Cannot display binding on usercontrol? - c#

I'm not able to display a property value on the usercontrol.
I set up the datacontext in this way:
public MainController cm;
public static MainWindow AppWindow;
public partial class MainWindow
{
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
cm = new MainController();
DataContext = cm;
AppWindow = this;
}
}
inside MainController I've all the controller with all the properties like this:
public class MainController: MainControllerVM
{
private ClubController _clubController = new ClubController();
public ClubController ClubController
{
get { return _clubController ; }
}
}
Now I've splitted my user interface in different controls to have more xaml organization. I need to access to the main datacontext that's cm from all user controls, I tried in this way:
public partial class Club : UserControl
{
public Club ()
{
InitializeComponent();
DataContext = MainWindow.AppWindow.cm;
}
but I get:
NullReferenceException
on AppWindow. My main problem's that I can't get to display the value of the property on a label available on the user control:
<Label Content="{Binding ClubController.Club.Name}" />
this binding working in the main window but not working on usercontrol, why??

Suppose you have a window like this:
<Window x:Class="Example.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:Example"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
<UniformGrid Rows="2" Columns="2">
<local:MyUserControlA/>
<local:MyUserControlB/>
<local:MyUserControlC/>
<local:MyUserControlD/>
</UniformGrid>
</Window>
And you set the DataContext in the constructor:
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
DataContext = this;
}
Now remember that the DataContext is an inheritable dependency property, i.e. it flows down. (In general, dependency properties are not inheritable by default, unless you explicitly state it)
So, you set the DataContext once on the root of the logical tree (the window) and all of its children will "see" it. (the UniformGrid and the custom controls in our case)
Yes, that means you can directly bind to the view model in your user control's XAML:
<UserControl x:Class="Example.MyUserControlA"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
mc:Ignorable="d"
d:DesignHeight="300" d:DesignWidth="300">
<Grid>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding PropertyFromMainViewModel}"/>
</Grid>
</UserControl>
Now, this approach works well, until your control gets so complicated that it needs to have its own ViewModel and DataContext reespectively.
Usually this happens when the control is not a passive, but maintains a state (validates input, button state, etc.)
1.Declare all properties that you want to bind to the main view model as dependency properties and pay attention to the default value you specify.
2.Locate the main panel of your UserControl and name it, for example "LayoutRoot":
<UserControl x:Class="Example.MyUserControlA"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
mc:Ignorable="d"
d:DesignHeight="300" d:DesignWidth="300">
<Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding MyDependencyProperty}"/>
</Grid>
</UserControl>
3.Now, you set the DataContext on the LayoutRoot
public MyUserControlA()
{
InitializeComponent();
LayoutRoot.DataContext = new MyUserControlViewModel();
}
4.You bind to the main view model in this way
<Window x:Class="Example.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:Example"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
<UniformGrid Rows="2" Columns="2">
<local:MyUserControlA MyDependencyProperty="{Binding MainViewModelProperty}"/>
<local:MyUserControlB/>
<local:MyUserControlC/>
<local:MyUserControlD/>
</UniformGrid>
</Window>
The other way around is to bind using RelativeSource, but this would break the encapsulation and reusability of your UserControl.
WPF has a steep learning curve, I hope my tips were helpful...

