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Using two different events to update a ViewModel property in WPF

I apologize if the question title isn't really specific, I'm not exactly sure how to condense the problem I'm having down to a few words. But to simplifiy the problem I'm having, here is my issue:
I'm creating a tool using WPF that consists of a TextBox that will contain a path to a directory and a Button that will allow you to Browse to a certain directory. Now, when I select the Browse button, it pops up a dialog, allows the user to select a directory and then I have some methods that will disable some buttons and updates some Brushes on the screen if the path doesn't meet a certain set of criteria. No problems there, got that working.
My problem is the TextBox that this Browse button correlates with. This TextBox is using a binding as such:
In my MainWindow.xaml (Yes, this is the simplified, focused version):
<Window>
<TextBox Text="{Binding Directory}" TextChanged="Directory_TextChanged" />
<Button Content="Browse..." Click="Browse_Click"/>
</Window>
In my code MainWindow.xaml.cs file:
public partial class MainWindow: Window
{
private ViewModel myViewModel;
public MainWindow()
{
myViewModel = new ViewModel();
this.DataContext = myViewModel;
}
private void Browse_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
// Dialog stuff that's working
viewModel.Directory = dialog.SelectedPath;
}
private void InstallDir_TextChanged(object sender, TextChangedEventArgs e)
{
ValidatePath(); /* Disables/enables buttons and updates brushes based on validation. Also working */
}
private void ValidatePath() {/* */}
}
Like I mentioned earlier, the browse button works fine. I'm trying to figure out however, how I can get this to work if I type a directory alongside it. Because if I type something in the textbox, that would mean that inside of the InstallDir_TextChanged() function I would have to set viewModel.Directory, but since I have the INotifyPropertyChanged attached to this ViewModel, this function would get called recursively.
I tried doing the validation stuff within the viewmodel, but I couldn't figure out how to update the brushes/buttons in MainWindow if I did this. (Still relatively new to C# so I haven't learned the ins and outs yet. This is the first WPF tool I've been making from scratch, so just a disclaimer).
Would anyone have any ideas (or logic) I can approach to try and accomplish this? If there's any further clarification needed, that's not an issue. I don't need an exact definitive answer. Maybe some advice that could point me in the correct direction would definitely suffice. I don't have a problem trying to figure stuff out.

Calling Usercontrol method from another form

I have this Usercontrol with a Listview loaded in the Mainwindow:
<Controls:MetroAnimatedSingleRowTabControl Grid.Row="1" x:Name="MainTabControl" Controls:TabControlHelper.IsUnderlined="True" Margin="10,0,0,1">
<TabItem Controls:ControlsHelper.HeaderFontSize="40" Header=" List" Foreground="#CCB5BABB" Controls:ControlsHelper.HeaderFontStretch="UltraExpanded" HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" >
<load:Usercontrol1 DataContext="{Binding}" />
</TabItem>
From this Usercontrol a ButtonClick calls another form for entering new data. After saving the data to database, I call a method loading the list in Usercontrol by referencing the entire Usercontrol to the entry window :
private readonly Usercontrol1 temp;
public newDataEntry(Usercontrol1 temp2)
{
InitializeComponent();
temp= temp2;
}
private void buttonentry(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
temp.fillList(); // list in Usercontrol fill
this.Close();
}
Since I want to use the same entry form with different Usercontrols, is there a more effective way to call method in Usercontrol?

