Develop Reference

MuliSelectCombobox in WPF/C# to show Displaynames of all selected Items

A Combobox binds to a list of custom combobox items where each Item contains a checkbox together with an Image. The user can click either the image or the checkbox to select the item.
Each item contains a relative image path, the Selection-State. The viewmodel generates the list CustomCheckboxItems which the view then binds to.
Now i want to show the Displaynames of all selected items in the Combobox as ... selected items ... together. How can i achieve that? I tried to attach a contentpresenter to the combobox without success since i do not know exactly where to attach it to. Also writing control templates did not do the trick for me.
In the end the combobox should look something like this (Link goes to cdn.syncfusion.com). The ViewModel contains already a comma separated string containing the selected items. How do i have to change the combobox to behave like this?
View:
<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Path=ViewModel.CustomCheckBoxItems, Mode=OneTime}">
<ComboBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type viewModels:CustomCheckBoxItem}">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<Image Source="{Binding Path=ImagePath}">
<Image.InputBindings>
<MouseBinding Gesture="LeftClick" Command="{Binding SelectItem, Mode=OneWay}" />
</Image.InputBindings>
</Image>
<CheckBox VerticalAlignment="Center" VerticalContentAlignment="Center"IsChecked="Binding Selected, Mode=TwoWay}" >
<TextBlock Text="{Binding DisplayName}" IsEnabled="False" VerticalAlignment="Center" />
</CheckBox>
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
</ComboBox.ItemTemplate>
</ComboBox>
The CustomCheckBoxItem Implementation
//INotifyPropertryChanged implementation and other things excluded for brevity
public class CustomCheckBoxItem : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public CheckboxItem(ItemType item, string imagePath)
{
Item = item;
try{ImagePath = "/" + currentAssemblyName + ";component/Images/" + imagePath;}catch(Exception){}
}
private bool selected;
public bool Selected
{
get => selected;
set
{
selected = value;
NotifyPropertyChanged();
}
}
public ICommand SelectItem => new RelayCommand(() =>
{
if (isInit)
{
Selected = !selected;
}
},false);
public string ImagePath { get; }
public string DisplayName => Item.GetDisplayName();
}

