little more advanced test you'd also see that they are being called but from the ToolViewerViewModel directly. I'd like to know why and how I can change this behavior to fit my needs:
The DocumentViewModel.OnActivate() method should get called when the DocViewerViewModel.ShowInMainView<T>() method gets called.
The DocumentViewModel.OnDeactivate() method should get called on the old DocumentViewModel when a new one is being shown by calling the DocViewerViewModel.ShowInMainView<T>()

Our Solution for that Problem is to remove the use Screen as BaseClass for DocViewerViewModel an implement the Conductor Logic our self.

reuse code for RelayCommand

I'm using MVVM light for a WPF application. I have a view model with several commands that use the RelayCommand. Since the code is very similar for each command, I created a GetCommand Method. But the resulting RelayCommand does not work if I use the param inside the RelayCommand. If I don't use the param everything works fine (except that I can't pass a value).
Can someone explain why this happens and what other solution there is to reuse the code without copy & paste?
Below is a very reduced version of my code that shows only the important parts:
public class MainViewModel {
public RelayCommand commandOne = GetCommand("one");
public RelayCommand commandTwo = GetCommand("two");
public RelayCommand GetCommand(string param) {
return new RelayCommand(() => {
// Do something accessing other properties of MainViewModel
// to detect if another action is alreay running
// this code would need to be copy & pasted everywhere
if(param == "one")
_dataService.OneMethod();
else if(param == "two")
_dataService.TwoMethod();
else
_dataService.OtherMethod();
var name = param;
});
}
}

This is how I usually use RelayCommands where I just bind the commands to methods.
public class MainViewModel {
public MainViewModel()
{
CommandOne = new RelayCommand<string>(executeCommandOne);
CommandTwo = new RelayCommand(executeCommandTwo);
}
public RelayCommand<string> CommandOne { get; set; }
public RelayCommand CommandTwo { get; set; }
private void executeCommandOne(string param)
{
//Reusable code with param
}
private void executeCommandTwo()
{
//Reusable code without param
}
}

You may be looking for something like the following
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
private RelayCommand myRelayCommand ;
private string param = "one";
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
this.DataContext = this;
}
public RelayCommand MyRelayCommand
{
get
{
if (myRelayCommand == null)
{
myRelayCommand = new RelayCommand((p) => { ServiceSelector(p); });
}
return myRelayCommand;
}
}
private void DoSomething()
{
MessageBox.Show("Did Something");
}
private void ServiceSelector(object p)
{
DoSomething();
if (param == "one")
MessageBox.Show("one");
else if (param == "two")
MessageBox.Show("two");
else
MessageBox.Show("else");
var name = param;
}
}

Efficient technique for sending text messages to UI

I have a WPF Windows app. The viewmodel calls a method in the format of Model.TrySomething(), which returns a boolean if anything in TrySomething logically fails. If false is returned, the UI can throw a message back to the user.
What is the best way to bubble this message up from the model?

This is how we do it on our projects. Works fine:
// your event args might include more properties
public class ShowMessageBoxEventArgs : System.EventArgs
{
public string Title { get; set; }
public string Text { get; set; }
}
// example of your model base
public class MyModelBase
{
public event EventHandler<ShowMessageBoxEventArgs> ShowMessageBox;
protected void RaiseShowMessageBox(string title, string text)
{
if (ShowMessageBox == null)
return;
var _Args = new ShowMessageBoxEventArgs
{
Text = text,
Title = title
};
ShowMessageBox(this, _Args);
}
}
// for this sample, this is your view model
public class MyModel : MyModelBase
{
public void DoSomething()
{
// TODO: Do Something
base.RaiseShowMessageBox("DoSomething", "Complete!");
}
}
// this is your window or in app.xaml.cs (where we do it)
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
MyModel m_MyModel = new MyModel();
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
this.DataContext = m_MyModel;
Loaded += new RoutedEventHandler(MainWindow_Loaded);
}
bool m_Loaded = false; // only once
void MainWindow_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
if (m_Loaded)
return;
m_Loaded = true;
// allow model to show messagebox
m_MyModel.ShowMessageBox += (s, arg) =>
{
MessageBox.Show(arg.Text, arg.Title);
};
}
}
Best of luck!

If the message which you want to display is a modal dialog, you can write a service (lets name it MessageDialogService) which is injected in your viewmodel and then call a MessageDialogService.Show() method. This method creates a new WPF window and shows the message.
This service can then be used in any of your ViewModels to show messages.