Develop Reference

Set DataContext for multiple controls with XAML

I have different groups of controls bound to different categories of ViewModel classes.
The ViewModels are
MainViewModel
VideoViewModel
AudioViewModel
Question
How can I set the DataContext with XAML instead of C#?
1. I tried adding DataContext="{Binding VideoViewModel}" to the ComboBox XAML, but it didn't work and the items came up empty.
2. I also tried grouping all the ComboBoxes of a certain category inside a UserControl with the DataContext:
<UserControl DataContext="{Binding VideoViewModel}">
<!-- ComboBoxes in here -->
</UserControl>
3. Also tried setting the <Window> DataContext to itself DataContext="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self}}"
Data Context
I'm currently setting the DataContext this way for the different categories of controls:
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
// Main
this.DataContext =
tbxInput.DataContext =
tbxOutput.DataContext =
cboPreset.DataContext =
MainViewModel.vm;
// Video
cboVideo_Codec.DataContext =
cboVideo_Quality.DataContext =
tbxVideo_BitRate.DataContext =
cboVideo_Scale.DataContext =
VideoViewModel.vm;
// Audio
cboAudio_Codec.DataContext =
cboAudio_Quality.DataContext =
tbxAudio_BitRate.DataContext =
tbxAudio_Volume.DataContext =
AudioViewModel.vm;
}
XAML ComboBox
<ComboBox x:Name="cboVideo_Quality"
DataContext="{Binding VideoViewModel}"
ItemsSource="{Binding Video_Quality_Items}"
SelectedItem="{Binding Video_Quality_SelectedItem}"
IsEnabled="{Binding Video_Quality_IsEnabled, Mode=TwoWay, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}"
HorizontalAlignment="Left"
VerticalAlignment="Top"
Width="105"
Height="22"
Margin="0,0,0,0"/>
Video ViewModel Class
public class VideoViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged = delegate { };
private void OnPropertyChanged(string prop)
{
PropertyChangedEventHandler handler = PropertyChanged;
if (handler != null)
{
handler(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(prop));
}
}
public VideoViewModel() { }
public static VideoViewModel _vm = new VideoViewModel();
public static VideoViewModel vm
{
get { return _vm; }
set
{
_vm = value;
}
}
// Items Source
private List<string> _Video_Quality_Items = new List<string>()
{
"High",
"Medium",
"Low",
};
public List<string> Video_Quality_Items
{
get { return _Video_Quality_Items; }
set
{
_Video_Quality_Items = value;
OnPropertyChanged("Video_Quality_Items");
}
}
// Selected Item
private string _Video_Quality_SelectedItem { get; set; }
public string Video_Quality_SelectedItem
{
get { return _Video_Quality_SelectedItem; }
set
{
if (_Video_Quality_SelectedItem == value)
{
return;
}
_Video_Quality_SelectedItem = value;
OnPropertyChanged("Video_Quality_SelectedItem");
}
}
// Enabled
private bool _Video_Quality_IsEnabled;
public bool Video_Quality_IsEnabled
{
get { return _Video_Quality_IsEnabled; }
set
{
if (_Video_Quality_IsEnabled == value)
{
return;
}
_Video_Quality_IsEnabled = value;
OnPropertyChanged("Video_Quality_IsEnabled");
}
}
}

You can instantiate an object in xaml:
<Window.DataContext>
<local:MainWindowViewmodel/>
</Window.DataContext>
And you could do that for your usercontrol viewmodels as well.
It's more usual for any child viewmodels to be instantiated in the window viewmodel. Exposed as public properties and the datacontext of a child viewmodel then bound to that property.
I suggest you google viewmodel first and take a look at some samples.

