Develop Reference

Binding Enable Property to BindingGroup.IsDirty

I have got a View who's DataContext is set to an Employee.
Further, the view uses a BindingGroup and Validation Rules.
At last the view has got 2 Buttons: Save and Cancel
Save: Validate the users input and in case of success, save the changes.
Cancel: Rollback the user input and restore the original values.
Until this point it works fine.
Now the last requirement and the problem:
For a better User Experience i would like to enable the save Button when the user begins to change data.
To achieve this, I bind the IsDirty Property of the BindingGroup to the Enabled Property of the Button.
Unfortunately it doesn't work. The binding seems to be correct, but the user interface does not recognize the change of IsDirty.
Who can i solve this problem?
My Model:
public class EmployeeModel:ModelBase
{
private int _nr;
private string _firstname;
private string _lastname;
public int Nr
{
get
{
return _nr;
}
set
{
_nr = value;
OnChanged(nameof(Nr));
}
}
public string Firstname
{
get
{
return _firstname;
}
set
{
_firstname = value;
OnChanged(nameof(Firstname));
}
}
public string Lastname
{
get
{
return _lastname;
}
set
{
_lastname = value;
OnChanged(nameof(Lastname));
}
}
}
ModelBase:
public class ModelBase:INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected void OnChanged(string propertyname)
{
PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyname));
}
}
ValidationRule:
public class EmployeeValidationRule:ValidationRule
{
public override ValidationResult Validate(object value, CultureInfo cultureInfo)
{
BindingGroup bindingGroup = (BindingGroup)value;
if (bindingGroup.Items.Count == 2)
{
EmployeeModel employee = (EmployeeModel)bindingGroup.Items[1];
string firstname = (string)bindingGroup.GetValue(employee, "Firstname");
string lastname = (string)bindingGroup.GetValue(employee, "Lastname");
if (firstname.Length == 0)
return new ValidationResult(false, "Firstname can not be empty.");
if (lastname.Length == 0)
return new ValidationResult(false, "Lastname can not be empty.");
}
return ValidationResult.ValidResult;
}
}
My ViewModel:
public class EmployeeViewModel
{
private EmployeeModel _employeeModel;
public EmployeeModel Employee
{
get
{
return _employeeModel;
}
set
{
_employeeModel = value;
}
}
public EmployeeViewModel()
{
LoadData();
}
private void LoadData()
{
//Employee = (from e in _context.Employee
// where e.Nr == 158
// select e).FirstOrDefault();
Employee = new EmployeeModel() { Firstname = "Billy", Lastname = "Wilder" };
}
public void Save()
{
//_context.SaveChanges();
}
}
At last the View:
<Window x:Class="WpfApplication3_Validation.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"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:WpfApplication3_Validation"
xmlns:vm="clr-namespace:WpfApplication3_Validation.ViewModel"
xmlns:vr="clr-namespace:WpfApplication3_Validation.ValidationRules"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Title="Employee" Height="250" Width="525"
Validation.ValidationAdornerSite="{Binding ElementName=lbErrors}" Loaded="Window_Loaded">
<Window.DataContext>
<vm:EmployeeViewModel/>
</Window.DataContext>
<Window.BindingGroup>
<BindingGroup x:Name="MyBindingGroup">
<BindingGroup.ValidationRules>
<vr:EmployeeValidationRule/>
</BindingGroup.ValidationRules>
</BindingGroup>
</Window.BindingGroup>
<Grid x:Name="gridMain">
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition/>
<ColumnDefinition/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition/>
<RowDefinition/>
<RowDefinition/>
<RowDefinition/>
<RowDefinition/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Label Content="Nr:"/>
<TextBlock Grid.Column="1" Text="{Binding Employee.Nr}"/>
<Label Grid.Row="1" Content="Vorname:" Target="{Binding ElementName=tbFirstname}"/>
<TextBox Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="1" x:Name="tbFirstname" Text="{Binding Employee.Firstname}"/>
<Label Grid.Row="2" Content="Nachname:" Target="{Binding ElementName=tbLastname}"/>
<TextBox Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="1" x:Name="tbLastname" Text="{Binding Employee.Lastname}"/>
<Label Grid.Row="4" Grid.Column="0" x:Name="lbErrors" Content="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self}, Path=(Validation.ValidationAdornerSiteFor).(Validation.Errors)[0].ErrorContent}"
Foreground="Red" FontWeight="Bold"/>
<StackPanel Grid.Row="4" Grid.Column="1" Orientation="Horizontal" HorizontalAlignment="Right">
<TextBlock x:Name="tbIsDirty"/>
<Button x:Name="btn1" Content="IsDirty?" Click="btn1_Click"/>
<Button x:Name="btnSave" Content="Save1" Click="btnSave_Click" />
<Button x:Name="btnSave1" Content="Save2" Click="btnSave_Click" IsEnabled="{Binding ElementName=MyBindingGroup, Path=IsDirty}"/>
<Button x:Name="btnCancel" Content="Cancel" Click="btnCancel_Click"/>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
Code Behind:
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void Window_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
this.MyBindingGroup.BeginEdit(); // Not really needed?
}
private void btnSave_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
if (this.BindingGroup.CommitEdit())
{
EmployeeViewModel vm = (EmployeeViewModel)this.DataContext;
vm.Save();
}
}
private void btnCancel_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
this.BindingGroup.CancelEdit();
}
private void btn1_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
tbIsDirty.Text = BindingGroup.IsDirty.ToString();
}
}

