Develop Reference

Dependency Property assigned with value binding does not work

I have a usercontrol with a dependency property.
public sealed partial class PenMenu : UserControl, INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
{
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
public bool ExpandCollapse
{
get
{
return false;
}
set
{
//code
}
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty ExpandCollapseProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("ExpandCollapse", typeof(bool), typeof(PenMenu), null);
//some more code
}
And I am assigning value in XAML page as:
<Controls:PenMenu x:Name="penMenu" Opened="Menu_Opened"
ExpandCollapse="{Binding PenMenuVisible}" />
But it is not hitting GET-SET part of ExpandCollapse property in the usercontrol.
So I added bool to bool converter just to check what value is being passed with binding like:
<Controls:PenMenu x:Name="penMenu" Opened="Menu_Opened"
ExpandCollapse="{Binding PenMenuVisible, Converter={StaticResource booleanToBooleanConverter}}" />
And with breakpoint in Converter, I see the value being passed is correct.
What is the possible reason it's not assigned to the Dependency Property?
Also in XAML page if I say:
<Controls:PenMenu x:Name="penMenu" Opened="Menu_Opened"
ExpandCollapse="true"/>
then it hits the GET-SET part of ExpandCollapse property in the usercontrol.
I am stuck. This is weird. Please help.

It's frustrating isn't it? First, include a changed event handler. Like this:
public string Title
{
get { return (string)GetValue(TitleProperty); }
set { SetValue(TitleProperty, value); }
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty TitleProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("Title", typeof(string),
typeof(MyControl), new PropertyMetadata(string.Empty, Changed));
private static void Changed(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
var c = d as MyControl;
// now, do something
}
Then, please read this article so you see there are more gotchas than just that one: http://blog.jerrynixon.com/2013/07/solved-two-way-binding-inside-user.html
Best of luck!

The getter and setter of a dependency property are not guaranteed to be run, and in particular the WPF binding engine / XAML processor is documented to bypass these. Have a look on MSDN - the getter/setter should just be a wrapper around GetValue/SetValue on the DependencyProperty itself.
Instead of reacting in the setter of your property, you should add a property changed handler in the original call to DependencyProperty.Register, when you can act on the new value.
(see other questions).

"Bindable Method" with OneWayToSource mode

I need to write a custom control that looks like a TextBox and that contains a method called Refresh() which main purpose will be to clear the Text and to roll back few other values.
The method shall become bindable somehow so that others can bind a property from their ViewModel with it. Hence why I am thinking that inside my custom control I will need an dependency property of type Action.
So far so logical but next problem is the method/dp may no get overriden on control side once users sets a two way binding on it. Basically I always have to deliver the method wrapper as Action to ViewModel and inside ViewModel other users may call it.
How do I do all this? It seems to me that I have to somehow get the binding of the method work like OneWayToSource.
I apologize in case its a duplicate. Futhermore thanks in advance guys.
EDIT: Please no alternative solutions. Those are the requirements and I have to stick to them.

I think that the simplest thing you can do here is to expose a bool property, maybe called IsCleared, and just call your method from that property when it becomes true. Exposing ICommand and/or delegate objects transfers the functionality out of your control, so you can't use those.
#ninjahedgehog, why can't you use a bool 'switch' property? Your requirement says 'so that others can bind a property from their ViewModel with it'... they can bind to a bool property from their view model. In my opinion, it seems to be your only option. As I said earlier, you can't use ICommand and/or delegate objects as that would transfer the functionality out of your control - that would enable other developers to write their own functionality rather than to just call yours.
What you really want is a method on your control that they could call from their view model... but view models shouldn't have any knowledge about the view controls, so you can't do that. The next best thing to that is creating a method that is called when a property is given a certain value. Here you have a few choices.
If you really don't like the bool switch idea, then how about an enum property? Create an enum with specific values like ClearText and whatever other functionality you would like to expose. Then the other developers simply set this property to the relevant instance to instantiate that functionality... I only suggested the bool switch property because it seems as if you only want to expose one piece of functionality.
One last point to note about using the bool switch property... as it is a switch, you need to reset it after use, or just never actually set it:
public bool IsTextClear
{
get { if (value) ClearText(); }
}