I'm not sure if this is the correct way, but I was able to bind groups of ComboBoxes to different ViewModels.
I created one ViewModel to reference them all.
public class VM: INotifyPropertyChanged
{
...
public static MainViewModel MainView { get; set; } = new MainViewModel ();
public static VideoViewModel VideoView { get; set; } = new VideoViewModel ();
public static AudioViewModel AudioView { get; set; } = new AudioViewModel ();
}
I used Andy's suggestion <local:VM> in MainWindow.xaml.
<Window x:Class="MyProgram.MainWindow"
...
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:MyProgram"
>
<Window.DataContext>
<local:VM/>
</Window.DataContext>
And used a UserControl with DataContext set to VideoView, with ComboBoxes inside.
Instead of a UserControl, can also just use VideoView.Your_Property_Name on each binding.
<UserControl DataContext="{Binding VideoView}">
<StackPanel>
<ComboBox x:Name="cboVideo_Quality"
ItemsSource="{Binding Video_Quality_Items}"
SelectedItem="{Binding Video_Quality_SelectedItem}"
IsEnabled="{Binding Video_Quality_IsEnabled, Mode=TwoWay, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}"
HorizontalAlignment="Left"
VerticalAlignment="Top"
Width="105"
Height="22"
Margin="0,0,0,0"/>
<!-- Other ComboBoxes with DataContext VideoView in here -->
</StackPanel>
</UserControl>
Then to access one of the properties:
VM.VideoView.Video_Codec_SelectedItem = "x264";
VM.VideoView.Video_Quality_SelectedItem = "High";
VM.AudioView.Audio_Codec_SelectedItem = "AAC";
VM.AudioView.Audio_Quality_SelectedItem = "320k";

Others have obviously provided good answers, however, the underlying miss of your binding is your first set of DataContext = = = = = to the main view model.
Once you the main form's data context to the MAIN view model, every control there-under is expecting ITS STARTING point as the MAIN view model. Since the MAIN view model does not have a public property UNDER IT of the video and audio view models, it cant find them to bind do.
If you remove the "this.DataContext =", then there would be no default data context and each control SHOULD be able to be bound as you intended them.
So change
this.DataContext =
tbxInput.DataContext =
tbxOutput.DataContext =
cboPreset.DataContext =
MainViewModel.vm;
to
tbxInput.DataContext =
tbxOutput.DataContext =
cboPreset.DataContext =
MainViewModel.vm;

C# Binding with DataContext and INotifyPropertyChanged

What am I doing wrong?
I have a Class Model.cs that has my DataContext
I have a Button and a TextBlock next to it. I have tried binding and implementing INotifyPropertyChanged.
When the button is clicked it calls a method that uses WinForms to look for a folder location and display it in the TextBlock
but it does not update. If I debug I get the path correctly.
Any help much appreciated.
MainWindow.xaml
<Button Name="projectLocationBtn"
Width="150"
Height="30"
Click="projectLocationBtn_Click">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<fa:FontAwesome Icon="FolderOpen" Margin="0 0 10 0" />
<TextBlock Text="Select Location" />
</StackPanel>
</Button>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal" Margin="20 0 0 0">
<fa:FontAwesome Icon="AngleRight" Margin="0 0 10 0"/>
<TextBlock Width="800"
TextAlignment="Left"
TextWrapping="NoWrap"
Text="{Binding ProjectLocation}"/>
</StackPanel>
MainWindow.xaml.cs
using M = MercuryTemplateGenerator.Model;
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
DataContext = new M.Model();
}
private void projectLocationBtn_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
M.Model m = new M.Model();
m.GetLocation();
}
Model Class
using Winforms = System.Windows.Forms;
namespace MercuryTemplateGenerator.Model
{
public class Model: INotifyPropertyChanged
{
string _projectLocation;
string _projectName;
public Model() {}
public string ProjectName
{
get {
return _projectName; }
set {
_projectName = value;
OnPropertyChanged("ProjectName");
}
}
public string ProjectLocation
{
get {
return _projectLocation; }
set {
_projectLocation = value;
OnPropertyChanged("ProjectLocation");
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private void OnPropertyChanged(string property)
{
PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new
PropertyChangedEventArgs(property));
}
public void GetLocation()
{
// get path to desktop
var startPath =
Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Desktop);
Winforms.FolderBrowserDialog folderDialog = new
Winforms.FolderBrowserDialog();
folderDialog.ShowNewFolderButton = false;
folderDialog.SelectedPath = startPath;
Winforms.DialogResult pathResult = folderDialog.ShowDialog();
if (pathResult == Winforms.DialogResult.OK)
{
_projectLocation = folderDialog.SelectedPath;
}
}
}
}
Many thanks.