The solution is to disconnect the ContentPresenter, that hosts the selected item in the selection box, from the ComboBox.
The ComboBox sets the selection box value internally. There is no chance to modify this behavior. Since the selection box also serves as input field for the edit or search mode, this logic is quite complex. From this perspective, the design choice to make the complete related logic of the ComboBox internal makes much sense.
The first option is to simply override the default template of the ComboBox and remove the bindings on the ContentPresenter.ContentTemplate, ContentPresenter.ContentTemplateSelector and ContentPresenter.ContentStringFormat properties.
Then bind the ContentPresenter.Content property to the data source that holds the multi selection display names. The disadvantage is that the complete multi-select logic is outside the ComboBox (in the worst case, it even bleeds into the view model). As the multi-select behavior is part of the control, it should be implemented inside.
The second solution is to extend ComboBox to make the handling of the control more convenient and reusable. You probably don't want your view model to be responsible to participate in the multi-select logic e.g. by tracking selection states in the context of multi-select (which is not of interest from the view model's point of view) and by exposing the display values to represent the multi-select state. You view model should not care about display values or multi-select.
The third option is to implement your custom ComboBox and let it extend MultiSelector. If you require all the ComboBox features, then this solutions can take a while to implement and test properly. If you only need a basic multi-select dropdown control, then the task is quite simple and the cleanest solution.
Other options you may find, like hacking the edit mode to set the ComboBox.Text property, are not recommended as they interfere with the internal behavior: the logic around the IsEditable and IsReadOnly is quite complex. So better don't mess around with to prevent unexpected behavior.
Also, you lose many features like search and edit. If you don't care about those feature, then the best and cleanest solution is the third introduced option to implement a Custom control that extends MultiSelector.
Implementation
The following example implements the second solution. The MultiSelectComboBox extends ComboBox. It internally grabs the ContentPresenter, disconnects it from the ComboBox (by overriding its content and removing the internal templating) and tracks the selection state. The advantage of this solution is that you don't have to "hack" the edit mode of the ComboBox. Therefore, the edit mode feature remains untouched. This solution simply changes the displayed values in the default toggle box. Even the default single.select behavior remains intact.
The multi-select state is realized by overriding the ComboBoxItem template to replace the ContentPresenter with a ToggleButton or alternatively, create a ComboBoxToggleItem (like in the example below) that extends ComboBoxItem to make everything reusable and MVVM ready.
Additionally we need to introduce a custom IsItemSelected property by implementing it as an attached property. This is necessary because the ComboBoxItem.IsSelected property is controlled by the Selector (the superclass of ComboBox). And by making it attached, we can avoid a tight coupling between the MultiSelectComboBox logic and the ComboBoxToggleItem Everything still works with the default ComboBoxItem or any other item container. The Selector is also responsible to ensure that only a single item is selected. But we need multiple items to be selected simultaneously.
This way we can easily track selected items and expose them via a public SelectedItems property.
You can use the ItemContainerStyle to bind the data model's selection property (if existing) to this attached MultiSelectComboBox.IsItemSelected property.
By implementing a custom ComboBoxItem like the ComboBoxToggleItem and hard-coding the CheckBox into its ControlTemplate you are no longer forced to track the visual state in your view model. This offers a clean separation. The visibility of the CheckBox in this example is able to be toggled by handling the ComboBoxToggleItem.IsCheckBoxEnabled property.
Because the ComboBoxToggleItem is basically a ToggleButton, you can select the item without clicking the CheckBox. The CheckBox is now an optional feature that only serves to provide another visual feedback.
If you don't define the ItemTemplate, you can control the displayed value using the common DisplayMemberPath (ComboBox default behavior). The MultiSelectComboBox will pick the value from the designated member and concatenate it with the other selected values.
If you want to display different values for the drop-down panel and the selected content box, use the MultiSelectComboBox.SelectionBoxDisplayMemberPath property to specify the item's source property name (in the same manner like the DisplayMemberPath).
If you don't set neither DisplayMemberPath nor the SelectionBoxDisplayMemberPath, the MultiSelectComboBox will call object.ToString on the data item. This way you can even generate a computed value by overriding ToString on the model. This gives you three options to control the selection box display value, while the MultiSelectComboBox concatenates and displays them.
This way the complete logic that handles the displayed values was moved from view model to the view, where it belongs:
MultiSelectComboBox.cs
public class MultiSelectComboBox : ComboBox
{
public static void SetIsItemSelected
(UIElement attachedElement, bool value)
=> attachedElement.SetValue(IsItemSelectedProperty, value);
public static bool GetIsItemSelected(UIElement attachedElement)
=> (bool)attachedElement.GetValue(IsItemSelectedProperty);
public static readonly DependencyProperty IsItemSelectedProperty =
DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached(
"IsItemSelected",
typeof(bool),
typeof(MultiSelectComboBox),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(default(bool), FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.BindsTwoWayByDefault, OnIsItemSelectedChanged));
public string SelectionBoxDisplayMemberPath
{
get => (string)GetValue(SelectionBoxDisplayMemberPathProperty);
set => SetValue(SelectionBoxDisplayMemberPathProperty, value);
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty SelectionBoxDisplayMemberPathProperty = DependencyProperty.Register(
"SelectionBoxDisplayMemberPath",
typeof(string),
typeof(MultiSelectComboBox),
new PropertyMetadata(default));
public IList<object> SelectedItems
{
get => (IList<object>)GetValue(SelectedItemsProperty);
set => SetValue(SelectedItemsProperty, value);
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty SelectedItemsProperty = DependencyProperty.Register(
"SelectedItems",
typeof(IList<object>),
typeof(MultiSelectComboBox),
new PropertyMetadata(default));
private static Dictionary<DependencyObject, ItemsControl> ItemContainerOwnerTable { get; }
private ContentPresenter PART_ContentSite { get; set; }
private Dictionary<UIElement, string> SelectionBoxContentValues { get; }
static MultiSelectComboBox() => MultiSelectComboBox.ItemContainerOwnerTable = new Dictionary<DependencyObject, ItemsControl>();
public MultiSelectComboBox()
{
this.SelectionBoxContentValues = new Dictionary<UIElement, string>();
this.SelectedItems = new List<object>();
}
public override void OnApplyTemplate()
{
base.OnApplyTemplate();
if (TryFindVisualChildElement(this, out ContentPresenter contentPresenter, false))
{
contentPresenter.ContentTemplate = null;
contentPresenter.ContentStringFormat = null;
contentPresenter.ContentTemplateSelector = null;
this.PART_ContentSite = contentPresenter;
}
}
protected override void OnItemsSourceChanged(IEnumerable oldValue, IEnumerable newValue)
{
base.OnItemsSourceChanged(oldValue, newValue);
this.SelectedItems.Clear();
MultiSelectComboBox.ItemContainerOwnerTable.Clear();
Dispatcher.InvokeAsync(InitializeSelectionBox, DispatcherPriority.Background);
}
protected override void OnItemsChanged(NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
base.OnItemsChanged(e);
switch (e.Action)
{
case NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Remove:
foreach (var item in e.OldItems)
{
var itemContainer = this.ItemContainerGenerator.ContainerFromItem(item);
MultiSelectComboBox.ItemContainerOwnerTable.Remove(itemContainer);
this.SelectedItems.Remove(item);
}
break;
}
}
protected override void OnSelectionChanged(SelectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
base.OnSelectionChanged(e);
this.SelectionBoxContentValues.Clear();
IEnumerable<(object Item, ComboBoxItem? ItemContainer)>? selectedItemInfos = this.ItemContainerGenerator.Items
.Select(item => (Item: item, ItemContainer: this.ItemContainerGenerator.ContainerFromItem(item) as ComboBoxItem))
.Where(selectedItemInfo => GetIsItemSelected(selectedItemInfo.ItemContainer));
foreach (var selectedItemInfo in selectedItemInfos)
{
string memberPath = this.SelectionBoxDisplayMemberPath
?? this.DisplayMemberPath
?? selectedItemInfo.Item.ToString();
string itemDisplayValue = selectedItemInfo.Item.GetType().GetProperty(memberPath).GetValue(selectedItemInfo.Item)?.ToString()
?? selectedItemInfo.Item.ToString();
this.SelectionBoxContentValues.Add(selectedItemInfo.ItemContainer, itemDisplayValue);
MultiSelectComboBox.ItemContainerOwnerTable.TryAdd(selectedItemInfo.ItemContainer, this);
this.SelectedItems.Add(selectedItemInfo.Item);
}
UpdateSelectionBox();
}
protected override bool IsItemItsOwnContainerOverride(object item) => item is ComboBoxToggleItem;
protected override DependencyObject GetContainerForItemOverride() => new ComboBoxToggleItem();
private static void OnIsItemSelectedChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
var comboBoxItem = d as ComboBoxItem;
if (MultiSelectComboBox.ItemContainerOwnerTable.TryGetValue(comboBoxItem, out ItemsControl owner))
{
var comboBoxItemOwner = owner as MultiSelectComboBox;
bool isUnselected = !GetIsItemSelected(comboBoxItem);
if (isUnselected)
{
comboBoxItemOwner.SelectionBoxContentValues.Remove(comboBoxItem);
comboBoxOwner.SelectedItems.Remove(comboBoxItem);
UpdateSelectionBox()
}
}
}
private static void UpdateSelectionBox()
{
string selectionBoxContent = string.Join(", ", this.SelectionBoxContentValues.Values);
if (this.IsEditable)
{
this.Text = selectionBoxContent;
}
else
{
this.PART_ContentSite.Content = selectionBoxContent;
}
}
private void OnItemUnselected(object sender, SelectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
foreach (var removedItem in e.RemovedItems)
{
this.SelectedItems.Remove(removedItem);
}
}
private void InitializeSelectionBox()
{
EnsureItemsLoaded();
UpdateSelectionBox();
}
private void EnsureItemsLoaded()
{
IsDropDownOpen = true;
IsDropDownOpen = false;
}
private static bool TryFindVisualChildElement<TChild>(DependencyObject parent,
out TChild resultElement,
bool isTraversingPopup = true)
where TChild : FrameworkElement
{
resultElement = null;
if (isTraversingPopup
&& parent is Popup popup)
{
parent = popup.Child;
if (parent == null)
{
return false;
}
}
for (var childIndex = 0; childIndex < VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(parent); childIndex++)
{
DependencyObject childElement = VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(parent, childIndex);
if (childElement is TChild frameworkElement)
{
resultElement = frameworkElement;
return true;
}
if (TryFindVisualChildElement(childElement, out resultElement, isTraversingPopup))
{
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
}
ComboBoxToggleItem.cs
public class ComboBoxToggleItem : ComboBoxItem
{
public bool IsCheckBoxEnabled
{
get => (bool)GetValue(IsCheckBoxEnabledProperty);
set => SetValue(IsCheckBoxEnabledProperty, value);
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty IsCheckBoxEnabledProperty = DependencyProperty.Register(
"IsCheckBoxEnabled",
typeof(bool),
typeof(ComboBoxToggleItem),
new PropertyMetadata(default));
static ComboBoxToggleItem()
{
DefaultStyleKeyProperty.OverrideMetadata(typeof(ComboBoxToggleItem), new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(typeof(ComboBoxToggleItem)));
}
// Add text search selection support
protected override void OnSelected(RoutedEventArgs e)
{
base.OnSelected(e);
MultiSelectComboBox.SetIsItemSelected(this, true);
}
}
Generic.xaml
<Style TargetType="local:ComboBoxToggleItem">
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="local:ComboBoxToggleItem">
<ToggleButton x:Name="ToggleButton"
HorizontalContentAlignment="{TemplateBinding HorizontalContentAlignment}"
IsChecked="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}, Path=(local:MultiSelectComboBox.IsItemSelected)}">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<CheckBox IsChecked="{Binding ElementName=ToggleButton, Path=IsChecked}"
Visibility="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}, Path=IsCheckBoxEnabled, Converter={StaticResource BooleanToVisibilityConverter}}" />
<ContentPresenter />
</StackPanel>
</ToggleButton>
<ControlTemplate.Triggers>
<Trigger SourceName="ToggleButton"
Property="IsChecked"
Value="True">
<Setter Property="IsSelected"
Value="True" />
</Trigger>
<Trigger SourceName="ToggleButton"
Property="IsChecked"
Value="False">
<Setter Property="IsSelected"
Value="False" />
</Trigger>
</ControlTemplate.Triggers>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
Usage example
DataItem.cs
class DataItem : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
string TextData { get; }
int Id { get; }
bool IsActive { get; }
}
MainViewModel
class MainViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public ObservableCollection<DataItem> DataItems { get; }
}
MainWIndow.xaml
<Window>
<Window.DataContext>
<MainViewModel />
</Window.DataContext>
<local:MultiSelectComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding DataItems}"
DisplayMemberPath="TextData"
SelectionBoxDisplayMemberPath="Id">
<local:MultiSelectComboBox.ItemContainerStyle>
<Style TargetType="local:ComboBoxToggleItem">
<Setter Property="local:MultiSelectComboBox.IsItemSelected"
Value="{Binding IsActive}" />
<Setter Property="IsCheckBoxEnabled"
Value="True" />
</Style>
</local:MultiSelectComboBox.ItemContainerStyle>
<local:MultiSelectComboBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type local:DataItem}">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding TextData}" />
</DataTemplate>
</local:MultiSelectComboBox.ItemTemplate>
</local:MultiSelectComboBox>
</Window>