Without a good Minimal, Complete, and Verifiable example that shows clearly what you are doing, why you want to call this method, what the method does, and what specific problem you are having generalizing the action, it is impossible to know for sure what the best answer for your scenario is. That said, some discussion can be provided.
First and foremost, it is a mistake for your newDataEntry class to depend on the Usercontrol1 class at all. This should already be apparent, due to the issue you are running into trying to reuse it with other UserControl classes, but it is also a basic OOP concept: a class that exists to support some other class should not itself carry a dependency on that other class. Doing so breaks reusability in a way that is fundamentally opposite a primary goal of OOP.
So how do you get rid of this dependency? Well, the most general way in C# would be for your Usercontrol1 to subscribe to the newDataEntry object's Closed event. Then it can do whatever it wants at that time, including calling its own fillList() event.
Of course, if the newDataEnty window is used modally (i.e. you call ShowDialog()), then subscribing to the Closed event is overkill. You can just call whatever code you need to when the ShowDialog() method returns.
All that said, the name fillList() hints that you're copying list data directly into some list-based control (e.g. the ListView you mentioned). When in fact, in a WPF program, you should be manipulating only view models and letting the UI respond accordingly. Again, without a good MCVE showing context, it's impossible to say for sure that's what you're doing, never mind provide any specific advice along those lines. Suffice to say, it's likely that this code doesn't belong in the Usercontrol1 class at all.
See also these related posts:
How to call method of the main WPF window from the modal window? - this seems most applicable. Unfortunately, the accepted and top-voted answer is one of the worst (introduces exactly the kind of class coupling you're trying to avoid here), but there are other answers with some useful information.
WPF MVVM call ViewModel Save method on Window Close - this discusses doing something similar in the context of using a proper view model. May or may not be directly applicable to your scenario.
Communicate between two windows forms in C# - this is about Winforms, but in this particular scenario the basic techniques are similar. In this particular case, you wouldn't need to declare a new event, because the Closed event already seems to do what you want.

Calling a method from Usercontrol xaml.cs to View Model

I am using MVVM in my project and I am implementing the Diagram Designer and I am using RAD Diagram control of Telerik.I am dragging the shape from my RadToolBox to canvas for which I have implemented the event.Now on this event I want to save the diagram in RavenDB once the shape has been dropped on Canvas ( Ruler).This whole thing is in the User control stored in one library and I am creating the reference of this library in my actual WPF form which is in other library.My requirement is I want to call the Save command which is present in View Model of WPF form, from my xaml.cs of the user control and this user control is present in other library.
How shall i achieve the same.Please help.

Why do have multiple assemblies? If you don't need them, then make your life simpler and just use NameSpaces to separate your controls from your forms in the same assembly.
Right now that's said :-)
The easy way is via an Event. Add an event to your UserControl, and then in the Window add the code when the event happens.
Have a read through MSDN Events

I really dont Why you would need to call a save command from another WindowsForm.
Telerik UI Diagram provides indefined save Command which is used to save the Diagram,
InXAML,
<Grid.CommandBindings>
<CommandBinding Command="telerik:DiagramCommands.Save" Executed="ExecuteSave" />
</Grid.CommandBindings>
And In code behind define save function,
private void ExecuteSave(object sender, ExecutedRoutedEventArgs e)
{
e.Handled = true;
this.diagram.save();
}

How to pass information from one WPF UserControl to another WPF UserControl?