Due to the fact that BindingGroup.IsDirty does not Implement INotifyPropertyChanged, it's not a useful source for this type of databinding.
Possible solution:
- Implementing INotifyPropertyChanged in the view
- Creating a own IsDirty in the view, using INotifyPropertyChanged
- Adding an event handler for KeyUp, which sets my IsDirty in case of BindingGroup.IsDirty.
- Binding of Enabled to the new Property
Disadvantage: Need if implementation of INotifyPropertyChanged in the view.
Advantage: It works.
CodeBehind of View:
public partial class MainWindow : Window, INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected void OnChanged(string propertyname)
{
PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyname));
}
private bool _isDirty;
public bool IsDirty
{
get
{
return _isDirty;
}
set
{
_isDirty = value;
OnChanged(nameof(IsDirty));
}
}
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void Window_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
this.MyBindingGroup.BeginEdit(); // Not really needed?
gridMain.KeyUp += GridMain_KeyUp;
}
private void GridMain_KeyUp(object sender, System.Windows.Input.KeyEventArgs e)
{
if (this.MyBindingGroup.IsDirty)
{
IsDirty = true;
}
}
private void btnSave_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
if (this.BindingGroup.CommitEdit())
{
EmployeeViewModel vm = (EmployeeViewModel)this.DataContext;
vm.Save();
IsDirty = false;
}
}
private void btnCancel_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
this.BindingGroup.CancelEdit();
IsDirty = false;
}
}
Further improvements:
Now i moved IsDirty to my ViewModel, so I don't have to implement INPC in the view. Another advantage is, that in this way, Commands can consume the property and finally i don't have to use databinding for the enabled Property, because i get it over the command.

How to bind with Mode=OneWay and only propagate changes back on save?

