Develop Reference

Binding not updating WPF

I am trying bind an int to a label in a simple application. The idea is, when a button is pressed, the int, and hence the label, is updated.
I have simplified the code as much as I can but I am not able to see the problem.
I think the issue is with NotifyPropertyChanged(String propertyName) as at runtime start the label's content is updated with the value of the int. However, when the int updates, the label does not.
MainWindow.xaml
<Window x:Class="Press.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"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Title="MainWindow" Height="450" Width="800">
<StackPanel>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<Label Content="Presses: "/>
<Label Content="{Binding Path=PressCount}"/>
</StackPanel>
<Button Content="Press Me" Click="PressMe_Click"/>
</StackPanel>
</Window>
MainWindow.xaml.cs
using System;
using System.Windows;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
namespace Press
{
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public int pressCount = 0;
public int PressCount {
get {
return pressCount;
}
private set {
if(value != pressCount)
{
pressCount = value;
NotifyPropertyChanged();
}
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private void NotifyPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] String propertyName = "")
{
PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
DataContext = this;
}
private void PressMe_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
PressCount++;
Console.WriteLine(PressCount);
}
}
}

You need MainWindow to implement the interface INotifyPropertyChanged

Wpf force IDataErrorInfo validation not working when switching tabs

Following this answer I was able to trigger validation error in WPF 4.0. However, it doesn't work when switching tabs. Odd.
Here's the sample. Go to tab 2, click the button, switch to tab 1, switch to tab 2 again and click the button. This second time, no error adorner is shown.
ViewModel
class ViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged, IDataErrorInfo
{
private List<string> errors;
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
public ViewModel()
{
errors = new List<string>();
}
private string text;
public string Text
{
get { return text; }
set
{
text = value;
RaisePropertyChanged("Text");
}
}
public void Validate()
{
errors.Clear();
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(Text))
errors.Add("Required field");
}
public void RaisePropertyChanged(string p)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(p));
}
string IDataErrorInfo.Error
{
get { return errors.FirstOrDefault(); }
}
string IDataErrorInfo.this[string columnName]
{
get
{
if (columnName == "Text")
return errors.FirstOrDefault();
return null;
}
}
}
XAML
<Window x:Class="ErrorAdorner.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>
<TabControl>
<TabItem Header="First">
<TextBlock Text="Nothing here"/>
</TabItem>
<TabItem Header="Second">
<StackPanel>
<TextBox Text="{Binding Text, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged, ValidatesOnDataErrors=True}"/>
<Button Content="Trigger" Click="Button_Click" Margin="0,30,0,0"/>
</StackPanel>
</TabItem>
</TabControl>
</Grid>
Code behind
using System.Windows;
namespace ErrorAdorner
{
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
private ViewModel model;
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
DataContext = model = new ViewModel();
}
private void Button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
model.Validate();
model.RaisePropertyChanged("Text");
}
}
}
Any insights?

Databinding not working for user control - PropertyChanged always null

I have a problem with data binding. A test application that I have looks as follows:
There's a mainwindow:
<Window x:Class="WpfApplication2.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:Controls="clr-namespace:WpfApplication2"
x:Name="main"
Title="MainWindow" >
<StackPanel >
<Button Content="Button" Click="Button_Click"/>
<Controls:UserControl1 />
</StackPanel>
</Window>
And a user control:
<UserControl x:Class="WpfApplication2.UserControl1"
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"
x:Name="uc"
>
<Grid >
<TextBox Width="40" Text="{Binding ElementName=main,
Path=Status, Mode=TwoWay, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}"/>
</Grid>
</UserControl>
I want to click the button on the main window to have the value of text box in user control updated:
The code of MainWindow file:
namespace WpfApplication2
{
public partial class MainWindow : Window, INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private void RaisePropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null) PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
private string _status;
public string Status
{
get { return _status; }
set
{
if (value != _status)
{
_status = value;
RaisePropertyChanged("Status");
}
}
}
private void Button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
if (Status == "one")
Status = "two";
else
Status = "one";
}
}
}
And the code of UserControl:
namespace WpfApplication2
{
public partial class UserControl1 : UserControl, INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private void RaisePropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null) PropertyChanged(this, e: new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
public UserControl1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
}
}
I don't understand why doesn't it work, but the PropertyChanged is always null. The example is in the simplest form I can imagine...