I dont know why you need this coz the person who is using your control can directly call the method from the code behind. But if you want that there should be some property like ClearMe on control and when set to true it should clear the control then you can define the dependency property and listen to its change in control like below and call Refresh from there.
public static readonly DependencyProperty ClearMeProperty = DependencyProperty.Register
(
"ClearMe",
typeof(bool),
typeof(MyControl),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(false, OnClearMeChanged)
);
public bool ClearMe
{
get { return (bool)GetValue(ClearMeProperty); }
set { SetValue(ClearMeProperty, value); }
}
private static void OnClearMeChanged(object sender, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
var control = sender as MyControl;
if((bool)e.NewValue)
{
control.Refresh()
}
}
and you can bind this property to your ViewModel property. whenever ViewModel property will change to true. Property Change will be fired in control and will refersh it.

I editted my answer, as I wasn't understanding what you wanted. The only way I could come up with to do what you want was to use an Action DependencyProperty on the CustomControl and bind that to the ViewModel using a OneWayToSource binding, that way the Action from the control gets sent to the viewmodel. Within your customcontrol, you can test to make sure that only OneWayToSource binding is used and do something if not.. in this case, I add some text and made the background red.
View
<UserControl x:Class="WpfApplication1.Views.TestView"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:vm="clr-namespace:WpfApplication1.ViewModels"
xmlns:controls="clr-namespace:WpfApplication1.Controls">
<UserControl.Resources>
<vm:TestViewModel x:Key="TestViewModel" />
</UserControl.Resources>
<StackPanel DataContext="{StaticResource TestViewModel}">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal" Height="30">
<controls:CustomTextBox Width="300" Refresh="{Binding RefreshAction, Mode=OneWayToSource}" />
<Button Content="Refresh" Width="80" Command="{Binding RefreshFromView}" />
</StackPanel>
</StackPanel>
ViewModel
using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
namespace WpfApplication1.ViewModels
{
public class TestViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public TestViewModel()
{
RefreshFromView = new RelayCommand(ExecuteRefreshFromView);
}
public Action RefreshAction { get; set; }
public RelayCommand RefreshFromView { get; set; }
private void ExecuteRefreshFromView(object parameter)
{
if (RefreshAction != null)
RefreshAction();
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private void NotifyOfPropertyChange(string propertyName)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
}
Custom Control
using System;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Data;
using System.Windows.Media;
namespace WpfApplication1.Controls
{
public class CustomTextBox : TextBox
{
public CustomTextBox()
{
this.Loaded += CustomTextBox_Loaded;
}
void CustomTextBox_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
BindingExpression bindingExpression = GetBindingExpression(RefreshProperty);
BindingMode mode = bindingExpression.ParentBinding.Mode;
if (mode != BindingMode.OneWayToSource)
{
Text = "Use OneWayToSource Binding only!";
Background = new SolidColorBrush(Colors.Red);
}
Refresh = new Action(DoRefresh);
}
private void DoRefresh()
{
Text = null;
}
public Action Refresh
{
get { return (Action)GetValue(RefreshProperty); }
set { SetValue(RefreshProperty, value); }
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty RefreshProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("Refresh", typeof(Action), typeof(CustomTextBox));
}
}

You could use a Command:
public class Command : ICommand
{
public void Execute(object parameter)
{
// Do whatever you have to do
}
public bool CanExecute(object parameter)
{
return true;
}
public event EventHandler CanExecuteChanged;
}
In your ViewModel:
public ICommand Command { get; set; }
In your XAML (assuming that your Custom Control is composed of a TextBox and a Button for example):
<Button Click="{Binding Command}" />

How to modify inner control property by setting container control dependency property?