Question
How can I make it so that changes to a note are only propagated back to the list, when the Save button is clicked instead on "lost focus"?
And the Save button should only be enabled when the note has been changed.
UI
The example application looks like this:
The current behaviour is:
Clicking on a note puts its text into the TextBox; that's fine.
The changed text from the TextBox gets written back to the list when the TextBox loses the focus (default binding behaviour); but I only want that to happend when the Save button is clicked.
The Save button is always activated because the CanExecute(object parameter) isn't correctly implemented yet; it should only get activated when the TextBox text is different from the selected note's text.
My research so far
Option 1: Some Internet sources say to bind a different property to the TextBox and to programmatically check whether it is different from the SelectedItem of the ListView. I would have hoped that there was a way without introducing a third property in addition to the already existing ListOfNotes and SelectedNote.
Option 2: Some Internet sources recommend to configure Mode=OneWay so that clicking an item in the ListView updates the TextBox, but not the other way around. This sounds like the solution I would prefer, but I wasn't able to figure out from the code examples how to raise an event programmatically so that the change in the TextBox gets written back to the ListView when the Save button is clicked.
I've found other Stackoverflow questions that seem to be similar to mine, but the answers to those haven't helped me fix the problem:
WPF databinding after Save button click
Code
This example currently does two-way binding on focus lost. How do I need to change it to get the above described behaviour?
https://github.com/lernkurve/WpfBindingOneWayWithSaveButton
MainWindow.xaml
<Window x:Class="WpfBindingOneWayWithSaveButton.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"
xmlns:wpfBindingOneWayWithSaveButton="clr-namespace:WpfBindingOneWayWithSaveButton"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Title="MainWindow" Height="188.636" Width="299.242">
<Window.DataContext>
<wpfBindingOneWayWithSaveButton:MainWindowsViewModel />
</Window.DataContext>
<Grid>
<GroupBox Header="List of notes" HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" Height="112" Width="129" Margin="0,24,0,0">
<ListView ItemsSource="{Binding ListOfNotes}" SelectedItem="{Binding SelectedNote}" DisplayMemberPath="Text" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="79" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="119" Margin="0,10,-2,0"/>
</GroupBox>
<GroupBox Header="Change selected note" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="134,24,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Height="112" Width="151">
<Grid HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="89" Margin="0,0,-2,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="141">
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="40*"/>
<ColumnDefinition Width="101*"/>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<TextBox Text="{Binding SelectedNote.Text}" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="23" TextWrapping="Wrap" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="121" Margin="10,7,0,0" Grid.ColumnSpan="2"/>
<Button Command="{Binding SaveCommand}" Content="Save" HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="121" Margin="10,35,0,0" Grid.ColumnSpan="2"/>
</Grid>
</GroupBox>
</Grid>
</Window>
MainWindowsViewModel.cs
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
using System.Windows.Input;
namespace WpfBindingOneWayWithSaveButton
{
public class MainWindowsViewModel
{
public ObservableCollection<Note> ListOfNotes { get; set; }
public Note SelectedNote { get; set; }
public ICommand SaveCommand { get; set; }
public MainWindowsViewModel()
{
ListOfNotes = new ObservableCollection<Note>
{
new Note { Text = "Note 1" },
new Note { Text = "Note 2" }
};
SaveCommand = new SaveCommand(this);
}
}
}
SaveCommand.cs
using System;
using System.Windows.Input;
namespace WpfBindingOneWayWithSaveButton
{
public class SaveCommand : ICommand
{
private MainWindowsViewModel vm;
public SaveCommand(MainWindowsViewModel vm)
{
this.vm = vm;
}
public bool CanExecute(object parameter)
{
// What should go here?
return true;
// Pseudo code
// return (is the TextBox text different from the original note text)
}
public void Execute(object parameter)
{
// What should go here?
// Pseudo code
// Let WPF know that the TextBox text has changed
// Invoke the binding so it propagates the TextBox text back to the list
}
public event EventHandler CanExecuteChanged;
}
}
Note.cs
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
namespace WpfBindingOneWayWithSaveButton
{
public class Note : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private string text;
public string Text
{
get { return text; }
set
{
text = value;
OnPropertyChanged();
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = null)
{
PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
}

Bind the text to the CommandParameter of the SaveButton so it gets passed to the Save method for updating.
<TextBox x:Name="NoteTextBox" Text="{Binding SelectedNote.Text, Mode=OneTime}" ../>
<Button Command="{Binding SaveCommand}"
CommandParameter="{Binding ElementName=NoteTextBox, Path=Text}",
Content="Save" />
and
public bool CanExecute(object parameter)
{
return vm.SelectedNote.Text != parameter as string;
}
public void Execute(object parameter)
{
vm.SelectedNote.Text = parameter as string;
}

