Develop Reference

Navigation between page

I'm writing a small WPF app with only 3 pages (for now). I'm using DataTemplate and ContentControl in the main window to display and switch between my pages. (See code sample below). It's working but I have a few concerns:
The DataTemplate use parameterless constructor only. If I add one then It can't find the constructor.
The 'registration' is done in the xaml and I cannot use Dependency Injection to link Views with ViewModels.
Questions:
Is there a way to change that without using third party tool?
If the only good option is to use a tool, which ones should I consider?
<Window.Resources>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type pageViewModels:HomePageViewModel}">
<pageViews:HomePageView />
</DataTemplate>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type pageViewModels:GamePageViewModel}">
<pageViews:GamePageView />
</DataTemplate>
</Window.Resources>
<DockPanel>
<Border DockPanel.Dock="Left" BorderBrush="Black" BorderThickness="0,0,1,0">
<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding PageViewModels}">
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<Button Content="{Binding Name}"
Command="{Binding DataContext.ChangePageCommand, RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type Window}}}"
CommandParameter="{Binding }"
Margin="2,5"/>
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
</ItemsControl>
</Border>
Edit
To clarify, I want to inject a class in the constructor of my viewsModels, but if I do that then the navigation within my application is broken because the dataTemplate is looking for the parameterless constructor.

It looks like my problem has been very well explained in this post.
In short, I need to implement a ViewModelLocator pattern in order to fix all my concerns.

Remove item from itemControls

I'm a beginner in wpf and I'like to know the best practices for handling crud operation on a list a user control.
As the example below, I have create a list of individual and each of them are binding in a user control (mvvm...).
After several search, I have find possibility to uses a 'specific' binding with RelativeSource,FindAncestors etc...
But it seems to me very ugly because, it breaks the principle of inversion of dependency. How to be agnostic of the parent or how to bind from the parent an event/command for delete an item from a list.
Here's the main list
<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding Path=Items, Mode=TwoWay}">
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<components:Individual Content="{Binding }" />
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
</ItemsControl>
And here's the definition of the UserControl
<UserControl:Indivudual>
...
<TextBox Name="Text" Text="{Binding Path=Name, Mode=TwoWay}" Grid.Row="0"/>
<Button Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="2">Delete</Button>
</UserControl>

Windows Phone 8.1 flow container for dynamic buttons

SOF Tribe,
I have a request for the identity of a flow container into which I can pour an indeterminate number of dynamically created XAML buttons. Said buttons should wrap the text as closely as possible (I think I have a template for this). But the buttons should wrap like a gridview, but run like a stackpanel. Does anyone know a container that will allow me to accomplish what the image portrays?
Currently, for the existing image below, I'm using a gridview, but the gridview sets a specific width but does flow unevenly. A stackpanel has the desired end-to-butt style but won't wrap. So, any ideas?

There is what is called the UniversalWrapPanel made by Greg Stoll. So, that's the direction I'll be taking. Now however, I've got the last little bit to tackle. How to get the bound data to respect the parent container's ability to wrap content and not just stack it up in a vertical column.
The below XAML gives me the below image result which is not quite what I want. Statically added buttons work just fine to the UniversalWrapPanel. But trying to get a binding and ItemsSource to work, well, that's beyond me at this time.
<support:UniversalWrapPanel Orientation="Horizontal" Background="White">
<ItemsControl x:Name="GridViewRecipients" ItemsSource="{Binding}">
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<Button Style="{StaticResource ButtonLozengeStyle}" Content="{Binding FullName}"/>
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
</ItemsControl>
</support:UniversalWrapPanel>
OK, so a bit more searching and I found this:
http://www.visuallylocated.com/post/2015/02/20/Creating-a-WrapPanel-for-your-Windows-Runtime-apps.aspx
and so here is the correct way to reference the UniversalWrapPanel within the ItemsControl:
<ItemsControl x:Name="GridViewRecipients" ItemsSource="{Binding}">
<ItemsControl.ItemsPanel>
<ItemsPanelTemplate>
<support:UniversalWrapPanel Orientation="Horizontal" Background="DodgerBlue"/>
</ItemsPanelTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemsPanel>
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<Button Style="{StaticResource ButtonLozengeStyle}" Content="{Binding FullName}"/>
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
</ItemsControl>
For the result of:

Find Index of Item in ItemsControl nested inside a LixtBox.Item

I have an ItemsControl nested inside a ListBox.ItemTemplate. The top ListBox is data-bound to an ObservableCollection. The collection is essentially a Purchase which contains Formulae which in turn contain individual products.
Now, if an individual product inside a formula is clicked, I would like it to be deleted from its formula. So, in the event handler, I should be able to determine the product's position using:
var index = [theItemsControl].ItemContainerGenerator.IndexFromContainer((sender as Button).TemplatedParent);
However, in my event handler, I do not how how to find the containing ItemsControl. I cannot give it a fixed name, since it is itself a part of a ListBox.ItemTemplate, meaning there will be multiple instances.
This is my XAML, stripped of any style-related stuff:
<ListBox x:Name="lbBasketFormulae" ItemsSource="{Binding Path=Purchase.Formulae}">
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<StackPanel Orientation="Vertical">
<!-- Formula Title -->
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<Label Width="30" Content="{Binding Path=Quantity}"></Label>
<Label Content="{Binding Path=FormulaType, Converter={StaticResource formulaTypeToNameConverter}}"></Label>
</StackPanel>
<!-- Formula Products -->
<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding Path=Products}">
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<Button x:Name="bnBasketFormulaProduct" HorizontalContentAlignment="Left" Content="{Binding Path=Name}" Click="bnBasketFormulaProduct_Click">
<Button.Template>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="Button">
<TextBlock Text="{TemplateBinding Content}" />
</ControlTemplate>
</Button.Template>
</Button>
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
</ItemsControl>
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
So, my question is: How do I find the position of my product inside my formula and the position of that formula inside the purchase, so that I can remove it from the ObservableCollection? (Changing the collection should then automatically reflect to the UI since it is data-bound.)
Many thanks in advance for any advice or hints!
Regards,
Chris

It is true that you should be able to do it via the viewmodel. But if you want you could use:
VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(myUserControl);

The answer is you don't find any positions of anything using ItemContainerGenerator.IndexFromContainer. Your problem is clearly taking place inside ViewModel and therefore you should seek for selected item or whatever inside your ViewModel and not in ListBox or code behind of Window.
Therefore I suggest you to create a proper ViewModel with proper Bindings.

Add more of my usercontrol container or usercontrol collection display

I do not know what the container/control im looking for would be called, so I cannot really search for it.
Add More of Same Usercontrol Usercontrol
Clicking on + would add a new instance of My Usercontrol to the right of the existing ones
Clicking on X would dispose the usercontrol that was clicked
I'm not really looking for a tab control that would put each new instance on a new tab, but if there is nothing else then it might do.
The design is not to be as shown in the image obviously, the image just illustrates the basic idea
Any keyword/name suggestions or links to existing implementations?
e.g. Maybe there is a style that turns a ListBox into something suitable?

I would use an ItemsControl and customize it's ItemsPanelTemplate to be whatever you want.
ItemsControls are meant for iterating through a collection of objects, and displaying them in whatever form you want. I wrote some simple code samples of them here if you're interested, or here's another quick example:
<DockPanel x:Name="RootPanel">
<Button Style="{StaticResource AddButtonStyle}"
DockPanel.Dock="Right" VerticalAlignment="Center"
Command="{Binding AddItemCommand" />
<ScrollViewer>
<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding MyCollection}">
<ItemsControl.ItemsPanel>
<ItemsPanelTemplate>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal" />
</ItemsPanelTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemsPanel>
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<Grid>
<local:MyUserControl />
<Button Style="{StaticResource RemoveButtonStyle}"
Command="{Binding ElementName=RootPanel, Path=DataContext.RemoveItemCommand}"
CommandParameter="{Binding }"
HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" />
</Grid>
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
</ItemsControl>
</ScrollViewer>
</DockPanel>
Your ItemsControl would be bound to an ObservableCollection of objects, and your Add/Remove buttons would simply add/remove items from that collection. Since it is an ObservableCollection, it will notify the UI when the collection gets changed and automatically update.

You can indeed use a ListBox and set its ItemTemplate and ItemsPanelTemplate:
<ListBox>
<ListBox.ItemsPanel>
<ItemsPanelTemplate>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal"></StackPanel>
</ItemsPanelTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemsPanel>
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<Label Content="{Binding Name}" />
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
Of course, your ItemTemplate would be a reference to your control.

You could look at something called a carousel control which uses a list of objects behind it and displays them similarly to itunes. This could be a bit over the top but is one solution. An example can be seen here
If this is too advanced for your needs, could it be as simple as a stackpanel with a scrollbar which is bound to a list of your user controls?