If I am understanding correctly:
You just want all the checked items to be moved to top of combobox
You want comma separated list of selected items shown in closed combobox.
If that is correct, the solution is much simpler than you are thinking.
All that is needed is this:
/// <summary>
/// Sort the items in the list by selected
/// </summary>
private void cmb_DropDownOpened ( object sender, EventArgs e )
=> cmb.ItemsSource = CustomCheckBoxItems
.OrderByDescending ( c => c.Selected )
.ThenBy ( c => c.DisplayName );
/// <summary>
/// Display comma separated list of selected items
/// </summary>
private void cmb_DropDownClosed ( object sender, EventArgs e )
{
cmb.IsEditable = true;
cmb.IsReadOnly = true;
cmb.Text = string.Join ( ",", CustomCheckBoxItems.Where ( c => c.Selected )
.OrderBy ( c => c.DisplayName )
.Select ( c => c.DisplayName )
.ToList () );
}
The key to the solution is just to reorder the list every time the combo is opened you present a re-sorted list.
Every time it is closed, you gather selected and show.
Complete working example:
Given this XAML:
<ComboBox Name="cmb" DropDownOpened="cmb_DropDownOpened">
<ComboBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<CheckBox VerticalAlignment="Center" VerticalContentAlignment="Center" IsChecked="{Binding Selected, Mode=TwoWay}" >
<TextBlock Text="{Binding DisplayName}" IsEnabled="False" VerticalAlignment="Center" />
</CheckBox>
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
</ComboBox.ItemTemplate>
</ComboBox>
and this class (removed notify for this sample, since not needed)
public class CustomCheckBoxItem
{
public string Item { get; set; }
private const string currentAssemblyName = "samplename";
public CustomCheckBoxItem ( string item, string imagePath )
{
Item = item;
try
{ ImagePath = "/" + currentAssemblyName + ";component/Images/" + imagePath; }
catch ( Exception ) { }
}
public bool Selected { get; set; }
public string ImagePath { get; }
public string DisplayName => Item;
}
Then to test I just used this:
public ObservableCollection<CustomCheckBoxItem> CustomCheckBoxItems { get; set; }
= new ObservableCollection<CustomCheckBoxItem> ()
{
new ( "Item 1", "image1.png" ),
new ( "Item 2", "image2.png" ),
new ( "Item 3", "image3.png" ),
new ( "Item 4", "image4.png" ),
new ( "Item 5", "image5.png" ),
new ( "Item 6", "image6.png" ),
new ( "Item 7", "image7.png" ),
};
public MainWindow ()
{
InitializeComponent ();
cmb.ItemsSource = CustomCheckBoxItems;
}
/// <summary>
/// Sort the items in the list by selected
/// </summary>
private void cmb_DropDownOpened ( object sender, EventArgs e )
=> cmb.ItemsSource = CustomCheckBoxItems
.OrderByDescending ( c => c.Selected )
.ThenBy ( c => c.DisplayName );
/// <summary>
/// Display comma separated list of selected items
/// </summary>
private void cmb_DropDownClosed ( object sender, EventArgs e )
{
cmb.IsEditable = true;
cmb.IsReadOnly = true;
cmb.Text = string.Join ( ",", CustomCheckBoxItems.Where ( c => c.Selected )
.OrderBy ( c => c.DisplayName )
.Select ( c => c.DisplayName )
.ToList () );
}

