Develop Reference

Why is my DataContext getting switched out from under me for a binding?

I'm trying to use the PropertyGrid component from PropertyTools to display information on an object. I can bind the object easily enough -- it's a property on my DataContext -- but one of the things that can't be derived from the object is the name that should be displayed in the tab header. (And I can't change that; the object I'm inspecting comes from a third party.) The proper name is a different property on my DataContext.
PropertyGrid has a way to change the way the tab header is displayed, by passing a DataTemplate to its TabHeaderTemplate property. But something bizarre happens inside of the template: my DataContext is gone, replaced by something else. When I try to say {Binding TabName} in the appropriate place inside the context, it errors out and tells me that TabName is not a valid property on class Tab. But my DataContext class isn't called Tab; that's something inside of PropertyTools's codebase!
I'm still new to WPF, so I have no clue what's going on here. Why is the in-scope DataContext that's perfectly valid in the rest of the XAML file being yoinked out from under me inside this template, and how can I fix it?
EDIT: Posting the XAML as requested. The template is literally just the simplest possible thing:
<UserControl.Resources>
<DataTemplate x:Key="HeaderTemplate">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding TabName}" />
</DataTemplate>
</UserControl.Resources>
And then further down the page,
<props:PropertyGrid
SelectedObject="{Binding Value}"
TabHeaderTemplate="{StaticResource HeaderTemplate}" />
But for some bizarre reason, in the template it's trying to interpret the binding inside the wrong DataContext!

In this case, just be sure to specify the source in your binding. There are a few ways to do this. One is to use the RelativeSource property of the Binding. Another is to use ElementName
Give your UserControl this attribute:
x:Name="Root".
Then change your binding to use it
<TextBlock Text="{Binding ElementName=Root, Path=DataContext.TabName}" />
Or use this:
<TextBlock Text="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type local:MyUserControl}}, Path=DataContext.TabName}"/>

How do I pass an input via binding to a custom property in UserControl? [duplicate]

I have a UserControl that I want to participate in data binding. I've set up the dependency properties in the user control, but can't get it work.
The uc displays the correct text when I call it with static text (e.g BlueText="ABC") . When i try to bind it to a local public property, it is always blank.
<src:BlueTextBox BlueText="Feeling blue" /> <!--OK-->
<src:BlueTextBox BlueText="{Binding Path=MyString}" /> <!--UserControl always BLANK!-->
<TextBox Text="{Binding Path=MyString}" Width="100"/> <!--Simple TextBox Binds OK-->
I've boiled the code down to the following simplified example. Here is the XAML of the UserControl:
<UserControl x:Class="Binding2.BlueTextBox" ...
<Grid>
<TextBox x:Name="myTextBox" Text="{Binding BlueText}" Foreground="Blue" Width="100" Height="26" />
</Grid>
Here is the code behind of the UserControl:
public partial class BlueTextBox : UserControl
{
public BlueTextBox()
{
InitializeComponent();
DataContext = this; // shouldn't do this - see solution
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty BlueTextProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("BlueText", typeof(string), typeof(BlueTextBox));
public string BlueText
{
get { return GetValue(BlueTextProperty).ToString(); }
set { SetValue( BlueTextProperty, value.ToString() ); }
}
This seems like it should be really easy, but I can't make it work. Thanks for your help!
More info: When i was trying the fix suggested by Eugene, I noticed some peculiar behavior. I added a PropertyChangedCallback to the metadata; this allows me to watch the value of BlueText getting set. When setting the string to a static value (="feeling blue") the PropertyChanged event fires. The data binding case does not fire PropertyChanged. I think this means the data-bound value is not getting sent to the UserControl. (I think the constructor does not get called in the static case)
Solution: The problems were correctly identified by Arcturus and jpsstavares. First, I was overwriting the data binding when is set DataContext=this in the constructor of the control. This prevented the data bound value from getting set. I also had to name the control x:Name=root, and specify the Binding ElementName=root int the XAML. To get the TwoWay binding, I needed to set Mode=TwoWay in the caller. Here is the correct code:
<src:BlueTextBox BlueText="{Binding Path=MyString, Mode=TwoWay}}" /> <!--OK-->
Now the XAML in the UserControl:
<UserControl x:Class="Binding2.BlueTextBox" x:Name="root"...
<Grid>
<TextBox x:Name="myTextBox" Text="{Binding ElementName=root, Path=BlueText}" Foreground="Blue" Width="100" Height="26" />
</Grid>
Finally I removed the DataContext=this in the constructor of the UserControl.
public BlueTextBox()
{
InitializeComponent();
//DataContext = this; -- don't do this
}
Thanks everyone for the tremendous help!