The mistake is you have one instance of Model for dataContext of the page and have another one instance you're calling inside projectLocationBtn_Click. If a view is bounded to dataContext it means it's special instance of class lays under view and view will get new data from there. You need to call GetLocation method on the same instance of Model. For example, you can save your first model to field.
_dataContext = new M.Model();
DataContext = _dataContext;
And then use this instance inside handler
private void projectLocationBtn_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
_dataContext.GetLocation();
}
I can see that after all, it won't work because you don't call OnPropertyChanged("ProjectLocation").
For calling it you have to call setter of ProjectLocation property
Replace:
_projectLocation = folderDialog.SelectedPath;
with
ProjectLocation = folderDialog.SelectedPath;
And for your info: Check how can Button's click be bound to DataContext with Binding work inside XAML file.
https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/238657/How-to-use-Commands-in-WPF

In the GetLocation function you need to set the ProjectLocation property to raise the PropertyChanged event, if you set directly the _projectLocation private field the event won't be raised because it is inside the setter of the property

Cannot Binding ImageSource in Content Dialog UWP

I put image in Content Dialog but I cannot see any image fetched from the source. It seems that the image source cannot binding from the view model. However it works well with Page
This is my XAML of Content Dialog
<ContentDialog
x:Class="SmartEducation.App.Teacher.ContentViewer.Views.SketchDetailPage"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="using:SmartEducation.App.Teacher.ContentViewer.Views"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:uwpControls="using:Microsoft.Toolkit.Uwp.UI.Controls"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Title="Student's Sketch"
CloseButtonText="Cancel"
DefaultButton="Primary"
Background="White" Width="750" Height="500">
<RelativePanel>
<ScrollViewer x:Name="scrollView" ZoomMode="Enabled" DoubleTapped="ScrollViewer_DoubleTapped" HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Visible" HorizontalScrollMode="Enabled" MinZoomFactor="1">
<StackPanel Background="White" Width="750" Height="500">
<Image Name="imgSketch" Source="{Binding ImageUri}"/>
</StackPanel>
</ScrollViewer>
</RelativePanel>
I already add ViewModel to DataContext in my xaml.cs
private SketchDetailPageViewModel ViewModel
{
get { return DataContext as SketchDetailPageViewModel; }
}
public SketchDetailPage()
{
this.InitializeComponent();
}
I put the ImageUri in my ViewModel
private string _imgContent;
public string ImageUri
{
get { return _imgContent; }
set
{
_imgContent = value;
OnPropertyChanged(nameof(ImageUri));
}
}