Inspired by the post linked in the comments, I wondered how far I'd get using the base WPF building blocks, but without messing with the ComboBox' template itself. The answer from Heena uses a WrapPanel to show a (filtered) SelectedItems collection that updates on the fly.
<ListBox Background="Transparent" IsHitTestVisible="False" BorderBrush="Transparent" ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Hidden" ScrollViewer.VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Disabled" BorderThickness="0" ItemsSource="{Binding ElementName=lst,Path=SelectedItems}">
<ListBox.ItemsPanel>
<ItemsPanelTemplate>
<WrapPanel Orientation="Horizontal"></WrapPanel>
</ItemsPanelTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemsPanel>
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding ContentData}"/>
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
I figured a DataTemplateSelector, to differentiate between the SelectedItemTemplate and the DropdownItemsTemplate, in combination with a CollectionView, that has a filter applied, should get us there.
CheckBoxItem.cs
public class CheckboxItem : ViewModelBase
{
public CheckboxItem(string name, string imagePath)
{
DisplayName = name;
ImagePath = imagePath;
SelectItem = new DummyCommand();
}
public string ImagePath { get; }
public string DisplayName { get; }
public ICommand SelectItem { get; }
private bool selected;
public bool Selected
{
get => selected;
set
{
selected = value;
OnPropertyChanged();
ItemSelectionChanged?.Invoke(this, new EventArgs());
}
}
public event EventHandler ItemSelectionChanged;
}
MainViewModel.cs
public class MainViewModel : ViewModelBase
{
public MainViewModel()
{
Items = new ObservableCollection<CheckboxItem>
{
new CheckboxItem("smile", "/Images/Smiley.png"),
new CheckboxItem("wink", "/Images/Wink.png"),
new CheckboxItem("shocked", "/Images/Shocked.png"),
new CheckboxItem("teeth", "/Images/Teeth.png"),
};
SelectedItems = (CollectionView)new CollectionViewSource { Source = Items }.View;
SelectedItems.Filter = o => o is CheckboxItem item && item.Selected;
foreach(var item in Items)
{
item.ItemSelectionChanged += (_, _) => SelectedItems.Refresh();
}
// Set a (dummy) SelectedItem for the TemplateSelector to kick in OnLoad.
SelectedItem = Items.First();
}
public ObservableCollection<CheckboxItem> Items { get; }
public CollectionView SelectedItems { get; }
public CheckboxItem SelectedItem { get; }
}
ComboBoxTemplateSelector.cs
public class ComboBoxTemplateSelector : DataTemplateSelector
{
public DataTemplate SelectedItemTemplate { get; set; }
public DataTemplate DropdownItemsTemplate { get; set; }
public override DataTemplate SelectTemplate(object item, DependencyObject container)
{
var itemToCheck = container;
// Search up the visual tree, stopping at either a ComboBox or a ComboBoxItem (or null).
// This will determine which template to use.
while (itemToCheck is not null and not ComboBox and not ComboBoxItem)
itemToCheck = VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(itemToCheck);
// If you stopped at a ComboBoxItem, you're in the dropdown.
return itemToCheck is ComboBoxItem ? DropdownItemsTemplate : SelectedItemTemplate;
}
}
MainWindow.xaml
<Window x:Class="WpfApp.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:WpfApp"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Title="MultiSelectComboBox" Height="350" Width="400">
<Window.DataContext>
<local:MainViewModel/>
</Window.DataContext>
<Window.Resources>
<local:ComboBoxTemplateSelector x:Key="ComboBoxTemplateSelector">
<local:ComboBoxTemplateSelector.SelectedItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding DataContext.SelectedItems, RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type ComboBox}}}"
BorderThickness="0" IsHitTestVisible="False" BorderBrush="Transparent" Background="Transparent"
ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Hidden" ScrollViewer.VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Disabled">
<ListBox.ItemsPanel>
<ItemsPanelTemplate>
<WrapPanel Orientation="Horizontal"></WrapPanel>
</ItemsPanelTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemsPanel>
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type local:CheckboxItem}">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding DisplayName}" />
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
</DataTemplate>
</local:ComboBoxTemplateSelector.SelectedItemTemplate>
<local:ComboBoxTemplateSelector.DropdownItemsTemplate>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type local:CheckboxItem}">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<Image Source="{Binding Path=ImagePath}" Height="50">
<Image.InputBindings>
<MouseBinding Gesture="LeftClick" Command="{Binding SelectItem, Mode=OneWay}" />
</Image.InputBindings>
</Image>
<CheckBox VerticalAlignment="Center" VerticalContentAlignment="Center" Margin="20 0"
IsChecked="{Binding Selected, Mode=TwoWay, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}" >
<TextBlock Text="{Binding DisplayName}" VerticalAlignment="Center" />
</CheckBox>
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
</local:ComboBoxTemplateSelector.DropdownItemsTemplate>
</local:ComboBoxTemplateSelector>
</Window.Resources>
<Grid>
<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Path=Items}"
SelectedItem="{Binding SelectedItem, Mode=OneTime}"
ItemTemplateSelector="{StaticResource ComboBoxTemplateSelector}"
Height="30" Width="200" Margin="0 30 0 0"
VerticalAlignment="Top" HorizontalAlignment="Center">
</ComboBox>
</Grid>
</Window>
The ViewModel contains already a comma separated string containing the selected items. How do i have to change the combobox to behave like this?
You could swap
<local:ComboBoxTemplateSelector.SelectedItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding DataContext.SelectedItems, RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type ComboBox}}}"
BorderThickness="0" IsHitTestVisible="False" BorderBrush="Transparent" Background="Transparent"
ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Hidden" ScrollViewer.VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Disabled">
<ListBox.ItemsPanel>
<ItemsPanelTemplate>
<WrapPanel Orientation="Horizontal"></WrapPanel>
</ItemsPanelTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemsPanel>
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type local:CheckboxItem}">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding DisplayName}" />
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
</DataTemplate>
</local:ComboBoxTemplateSelector.SelectedItemTemplate>
With
<local:ComboBoxTemplateSelector.SelectedItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding DataContext.CommaSeperatedString, RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type ComboBox}}}" />
</DataTemplate>
</local:ComboBoxTemplateSelector.SelectedItemTemplate>
You could also do without the CommaSeperatedString property and combine the CollectionView with Greg M's string.Join approach inside a converter:
<local:ComboBoxTemplateSelector.SelectedItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding DataContext.SelectedItems,
RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type ComboBox}},
Converter={StaticResource ItemsToCommaSeparatedStringConverter}}" />
</DataTemplate>
</local:ComboBoxTemplateSelector.SelectedItemTemplate>
Resources:
WrapPanel idea:
CheckComboBox : How to prevent a combobox from closing after a selection is clicked?
Using different templates:
Can I use a different Template for the selected item in a WPF ComboBox than for the items in the dropdown part?
Filtering ItemsSource:
custom search for combobox
Smileys:
https://pngimg.com/images/miscellaneous/smiley