You set the DataContext in the Control to itself, thus overwriting the DataContext when using this Control in other controls. Taking your binding as example in your situation:
<src:BlueTextBox BlueText="{Binding Path=MyString}" />
Once loaded and all the Datacontext is set, it will look for the path MyString in your BlueTextBox thing control due to you setting the DataContext to it. I guess this is not how you intended this to work ;).
Solution:
Change the text binding either one of the 2 bindings:
{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource FindAncestor, AncestorType={x:Type src:BlueTextBox}}, Path=BlueText}
or
Name your control Root (or something like that)
<UserControl x:Name="Root"
{Binding ElementName=Root, Path=BlueText}
And remove the
DataContext = this;
from the constructor of your UserControl and it should work like a charm..

I think in this case you need to set the ElementName property in the binding. Something like this:
<UserControl x:Class="Binding2.BlueTextBox" x:Name="blueTextBox"...
<Grid>
<TextBox x:Name="myTextBox" Text="{Binding ElementName=blueTextBox, Path=BlueText}" Foreground="Blue" Width="100" Height="26" />
</Grid>

Possibly you need to add to your property FrameworkPropertyMetadata where specify FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.AffectsRender and AffectsMeasure.
FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions enumeration MSDN article

I know this is an old topic but still.
Also mention the PropertyChangedCallback on the UIPropertyMetadata during registering your DP

Set an existing control template as Content Property in WPF Code Behind

I have a very simple XAML
Visibility="Collapsed" X1="1" Margin="-35 0 0 0" Y1="0.4">
<Label.Content>
<Slider Grid.Column="0"
Width="20"
Height="65"
IsDirectionReversed="True"
Maximum="0.1"
Minimum="-4"
Orientation="Vertical"
x:Name="Slider1"
Value="{Binding Source={x:Reference scaleFactorModifier},
Path=ZoomScaleFactor, Mode=TwoWay}" />
</Label.Content>
</Label>
</SciChart:CustomAnnotation.Content>
</SciChart:CustomAnnotation>
Now for some reason I need to set the CustomControl.Content property from code behind. Is there any possibility I move all the label control to some style and template and set the CustomControl content property at runtime with that particular style or template.
Update
Reason for using Code behind
Actually I have Annotations property in my control which could have any control in it as we required. Previously I had used hard coded annotations in my control and placed the controls manually. Now I want to bind the Annotations property. I could create a property of this type and add CustomAnnotation objects in it. But customAnnotation objects need to have labels and other controls in them, how could I do that?

If I have understood your problem correctly, I believe that you can do what you want by using a DataTemplate and a ContentControl. First, define a DataTemplate with your Label in:
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type YourPrefix:YourDataType}">
<!-- define your Label here -->
</DataTemplate>
Then you can set the Content property of your CustomControl to a ContentControl that has its own Content property set to an instance of an object of type YourDataType:
<ContentControl Content="{Binding InstanceOfYourDataType}" />
I'm aware that you want to do this programmatically, but that's easy enough to work out:
ContentControl contentControl = new ContentControl();
contentControl.Content = instanceOfYourDataType;
yourCustomControl.Content = contentControl;
I'm wondering if you even really need to use your CustomControl at all, but I'll leave that up to you.

I create a user control from that xaml and then set the CustomControl.Content as new instance of user control. This might not be the best solution, but this is all that I have for now.