You are trying to access the parent window using the ElementName binding, as far as I am aware, that is not possible. You can however use a relative source binding to get the parent window:
<TextBlock Text="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType=Window}, Path=Status}" ... />
Follow up edit:
Your child user control should look like this:
<UserControl
...
x:Name="usr">
<Grid>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Message, ElementName=usr}"/>
</Grid>
</UserControl>
You will then need to create a dependency property called 'Message' (This is just an example, I'm not sure what you want to call this property).
public partial class YourUserControl: UserControl
{
public string Message
{
get { return (string)GetValue(MessageProperty); }
set { SetValue(MessageProperty, value); }
}
// Using a DependencyProperty as the backing store for Message. This enables animation, styling, binding, etc...
public static readonly DependencyProperty MessageProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("Message", typeof(string), typeof(YourUserControl), new PropertyMetadata(""));
public UserControl1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
}
Then, when you declare this in your parent user control, simply set the binding of the Message property to whatever property you need to bind to in your parent user control:
<YourNamespace:YourUserControl Message="{Binding PropertyName, ElementName=elementName}" />

Exception Occurring Infinitely in Content Control

First, this is a simplified version from a wizard control using MVVM. The problem is just easier to reproduce as described below
After much narrowing down, I have resolved an infinite exception in my code to be due to the WPF ContentControl. However, I have yet to figure out how to handle it, other than try-catch wrapping all of my possible instantiation code. Here is sample code that reproduces this...any help on how to keep this infinite exception from occurring would be greatly appreciated.
Additional Details
To sum up, the problem is that if the content control changes its contents, and the thing being loaded in throws an exception, then it will throw, then retry the load, causing the throw again and again.
MainWindow.xaml
<Window x:Class="WpfApplication8.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" Name ="Main">
<Grid>
<ContentControl Name="bar" Content="{Binding ElementName=Main, Path=foo}"/>
<Button Click="ButtonBase_OnClick" Margin="20" Width="50"/>
</Grid>
</Window>
MainWindow.xaml.cs
public partial class MainWindow : Window, INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private UserControl _foo;
public UserControl foo
{
get { return _foo; }
set { _foo = value; OnPropertyChanged("foo"); }
}
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
foo = new UserControl1();
}
private void ButtonBase_OnClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
foo = new UserControl2();
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
var handler = PropertyChanged;
if (handler != null)
handler(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
UserControl1 is blank and all default
UserControl2.xaml.cs
public UserControl2()
{
InitializeComponent();
throw new Exception();
}

Do not bind ContentControl to MainWindow. Instead use DataTemplates to select the content for the MainWindow. One example-contrived way of doing it is to bind the ContentControl's Content to the DataContext of the MainWindow.
First some observable test data is needed. The specifics of this data are not important. The main point is to have two different classes of test data from which to choose - TestData.cs:
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
using System.ComponentModel;
namespace fwWpfDataTemplate
{
// Classes to fill TestData
public abstract class Person : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null) PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
string _name;
public string Name
{
get { return _name; }
set
{
_name = value;
OnPropertyChanged("Name");
}
}
}
public class Student : Person { }
public class Employee : Person
{
float _salary;
public float Salary
{
get { return _salary; }
set
{
_salary = value;
OnPropertyChanged("Salary");
}
}
}
public class TestData : ObservableCollection<Person>
{
public TestData()
: base(new List<Person>()
{
new Student { Name = "Arnold" },
new Employee { Name = "Don", Salary = 100000.0f }
}) { }
}
}
Then add DataTemplates to MainWindow's resources - MainWindow.xaml:
<Window x:Class="fwWpfDataTemplate.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:me="clr-namespace:fwWpfDataTemplate"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
<Window.Resources>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type me:Student}">
<StackPanel>
<TextBlock Text="Student"/>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Name}"/>
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type me:Employee}">
<StackPanel>
<TextBlock Text="Employee"/>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Name}"/>
<TextBlock Text="Salary"/>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Salary}"/>
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
</Window.Resources>
<Grid>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
<RowDefinition/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Button Content="Change Data Context" Click="Button_Click" />
<ContentControl Grid.Row="1" Content="{Binding}"/>
</Grid>
</Window>
Note: instead of the StackPanels the contents of the DataTemplates could be UserControl1, UserControl2, etc.
Then add some code to change the data context - MainWindow.cs:
using System.Windows;
namespace fwWpfDataTemplate
{
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
TestData testData = new TestData();
int testIndex = -1;
private void Button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
testIndex = (testIndex + 1) % testData.Count;
this.DataContext = testData[testIndex];
}
}
}
Enjoy.