ObservableCollection of objects of a certain type and treeview binding in WPF

I am trying to bind an ObservableCollection of objects to a TreeView. The object class is shown below
public partial class Layer_Properties : Window
{
//fields
private string _routeName;
private List<Stop> _Stops_List = new List<Stop>();
public string routeName // property
{
get { return _routeName; } // get method
set { _routeName = value; } // set method
}
public List<Stop> Stops_List // property
{
get { return _Stops_List; } // get method
set { _Stops_List = value; } // set method
}
public List<PolylineBarrier> polylineBarriers// property
{
get { return _polylineBarriers; } // get method
set { _polylineBarriers= value; } // set method
}
public Layer_Properties(RouteTask asolveRouteTask, MapViewModel aMapViewModel)
{
InitializeComponent();
solveRouteTask = asolveRouteTask;
_mapViewModel = aMapViewModel;
this.Loaded += async (o, e) =>
{
await Task.Run(() => getnetworkDatasetProprties(solveRouteTask));
routeGUID = Convert.ToString(Guid.NewGuid());
dateTime_label.IsEnabled = false;
dateTime_ComboBox.IsEnabled = false;
this.dateTime_ComboBox.Value = DateTime.UtcNow;
Use_Time_Windows_chkbox.IsEnabled = false;
Use_Time_Windows_chkbox.IsEnabled = false;
Use_Time_Windows_chkbox.IsEnabled = false;
PreserveFirstStop_chkbox.IsChecked = true;
PreserveLastStop_chkbox.IsChecked = true;
PreserveFirstStop_chkbox.IsEnabled = false;
PreserveLastStop_chkbox.IsEnabled = false;
Layer_Properties item = null;
if (_mapViewModel.LayersPool.Count <= 1)
{
item = _mapViewModel.LayersPool[_mapViewModel.LayersPool.Count - 1];
}
else
{
item = _mapViewModel.LayersPool[_mapViewModel.LayersPool.Count - 2];
}
if (item != null)
{
item.routeName = IndexedFilename("Route", item.routeName);
}
};
}
Part of the mapviewmodel is shown below:
public class MapViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public MapViewModel()
{
}
//test 09062020
public ObservableCollection<Layer_Properties> LayersPool
{
get { return layersPool; }
set
{
layersPool = value;
NotifiyPropertyChanged("LayersPool");
}
}
private ObservableCollection<Layer_Properties> layersPool= new
ObservableCollection<Layer_Properties>();
void NotifiyPropertyChanged(string property)
{
if (LayersPoolChanged != null)
LayersPoolChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(property));
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler LayersPoolChanged;
//endtest
}
Part of the xaml is shown below:
<Window x:Class="GIS_App.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:esri="http://schemas.esri.com/arcgis/runtime/2013"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:GIS_App"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Title="MainWindow" Height="732" Width="1399" Closing="Window_Closing">
<Window.Resources>
<local:MapViewModel x:Key="MapViewModel"/>
<ImageBrush x:Key="NetworkAnalystWindow" ImageSource="/icons/NetworkAnalystWindow.png" Stretch="UniformToFill"/>
<ImageBrush x:Key="AddNetworkElement" ImageSource="/icons/AddNetworkElement_btn.png" Stretch="UniformToFill"/>
<ImageBrush x:Key="solveRoute" ImageSource="/icons/solve_btn.png" Stretch="UniformToFill"/>
<ImageBrush x:Key="solvePremiumRoute" ImageSource="/icons/solvePremium_btn.png" Stretch="UniformToFill"/>
<ImageBrush x:Key="RouteDirections" ImageSource="/icons/directions_btn.png" Stretch="UniformToFill"/>
<ImageBrush x:Key="AddTrafficLayer" ImageSource="/icons/AddTrafficLayer.png" Stretch="UniformToFill"/>
<ContextMenu x:Key="cmButton">
<MenuItem Name ="Draw_Sketch" Header="Draw Sketch" Click="btn_Click"/>
<MenuItem Name ="Save_Sketch" Header="Save Sketch" Click="btn_Click"/>
<MenuItem Name ="Delete_Sketch" Header="Delete Sketch" Click="btn_Click" IsEnabled="True"/>
<MenuItem Name ="Remove_Selected_Vertex" Header="Remove Selected Vertex" Click="btn_Click" IsEnabled="True"/>
<MenuItem Name ="Cancel" Header="Cancel" Click="btn_Click" IsEnabled="True"/>
<Separator />
<MenuItem Header="Address Geocoding" Click="btn_Click" IsEnabled="True"/>
</ContextMenu>
<ContextMenu x:Key="treeViewMenu">
<MenuItem Name ="Delete_TreeViewElement" Header="Delete" Click="btn_Click"/>
<MenuItem Name ="Delete_All_TreeViewElements" Header="Delete All" Click="btn_Click"/>
<MenuItem Name ="Open_Attribute_Table" Header="Open_Attribute_Table" Click="btn_Click" IsEnabled="True"/>
</ContextMenu>
</Window.Resources>
<Grid HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="Auto" Margin="5,25,0,20" VerticalAlignment="Stretch" Width="155">
<!-- hieracical binding -->
<TextBlock Text="Hierarchical root binding}" Foreground="Red" Margin="10,20,0,0"/>
<TreeView ItemsSource="{Binding LayersPool}" Margin="10" Height="200">
<TreeView.ItemTemplate>
<HierarchicalDataTemplate ItemsSource="{Binding LayersPool}" DataType="{x:Type local:Layer_Properties}">
<TreeViewItem Header="{Binding routeName}"/>
</HierarchicalDataTemplate>
</TreeView.ItemTemplate>
</TreeView>
i ve made numerous attempts to make it work but i cannot find a solution. What i want to achieve is create a treeview as follows:
Route_1
Stops
Stop1
Stop2
Stop3
Polyline Barriers
Barrier 1
Route_2
Stops
Stop1
Stop2
Polyline Barriers
Barrier 1
Barrier2
Edit I suspect there might be an issue with binding since LayersPool observablecollection is a mapviewmodel collection. Any help will be welcome.