Firstly, please make sure the ImageUri has an image resource reference. In your xaml.cs code, just providing a ViewModel property by your following code can not set the dialog's data context, so it will not get the image source.
private SketchDetailPageViewModel ViewModel
{
get { return DataContext as SketchDetailPageViewModel; }
}
You can just configure the dialog's data context by the following code in the dialog's xaml.cs,
public SketchDetailPage()
{
this.InitializeComponent();
this.DataContext = new SketchDetailPageViewModel() { ImageUri= "ms-appx:///Assets/Image.png" };
}
If you put the image source in the ViewModel. Such as,
private string _imgContent= "ms-appx:///Assets/Image.png";
public string ImageUri
{
get { return _imgContent; }
set
{
_imgContent = value;
OnPropertyChanged(nameof(ImageUri));
}
}
Then you can set the page data context on the XAML of Content Dialog,
<ContentDialog
...
Background="White" Width="750" Height="500">
<ContentDialog.DataContext>
<local:SketchDetailPageViewModel/>
</ContentDialog.DataContext>
<RelativePanel>
<ScrollViewer x:Name="scrollView" ZoomMode="Enabled"
DoubleTapped="ScrollViewer_DoubleTapped"
HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Visible"
HorizontalScrollMode="Enabled"
MinZoomFactor="1">
<StackPanel Background="White" Width="750" Height="500">
<Image Name="imgSketch" Source="{Binding ImageUri}"/>
</StackPanel>
</ScrollViewer>
</RelativePanel>
</ContentDialog>
Or you can set the data context in the xaml.cs,
public SketchDetailPage()
{
this.InitializeComponent();
this.DataContext = new SketchDetailPageViewModel();
}
------ Update ------
but the binding image uri doesn't change although image uri of source change
If you want to change the image by changing the image uri, you can expose the dialog's data context as the following code, meanwhile, your SketchDetailPageViewModel should implement the INotifyPropertyChanged interface. It seems you have implement the interface, here is a simple example,
SketchDetailPageViewModel class,
internal class SketchDetailPageViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private string _imgContent;
public string ImageUri
{
get { return _imgContent; }
set
{
_imgContent = value;
OnPropertyChanged(nameof(ImageUri));
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected void OnPropertyChanged(string name)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
{
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(name));
}
}
}
class SketchDetailPage : ContentDialog,
public SketchDetailPage()
{
this.InitializeComponent();
this.DataContext = new SketchDetailPageViewModel() { ImageUri= "ms-appx:///Assets/Image.png" };
}
internal SketchDetailPageViewModel ViewModel
{
get { return DataContext as SketchDetailPageViewModel; }
}
you can change the image when you use the SketchDetailPage dialog,
private async void Button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
SketchDetailPage dialog = new SketchDetailPage();
//change the dialog image
dialog.ViewModel.ImageUri = "ms-appx:///Assets/StoreLogo.png";
await dialog.ShowAsync();
}

Making AvalonEdit MVVM compatible

I'm trying to make Avalon MVVM compatible in my WPF application. From googling, I found out that AvalonEdit is not MVVM friendly and I need to export the state of AvalonEdit by making a class derived from TextEditor then adding the necessary dependency properties. I'm afraid that I'm quite lost in Herr Grunwald's answer here:
If you really need to export the state of the editor using MVVM, then I suggest you create a class deriving from TextEditor which adds the necessary dependency properties and synchronizes them with the actual properties in AvalonEdit.
Does anyone have an example or have good suggestions on how to achieve this?

Herr Grunwald is talking about wrapping the TextEditor properties with dependency properties, so that you can bind to them. The basic idea is like this (using the CaretOffset property for example):
Modified TextEditor class
public class MvvmTextEditor : TextEditor, INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public static DependencyProperty CaretOffsetProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("CaretOffset", typeof(int), typeof(MvvmTextEditor),
// binding changed callback: set value of underlying property
new PropertyMetadata((obj, args) =>
{
MvvmTextEditor target = (MvvmTextEditor)obj;
target.CaretOffset = (int)args.NewValue;
})
);
public new string Text
{
get { return base.Text; }
set { base.Text = value; }
}
public new int CaretOffset
{
get { return base.CaretOffset; }
set { base.CaretOffset = value; }
}
public int Length { get { return base.Text.Length; } }
protected override void OnTextChanged(EventArgs e)
{
RaisePropertyChanged("Length");
base.OnTextChanged(e);
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
public void RaisePropertyChanged(string info)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
{
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(info));
}
}
}
Now that the CaretOffset has been wrapped in a DependencyProperty, you can bind it to a property, say Offset in your View Model. For illustration, bind a Slider control's value to the same View Model property Offset, and see that when you move the Slider, the Avalon editor's cursor position gets updated:
Test XAML
<Window x:Class="AvalonDemo.TestWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:avalonEdit="http://icsharpcode.net/sharpdevelop/avalonedit"
xmlns:avalonExt="clr-namespace:WpfTest.AvalonExt"
DataContext="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self},Path=ViewModel}">
<StackPanel>
<avalonExt:MvvmTextEditor Text="Hello World" CaretOffset="{Binding Offset}" x:Name="editor" />
<Slider Minimum="0" Maximum="{Binding ElementName=editor,Path=Length,Mode=OneWay}"
Value="{Binding Offset}" />
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Offset,StringFormat='Caret Position is {0}'}" />
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Length,ElementName=editor,StringFormat='Length is {0}'}" />
</StackPanel>
</Window>
Test Code-behind
namespace AvalonDemo
{
public partial class TestWindow : Window
{
public AvalonTestModel ViewModel { get; set; }
public TestWindow()
{
ViewModel = new AvalonTestModel();
InitializeComponent();
}
}
}
Test View Model
public class AvalonTestModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private int _offset;
public int Offset
{
get { return _offset; }
set
{
_offset = value;
RaisePropertyChanged("Offset");
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
public void RaisePropertyChanged(string info)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
{
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(info));
}
}
}

