WPF Caliburn Micro ActiveItem won't display, possibly hidden behind Grid - wpf

Question

Very new to WPF, followed along some youtube tutorials utilizing MVVM and Caliburn Micro, and had the ActiveItem working properly so I am sure my set up is sound. Since completing that tutorial I have tried to customize my app and my intended feature with ActiveItem does not work. App launches with no errors and my login successfully retrieves information from the database and logs me in and displays my name in the bottom left corner.
Here is the intended function:
I have my ShellView as the login page, and after the user signs in it triggers the active item to be the space behind the login rectangle. This code triggers but the login stays visible. It triggers WelcomeViewModel which is just a rectangle with a blue background. The border login doesn't actually disappear, it should just get covered up by the active window (at least for now).
Clicking the space brings up the ContentControl so I am pretty sure it is high-z order, but something is still not right. If I double click the space, it selects the ContentControl and shows its background color appearing on top of the log in which is desired, but not what I see when the application runs.
Xaml for ShellView:
<Window x:Class="ProductivityTool.Views.ShellView"
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:ProductivityTool.Views"
xmlns:model="clr-namespace:ProductivityTool.ViewModels"
mc:Ignorable="d"
d:DataContext="{x:Type model:ShellViewModel}"
Title="Productivity Tool" Height="900" Width="1200" MinWidth="900" MinHeight="700">
<Grid Background="Transparent" RenderTransformOrigin="0.487,0.497">
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="200" />
<ColumnDefinition Width="auto" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="100" />
<RowDefinition Height="*" />
<RowDefinition Height="60" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<!--Row 1-->
<!--
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=FullName, Mode=OneWay}" Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="0"></TextBlock>
-->
<!--Oneway only pulls from the property, but never overwrote the property because it is one way-->
<!--Row 2-->
<!--
<TextBox MinWidth="100" Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="0" x:Name="FirstName" HorizontalAlignment="Left"></TextBox>
<TextBox MinWidth="100" Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="0" x:Name="LastName" HorizontalAlignment="Right"></TextBox>
-->
<!--Row 3-->
<!--OnewaytoSource only overwrites the property, opposite of OneWay-->
<!--
<ComboBox Grid.Row="3" Grid.Column="0" x:Name="People"
SelectedItem="{Binding Path=SelectedPerson, Mode=OneWayToSource}"
DisplayMemberPath="FirstName"
HorizontalAlignment="Left" Width="100"/>
<TextBlock Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="3" x:Name="SelectedPerson_LastName" HorizontalAlignment="Right"/>
-->
<!--Row 4-->
<!--
<Button x:Name="ClearText" Grid.Row="4" Grid.Column="0">Clear Text</Button>
-->
<!--Row 5-->
<StackPanel x:Name="StackPanel" Orientation="Vertical" Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="1" Background="Blue">
<Button x:Name="Phonebook" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Width="auto" Margin="10" Click="Phonebook_Click">Phonebook</Button>
<Button x:Name="LoadPageTwo" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Width="auto">RCPS</Button>
</StackPanel>
<!--content control is the main window of the ShellView, different pages are just different active items-->
<Border Margin="272,208,-401,255" Padding="5" BorderThickness="1" Background="Gray" CornerRadius="20" Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1">
</Border>
<TextBox x:Name="textBoxEmail" Grid.Column="1" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="30" Margin="498,246,-347,433" Grid.Row="1" VerticalAlignment="Center" Width="191"/>
<TextBox x:Name="textBoxUID" Grid.Column="1" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="30" Margin="498,327,-346,352" Grid.Row="1" VerticalAlignment="Center" Width="191"/>
<TextBlock FontSize="15" Margin="344,245,-143,433" Text="Employee Number:" Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Padding="3" Height="31"/>
<TextBlock FontSize="15" Margin="363,327,-125,352" Text="Email:" Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Padding="3" Height="30" />
<Button x:Name="Loginbtn" Grid.Column="1" Margin="321,391,-347,278" Grid.Row="1" Content="LOGIN" Click="LoginBtn_Click">
</Button>
<Label x:Name="lblSignedInAs" HorizontalContentAlignment="Center" Margin="10,26,0,0" Grid.Row="2" VerticalAlignment="Top" Height="26" Width="181"/>
<Label x:Name="lblLogged" Content="Logged Out" HorizontalContentAlignment="Center" Margin="10,0" Grid.Row="2" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="181"/>
<ContentControl Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="1"
x:Name="ActiveItem" Margin="0,0,-647,0"
Background="Blue"/>
</Grid>
</Window>
Code for ShellViewModel:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows;
using Caliburn.Micro;
using ProductivityTool.Models;
using ProductivityTool.Views;
namespace ProductivityTool.ViewModels
{
public class ShellViewModel : Conductor<object>
{
//private string _lblLogged;
//private string lblLoggedInAs;
private string _firstName = "Tim"; // Don't change this
private string _lastName;
private BindableCollection<PersonModel> _people = new BindableCollection<PersonModel>();
private PersonModel _selectedPerson;
public ShellViewModel() //Constructor
{
People.Add(new PersonModel { FirstName = "Tim", LastName = "Corey" });
People.Add(new PersonModel { FirstName = "Bill", LastName = "Jones" });
People.Add(new PersonModel { FirstName = "Sam", LastName = "Yet" });
}
public string FirstName
{
get { return _firstName; }
set
{
_firstName = value;
