Develop Reference

Continuous data update with MVVM

I'm trying to learn the MVVM structure. How can I update a variable that changes constantly in another class in the UI.
I created a simple example because the project codes are too much. But I failed.
I would be very grateful if you could tell me where I went wrong. Thanks.
MyModel
public class Temperature : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private double _memsTemperature;
private double _cpuTemperature;
private double _animalTemperature;
public double MemsTemperature
{
get { return _memsTemperature; }
set
{
_memsTemperature = value;
OnPropertyChanged("MemsTemperature");
}
}
public double CpuTemperature
{
get { return _cpuTemperature; }
set
{
_cpuTemperature = value;
OnPropertyChanged("CpuTemperature");
}
}
public double AnimalTemperature
{
get { return _animalTemperature; }
set
{
_animalTemperature = value;
OnPropertyChanged("AnimalTemperature");
}
}
System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherTimer dispatcherTimer = new System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherTimer();
public Temperature()
{
dispatcherTimer.Tick += DispatcherTimer_Tick;
dispatcherTimer.Interval = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1);
dispatcherTimer.Start();
}
private void DispatcherTimer_Tick(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
MemsTemperature = MemsTemperature + 1;
CpuTemperature = CpuTemperature + 2;
AnimalTemperature = AnimalTemperature + 3;
}
#region INotifyPropertyChanged Members
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
{
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
#endregion
}
MainWindowViewModel
public class MainWindowViewModel
{
public double MemTemp { get; set; }
public MainWindowViewModel()
{
MemTemp = new Temperature().MemsTemperature;
}
}
Main Window Xaml and C# Code
<TextBlock Text="{Binding MemTemp, Mode=TwoWay, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}"/>
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
DataContext = new MainWindowViewModel();
}

The MainWindowViewModel should expose a Temperature property, e.g. like this:
public class MainWindowViewModel
{
public Temperature Temperature { get; } = new Temperature();
}
and the Binding should then look like this:
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Temperature.MemsTemperature}"/>
Neither Mode=TwoWay nor UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged makes sense on the Binding of a TextBlock's Text property.
The OnPropertyChanged method would simpler and safer be implemented like this:
private void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}

You have a XAML page with UI controls that bind to those constantly-changing properties. When you send out the PropertyChanged notifications, the UI control will automatically update itself.
The problem with the code you wrote is that you never bound to the actual temperature. XAML doesn't know how to translate MemTemp into anything other than it's name unless you write a DataTemplate for it.
For example, (assuming a grid) something like this:
<TextBlock Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="0" Text="Animal: "/>
<TextBlock Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="1" Text="{Binding MemTemp.AnimalTemperature}"/>

I would define an explicit worker class which performs the measurements. This class
has an event (OnMeasurement), which can be subscribed in the ViewModel:
// Arguments for the mesurement event (temperature, ...)
public class MeasurementEventArgs : EventArgs
{
public double Temperature { get; }
public MeasurementEventArgs(double temperature)
{
Temperature = temperature;
}
}
public class MeasurementWorker
{
private readonly CancellationTokenSource _tcs = new CancellationTokenSource();
// Provides an event we can subscribe in the view model.
public event Action<object, MeasurementEventArgs> OnMeasurement;
public void Stop()
{
_tcs.Cancel();
}
// Measurement routine. Perform a measurement every second.
public async Task Start()
{
try
{
var rnd = new Random();
while (!_tcs.IsCancellationRequested)
{
var temperature = 20 * rnd.NextDouble();
OnMeasurement?.Invoke(this, new MeasurementEventArgs(temperature));
await Task.Delay(1000, _tcs.Token);
}
}
catch (TaskCanceledException) { }
// TODO: Create an error event to catch exceptions from here.
catch { }
}
}
In your MainWindow class you instantiate your viewmodel and your worker:
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
DataContext = new MainWindowViewModel(new MeasurementWorker());
}
// Register in XAML with <Window ... Closing="StopMeasurement">
public async void StopMeasurement(object sender, System.ComponentModel.CancelEventArgs e)
{
var vm = DataContext as MainWindowViewModel;
await vm.StopMeasurement();
}
}
In your view model you can subscribe to the worker event and raise OnPropertyChanged in your callback function:
public class MainWindowViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private double _memsTemperature;
private readonly MeasurementWorker _mw;
private readonly Task _measurementWorkerTask;
public double MemsTemperature
{
get => _memsTemperature;
set
{
_memsTemperature = value;
PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(nameof(MemsTemperature)));
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
public void ProcessMeasurement(object sender, MeasurementEventArgs args)
{
MemsTemperature = args.Temperature;
}
// You can call this if you want to stop your measurement. Should be called if you close your app.
public async Task StopMeasurement()
{
_mw.OnMeasurement -= ProcessMeasurement;
_mw.Stop();
// Clean shutdown
await _measurementWorkerTask;
}
public MainWindowViewModel(MeasurementWorker mw)
{
_mw = mw;
_mw.OnMeasurement += ProcessMeasurement;
_measurementWorkerTask = _mw.Start();
}
}