Option one is the easiest to implement, you will need to clone the Note object and set it to a separate property.
in your xaml, change your list view to the following so it now binds the SelectedIndex instead of the SelectedItem.
<ListView ItemsSource="{Binding ListOfNotes}" SelectedIndex="{Binding SelectedIndex}" DisplayMemberPath="Text" ...
And change TextBox to the following so it updates the binding as you type
<TextBox Text="{Binding Path=SelectedNote.Text, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}" HorizontalAlignment="Left" ...
In Note.cs we add the Clone() method.
public class Note : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public Note Clone()
{
return new Note()
{
Text = this.Text
};
}
//... The rest stays the same
}
In MainWindowsViewModel.cs we add new properties for the SelectedIndex and clone the object when we detect a index has changed. We also need to add INotifyPropertyChanged so we can update the SelectedNote from the codebehind when we do the Clone()
public class MainWindowsViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private int _selectedIndex = -1;
private Note _selectedNote;
public int SelectedIndex
{
get { return _selectedIndex; }
set
{
if (_selectedIndex.Equals(value))
return;
_selectedIndex = value;
CloneSelectedNote();
}
}
private void CloneSelectedNote()
{
if (SelectedIndex >= 0)
{
SelectedNote = ListOfNotes[SelectedIndex].Clone();
}
else
{
SelectedNote = null;
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = null)
{
PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
public Note SelectedNote
{
get { return _selectedNote; }
set
{
if(Equals(_selectedNote, value))
return;
_selectedNote = value;
OnPropertyChanged();
}
}
//... The rest stays the same
}
In SaveCommand.cs we add the logic for CanExecute and add the subscriptions to CommandManager.RequerySuggested, this automatically makes it requery the CanExecute any time any binding changes. This can be a little ineffecent, if you wanted to you could expose a RaiseCanExecuteChanged() publicly but it would be MainWindowsViewModel responsibility to call it any time vm.SelectedIndex or vm.SelectedNote.Text changed.
public class SaveCommand : ICommand
{
private MainWindowsViewModel vm;
public SaveCommand(MainWindowsViewModel vm)
{
this.vm = vm;
}
public bool CanExecute(object parameter)
{
if (vm.SelectedIndex < 0 || vm.SelectedNote == null)
return false;
return vm.ListOfNotes[vm.SelectedIndex].Text != vm.SelectedNote.Text;
}
public void Execute(object parameter)
{
vm.ListOfNotes[vm.SelectedIndex] = vm.SelectedNote;
}
public event EventHandler CanExecuteChanged
{
add { CommandManager.RequerySuggested += value; }
remove { CommandManager.RequerySuggested -= value; }
}
}
UPDATE: Here is a updated version that does not use CommandManager
MainWindowsViewModel.cs
public class MainWindowsViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private int _selectedIndex = -1;
private Note _selectedNote;
public int SelectedIndex
{
get { return _selectedIndex; }
set
{
if (_selectedIndex.Equals(value))
return;
_selectedIndex = value;
CloneSelectedNote();
RecheckSaveCommand();
}
}
private void CloneSelectedNote()
{
if (SelectedIndex >= 0)
{
SelectedNote = ListOfNotes[SelectedIndex].Clone();
}
else
{
SelectedNote = null;
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = null)
{
PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
public Note SelectedNote
{
get { return _selectedNote; }
set
{
if(Equals(_selectedNote, value))
return;
if (_selectedNote != null)
{
PropertyChangedEventManager.RemoveHandler(_selectedNote, SelectedNoteTextChanged, nameof(Note.Text));
}
_selectedNote = value;
if (_selectedNote != null)
{
PropertyChangedEventManager.AddHandler(_selectedNote, SelectedNoteTextChanged, nameof(Note.Text));
}
OnPropertyChanged();
}
}
private void SelectedNoteTextChanged(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs propertyChangedEventArgs)
{
RecheckSaveCommand();
}
private void RecheckSaveCommand()
{
var command = this.SaveCommand as WpfBindingOneWayWithSaveButton.SaveCommand; //"this." and "WpfBindingOneWayWithSaveButton." are not necessary but I wanted to be explicit.
if (command != null)
{
command.RaiseCanExecuteChanged();
}
}
//...
}
SaveCommand.cs
public class SaveCommand : ICommand
{
private MainWindowsViewModel vm;
public SaveCommand(MainWindowsViewModel vm)
{
this.vm = vm;
}
public bool CanExecute(object parameter)
{
if (vm.SelectedIndex < 0 || vm.SelectedNote == null)
return false;
return vm.ListOfNotes[vm.SelectedIndex].Text != vm.SelectedNote.Text;
}
public void Execute(object parameter)
{
vm.ListOfNotes[vm.SelectedIndex] = vm.SelectedNote;
}
public event EventHandler CanExecuteChanged;
public void RaiseCanExecuteChanged()
{
CanExecuteChanged?.Invoke(this, EventArgs.Empty);
}
}