I think you need to understand how TreeView binding works.
You can have a look here: wpf treeview binding and also here: https://www.wpf-tutorial.com/treeview-control/treeview-data-binding-multiple-templates/
Generally speaking, if each TreeViewItem ViewModel needs to do something specific (for example once the user click on it, then you need to create your own ViewModel specific class for each TreeViewItem.
You might create an AbstractViewModel as a base class for every TreeViewItem ViewModel that contains basically 2 properties.
Children binded to ItemsSource in the HierarchicalDataTemplate that contains an ObservableCollection of current treeviewitem's leaves
Name binded to your Text property of the TextBlock you placed in your DataTemplate to show the treeview item text.

WPF Polyline databound to ObservableCollection Custom Control with MVVM

I'm working towards making click and drag-able spline curves while learning WPF. I've been able to successfully work with pure Line segments, but making the jump to a polyline is proving difficult. I have a class for interpolating the spline curves that I used to use in WinForms, so I'm using a few input clicks from the mouse, and those will be the thumbs to click and drag. The interpolated points have a high enough resolution that a WPF Polyline should be fine for display. To clarify, I need the higher resolution output, so using a WPF Beizer is not going to work.
I have the outline pretty well setup- but the particular issue I'm having, is that dragging the thumbs does not either a) the two way binding is not setup correctly, or b) the ObservableCollection is not generating notifications. I realize that the ObservableCollection only notifies when items are added/removed/cleared, etc, and not that the individual indices are able to produce notifications. I have spent the last few hours searching- found some promising ideas, but haven't been able to wire them up correctly. There was some code posted to try inherit from ObservableCollection and override the OnPropertyChanged method in the ObservableCollection, but that's a protected virtual method. While others used a method call into the OC to attach PropertyChanged event handlers to each object, but I'm unsure where to inject that logic. So I am a little stuck.
MainWindow.xaml:
There is an ItemsControl hosted in a mainCanvas. ItemsControl is bound to a property on the ViewModel
<Grid>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
<RowDefinition Height="*"/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<Menu>
<MenuItem x:Name="menuAddNewPolyline" Header="Add Polyline" Click="MenuItem_Click" />
</Menu>
<Canvas x:Name="mainCanvas" Grid.Row="1">
<ItemsControl x:Name="polylinesItemsControl"
ItemsSource="{Binding polylines}"
>
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<Canvas />
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
</ItemsControl>
</Canvas>
</Grid>
MainWindow.Xaml.cs:
Pretty simple- initializes a new view model, and it's set as the DataContext. There is a menu with a Add Polyline item, which in turn, initializes a new PolylineControl, and generates three random points (using Thread.Sleep, otherwise they were the same, between the calls) within the ActualHeight and ActualWidth of the window. The new PolylineControl is added to the ViewModel in an ObservableCollection This is a stand in until I get to accepting mouse input.
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
private ViewModel viewModel;
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
viewModel = new ViewModel();
DataContext = viewModel;
}
private Point GetRandomPoint()
{
Random r = new Random();
return new Point(r.Next(0, (int)this.ActualWidth), r.Next(0, (int)this.ActualHeight));
}
private void MenuItem_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
var newPolyline = new PolylineControl.Polyline();
newPolyline.PolylinePoints.Add(GetRandomPoint());
Thread.Sleep(100);
newPolyline.PolylinePoints.Add(GetRandomPoint());
Thread.Sleep(100);
newPolyline.PolylinePoints.Add(GetRandomPoint());
viewModel.polylines.Add(newPolyline);
}
}
ViewModel.cs:
Absolutely noting fancy here
public class ViewModel
{
public ObservableCollection<PolylineControl.Polyline> polylines { get; set; }
public ViewModel()
{
polylines = new ObservableCollection<PolylineControl.Polyline>();
}
}
**The PolylineControl:
Polyline.cs:**
Contains DP's for an ObservableCollection of points for the polyline. Eventually this will also contain the interpolated points as well as the input points, but a single collection of points will do for the demo. I did try to use the INotifyPropertyChanged interface to no avail.
public class Polyline : Control
{
public static readonly DependencyProperty PolylinePointsProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("PolylinePoints", typeof(ObservableCollection<Point>), typeof(Polyline),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(new ObservableCollection<Point>()));
public ObservableCollection<Point> PolylinePoints
{
get { return (ObservableCollection<Point>)GetValue(PolylinePointsProperty); }
set { SetValue(PolylinePointsProperty, value); }
}
static Polyline()
{
DefaultStyleKeyProperty.OverrideMetadata(typeof(Polyline), new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(typeof(Polyline)));
}
}
Generic.xaml
Contains a canvas with a databound Polyline, and an ItemsControl with a DataTemplate for the ThumbPoint control.
<local:PointCollectionConverter x:Key="PointsConverter"/>
<Style TargetType="{x:Type local:Polyline}">
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type local:Polyline}">
<Canvas Background="Transparent">
<Polyline x:Name="PART_Polyline"
Stroke="Black"
StrokeThickness="2"
Points="{Binding Path=PolylinePoints,
RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent},
Converter={StaticResource PointsConverter}}"
>
</Polyline>
<ItemsControl x:Name="thumbPoints"
ItemsSource="{Binding PolylinePoints, RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}"
>
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<Canvas>
<tc:ThumbPoint Point="{Binding Path=., Mode=TwoWay}"/>
</Canvas>
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
</ItemsControl>
</Canvas>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
PointsCollectionConverter.cs:
Contains a IValueConverter to turn the ObservableCollection into a PointsCollection.
public class PointCollectionConverter : IValueConverter
{
public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
{
if (value.GetType() == typeof(ObservableCollection<Point>) && targetType == typeof(PointCollection))
{
var pointCollection = new PointCollection();
foreach (var point in value as ObservableCollection<Point>)
{
pointCollection.Add(point);
}
return pointCollection;
}
return null;
}
public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
{
return null;
}
}
And finally, the ThumbPointControl:
ThumbPoint.cs:
Contains a single DP for the center of the point, along with the DragDelta functionality.
public class ThumbPoint : Thumb
{
public static readonly DependencyProperty PointProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("Point", typeof(Point), typeof(ThumbPoint),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(new Point()));
public Point Point
{
get { return (Point)GetValue(PointProperty); }
set { SetValue(PointProperty, value); }
}
static ThumbPoint()
{
DefaultStyleKeyProperty.OverrideMetadata(typeof(ThumbPoint), new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(typeof(ThumbPoint)));
}
public ThumbPoint()
{
this.DragDelta += new DragDeltaEventHandler(this.OnDragDelta);
}
private void OnDragDelta(object sender, DragDeltaEventArgs e)
{
this.Point = new Point(this.Point.X + e.HorizontalChange, this.Point.Y + e.VerticalChange);
}
}
Generic.xaml:
Contains the style, and an Ellipse bound which is databound.
<Style TargetType="{x:Type local:ThumbPoint}">
<Setter Property="Width" Value="8"/>
<Setter Property="Height" Value="8"/>
<Setter Property="Margin" Value="-4"/>
<Setter Property="Background" Value="Gray" />
<Setter Property="Canvas.Left" Value="{Binding Path=Point.X, RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self}}" />
<Setter Property="Canvas.Top" Value="{Binding Path=Point.Y, RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self}}" />
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type local:ThumbPoint}">
<Ellipse x:Name="PART_Ellipse"
Fill="{TemplateBinding Background}"
Width="{TemplateBinding Width}"
Height="{TemplateBinding Height}"
/>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
Window after the Add Polyline menu item is pressed
The code works to add the polyline with three random points.
Thumbs moved away from poly line
However, once you move the thumbs, the polyline does not update along with it.
I have a working example of just a single line segment (added to the view model as many times as you click the add segment button) so it seems the logic should all be correct, but something broke down with the introduction of the ObservableCollection to host the multiple points required for a polyline.
Any help is appreciated