Related

WPF: Problem with display xaml view inherits from UserControl

Hello i have this Viw in XAML
<local:JedenViewBase x:Class="Firma.View.FakturaView"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:Firma.View"
mc:Ignorable="d"
d:DesignHeight="450" d:DesignWidth="800">
<UserControl.Resources>
<ResourceDictionary Source="MainWindowResource.xaml" />
</UserControl.Resources>
<Grid>
.....
</Grid>
</local:JedenViewBase>
And that is class this view
namespace Firma.View
{
public partial class FakturaView : JedenViewBase
{
public FakturaView()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
}
}
And that is JedenViewBase class
namespace Firma.View
{
public class JedenViewBase : UserControl
{
static JedenViewBase()
{
DefaultStyleKeyProperty.OverrideMetadata(typeof(JedenViewBase), new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(typeof(JedenViewBase)));
}
}
}
I have problem because view in XAML dont display, i dont know why? JedenViewBase class inherits from UserControl. When i UserControl in view everything works. What i should do?
<UserControl x:Class="Firma.View.FakturaView"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:Firma.View"
mc:Ignorable="d"
d:DesignHeight="450" d:DesignWidth="800">
<UserControl.Resources>
<ResourceDictionary Source="MainWindowResource.xaml" />
</UserControl.Resources>
<Grid>
...
</Grid>
</UserControl>
View FakutraView when i use UserControl
I try rebuild app etc. and i still have problem
You've created a custom control.
That's unlikely to be a good idea and this should probably just be a user control.
The reason you get no view is this.
static JedenViewBase()
{
DefaultStyleKeyProperty.OverrideMetadata(typeof(JedenViewBase), new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(typeof(JedenViewBase)));
}
I recommend you remove that. Change
<local:JedenViewBase
To user control.
Make this just a user control.
Alternatively. Read up on custom controls. Put your ui definition in generic xaml.
I also wonder why this has it's own resources. They will be in memory for each instance. If whatever is in that resource dictionary is unique to this control maybe that's not a bad idea. in which case the naming seems strange.

Why does binding to elementName in usercontrol work even though Name is changed by user of usercontrol?

I have the following very simple WPF application:
A User control:
XAML:
<UserControl x:Class="WPFUserControlTest.TestControl"
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:local="clr-namespace:WPFUserControlTest"
mc:Ignorable="d"
d:DesignHeight="450" d:DesignWidth="800"
x:Name="root">
<Grid>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding ElementName=root, Path=InputString}"/>
</Grid>
Code Behind:
namespace WPFUserControlTest
{
public partial class TestControl : UserControl
{
public TestControl()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
public string InputString
{
get { return (string)GetValue(InputStringProperty); }
set { SetValue(InputStringProperty, value); }
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty InputStringProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("InputString", typeof(string), typeof(TestControl), new PropertyMetadata(""));
}
}
My Main Window:
<Window x:Class="WPFUserControlTest.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:WPFUserControlTest"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Title="MainWindow" Height="450" Width="800">
<Grid>
<StackPanel>
<local:TestControl x:Name="Mercedes" InputString="Mercedes"/>
<local:TestControl InputString="Volvo"/>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
</Window>
What i wonder is how it can be that the binding inside the user control that uses ElementName seems to work even though the main window changes the name of the control.
Is this binding done internally in the control somehow at compile time?
When i look at this is in the Live Visual Tree I see that one of my control instances has name "root" and one is named "mercedes". Still both of them works as expected...
You should read up on XAML namescopes. The name "Mercedes" is only applicable in the namescope of the window and "root" in the namescope of the UserControl.
The window cannot refer to the UserControl as "root" because it doesn't belong to the same namescope.

WPF UserControl using MVVMLight can't find ViewModelLocator

I've got two problems. I have a WPF UserControl that is a .dll plugin to another WPF application.
The first is, unless I install MVVMLight in the WPF application that is using my Usercontrol dll, it complains it can't find any MVVMLight libraries. Is there anyway I don't have to install MVVMLight on the Main WPF application using my UserControl dll?
Second is, it can't find the ViewModelLocator in my UserControl. I've tried making it a StaticResource of my UserControl but it can't find the ViewModelLocator.
Please help.
Here is an example on how to use a View Model Locator:
Start with a simple ViewModel:
public class MainViewModel
{
public string TestProperty { get; set; } = "ViewModelLocator works fine!";
}
Define the ViewModelLocator:
public class ViewModelLocator
{
private static readonly MainViewModel mainViewModel;
static ViewModelLocator()
{
mainViewModel = new MainViewModel();
}
public static MainViewModel MainViewModel => mainViewModel;
}
As you see, your ViewModel's instance is created only once in the static constructor, and after that, the same instance is returned.
And here is the View:
<Window x:Class="SetViewModelLocator.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:SetViewModelLocator"
xmlns:vm="clr-namespace:SetViewModelLocator.ViewModels"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
<Window.Resources>
<vm:ViewModelLocator x:Key="ViewModelLocator"/>
</Window.Resources>
<Grid DataContext="{Binding Source={StaticResource ViewModelLocator}, Path=MainViewModel}">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding TestProperty}"/>
</Grid>
Set the Locator as a Resource and use it as the DataContext of your main container which in this case is a Grid.