I am creating a control in WPF which have inside a label and I have created a dependency property in order to modify the label's visibility property.
My problem is that I cant find a way to change my label's visibility property at the same time my dependency property is assigned.
My code is as below:
public static readonly DependencyProperty captionVisibleProperty = DependencyProperty.Register(
"CaptionVisible",
typeof(bool),
typeof(MyCustomControl));
public bool CaptionVisible
{
get
{
return (bool)GetValue(captionVisibleProperty);
}
set
{
SetValue(captionVisibleProperty, value);
ShowCaption();
}
}
private void ShowCaption()
{
if (CaptionVisible)
{
captionLabel.Visibility = System.Windows.Visibility.Visible;
}
else
{
captionLabel.Visibility = System.Windows.Visibility.Collapsed;
}
}
As you can see I have tried to call my ShowCaption() method when my property is set, but nothing happens.
So, what I am supposed to do in order to get it done?
Hope someone can help me. Thank you in advance.

ShowCaption() shouldn't be necessary. Instead, just bind the label's Visibility property to your CaptionVisible property in xaml. It's also best to follow the Model-View-ViewModel design pattern for keeping your code organized. This means putting the logic for controlling your user interface (the View) in separate ViewModel classes, and then assigning ViewModel to that View's DataContext property.
That will make the binding a lot easier. Referencing properties that belong to user interface elements can sometimes be a bit of a hassle in WPF. By contract, WPF's bindings system was specifically designed to make it easy to get at the contents of a user interface element's DataContext.
You'll also need to use the handy-dandy BooleanToVisiblityConverter to make the binding work, since the Visibility property's type isn't bool. I like to put it in in the window's (or control's) resource dictionary for easy access:
<Window.Resources>
<BooleanToVisibilityConverter x:Key="BooleanToVisibilityConverter"/>
</Window.Resources>
<Label Visibility="{Binding Path=CaptionVisible,
Converter={StaticResource BooleanToVisibilityConverter}}">
<!-- label content -->
</Label>
As a side note, unless CaptionVisible is going to be the target of a binding, making it a dependency property is overkill. In this binding it's only the source, so just implementing INotifyPropertyChanged would be sufficient:
class MyViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected void RaisePropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
var handler = PropertyChanged;
if (handler != null) handler(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
private bool _captionVisible;
public bool CaptionVisible
{
get { return _captionVisible; }
set
{
if(_captionVisible != value)
{
_captionVisible = value;
RaisePropertyChanged("CaptionVisible");
}
}
}
}

I have found a solution to this problem:
If you need to link a nested control dependency property to a container control dependency property you can do this:
public static readonly DependencyProperty captionLabelVisibilityProperty = DependencyProperty.Register(
"CaptionVisibility",
typeof(Visibility),
typeof(MyContainerControl),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(
VisibilityPropertyChangedCallback));
public Visibility CaptionVisibility
{
get
{ return (Visibility)GetValue(captionLabelVisibilityProperty); }
set
{ SetValue(captionLabelVisibilityProperty, value); }
}
private static void VisibilityPropertyChangedCallback(DependencyObject controlInstance, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs args)
{
MyContainerControl myContainerControlInstance = (MyContainerControl)controlInstance;
myContainerControlInstance.myLabel.Visibility = (Visibility)args.NewValue;
}

FreezableCollection not providing change notification when sub properties change

I have a FreezableCollection for which I want to monitor the changes to sub properties. Here is a subsection of the code:
public class FieldHeading : DependencyObject
{
public static readonly DependencyProperty LayoutProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("Layout", typeof(FieldHeadingLayout), typeof(FieldHeading),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(FieldHeadingLayout.Above,
FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.AffectsRender |
FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.AffectsMeasure |
FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.AffectsParentMeasure));
public FieldHeadingLayout Layout
{
get { return (FieldHeadingLayout) GetValue(LayoutProperty); }
set { SetValue(LayoutProperty, value); }
}
}
public class FieldPanel : FrameworkElement
{
private static readonly DependencyProperty FieldHeadingProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("FieldHeading", typeof(FreezableCollection<FieldHeading>), typeof(FieldPanel),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(null,
FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.AffectsMeasure |
FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.AffectsParentMeasure |
FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.AffectsRender, HeadingChanged));
private static void HeadingChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
Debug.WriteLine("Hello");
}
public FreezableCollection<FieldHeading> FieldHeadings
{
get
{ return (FreezableCollection<FieldHeading>) GetValue(FieldHeadingProperty); }
set { SetValue(FieldHeadingProperty, value);}
}
public FieldPanel()
{
AddVisual(_contentVisual = new DrawingVisual());
FieldHeadings = new FreezableCollection<FieldHeading>();
}
}
Then we assign a new value to Layout for one of the FieldHeadings, no change notification is generated. Obviously I'm missing something important. HeadingChanged is never called.
The MSDN help on FreezableCollection, which can be found here: FreezableCollection, states:
Event changed... Occurs when the Freezable or an object it contains is modified. (Inherited from Freezable.)
Thanks in advance for any help.
~ Cameron

