Develop Reference

Binding a Pivot to a Dictionary

I'm trying to build a Pivot system based on some collections, without having to build it using code-behind.
My collection is a Dictionary<CategoriesEnum, List<object>> and I'd like to bind the PivotItem's header to the CategoriesEnum object, while its content has to be bound to the related List<objet>.
Actually I've been able to just bind the PivotItem's header but I really can't do it for the List.
Here's my current code:
(XAML)
<phone:Pivot x:Name="pivot"
ItemsSource="{Binding Categories}">
<phone:Pivot.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<phone:PivotItem Header="{Binding}">
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding Path=Objects}">
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Name}"/>
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
</phone:PivotItem>
</DataTemplate>
</phone:Pivot.ItemTemplate>
</phone:Pivot>
(C#)
public List<Categories> Categories
{
get
{
return new List<Categories>(Dictionary.Keys);
}
}
public List<object> Objects
{
get
{
return Dictionary[(Categories)pivot.SelectedItem];
}
}
I know that the Objects property will never work this way, but I can't figure out how to do this type of binding and I've not found anything online to give me a clue.

Binding the ItemsSource to a dictionary enumerates the KeyValuePairs, from which you can bind to the Key and Value properties. Let's assume the Keys in your dictionary are string and the Values are enumerables (IList):
(XAML)
<phone:Pivot x:Name="pivot" ItemsSource="{Binding MyDictionary}">
<phone:Pivot.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<phone:PivotItem Header="{Binding Key}">
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding Value}">
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding MyName}"/>
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
</phone:PivotItem>
</DataTemplate>
</phone:Pivot.ItemTemplate>
</phone:Pivot>
(C#)
public IDictionary<string, IList<MyObject>> MyDictionary { get; set; }
public class MyObject
{
public string MyName { get; set; }
}

DataBinding to WP8 Toolkit ExpanderView

I'm attempting to databind to a Windows Phone 8 Toolkit Expander view with the following XAML and C# class. I know that the DataContext is set properly because the Headers have the proper text. However, the rest of the items aren't set properly (except for the ExpanderTemplate)
<phone:PanoramaItem Header="Skill Sheet">
<ListBox Name="SkillSheet" ItemsSource="{Binding}">
<ListBox.ItemsPanel>
<ItemsPanelTemplate>
<StackPanel/>
</ItemsPanelTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemsPanel>
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<toolkit:ExpanderView Header="{Binding}"
ItemsSource="{Binding}"
IsNonExpandable="False">
<toolkit:ExpanderView.HeaderTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding groupName}" FontFamily="{StaticResource PhoneFontFamilySemiBold}" LineHeight="{StaticResource LongListSelectorGroupHeaderFontSize}" />
</DataTemplate>
</toolkit:ExpanderView.HeaderTemplate>
<toolkit:ExpanderView.ExpanderTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<TextBlock Text="Test" />
</DataTemplate>
</toolkit:ExpanderView.ExpanderTemplate>
<!--This is the area that is not getting databound-->
<toolkit:ExpanderView.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding skillNames}">
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding skill}" />
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
</DataTemplate>
</toolkit:ExpanderView.ItemTemplate>
</toolkit:ExpanderView>
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
</phone:PanoramaItem>
And here are the classes that the XAML is getting bound to:
public class TreeMapSkill
{
public string skill { get; set; }
}
public class TreeMapping
{
public string groupName { get; set; }
public List<TreeMapSkill> skillNames { get; set; }
public TreeMapping()
{
skillNames = new List<TreeMapSkill>();
}
}
public class TreeMappingList
{
public List<TreeMapping> mapping { get; set; }
public TreeMappingList() { }
public TreeMappingList(Dictionary<string, List<string>> map)
: base()
{
this.mapping = new List<TreeMapping>();
foreach (string key in map.Keys)
{
TreeMapping tMap = new TreeMapping();
tMap.groupName = key;
foreach (string val in map[key])
tMap.skillNames.Add(new TreeMapSkill() { skill = val });
this.mapping.Add(tMap);
}
}
The Dictionary in the constructor is simply a list of skills associated to a specific group. I can also provide a sample object if it's needed for additional reference.