OnPropertyChanged and instance property

i have a WPF window called Layer_Properties, a WPF window called MainWindow and a MapViewModel.
in the MapViewModel i create an object<Layer_Properties> and i want to observe any changes of a Layer_Properties property called Stops_List in order to refresh a treeview in MainWindow.xaml
class Layer_Properties
public partial class Layer_Properties : Window, INotifyPropertyChanged
{
//Properties
public MainWindow mw = (MainWindow)Application.Current.MainWindow;
private ObservableCollection<Stop> _Stops_List = new ObservableCollection<Stop>();
public ObservableCollection<Stop> Stops_List // property
{
get { return _Stops_List; } // get method
set { _Stops_List = value; } // set method
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
class MapViewModel
public class MapViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public MapViewModel()
{
_activeLayerProperties = new Layer_Properties();
_numberOfStops= _activeLayerProperties.Stops_List.Count;
}
private Map _map;
public MapView _mapView;
public MainWindow mw = (MainWindow)Application.Current.MainWindow;
private ObservableCollection<Layer_Properties> layersPool = new ObservableCollection<Layer_Properties>();
public ObservableCollection<Layer_Properties> LayersPool
{
get { return layersPool; }
set
{
layersPool = value;
OnPropertyChanged(nameof(LayersPool));
}
}
private Layer_Properties _activeLayerProperties;
public Layer_Properties activeLayerProperties
{
get { return _activeLayerProperties; }
set
{
_activeLayerProperties = value;
OnPropertyChanged(nameof(activeLayerProperties.Stops_List));
}
}
private int _numberOfStops;
public int numberOfStops
{
get { return _numberOfStops; }
set
{
_numberOfStops = value;
if(_numberOfStops >0)
{
//Refresh treeview
}
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
/// <summary>
/// Raises the <see cref="MapViewModel.PropertyChanged" /> event
/// </summary>
/// <param name="propertyName">The name of the property that has changed</param>
protected void OnPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = null)
{
var propertyChangedHandler = PropertyChanged;
if (propertyChangedHandler != null)
propertyChangedHandler(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
The logic is as follows;
add all Layer_Properties instances to an ObservableCollection<Layer_Properties> LayersPool.
Copy layer_Properties instance to a _mapViewModel.activeLayerProperties in order to know what is the active instance.
Refresh the treeview everytime Stops_List.Count changes. Any help will be appreciated.

WPF C# PropertyChanged always null

I have played around with this for a while and decided to see if someone can help, I have set in the constructor of StatusInfo the DataContext = this and didn't work. When I write a string to ScreenStatusBarText it does call the OnPropertyChanged method but every time the PropertyChanged value is null. I The status block I have at the bottom of the screen. I have a tab section above this stack panel that has many components that use bindings and work.
Screen Code
<StackPanel Margin="0,1047,0,0">
<Grid Name="StatusBarItemGrid">
<TextBlock Name="StatusBarText" Text="may the force be with you" VerticalAlignment="Center" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" />
</Grid>
</StackPanel>
Data Model:
public partial class StatusInfo : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private string screenStatusBarText;
public StatusInfo()
{
BindScreenStatusBarText();
screenStatusBarText = "Initialized";
}
public string ScreenStatusBarText
{
get { return screenStatusBarText; }
set
{
screenStatusBarText = value;
OnPropertyChanged("StatusBarText");
}
}
private void BindScreenStatusBarText()
{
Binding b = new Binding();
b.Source = screenStatusBarText;
b.Mode = BindingMode.OneWay;
b.UpdateSourceTrigger = UpdateSourceTrigger.PropertyChanged;
b.Path = new PropertyPath("StatusBarText");
MainWindow.mainWindow.StatusBarText.SetBinding(TextBlock.TextProperty, b);
MainWindow.mainWindow.StatusBarText.DataContext = this;
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
void OnPropertyChanged(string propName)
{
if (this.PropertyChanged != null)
this.PropertyChanged(
this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propName));
}
}
My main :
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public static StatusInfo status;
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
SourceInitialized += MainWindow_SourceInitialized;
}
private void MainWindow_SourceInitialized(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
SetUpDisplay();
}
private void SetUpDisplay()
{
status = new StatusInfo();
}
}