Actually, you can do what you're trying to do. This is exactly why FreezableCollection<T> exists! All you need to do is change FieldHeading to derive from Freezable instead of DependencyObject and changes to items in the collection will give the same change notification as if the entire item had been replaced.
This is an incredibly useful and little-known WPF feature.
From Charles Petzold himself,
These freezable collection classes fire change notifications whenever items are added to or removed from the collection, of course, but also when a dependency property of any item within the collection changes. This is an extremely powerful mechanism.
Here is a small sample that demonstrates how to use FreezableCollection<>. I made a new WPF project in Visual Studio. Here is the XAML for MainWindow.xaml.cs and its C# code behind:
<Window x:Class="FreezableCollection.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:FreezableCollection"
x:Name="Root"
Title="MainWindow" Height="450" Width="800">
<Window.Resources>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type local:MyFreezable}">
<CheckBox IsChecked="{Binding IsNice}" Content="Check me!"/>
</DataTemplate>
</Window.Resources>
<Grid>
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding ElementName=Root, Path=MyFreezables}" />
</Grid>
</Window>
using System.Windows;
namespace FreezableCollection
{
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public static readonly DependencyProperty MyFreezablesProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("MyFreezables", typeof(MyFreezableCollection), typeof(MainWindow), new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(null, FreezablesChangedCallback));
public MyFreezableCollection MyFreezables
{
get => (MyFreezableCollection)GetValue(MyFreezablesProperty);
set => SetValue(MyFreezablesProperty, value);
}
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
MyFreezables = new MyFreezableCollection { new MyFreezable() };
}
private static void FreezablesChangedCallback(object sender, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs args)
{
MessageBox.Show("Changed!");
}
}
public class MyFreezableCollection : FreezableCollection<MyFreezable>
{
protected override Freezable CreateInstanceCore() => new MyFreezableCollection();
}
public class MyFreezable : Freezable
{
public static readonly DependencyProperty IsNiceProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("IsNice", typeof(bool), typeof(MyFreezable), new PropertyMetadata(false));
public bool IsNice
{
get => (bool)GetValue(IsNiceProperty);
set => SetValue(IsNiceProperty, value);
}
protected override Freezable CreateInstanceCore() => new MyFreezable();
}
}
The sample displays a list containing a single CheckBox. Click on it to toggle the IsNice property on an item in the data-bound MyFreezableCollection. Even though nothing is added to or removed from the list, the dependency property change callback is invoked.

The change notification handler will only notify you when the value of the property changes, so in this case if the freezable collection changes to a new collection. In your property changed handler you need to subscribe to the CollectionChanged event and in that event you need to subscribe to the PropertyChanged event on the new item. Now, finally, you have an event that will allow you to react to changes in properties of items belonging to a freezable collection that is a dependency property. Remember to unsubscribe to the old collection's and old item's events.

The thing is that you subscribe only for the FieldHeadings property changes, meaning you will receive notifications only if someone assigns a new instance of the collection itself, using, for example, the FeildHedings property setter.
In order to receive notifications when the Layout property changes, you have to subscribe to it on each individual instance of FieldHeading.