Integrating Context-Sensitive help in WPF application following MVVM

I am trying to implement Help functionality for my wpf application which is following the MVVM pattern. I have my help file present, which contains many pages according to the application. Now I need to integrate this into my application.
Here are my requirements:
Pressing F1 opens a certain page in the help file depending on the view model. For this, I guess, I need to bind the F1 command to my view model. How do we bind keys in views?
Pressing F1 on a text field opens help for that text field. I think it will be the same as requirement 1. But the problem here is how will I know that a certain text field, button, or radio button is selected?

Listen for the key in the view (or a base class of the view) and call execute on a HelpCommand on the DataContext.
Pass the control that has focus (or its id, or tag, ...) as an argument to the HelpCommand.
Alternative way to find the focussed control by using the FocusManager
Here is an example:
ContextHelp C#:
public static class ContextHelp
{
public static readonly DependencyProperty KeywordProperty =
DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached(
"Keyword",
typeof(string),
typeof(ContextHelp));
public static void SetKeyword(UIElement target, string value)
{
target.SetValue(KeywordProperty, value);
}
public static string GetKeyword(UIElement target)
{
return (string)target.GetValue(KeywordProperty);
}
}
ViewBase:
public abstract class ViewBase : UserControl
{
public ViewBase()
{
this.KeyUp += ViewBase_KeyUp;
this.GotFocus += ViewBase_GotFocus;
}
void ViewBase_GotFocus(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
FocusManager.SetIsFocusScope(this, true);
}
void ViewBase_KeyUp(object sender, System.Windows.Input.KeyEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Key == Key.F1)
{
var viewModel = this.DataContext as ViewModelBase;
if (viewModel != null)
{
var helpTopic = "Index";
var focusedElement =
FocusManager.GetFocusedElement(this) as FrameworkElement;
if (focusedElement != null)
{
var keyword = ContextHelp.GetKeyword(focusedElement);
if (!String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(keyword))
{
helpTopic = keyword;
}
}
viewModel.HelpCommand.Execute(helpTopic);
}
}
}
}
ViewModelBase:
public abstract class ViewModelBase: INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public ICommand HelpCommand { get; set; }
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected void OnPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName="")
{
var p = PropertyChanged;
if (p != null)
{
p(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
}
AViewModel:
class AViewModel : ViewModelBase
{
public AViewModel()
{
HelpCommand = new RelayCommand(HelpCommandExecuted, (p)=>true);
}
private void HelpCommandExecuted(object parameter)
{
var topic = parameter as string;
if (!String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(topic))
{
HelpText = String.Format("Information on the interesting topic: {0}.", topic);
}
}
private string _helpText;
public string HelpText
{
get { return _helpText; }
private set
{
if (_helpText != value)
{
_helpText = value;
OnPropertyChanged();
}
}
}
}
AView C#:
public partial class AView : ViewBase
{
public AView()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
}
AView XAML:
<local:ViewBase x:Class="WpfApplication2.AView"
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:WpfApplication2"
mc:Ignorable="d"
d:DesignHeight="300" d:DesignWidth="300">
<Grid>
<Label Content="{Binding HelpText}" Margin="10,254,10,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Height="36"/>
<Button local:ContextHelp.Keyword="Button Info" Content="Button" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="192,32,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="75"/>
<TextBox local:ContextHelp.Keyword="TextBox Info" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="23" Margin="29,32,0,0" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="TextBox" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="120"/>
<CheckBox local:ContextHelp.Keyword="CheckBox Info" Content="CheckBox" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="29,80,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top"/>
<ComboBox local:ContextHelp.Keyword="ComboBox Info" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="138,80,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="120"/>
</Grid>
</local:ViewBase>
MainWindow XAML:
<Window
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:WpfApplication2" x:Class="WpfApplication2.MainWindow"
Title="MainWindow" Height="700" Width="500">
<Grid x:Name="ViewPlaceholder">
</Grid>
</Window>
MainWindow C#:
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
var view = new AView();
var viewModel = new AViewModel();
view.DataContext = viewModel;
ViewPlaceholder.Children.Clear();
ViewPlaceholder.Children.Add(view);
}
}