Set the Binding in XAML instead of code behind:
<TextBlock Text="{Binding ScreenStatusBarText}" />
And use a view model like
public class StatusInfo : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private string screenStatusBarText = "Initialized";
public string ScreenStatusBarText
{
get { return screenStatusBarText; }
set
{
screenStatusBarText = value;
OnPropertyChanged(nameof(ScreenStatusBarText));
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this,
new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
with an instance of the view model class assigned to the MainWindow's DataContext:
private readonly StatusInfo statusInfo = new StatusInfo();
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
DataContext = statusInfo;
}
You may now access the view model class at any time later, e.g. in an event handler of an element of MainWindow:
statusInfo.ScreenStatusBarText = "Something";

I think your going to struggle doing your binding in code behind.
Having said that, with regards to why your PropertyChanged value is null. You've simply made a typo, as-is you're notifying subscribers that a property that doesn't exist has changed. One solution to avoid such typos is to use nameof.
public string ScreenStatusBarText
{
get { return screenStatusBarText; }
set
{
screenStatusBarText = value;
OnPropertyChanged(nameof(ScreenStatusBarText));
}
}
It occurred to me you may also have meant that your event was null. This simply means you don't have any subscribers. See Why is my "Event" always null?.
private void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
var handler = PropertyChanged;
if (handler != null) // I have a subscriber.
handler(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}

How to bind textbox object to ViewModel

Trying to make my first application with the simple logging function to the TextBox on main form.
To implement logging, I need to get the TextBox object into the logger's class.
Prob - can't do that :) currently have no error, but as I understand the text value of TextBox is binding to my ViewModel, because getting 'null reference' exception trying to execute.
Logger.cs
public class Logger : TextWriter
{
TextBox textBox = ViewModel.LogBox;
public override void Write(char value)
{
base.Write(value);
textBox.Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(new Action(() =>
{
textBox.AppendText(value.ToString());
}));
}
public override Encoding Encoding
{
get { return System.Text.Encoding.UTF8; }
}
}
ViewModel.cs
public class ViewModel
{
public int ThreadCount { get; set; }
public int ProxyTimeout { get; set; }
public static TextBox LogBox { get; set; }
//private TextBox _LogBox;
//public TextBox LogBox {
// get { return _LogBox; }
// set {
// _LogBox = value;
// }
//}
}
launching on btn click, MainWindow.xaml.cs:
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
DataContext = new ViewModel();
}
private void button1_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
Logger logger = new Logger();
logger.Write("ewgewgweg");
}
}
MainWindow.xaml
<Window
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"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:tools"
xmlns:xctk="http://schemas.xceed.com/wpf/xaml/toolkit" x:Class="tools.MainWindow"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Title="Tools" Height="399.387" Width="575.46">
<TextBox x:Name="logBox"
ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Auto"
ScrollViewer.VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="137" Margin="10,222,0,0" TextWrapping="Wrap" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="394" Text="{Binding Path = LogBox, Mode=TwoWay}"/>