Forcing a ListBox to re-render

Background:
I have a ListBox containing items defined by DataTemplates. Right now, if an object in the list has the property IsEditable set to true, the item's property information will be displayed inside of textboxes (via DataTemplate change), instead of textblocks (so the user can edit the content of that list item)
IsEditable is toggled on/off by a button inside of each list item. I have been told that we need to keep the state of all objects consistent, which means I can't just rebind the ItemsSource and lose everything.
Currently, I'm using this to re-render:
this.lbPoints.Dispatcher.Invoke(DispatcherPriority.Render, new Action(() => { }));
Question:
The aforementioned code snippet KIND OF does its job. By "kind of", I mean, it does eventually cause my data to become re-rendered, but only when I scroll to the bottom of the list and then scroll back up to the item i'm trying to re-render.
1) How can I re-render the data immediately without having to scroll around to get it to show up?

The guys commenting are right that you're going about this the wrong way... there is rarely a need to force a ListBox to re-render. You're probably causing yourself some additional grief trying to switch the DataTemplates (although it is possible). Instead of that, think about data binding the TextBox.IsReadOnly property to your IsEditable property:
<TextBox IsReadOnly="{Binding IsEditable}" Text="{Binding Text}" />
Another alternative is to use a BooleanToVisibilityConverter to show a different Grid in your DataTemplate when your IsEditable property is true. Unfortunately, that Converter doesn't have an inverse operation, so you could create an IsNotEditing property to bind to the Grid in the DataTemplate that is originally displayed. I'm not sure if that's clear... see this example:
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type YourPrefix:YourDataType}">
<Grid>
<Grid Visibility="{Binding IsNotEditing, Converter={StaticResource
BooleanToVisibilityConverter}}">
<!-- Define your uneditable UI here -->
</Grid>
<Grid Visibility="{Binding IsEditing, Converter={StaticResource
BooleanToVisibilityConverter}}">
<!-- Define your editable UI here -->
</Grid>
</Grid>
</DataTemplate>
You could also define your own BooleanToVisibilityConverter class that has an IsInverted property, so that you can just use the one IsEditing property. You'd need to declare two Converters still, like this:
<Converters:BoolToVisibilityConverter x:Key="BoolToVisibilityConverter" />
<Converters:BoolToVisibilityConverter x:Key="InvertedBoolToVisibilityConverter"
IsInverted="True" />
Then your XAML would be like this:
<Grid Visibility="{Binding IsEditing, Converter={StaticResource
InvertedBoolToVisibilityConverter}}">
<!-- Define your uneditable UI here -->
</Grid>
<Grid Visibility="{Binding IsEditing, Converter={StaticResource
BoolToVisibilityConverter}}">
<!-- Define your editable UI here -->
</Grid>

WPF Bind to element in parent window

I'm trying to bind element's property in a child control to an element's property ina parent window, it doesn't work..
Here is png of what I'm trying to do:
Here is the xaml that doesn't work:
CurrentDate="{Binding ElementName=TimeBar, Path=SelectionStart,RelativeSource={RelativeSource Mode=FindAncestor, AncestorType=Window}}"
Thanks.

create a dependency property in your usercontrol and then bind to it in your window
something like that: DependencyProperty implementations you can find all around here on stackoverflow
<YourUsercontrol x:Name="uc">
<YourSomeControl CurrentDate="{Binding ElementName=uc, Path=MyDp}"/>
</YourUsercontrol>
xaml window
<Window>
<ElementInParent x:Name="eip" />
<YourUsercontrol MyDp="{Binding ElementName=eip, Path=PropertyFromElementInParent}"/>

based on the following Answer LINK the SelectionStart is not a Bindable Probperty by default so you need to create a attached behavior or something similar

Binding ElementName along with Relative Source is not correct approach.
Besides the UserControl does not know the ElementName of the Parent since the two are in different XAML.
One approach is to set the data context of user control with the element name you want to bind it to and then use normal binding Path.
As shown in the example below:
In main window, we have a textbox and a user control.
We are setting data context of the user control with the text box.
In the user control, we are binding the Text property of the DataContext (which is essentially TextBox of main window).
<Window
xmlns:self="clr-namespace:experiments"
>
<StackPanel>
<TextBox x:Name="Name" Width="100"/>
<self:UserControl1 DataContext="{Binding ElementName=Name}"/>
</StackPanel>
</Window>
<UserControl x:Class="experiments.UserControl1">
<Grid>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Text}" Width="100" Background="AliceBlue" Height="50"/>
</Grid>
</UserControl>