Following on from Clemens suggestions, I was able to make it work.
I renamed the Polyline.cs control to eliminate confusion with the standard WPF Polyline Shape class to DynamicPolyline. The class now implements INotifyPropertyChanged, and has DP for the PolylinePoints and a seperate ObservableCollection for a NotifyingPoint class which also implements INotifyPropertyChanged. When DynamicPolyline is initialized, it hooks the CollectionChanged event on the ObserableCollection. The event handler method then either adds an event handler to each item in the collection, or removes it based on the action. The event handler for each item simply calls SetPolyline, which in turn cycles through the InputPoints adding them to a new PointCollection, and then sets the Points property on the PART_Polyline (which a reference to is created in the OnApplyTemplate method).
It turns out the Points property on a Polyline does not listen to the INotifyPropertyChanged interface, so data binding in the Xaml was not possible. Probably will end up using a PathGeometery in the future, but for now, this works.
To address Marks non MVVM concerns.. It's a demo app, sorry I had some code to test things in the code behind. The point is to be able to reuse these controls, and group them with others for various use cases, so it makes more sense for them to be on their own vs repeating the code.
DynmicPolyline.cs:
public class DynamicPolyline : Control, INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private void OnPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string caller = "")
{
PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(caller));
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty PolylinePointsProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("PoilylinePoints", typeof(PointCollection), typeof(DynamicPolyline),
new PropertyMetadata(new PointCollection()));
public PointCollection PolylinePoints
{
get { return (PointCollection)GetValue(PolylinePointsProperty); }
set { SetValue(PolylinePointsProperty, value); }
}
private ObservableCollection<NotifyingPoint> _inputPoints;
public ObservableCollection<NotifyingPoint> InputPoints
{
get { return _inputPoints; }
set
{
_inputPoints = value;
OnPropertyChanged();
}
}
private void SetPolyline()
{
if (polyLine != null && InputPoints.Count >= 2)
{
var newCollection = new PointCollection();
foreach (var point in InputPoints)
{
newCollection.Add(new Point(point.X, point.Y));
}
polyLine.Points = newCollection;
}
}
private void InputPoints_CollectionChanged(object sender, NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Action == NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Add)
{
foreach (var item in e.NewItems)
{
var point = item as NotifyingPoint;
point.PropertyChanged += InputPoints_PropertyChange;
}
}
else if (e.Action == NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Remove)
{
foreach (var item in e.OldItems)
{
var point = item as NotifyingPoint;
point.PropertyChanged -= InputPoints_PropertyChange;
}
}
}
private void InputPoints_PropertyChange(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
SetPolyline();
}
public DynamicPolyline()
{
InputPoints = new ObservableCollection<NotifyingPoint>();
InputPoints.CollectionChanged += InputPoints_CollectionChanged;
SetPolyline();
}
static DynamicPolyline()
{
DefaultStyleKeyProperty.OverrideMetadata(typeof(DynamicPolyline), new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(typeof(DynamicPolyline)));
}
private Polyline polyLine;
public override void OnApplyTemplate()
{
base.OnApplyTemplate();
polyLine = this.Template.FindName("PART_Polyline", this) as Polyline;
}
NotifyingPoint.cs
Simple class that raises property changed events when X or Y is updated from the databound ThumbPoint.
public class NotifyingPoint : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private void OnPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string caller = "")
{
PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(caller));
}
public event EventHandler ValueChanged;
private double _x = 0.0;
public double X
{
get { return _x; }
set
{
_x = value;
OnPropertyChanged();
ValueChanged?.Invoke(this, null);
}
}
private double _y = 0.0;
public double Y
{
get { return _y; }
set
{
_y = value;
OnPropertyChanged();
}
}
public NotifyingPoint()
{
}
public NotifyingPoint(double x, double y)
{
X = x;
Y = y;
}
public Point ToPoint()
{
return new Point(_x, _y);
}
}
And finally, for completeness, here is the Generic.xaml for the control. Only change in here was the bindings for X and Y of the NotifyingPoint.
<Style TargetType="{x:Type local:DynamicPolyline}">
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type local:DynamicPolyline}">
<Canvas x:Name="PART_Canvas">
<Polyline x:Name="PART_Polyline"
Stroke="Black"
StrokeThickness="2"
/>
<ItemsControl x:Name="PART_ThumbPointItemsControl"
ItemsSource="{Binding Path=InputPoints, RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}"
>
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<Canvas>
<tc:ThumbPoint X="{Binding Path=X, Mode=TwoWay}" Y="{Binding Path=Y, Mode=TwoWay}"/>
</Canvas>
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
</ItemsControl>
</Canvas>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
I dropped my Spline class in to the SetPolyline method, and got the result I was after:
Two working click and drag able spline curves

How to refer to the ItemsPanelTemplate from within an ItemsControl control template

Let's say I'm writing an ItemsControl control template, and need to refer to the ItemsPanel instance for some reason. Since not in the same namescope, there's not really a way to bind to it.
I'm using a custom items panel -- a carousel-type panel that slides from one item to the next -- and would like a button in the control template to maneuver left or right:
<Style TargetType="custom:AnItemsControl">
<Setter Property="ItemsPanel">
<Setter.Value>
<custom:SlideContentPanel />
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="custom:AnItemsControl">
<Grid>
<ItemsPresenter />
<Button Content="Next" HorizontalAlignment="Right" />
</Grid>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
How can the Button in this example refer to methods like "GoRight()" and properties "CanGoRight" on the items panel "SlideContentPanel"?