You can use the Document property from the editor and bind it to a property of your ViewModel.
Here is the code for the view :
<Window x:Class="AvalonEditIntegration.UI.View"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:AvalonEdit="clr-namespace:ICSharpCode.AvalonEdit;assembly=ICSharpCode.AvalonEdit"
Title="Window1"
WindowStartupLocation="CenterScreen"
Width="500"
Height="500">
<DockPanel>
<Button Content="Show code"
Command="{Binding ShowCode}"
Height="50"
DockPanel.Dock="Bottom" />
<AvalonEdit:TextEditor ShowLineNumbers="True"
Document="{Binding Path=Document}"
FontFamily="Consolas"
FontSize="10pt" />
</DockPanel>
</Window>
And the code for the ViewModel :
namespace AvalonEditIntegration.UI
{
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Input;
using ICSharpCode.AvalonEdit.Document;
public class ViewModel
{
public ViewModel()
{
ShowCode = new DelegatingCommand(Show);
Document = new TextDocument();
}
public ICommand ShowCode { get; private set; }
public TextDocument Document { get; set; }
private void Show()
{
MessageBox.Show(Document.Text);
}
}
}
source : blog nawrem.reverse

Not sure if this fits your needs, but I found a way to access all the "important" components of the TextEditor on a ViewModel while having it displayed on a View, still exploring the possibilities though.
What I did was instead of instantiating the TextEditor on the View and then binding the many properties that I will need, I created a Content Control and bound its content to a TextEditor instance that I create in the ViewModel.
View:
<ContentControl Content="{Binding AvalonEditor}" />
ViewModel:
using ICSharpCode.AvalonEdit;
using ICSharpCode.AvalonEdit.Document;
using ICSharpCode.AvalonEdit.Highlighting;
// ...
private TextEditor m_AvalonEditor = new TextEditor();
public TextEditor AvalonEditor => m_AvalonEditor;
Test code in the ViewModel (works!)
// tests with the main component
m_AvalonEditor.SyntaxHighlighting = HighlightingManager.Instance.GetDefinition("XML");
m_AvalonEditor.ShowLineNumbers = true;
m_AvalonEditor.Load(#"C:\testfile.xml");
// test with Options
m_AvalonEditor.Options.HighlightCurrentLine = true;
// test with Text Area
m_AvalonEditor.TextArea.Opacity = 0.5;
// test with Document
m_AvalonEditor.Document.Text += "bla";
At the moment I am still deciding exactly what I need my application to configure/do with the textEditor but from these tests it seems I can change any property from it while keeping a MVVM approach.

How to bind usercontrols in xaml?