I've got a WPF application.
On the left side there is a stackpanel full of buttons.
On the right side there is an empty dockpanel.
When user clicks a button, it loads the corresponding UserControl (View) into the dockpanel:
private void btnGeneralClick(object sender, System.Windows.RoutedEventArgs e)
{
PanelMainContent.Children.Clear();
Button button = (Button)e.OriginalSource;
Type type = this.GetType();
Assembly assembly = type.Assembly;
IBaseView userControl = UserControls[button.Tag.ToString()] as IBaseView;
userControl.SetDataContext();
PanelMainContent.Children.Add(userControl as UserControl);
}
This pattern works well since each UserControl is a View which has a ViewModel class which feeds it information which it gets from the Model, so the user can click from page to page and each page can carry out isolated functionality, such as editing all customers, saving to the database, etc.
Problem:
However, now, on one of these pages I want to have a ListBox with a list of Customers in it, and each customer has an "edit" button, and when that edit button is clicked, I want to fill the DockPanel with the EditSingleCustomer UserControl and pass it the Customer that it needs to edit.
I can load the EditCustomer usercontrol, but how do I pass it the customer to edit and set up its DataContext to edit that customer?
I can't pass it in the constructor since all the UserControls are already created and exist in a Dictionary in the MainWindow.xaml.cs.
so I created a PrepareUserControl method on each UserControl and pass the Customer to it and can display it with a textbox from code behind with x:Name="..." but that is not the point, I need to DataBind an ItemsControl to a ObservableCollection to take advantage of WPF's databinding functionality of course.
so I tried to bind the ListBox ItemSource in the View to its code behind like this:
<UserControl.Resources>
<local:ManageSingleCustomer x:Key="CustomersDataProvider"/>
</UserControl.Resources>
<DockPanel>
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding Path=CurrentCustomersBeingEdited, Source={StaticResource CustomersDataProvider}}"
ItemTemplate="{DynamicResource allCustomersDataTemplate}"
Style="{DynamicResource allCustomersListBox}">
</ListBox>
</DockPanel>
which gets a stackoverflow error caused by an endless loop in the IntializeComponent() in that view. So I'm thinking I'm going about this in the wrong way, there must be some easier paradigm to simply pass commands from one UserControl to another UserControl in WPF (and before someone says "use WPF commanding", I already am using commanding on my UserControl that allows the user to edit all customers, which works fine, but I have to handle it in my code behind of my view (instead of in my viewmodel) since I need the parent window context to be able to load another user control when its finished saving:
<Button Style="{StaticResource formButton}"
Content="Save"
Command="local:Commands.SaveCustomer"
CommandParameter="{Binding}"/>
private void OnSave(object sender, System.Windows.Input.ExecutedRoutedEventArgs e)
{
Customer customer = e.Parameter as Customer;
Customer.Save(customer);
MainWindow parentShell = Window.GetWindow(this) as MainWindow;
Button btnCustomers = parentShell.FindName("btnCustomers") as Button;
btnCustomers.RaiseEvent(new RoutedEventArgs(Button.ClickEvent));
}
So how in WPF can I simply have a UserControl loaded in a DockPanel, inside that UserControl a button with a command on it that loads another UserControl and sends that UserControl a specific object to which it can bind its controls?
I can imagine I just do not know enough about WPF commands at this point, if anyone can point me in the right direction from here, that would be great, or if you think this "loading UserControls in a DockPanel pattern is foreign to WPF and should be avoided and replaced with another way to structure applications", that would be helpful news as well. You can download the current state of my application here to get an idea of how it is structured. Thanks.

I've just finished a LOB application using WPF where this sort of problem/pattern appeared constantly, so here's how I would have solved your problem:
1) In the DataTemplate where you create each item in the ListBox, along with it's edit button, bind the Button's tag property to the Customer object underlying that list box item.
2) Create a Click event handler for the button, and set the Button's Click event to fire the handler.
3) In the event handler, set the Content property of the UserControl.
4) Set up a DataTemplate in scope of the User Control (perhaps in the resources of it's immediate container) which describes an editor for that single customer.
Another approach that will work is to declare a Customer dependency property on your EditCustomer class, then set that property (perhaps through a XAML Trigger) when the button is clicked.
I hope this isn't too vague. If nothing else, know that the problem you're facing is very solvable in WPF.

This is where you use the Mediator pattern. There's several blog posts on this topic (for instance), and there's implementations of the pattern in some WPF frameworks (such as EventAggregator in Prism).

I don't have the time to really dig into this (it's an interesting question and I hope you get a good answer-- I can see myself running into a similar situation in the future).
Have you considered getting a little less WPF-y and falling back to firing an event on your source UserControl with an EventArgs that contains the customer, then in the event handler, firing the appropriate command on the target control?

tabbed document interface in WPF using only on-board means?

I've seen two threads here about TDI & C#. Both of them didn't really answer the questions I have ...
Since TDIs are pretty much like a standard nowadays, I can hardly imagine, that I have to buy a special control (like AvalonDock or SandDock).
This must be possible with built in the tab-control(?) somehow! I don't need special features like dock- and draggable tabitems. Just open every form in a new tab. Thats it.
Like putting every forms content controls into user controls and by request (button, menu click ...) add a new tab and put the corresponding user control on it ... something like this.
How would you do it? This can't be THAT complicated (even for me) or am I missing something?!
thanks a lot!

Maybe Josh Smith's article on MVVM can give you an idea how to design such user interface. Example being built there is kinda tabbed document interface so you can use it as a starting block.

It's not that hard. It seems hard because there are a lot of different ways to do it.
Try this:
<TabControl x:Name="documentArea"/>
Handler for AddForm button:
private void AddFormClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
object form = GetNewForm();
documentArea.Items.Add(form);
}
That's it. You have to implement GetNewForm() in one of two ways. Have it return a user control that displays the form.
OR better yet, have it return your document that you want to display. Use a DataTemplate to select the controls to use for displaying this document. This method is going to be more complex to set up.