You can't refer to the items panel instance directly. But you can define a dependency property on the ItemsControl, and set it in code-behind when the control loads. Then the control template can refer to that property via a TemplateBinding.
So in the example, "AnItemsControl" should define a dependency property of type "SlideContentPanel":
public SlideControl()
{
DefaultStyleKey = typeof(SlideControl);
Loaded += SlideControl_Loaded;
}
public SlideContentPanel TypedPanel
{
get { return (SlideContentPanel)GetValue(TypedPanelProperty); }
set { SetValue(TypedPanelProperty, value); }
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty SlidePanelProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("TypedPanel", typeof(SlideContentPanel), typeof(AnItemsControl), new PropertyMetadata(null));
Now, when the control loads, locate the panel using VisualTreeHelper, and set the dependency property:
public AnItemsControl()
{
DefaultStyleKey = typeof(AnItemsControl);
Loaded += AnItemsControl_Loaded;
}
private void AnItemsControl_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
TypedPanel = FindItemsPanel<SlideContentPanel>(this);
}
private T FindItemsPanel<T>(FrameworkElement visual)
{
for (int i = 0; i < VisualTreeHelper.GetChildrenCount(visual); i++)
{
FrameworkElement child = VisualTreeHelper.GetChild(visual, i) as FrameworkElement;
if (child != null)
{
if (child is T && VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(child) is ItemsPresenter)
{
object temp = child;
return (T)temp;
}
T panel = FindItemsPanel<T>(child);
if (panel != null)
{
object temp = panel;
return (T)temp;
}
}
}
return default(T);
}
And now the button in "AnItemsControl"'s control template can refer to the panel by using the "TypedPanel" property in the templated parent:
<Button Content="Next" HorizontalAlignment="Right"
Visibility="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent},
Path=TypedPanel.CanGoRight,
Converter={StaticResource BoolToVisibilityConverter}}">
<i:Interaction.Triggers>
<i:EventTrigger EventName="Tap">
<ei:CallMethodAction
TargetObject="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent},Path=TypedPanel}"
MethodName="GoRight" />
</i:EventTrigger>
</i:Interaction.Triggers>
</Button>

How do I handle click events in a data bound menu in WPF

I've got a MenuItem whos ItemsSource is databound to a simple list of strings, its showing correctly, but I'm struggling to see how I can handle click events for them!
Here's a simple app that demonstrates it:
<Window x:Class="WPFDataBoundMenu.Window1"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="Window1" Height="300" Width="300">
<Grid>
<Menu>
<MenuItem Header="File" Click="MenuItem_Click" />
<MenuItem Header="My Items" ItemsSource="{Binding Path=MyMenuItems}" />
</Menu>
</Grid>
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Windows;
namespace WPFDataBoundMenu
{
/// <summary>
/// Interaction logic for Window1.xaml
/// </summary>
public partial class Window1 : Window
{
public List<string> MyMenuItems { get; set;}
public Window1()
{
InitializeComponent();
MyMenuItems = new List<string> { "Item 1", "Item 2", "Item 3" };
DataContext = this;
}
private void MenuItem_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
MessageBox.Show("how do i handle the other clicks?!");
}
}
}
Many thanks!
Chris.

<MenuItem Header="My Items" ItemsSource="{Binding Path=MyMenuItems}" Click="DataBoundMenuItem_Click" />
Code behind..
private void DataBoundMenuItem_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
MenuItem obMenuItem = e.OriginalSource as MenuItem;
MessageBox.Show( String.Format("{0} just said Hi!", obMenuItem.Header));
}
Events will bubble up to the common handler. You can then use the Header text or better the DataContext property to switch and act as needed

You could have each menu item execute the same command, thus handling the execution centrally. If you need to distinguish menu items beyond the actual object instance, you can bind the command parameter too:
<MenuItem Header="My Items" ItemsSource="{Binding Path=MyMenuItems}">
<MenuItem.ItemContainerStyle>
<Style TargetType="MenuItem">
<Setter Property="Command" Value="{x:Static local:MyCommands.MyCommand}"/>
<Setter Property="CommandParameter" Value="{Binding SomeProperty}"/>
</Style>
</MenuItem.ItemContainerStyle>
</MenuItem>
SomeProperty is assumed to be a property on each item in your MyMenuItems collection. Your command execution handler would therefore receive the value of SomeProperty for the particular menu item that is clicked.

IMHO more general event handler with ability to get item from itemssource
private void DataBoundMenuItem_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
// get menu item with ItemsSource bound
var myItemsMenuItems = sender as MenuItem;
// get submenu clicked item constructed from MyMenuItems collection
var myItemsMenuSubItem = e.OriginalSource as MenuItem;
// get underlying MyMenuItems collection item
var o = myItemsMenuItems
.ItemContainerGenerator
.ItemFromContainer(myItemsMenuSubItem);
// convert to MyMenuItems type ... in our case string
var itemObj = o as (string);
// TODO some processing
}
Hope it'l help smbd!

If you want a simpler way to access the menu item content:
<MenuItem Header="My Items" ItemsSource="{Binding Path=MyMenuItems}" Click="MenuItem_Click">
<MenuItem.ItemContainerStyle>
<Style TargetType="MenuItem">
<Setter Property="CommandParameter" Value="{Binding}" />
</Style>
</MenuItem.ItemContainerStyle>
</MenuItem>
Cod Behind:
private void MenuItem_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
var item = ((MenuItem)e.OriginalSource).CommandParameter;
}