Wrapped WPF Control

I'm trying to create a GUI (WPF) Library where each (custom) control basically wraps an internal (third party) control. Then, I'm manually exposing each property (not all of them, but almost). In XAML the resulting control is pretty straightforward:
<my:CustomButton Content="ClickMe" />
And the code behind is quite simple as well:
public class CustomButton : Control
{
private MyThirdPartyButton _button = null;
static CustomButton()
{
DefaultStyleKeyProperty.OverrideMetadata(typeof(CustomButton), new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(typeof(CustomButton)));
}
public CustomButton()
{
_button = new MyThirdPartyButton();
this.AddVisualChild(_button);
}
protected override int VisualChildrenCount
{
get
{ return _button == null ? 0 : 1; }
}
protected override Visual GetVisualChild(int index)
{
if (_button == null)
{
throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException();
}
return _button;
}
#region Property: Content
public Object Content
{
get { return GetValue(ContentProperty); }
set { SetValue(ContentProperty, value); }
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty ContentProperty = DependencyProperty.Register(
"Content", typeof(Object),
typeof(CustomButton),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(new PropertyChangedCallback(ChangeContent))
);
private static void ChangeContent(DependencyObject source, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
(source as CustomButton).UpdateContent(e.NewValue);
}
private void UpdateContent(Object sel)
{
_button.Content = sel;
}
#endregion
}
The problem comes after we expose MyThirdPartyButton as a property (in case we don't expose something, we would like to give the programmer the means to use it directly). By simply creating the property, like this:
public MyThirdPartyButton InternalControl
{
get { return _button; }
set
{
if (_button != value)
{
this.RemoveVisualChild(_button);
_button = value;
this.AddVisualChild(_button);
}
}
}
The resulting XAML would be this:
<my:CustomButton>
<my:CustomButton.InternalControl>
<thirdparty:MyThirdPartyButton Content="ClickMe" />
</my:CustomButton.InternalControl>
And what I'm looking for, is something like this:
<my:CustomButton>
<my:CustomButton.InternalControl Content="ClickMe" />
But (with the code I have) its impossible to add attributes to InternalControl...
Any ideas/suggestions?
Thanks a lot,
--
Robert

WPF's animation system has the ability to set sub-properties of objects, but the XAML parser does not.
Two workarounds:
In the InternalControl property setter, take the value passed in and iterate through its DependencyProperties copying them to your actual InternalControl.
Use a build event to programmatically create attached properties for all internal control properties.
I'll explain each of these in turn.
Setting properties using the property setter
This solution will not result in the simplified syntax you desire, but it is simple to implement and will probably solve the main problem with is, how to merge values set on your container control with values set on the internal control.
For this solution you continue to use the XAML you didn't like:
<my:CustomButton Something="Abc">
<my:CustomButton.InternalControl>
<thirdparty:MyThirdPartyButton Content="ClickMe" />
</my:CustomButton.InternalControl>
but you don't actually end up replacing your InternalControl.
To do this, your InternalControl's setter would be:
public InternalControl InternalControl
{
get { return _internalControl; }
set
{
var enumerator = value.GetLocalValueEnumerator();
while(enumerator.MoveNext())
{
var entry = enumerator.Current as LocalValueEntry;
_internalControl.SetValue(entry.Property, entry.Value);
}
}
}
You may need some additional logic to exclude DPs not publically visible or that are set by default. This can actually be handled easily by creating a dummy object in the static constructor and making a list of DPs that have local values by default.
Using a build event to create attached properties
This solution allows you to write very pretty XAML:
<my:CustomButton Something="Abc"
my:ThirdPartyButtonProperty.Content="ClickMe" />
The implementation is to automatically create the ThirdPartyButtonProperty class in a build event. The build event will use CodeDOM to construct attached properties for each property declared in ThirdPartyButton that isn't already mirrored in CustomButton. In each case, the PropertyChangedCallback for the attached property will copy the value into the corresponding property of InternalControl:
public class ThirdPartyButtonProperty
{
public static object GetContent(...
public static void SetContent(...
public static readonly DependencyProperty ContentProperty = DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached("Content", typeof(object), typeof(ThirdPartyButtonProperty), new PropertyMetadata
{
PropertyChangedCallback = (obj, e) =>
{
((CustomButton)obj).InternalControl.Content = (object)e.NewValue;
}
});
}
This part of the implementation is straightforward: The tricky part is creating the MSBuild task, referencing it from your .csproj, and sequencing it so that it runs after the precompile of my:CustomButton so it can see what additional properties it needs to add.