You should not use OneWay but rather an UpdateSourceTrigger of value Explicit. BindingGroups can do this for you though, here's a simple example:
<!-- For change observation -->
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Text}"></TextBlock>
<StackPanel>
<StackPanel.BindingGroup>
<BindingGroup x:Name="EditGroup"></BindingGroup>
</StackPanel.BindingGroup>
<TextBox Text="{Binding Text}"></TextBox>
<Button>
<Button.Command>
<local:CommitGroupCommand BindingGroup="{x:Reference EditGroup}"/>
</Button.Command>
Save
</Button>
</StackPanel>
public class CommitGroupCommand : ICommand
{
public BindingGroup BindingGroup { get; set; }
public event EventHandler CanExecuteChanged;
public bool CanExecute(object parameter)
{
return true;
}
public void Execute(object parameter)
{
BindingGroup.UpdateSources();
}
}
(You could add a validation rule to your binding that requires the value to be different and use that for the CanExecute implementation.)
Using this method allows you to bind directly to the object you intend to edit, so you don't need to copy around values first.

Capturing ReorderMode for ListView - WP8.1

I need to know when the ListView comes out of reorder mode. When I long press on the listview, I'm enabling the ReorderMode. After the reordering is done, I press hardware back button and the listview comes out reorder mode. Is there any way to check capture that?
I have tried data binding the ReorderMode property. But it does not capture the ReOrderMode disabled state.
xaml
<ListView x:Name="FolderListView" ItemsSource="{Binding}"
SelectionMode="None"
IsTapEnabled="True"
Tapped="ListItemTapped" AllowDrop="True" CanDragItems="True"
IsSwipeEnabled="True" Holding="OnItemHold"
ReorderMode="{Binding ReorderMode, Mode=TwoWay}">
code-behind
private void OnItemHold(object sender, HoldingRoutedEventArgs e)//Long Press on ListView
{
FolderListView.ReorderMode = ListViewReorderMode.Enabled;
ReorderModeChanged();
}
public ListViewReorderMode ReorderMode
{
get
{
return _reorderMode;
}
set
{
if (_reorderMode != value)
{
_reorderMode = value;
OnPropertyChanged("ReorderMode");
this.ReorderModeChanged();
}
}
}
private void ReorderModeChanged()
{
DBManager dbMan = DBManager.Instance;
if (this.ReorderMode == ListViewReorderMode.Enabled)
{
dbMan.IsReorderEnabled = true;
}
else
{
dbMan.IsReorderEnabled = false;
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
if (this.PropertyChanged != null)
{
this.PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
Any ideas/work arounds?

I think you have wrong DataContext for your ListView. You bind some collection to ListView, but this collection does not have ReorderMode property. You can look for binding errors in Output window while debugging your app.