Why are you adding a ListBox inside the Expander's ItemTemplate? It is already a controls collection so you don't need a ListBox in there. Just put your DataTemplate inside.
<toolkit:ExpanderView.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding skill}" />
</DataTemplate>
</toolkit:ExpanderView.ItemTemplate>
The second thing is you need to specify the property path on the binding of the ItemSource property for the expander.
<toolkit:ExpanderView Header="{Binding}"
ItemsSource="{Binding skillNames}"
IsNonExpandable="False">

ListView Data Binding

I'm writing simple WPF Application and I wanted to use ListView to display List of items. My code is:
WPF.xaml
<ListView Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="1" Margin="10,0,10,5" ItemsSource="{Binding MyCollection.Elements}">
<ListView.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding ElementDescriptions}" />
</DataTemplate>
</ListView.ItemTemplate>
</ListView>
WPF.xaml.cs
public MyViewModel ViewModel
{
get { return DataContext; }
set { DataContext = value; }
}
MyViewModel.cs
public OwnedCollection Elements { get; set; }
OwnedCollection.cs
public List<ElementDescriptions> ElementDescriptions { get; set; }
I'm 100% sure, that communication between View and ViewModel is correct, because displaying simple message doesn't make me troubles. Am I doing right binding in ListView?

A couple things:
First,
TextBlock Text="{Binding ElementDescriptions}"
doesn't make a lot of sense because ElementDescriptions is a collection. If you want to loop through all the ElementDescriptions in your List you should really be binding the ItemSource of the ListView to ElementDescriptions then accessing some text property of the ElementDescriptions class:
<ListView Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="1" Margin="10,0,10,5" ItemsSource="{Binding MyCollection.ElementsElementDescriptions }">
<ListView.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding ElementDescriptions.SomeTextField}" />
</DataTemplate>
</ListView.ItemTemplate>
</ListView>
Second, are you using INotifyPropertyChanged so the view knows to update? More info on that here: OnPropertyChanged with a List

Get content from the labels in a NESTED listbox bound to an observable collection?

I have a listbox inside a listbox, and both are binded to an observable collection. I have overloaded the SelectionChanged event for both. For the nested listbox, I have a few labels in its data template. I want to be able to get the content of those labels. It's just difficult because I cannot refer to any of them in the code behind, even with the x:name property defined. Anyone have any ideas?
<ListBox Grid.Row="5" x:Name="lb1" ItemsSource="{Binding}" DataContext="{Binding}" ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Disabled" SelectionChanged="lb1_SelectionChanged">
<ListBox.ItemsPanel>
<ItemsPanelTemplate>
<WrapPanel/>
</ItemsPanelTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemsPanel>
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<Label x:Name="txtEnclosure" Content="{Binding Path=EnclosureID}"/>
<......other labels bound to other properties...>
<ListBox x:Name="lbserver" ItemsSource="{Binding Path=Slist}">
<ListBox.ItemsPanel>
<ItemsPanelTemplate>
<WrapPanel/>
</ItemsPanelTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemsPanel>
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<Label x:Name="txtSlot" Content="{Binding Path=Slot}" />
<Label x:Name="txtServer" Content="{Binding Path=HostnameID}" />
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
The parent listbox binds to an observable collection called Elist (an observable collection of Enclosures, a class I defined)
this.DataContext = Settings.Elist;
And the child listbox binds to an observable collection inside of the Enclosure class.
public class Enclosure
{
public ObservableCollection<Server> Slist { get; set; }
...contains other variables as well....
}
In the application, it lists enclosures, and each enclosure has a list of servers. The user can select an Enclosure, and I can get the Enclosure from Elist based on the SelectedIndex (I use ElementAt(SelectedIndex)). Things just get much more tricky when I try to get one of the Servers from the nested listbox. I want to be able to select one of the servers in the list and get the Server from the observable collection Slist. The problem is that when the user selects the server directly, I don't know which Enclosure from Elist the server is from, aaand I can't get the SelectedIndex because I can't refer to anything from the nested listbox in the code behind >.< A very frustrating problem indeed...does anyone have any ideas?
If I can get at the items in the nested listbox in code that would be helpful as well.