NotifyOfPropertyChange(() => FirstName);
NotifyOfPropertyChange(() => FullName); //Whenever a value of first name is changed, update fullname
}
}
public string LastName
{
get { return _lastName; }
set
{
_lastName = value;
NotifyOfPropertyChange(() => LastName);
NotifyOfPropertyChange(() => FullName); //Whenever a value of last name is changed, update fullname
}
}
public String FullName
{
get { return $"{ FirstName } { LastName }"; }
}
public BindableCollection<PersonModel> People
{
get { return _people; }
set { _people = value; }
}
public PersonModel SelectedPerson
{
get { return _selectedPerson; }
set
{
_selectedPerson = value;
NotifyOfPropertyChange(() => SelectedPerson);
}
}
//Return true or true for yes we can clear the text
public bool CanClearText(string firstName, string lastName)
{
//return !String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(firstName) || !String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(lastName);
if (String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(firstName) && String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(lastName))
{
return false;
}
else
{
return true;
}
}
//Perameters should start with lowercase, properties should start with uppercase
public void ClearText(string firstName, string lastName)
{
FirstName = "";
LastName = "";
}
public void LoadWelcomePage()
{
ActivateItem(new WelcomeViewModel());
}
public void LoadPageTwo()
{
//ActivateItem(new RegistrationViewModel());
}
}
}
Code-behind for ShellView (database info removed for privacy):
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Data;
using System.Windows.Documents;
using System.Windows.Input;
using System.Windows.Media;
using System.Windows.Media.Imaging;
using System.Windows.Shapes;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
using ProductivityTool.ViewModels;
namespace ProductivityTool.Views
{
/// <summary>
/// Interaction logic for ShellView.xaml
/// </summary>
public partial class ShellView : Window
{
private ShellViewModel _viewModel; //this is needed to access methods from the view model, format _viewModel.method();
public ShellView()
{
InitializeComponent();
_viewModel = new ShellViewModel();
this.DataContext = _viewModel;
}
private void LoginBtn_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
string loginCredentials;
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(textBoxEmail.Text))
{
loginCredentials = textBoxUID.Text;
}
else
{
loginCredentials = textBoxEmail.Text;
}
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(loginCredentials))
{
MessageBox.Show("No credentials entered.");
}
else
{
string email = loginCredentials;
SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection("Data Source=source;Database=database;Trusted_Connection=Yes;");
con.Open();
SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("Select * from UProfile where Email='" + email + "'", con);
cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
SqlDataAdapter adapter = new SqlDataAdapter();
adapter.SelectCommand = cmd;
DataSet dataSet = new DataSet();
adapter.Fill(dataSet);
if (dataSet.Tables[0].Rows.Count > 0)
{
string username = dataSet.Tables[0].Rows[0]["UserName"].ToString();
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show("Error");
}
lblLogged.Content = "Signed in as:";
lblSignedInAs.Content = dataSet.Tables[0].Rows[0]["UserName"].ToString(); //Display who is signed in currently
con.Close();
_viewModel.LoadWelcomePage();
}
}
private void Phonebook_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
_viewModel.LoadWelcomePage();
}
}
}
Here is the WelcomeViewModel class that I want to call:
using Caliburn.Micro;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using ProductivityTool.Models;
namespace ProductivityTool.ViewModels
{
public class WelcomeViewModel : Screen
{
}
}
This is identical to the FirstChildViewModel that the tutorial was based on that was working at one point. Here is that:
using Caliburn.Micro;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
namespace ProductivityTool.ViewModels
{
public class FirstChildViewModel : Screen
{
}
}
Apologies for messy code, I want to include everything so you guys have the full picture. Most of it is legacy from the tutorials I did that I keep for reference. If there is a better way to achieve this effect, please let me know.
I stepped through the code and verified that LoadWelcomePage is triggering. I also tried setting this method to be triggered from the button on the menu to the left and it didn't change anything. I messed with the order of ContentControl in the xaml thinking it's a z-index thing, but that didn't work. Actually assigning Z-index values also didn't work. I removed the login border and all of its children from the screen and just tried to have the ContentControl appear upfront but the Z-index looks proper it doesn't work correctly. I also tried different window and grid backgrounds, like transparent, thinking it was hidden behind either the grid or the window but it always remains hidden. I also tried setting the d:DataContext as recommended by another post but it didn't change anything.
While doing the tutorials, I had the same buttons and views being triggered and it was working, but now that my use-case is slightly different things have broken. I'm mostly convinced it is a z-index issue, but it's a simple layout and things seem to be as they should so I am stuck. Thanks in advance for the help.

Answer 1

After more testing, I find out that my _viewModel.LoadWelcomePage is triggering, but not actually doing anything. Assigning the methods that activateitem to different buttons and clicking those makes everything work fine. Because this is more of a c# question, I will close this question and open another one if I can't figure out how to get my method trigger to work.