MouseButtonEventArgs.MouseDevice.DirectlyOver misunderstanding

I was faced with the next misunderstanding.
Preamble:
I have wpf application with next essential UI parts: RadioButtons and some control that use dropdown based on Popup (in combobox manner). According to some logic every radiobutton hook PreviewMouseDown event and do some calculations.
In the next scenario,
User opens popup (do not select something, popup just staying open)
User click on radiobutton
PreviewMouseDown will not be fired for radiobutton as expected (because of Popup feature).
And my aim is firing PreviewMouseDown for RadioButton despite of one.
Attempts to solve:
Fast and dirty solution is: hook PreviewMouseDown for Popup and re-fire PreviewMouseDown event with new source if required, using radiobutton as source. New source can be obtained via MouseButtonEventArgs.MouseDevice.DirectlyOver. The next piece of code do that (event is re-fired only if Popup "eat" PreviewMouseDown for outer click):
private static void GrantedPopupPreviewMouseDown(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)
{
var popup = sender as Popup;
if(popup == null)
return;
var realSource = e.MouseDevice.DirectlyOver as FrameworkElement;
if(realSource == null || !realSource.IsLoaded)
return;
var parent = LayoutTreeHelper.GetParent<Popup>(realSource);
if(parent == null || !Equals(parent, popup ))
{
e.Handled = true;
var args = new MouseButtonEventArgs(e.MouseDevice,
e.Timestamp,
e.ChangedButton)
{
RoutedEvent = UIElement.PreviewMouseDownEvent,
Source = e.MouseDevice.DirectlyOver,
};
realSource.RaiseEvent(args);
}
}
This works well when I'm attaching that handler to Popup.PreviewMouseDown directly via Behavior and do not work (PreviewMouseDown isn't fired for radiobutton) if I'm attaching one via EventManager.RegisterClassHandler (aim is to avoid attaching behavior to every Popup that can occure on page with these radiobuttons):
EventManager.RegisterClassHandler(
typeof (Popup),
PreviewMouseDownEvent,
new MouseButtonEventHandler(GrantedPopupPreviewMouseDown));
Debugger showed that e.MouseDevice.DirectlyOver (see code above) is Popup, not Radiobutton (as it is was when I've attached handler via Behavior)!
Question:
How and whyMouseButtonEventArgs can be different for the same action, if eventhandler attached in two different ways?
Can someone explaing this behavior?
Thanks a lot.

The combo box is provided as a way for users to select from a group of options, and you likely want to do that. But it also has other contracts. It says that the user should be focused on this and only this task. But that is not your situation. You want to show the options, have them hide able, and allow the user to do other things while they are shown.
I think instead of combo boxes you want some other control. My suggestion is to use an expander that contains a listbox. Given:
class NotificationObject : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public void RaisePropertyChanged(string name)
{
if(PropertyChanged != null)
{
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(name));
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
}
class ComboEntry : NotificationObject
{
public string Name { get; private set; }
private string _option = "Off";
public string Option
{
get { return _option; }
set { _option = value; RaisePropertyChanged("Option"); }
}
public ComboEntry()
{
Name = Guid.NewGuid().ToString();
}
}
class MyDataContext : NotificationObject
{
public ObservableCollection<ComboEntry> Entries { get; private set; }
private ComboEntry _selectedEntry;
public ComboEntry SelectedEntry
{
get { return _selectedEntry; }
set { _selectedEntry = value; RaisePropertyChanged("SelectedEntry"); }
}
public MyDataContext()
{
Entries = new ObservableCollection<ComboEntry>
{
new ComboEntry(),
new ComboEntry(),
new ComboEntry()
};
SelectedEntry = Entries.FirstOrDefault();
}
public void SetOption(string value)
{
Entries
.ToList()
.ForEach(entry => entry.Option = value);
}
}
I think you want the following XAML:
<Window x:Class="RadioInCombo.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:RadioInCombo"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
<Window.Resources>
<local:MyDataContext x:Key="myDataContext" />
<DataTemplate x:Key="ComboEntryTemplate">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Name}" />
<Border Width="5" />
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Option}" />
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
</Window.Resources>
<StackPanel DataContext="{StaticResource myDataContext}">
<RadioButton x:Name="OnButton"
Content="On"
PreviewMouseDown="OnButton_PreviewMouseDown" />
<RadioButton x:Name="OffButton"
Content="Off"
PreviewMouseDown="OffButton_PreviewMouseDown" />
<Expander Header="{Binding SelectedEntry}"
HeaderTemplate="{StaticResource ComboEntryTemplate}">
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding Entries}"
ItemTemplate="{StaticResource ComboEntryTemplate}" />
</Expander>
</StackPanel>
</Window>
And the following code-behind:
private MyDataContext GetMyDataContext()
{
var candidate = FindResource("myDataContext") as MyDataContext;
if (candidate == null) throw new ApplicationException("Could not locate the myDataContext object");
return candidate;
}
private void OnButton_PreviewMouseDown(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)
{
GetMyDataContext().SetOption("On");
}
private void OffButton_PreviewMouseDown(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)
{
GetMyDataContext().SetOption("Off");
}

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.