I have MainWindow containing a datagrid and a "filter panel". The filter panel can change by a user input(button click). I try to achieve it with databinding. The problem that Im facing is the filter panel(which is a user control) is not loaded or refreshed.
Mainwindow xaml:
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="250*" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="253*" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<DataGrid AutoGenerateColumns="True" Height="200" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="23,28,0,0" Name="dataGrid1" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="200" ItemsSource="{Binding OverviewableItems}" />
<UserControl Grid.Column="1" Content="{Binding UserControl}" DataContext="{Binding}" Grid.ColumnSpan="2" />
<Button Content="PersonFilter" Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="23,268,0,0" Name="buttonPersonFilter" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="75" Click="buttonPersonFilter_Click" />
<Button Content="ProjectFilter" Height="23" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="132,268,0,0" Name="buttonProjectFilter" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="75" Click="buttonProjectFilter_Click" />
</Grid>
code behind:
private ViewModel _viewModel;
public MainWindow()
{
_viewModel = new ViewModel(new DataProvider());
DataContext = _viewModel;
_viewModel.PropertyChanged += _viewModel.SetFilterType;
InitializeComponent();
}
private void buttonProjectFilter_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
_viewModel.OverviewType = OverviewType.Project;
}
private void buttonPersonFilter_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
_viewModel.OverviewType = OverviewType.Person;
}
First user control:
<Grid>
<DatePicker Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1" Height="25" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="19,18,0,0" Name="datePickerFundingTo" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="115" Text="{Binding ElementName=ProjectFilter, Path=FundingTo}" />
</Grid>
code behind for this user control is only this:
public DateTime FundingTo { get; set; }
public ProjectFilter()
{
FundingTo = DateTime.Now;
InitializeComponent();
}
Other user control: just simply contains a TextBox and a Button, for the sake of simplicity I didnt add any code behind to it.
ViewModel of the MainWindow:
public class ViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private UserControl _userControl;
public UserControl UserControl
{
get { return _userControl; }
set
{
if (_userControl == value)
{
return;
}
OnPropertyChanged("UserControl");
_userControl = value;
}
}
private OverviewType _overviewType = OverviewType.None;
public OverviewType OverviewType
{
get { return _overviewType; }
set
{
if (_overviewType == value)
{
return;
}
OnPropertyChanged("OverviewType");
_overviewType = value;
}
}
private ObservableCollection<IOverviewItem> _overviewableItems;
public ObservableCollection<IOverviewItem> OverviewableItems
{
get { return _overviewableItems; }
set
{
if (_overviewableItems == value)
{
return;
}
_overviewableItems = value;
}
}
private readonly DataProvider _dataProvider;
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
public ViewModel(DataProvider dataProvider)
{
_dataProvider = dataProvider;
}
public void SetFilterType(object sender, EventArgs eventArgs)
{
switch (_overviewType)
{
case OverviewType.Project:
_userControl = new ProjectFilter();
break;
case OverviewType.Person:
_userControl = new PersonFilter();
break;
}
}
public void OnPropertyChanged(string name)
{
if (PropertyChanged == null)
return;
var eventArgs = new PropertyChangedEventArgs(name);
PropertyChanged(this, eventArgs);
}
}
plus I have an enum OverviewType with None,Project,Person values.
The property changed event fired properly, but the user control is not refreshed. Could anyone enlight me, where is the flaw in my solution?
And the other question I have, how can I communicate from the usercontrols to the mainwindow viewmodel? Forex: the datagrid should be changed according to its filter.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!

There are different problems here.
As Clemens said, you must fire your event after the value is updated. But it's not the main issue here.
Second problem: you are affecting your new usercontrol to the private member, so you're totally bypassing your property.
Replace
_userControl = new ProjectFilter();
by
this.UserControl = new ProjectFilter();
Third problem, which is not directly related to your question but actually is your biggest problem: you have an architecture design issue. You're exposing in your viewmodel a UserControl, which is an anti-pattern. Your viewmodel must not know anything about the view, so it must NOT have any reference to the controls inside the view. Instead of the binding you wrote, you could fire an event from the viewmodel and add an event handler in your view so it's your view that updates the usercontrol.

Try to fire the PropertyChanged after changing a property's backing field:
public UserControl UserControl
{
get { return _userControl; }
set
{
if (_userControl != value)
{
_userControl = value; // first
OnPropertyChanged("UserControl"); // second
}
}
}
Similar for OverviewType.