Access to Usercontrols in WPF

I'm just starting out with WPF having used WinForms for some time and seem to have fallen at the first hurdle.
I have my main XAMLdefined as
<Window x:Class="FHIRCDALoader.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:FHIRCDALoader.xaml"
Title="FHIR CDA Loader" Height="350" Width="525"
Icon="Icons/color_swatch.png">
<Window.CommandBindings>
<CommandBinding Command="ApplicationCommands.New"
Executed="NewDocument" />
</Window.CommandBindings>
<DockPanel>
<local:menubar DockPanel.Dock="Top"/>
<local:toolbar DockPanel.Dock="Top"/>
<local:statusbar DockPanel.Dock="Bottom" />
<RichTextBox x:Name="Body"/>
</DockPanel>
</Window>
Note the use of the user controls, one of which is the "statusbar"
<UserControl x:Class="FHIRCDALoader.xaml.statusbar"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
mc:Ignorable="d"
d:DesignHeight="300" d:DesignWidth="300">
<StatusBar >
<StatusBarItem>
<TextBlock x:Name="bbstatusbar" />
</StatusBarItem>
</StatusBar>
</UserControl>
So in MainWindow.xaml.cs I see I can reference RichTextBox named body from the main XAML file. I can't however reference the TextBlock in the UserControl which is named "bbstatusbar".
How do I set the value of the TextBlock from MainWindow.xaml.cs?
In agreement with Vlad and HighCore's comments: you don't set the TextBlock from MainWindow.xaml.cs. You bind it to a view-model. A binding simply looks like this:
<TextBlock Text="{Binding StatusText}" />
The above says: bind the Text property to a property in the current data-context called "StatusText". Next, create a view model:
public class ViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public string StatusText
{
get { return _statusText; }
set
{
_statusText = value;
RaisePropertyChanged("StatusText");
}
}
// TODO implement INotifyPropertyChanged
}
Finally, set the DataContext of your MainPage to the view model. You can do this in a variety of ways, but let's say here for simplicity, do it in the constructor:
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
DataContext = new ViewModel { StatusText = "hello world" };
}
Now, the idea is to put your model-related logic into ViewModel. So, you shouldn't need to access the UI elements -- instead, update the view-model properties that the UI elements are bound to.

How to move the DataContext definition from code-behind to XAML?

I defined an object which contains properties in code-behind and, want to set the object to datacontext in xaml.
namespace WpfApplication4
{
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public EquipInfo equip1;
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
equip1 = new EquipInfo();
// setting here works fine but i want to do in xaml
//textBox1.DataContext = equip1;
}
}
}
here's xaml code..
<Window x:Class="WpfApplication4.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
<Grid>
<TextBox Text="{Binding Path=PIN}" Height="23"
HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="172,208,0,0"
Name="textBox1" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="120" />
</Grid>
</Window>
You can set the DataContext via XAML to a public property. blindmeis has given a good example on how to do this.
What you did in your Post was not setting the DataContext, but binding the Text Property of your Control to a Property of the window. This only works if a DataContext is set. Another way to do that, if you don't want to do MVVM (which I'd recommend, though), is referencing specific Elements in your Binding:
1.) Alter member to AutoProperty or similar
public EquipInfo equip1 {get;set;}
2.) Give your window a name
<Window x:Class="WpfApplication4.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
x:Name="myWin"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
2.) Access Window Properties by instance name
<TextBox Text="{Binding ElementName=myWin, Path=equip1.PIN}"/>
On a side note, it would really be better to use a MVVM instead.
when you create your equipinfo class in codebehind why not setting the datacontext there?
nevertheless you can create a datacontext in xaml (you did not need the codebehind stuff then)
<TextBox Text="{Binding Path=PIN}">
<TextBox.DataContext>
<local:equip1/>
</TextBox.DataContext>
</TextBox>
but please look at the MVVM pattern
When you create your equipinfo class in codebehind why not setting the datacontext there?
The whole point of MVVM is to seperate UI from code behind using a viewmodel proxy. If you are going to reference the ui element to set its datacontext you might just as well reference it to set its value and forget about mvvm.

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