You have several issues in your code:
Don't bring controls (TextBox) in your viewmodel, if you do there's no use in trying to do MVVM.
The Text property in XAML has to be of the type String or something that can be converted to a string. You're binding a control, which will result in showing System.Windows.Controls.TextBox (result of .ToString()) on your screen instead of actual text.
Your LogBox property should implement INotifyPropertyChanged
You don't want TwoWay binding, as the text flows from your logger to the UI, you don't need it to flow back. You might even consider using a TextBlock instead or make the control readonly so people can't change the content.
You don't want static properties or static viewmodels, read up on dependency injection on how to pass dependencies.
You will be flooding your UI thread by appending your characters one by one. Consider using another implementation (but I won't go deeper into this for this answer).
Keeping all above in mind, I transformed your code to this.
MainWindow.xaml
<TextBox x:Name="logBox"
HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" Height="137" Margin="10,222,0,0"
TextWrapping="Wrap" Width="394" Text="{Binding Path = LogBox}"/>
MainWindow.xaml.cs
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
private Logger _logger;
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
var viewModel = new ViewModel();
DataContext = viewModel;
_logger = new Logger(viewModel); // passing ViewModel through Dependency Injection
}
private void button1_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
_logger.Write("ewgewgweg");
}
}
ViewModel.cs
public class ViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public int ThreadCount { get; set; }
public int ProxyTimeout { get; set; }
private string _logBox;
public string LogBox
{
get { return _logBox; }
set
{
_logBox = value;
OnPropertyChanged();
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = null)
{
PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
Logger.cs
public class Logger : TextWriter
{
private readonly ViewModel _viewModel;
public Logger(ViewModel viewModel)
{
_viewModel = viewModel;
}
public override void Write(char value)
{
base.Write(value);
_viewModel.LogBox += value;
}
public override Encoding Encoding
{
get { return System.Text.Encoding.UTF8; }
}
}

You can use string instead of TextBox as follow as
In view model class
public class ViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private string _logBox;
public string LogBox
{
get {return _logBox;}
set
{
if(value != _logBox)
{
_logBox=value;
OnPropertyChanged("LogBox");
}
}
}
protected void OnPropertyChanged(string name)
{
PropertyChangedEventHandler handler = PropertyChanged;
if (handler != null)
{
handler(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(name));
}
}
}
and in writer method you just
public void writer (string str)
{
ViewModel.LogBox = str;
}
You can define ViewModel as static or create new object from ViewModel and access the object in logger class as you want!
hope this helped.

DataBinding and Timer in WPF?

I'm gonna write a code with DataBinding and a Timer to change an Image sequentially.
e.g: in each two seconds.
below is my C# code :
public class GenerateRandomImagePath
{
Random random = new Random((int)DateTime.Now.Ticks);
readonly int MinInt;
readonly int MaxInt;
readonly string PrefixImagesName;
readonly string ImageExtension;
/// <summary>
/// Used in data binding
/// </summary>
public string ImageFullPath { get; set; }
public GenerateRandomImagePath(string prefixName, string extension)
{
this.PrefixImagesName = prefixName;
this.MinInt = 1;
this.MaxInt = 100;
this.ImageExtension = extension;
}
int RandomNumber()
{
return random.Next(this.MinInt, this.MaxInt);
}
public void GenerateNewRandomImagePath()
{
this.ImageFullPath = this.PrefixImagesName + RandomNumber() + this.ImageExtension;
}
}
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
GenerateRandomImagePath RandomImagePath;
System.Timers.Timer timer = new System.Timers.Timer(2000);
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
RandomImagePath = new GenerateRandomImagePath(#"C:\Users\MDS\Pictures\Nature 02\Nature ", #".jpg");
timer.Elapsed += new System.Timers.ElapsedEventHandler(timer_Elapsed);
timer.Enabled = true;
this.DataContext = RandomImagePath;
RandomImagePath.GenerateNewRandomImagePath();//this line works well
}
void timer_Elapsed(object sender, System.Timers.ElapsedEventArgs e)
{
RandomImagePath.GenerateNewRandomImagePath();
}
}
The XAML code :
<Window
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"
x:Class="sth.MainWindow"
x:Name="Window"
Title="MainWindow"
Width="800" Height="600" mc:Ignorable="d">
<Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot">
<Image Source="{Binding Path=ImageFullPath}" />
</Grid>
</Window>
The code works just for first time! After that, the timer changes ImageSource but it doesn't effect on view!
Would you please guide me?
Thanks

According to your code, the GenerateRandomImagePath class doesn't implement INotifyPropertyChanged. WPF can't know that the ImageFullPath has changed unless you tell it, either by implementing that interface or by changing the class to derive from DependencyObject and turning the property into a dependency property.
I would suggest implementing INotifyPropertyChanged - it's a more lightweight approach.
public class GenerateRandomImagePath : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName);
}
private string _imageFullPath;
public string ImageFullPath
{
get { return _imageFullPath; }
set
{
_imageFullPath = value;
OnPropertyChanged("ImageFullPath");
}
}
}