Below sample shows how to get selected parent and child when user selects a child, see OnSelectedModelChanged method.
XAML:
<Window x:Class="WpfApplication1.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">
<StackPanel>
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding .}">
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<StackPanel>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Name}" FontWeight="Bold"/>
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding Path=Models}" SelectionChanged="OnSelectedModelChanged">
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Name}" />
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
</StackPanel>
</Window>
Code behind:
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Windows.Controls.Primitives;
namespace WpfApplication1
{
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
List<Make> cars = new List<Make>();
cars.Add(new Make("Ford") { Models = new List<Model>() { new Model("F150"), new Model("Taurus"), new Model("Explorer") } });
cars.Add(new Make("Honda") { Models = new List<Model>() { new Model("Accord"), new Model("Pilot"), new Model("Element") } });
DataContext = cars;
}
private void OnSelectedModelChanged(object sender, SelectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
Selector modelSelector = sender as Selector;
Model selectedModel = modelSelector.SelectedItem as Model;
Make selectedMake = modelSelector.DataContext as Make;
}
}
public class Make
{
public Make(string name)
{
Name = name;
}
public string Name { get; private set; }
public IEnumerable<Model> Models { get; set; }
}
public class Model
{
public Model(string name)
{
Name = name;
}
public string Name { get; private set; }
}
}

How can I data bind a list of strings to a ListBox in WPF/WP7?

I am trying to bind a list of string values to a listbox so that their values are listed line by line. Right now I use this:
<ListBox Margin="20" ItemsSource="{Binding Path=PersonNames}">
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Id}"></TextBlock>
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
But I don't know what I am supposed to put into the textblock, instead of Id, since they are all string values, not custom classes.
Also it complains not having to find the PersonNames when I have it inside MainPage, as MainPage.PersonNames.
I set the data context to:
DataContext="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self}}"
I am doing it wrong?

If simply put that your ItemsSource is bound like this:
YourListBox.ItemsSource = new List<String> { "One", "Two", "Three" };
Your XAML should look like:
<ListBox Margin="20" Name="YourListBox">
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding}" />
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
Update:
This is a solution when using a DataContext. Following code is the viewmodel you will be passing to the DataContext of the page and the setting of the DataContext:
public class MyViewModel
{
public List<String> Items
{
get { return new List<String> { "One", "Two", "Three" }; }
}
}
//This can be done in the Loaded event of the page:
DataContext = new MyViewModel();
Your XAML now looks like this:
<ListBox Margin="20" ItemsSource="{Binding Items}">
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding}" />
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
The advantage of this approach is that you can put a lot more properties or complex objects in the MyViewModel class and extract them in the XAML. For example to pass a List of Person objects:
public class ViewModel
{
public List<Person> Items
{
get
{
return new List<Person>
{
new Person { Name = "P1", Age = 1 },
new Person { Name = "P2", Age = 2 }
};
}
}
}
public class Person
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public int Age { get; set; }
}
And the XAML:
<ListBox Margin="20" ItemsSource="{Binding Items}">
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Name}" />
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Age}" />
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>

You should show us the code for PersonNames, and I am not sure I understand your question, but maybe you want to bind it like this:
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=.}"/>
or
<TextBlock Text="{Binding}"/>
This will bind to the current element in the list (assuming PersonNames is a list of strings). Otherwise, you will see the class name in the list.

If the items source is enumerable as string-entries, use the following:
<TextBlock Text="{Binding}"></TextBlock>
You can use this syntax on any object. Generally, the ToString() -method will then called to get the value. This is in many cases very handy. But beware that no change notification will occur.

You can do this without having to explicitly define the TextBlock control as a part of your ListBox (unless you want better formatting). The trick to getting the binding to trigger is using an ObservableCollection<string> instead of List<string>
Window1.xaml
<ListView Width="250" Height="50" ItemsSource="{Binding MyListViewBinding}"/>
Window1.xaml.cs
public Window1()
{
InitializeComponent();
DataContext = this;
// Need to initialize this, otherwise you get a null exception
MyListViewBinding = new ObservableCollection<string>();
}
public ObservableCollection<string> MyListViewBinding { get; set; }
// Add an item to the list
private void Button_Click_Add(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
// Custom control for entering a single string
SingleEntryDialog _Dlg = new SingleEntryDialog();
// OutputBox is a string property of the custom control
if ((bool)_Dlg.ShowDialog())
MyListViewBinding.Add(_Dlg.OutputBox.Trim());
}