Binding in Style Setter in DataTemplate WPF - wpf

Okay, I have a relatively involved problem. I'm trying to create a Window in WPF. The main element on this window is a DataGrid. Each one of the rows in the DataGrid has a DetailsPane which I set using DataGrid.RowDetailsTemplate. Depending on certain row-specific values, I need the DetailsPane to display different elements. To accomplish this I placed a ContentControl at the root of the DataTemplate and used a Style with DataTriggers to set its Content property. Now, inside one of these Setters is a ComboBox. This ComboBox needs to have its ItemsSource bound to a list, which is stored in a dependency property on the Window level (because its the same list regardless of the row). Below is a simplified version of what I'm looking at:
<Window>
...
<DataGrid>
...
<DataGrid.RowDetailsTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<ContentControl>
<Style TargetType="ContentControl">
<Style.Triggers>
<DataTrigger Binding="{Binding RowSpecificBooleanProperty}" Value="False">
<Setter Property="Content">
<Setter.Value>
...
<ComboBox ItemsSource={HowDoIBindThisToTheWindowProperty}/>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</DataTrigger>
</Style.Triggers>
</Style>
</ContentControl>
</DataTemplate>
</DataGrid.RowDetailsTemplate>
</DataGrid>
</Window>
So what I'm trying to figure out is how to bind the ItemsSource of that ComboBox to a dependency property of the top-level window. Andy idea how to accomplish that?
EDIT:
I should have mentioned this before but I've already tried using {RelativeSource AncestorType=Window} and ElementName in the binding. In both cases the list in the ComboBox is blank at runtime.

ItemsSource="{Binding WhateverList, RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType=Window}}"

Related

Address a property of parent ListView from a listview item

Desired: set border properties of a listview depending on conditions in displayed items. For example:
Set the border of an entire ListView red if any one of its (string) items begins with "S". So the problem is how to address a parent listview from its items (within xaml preferably)
Something like
<ListView Name="lv" Grid.Row="2" ItemsSource="{Binding TheItemList}" Height="100" BorderBrush="Black">
<ListView.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding }">
<TextBlock.Style>
<Style>
<Style.Triggers>
<DataTrigger Binding="{Binding Converter={StaticResource StringToBoolean}}
Value="True">
<Setter ???? Value="Red"/>
</DataTrigger>
</Style.Triggers>
</Style>
</TextBlock.Style>
</TextBlock>
</DataTemplate>
</ListView.ItemTemplate>
</ListView>
(where the converter is the obvious thing) does not work: I can' use
TargetName="lv" in the ???? part of the setter, that's outside the scope. Neither can I use <Style TargetType="ListView"> in the style declaration. I could of course go up and back through the view model, but how does one do this in .xaml?
Must be having a bad day, this seems like an obvious thing. My googling hasn't yielded much unfortunately.
A setter in a Style can only set a property of the element to which the Style is applied, i.e. a Style for a TextBlock cannot set the property of the parent ListView.
You could "move" the Style to the ListView and implement the converter to return true if ListBox.Items.OfType<string>().Any(x => x?.StartsWith("s") == true) or something similar.
But a Style for a child element cannot set a property of the parent element.

Toggle two different elements in DataTemplate using Style Triggers

I have an object in ViewModel whose properties are displayed by a datatemplate. The screen also has a button toggling the IsEditing flag in ViewModel, which should make the object properties editable, like the following:
Name should change from TextBlock to TextBox;
Color should change from colored rectangle to ComboBox with color options;
Category should change from TextBlock to ComboBox;
I know how to implement this with two completely independent DataTemplates, using a Style and a DataTrigger to toggle between them:
<ContentControl Content="{Binding FancyObject}">
<ContentControl.Style>
<Style TargetType="ContentControl">
<Setter Property="ContentTemplate" Value="{StaticResource DisplayTemplate}"/>
<Style.Triggers>
<DataTrigger Binding="{Binding DataContext.IsEditing, ElementName=UserControl}" Value="True">
<Setter Property="ContentTemplate" Value="{StaticResource EditTemplate}"/>
</DataTrigger>
</Style.Triggers>
</Style>
</ContentControl.Style>
</ContentControl>
And currently the DisplayTemplate is like this:
<DataTemplate x:Key="DisplayTemplate" DataType="my:FancyObject">
<Border>
<DockPanel DataContext="{Binding Metadata}">
<Border>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Name}"/>
</Border>
<DataGrid
AutoGenerateColumns="False"
ItemsSource="{Binding FancyObjectCollection}">
<DataGrid.Columns>
<!-- Text and Template columns -->
</DataGrid.Columns>
</DataGrid>
</DockPanel>
</Border>
</DataTemplate>
The problem is: using two independent but similar templates would mean a duplication of layout, since only some fields would change, but the overall structure is the same.
Another option I imagine is to use a single template defined inside the Style, and use the Trigger to change the fields individually, but I don't know how to do it, or even if it is possible at all.
You can use one template.
In the template add both TextBlock and TextBox, same for all your other controls on the original template.
Bind the controls visibility to bool to visibility converter. (Or use triggers) Only one set of your control will be seen each time (based on IsEditing flag)
The ControlTemplate is only used upon generating the UI Elements. If you change the template AFTER generating the items, the generated items will not change.
You can also not use a trigger to change a TextBox to a TextBlock and vice versa.
Your only option is indeed to mirror the layout twice and hide/display it via the data bound property.

Binding to DataGridTemplateColumn using style applied within DataTemplate?

I have a ComboBox that composes a DataTemplate, and I'm having trouble binding its IsEnabled property to the IsReadOnly property on the templated DataGridTemplateColumn.
I've been receiving the following error in my VS output window:
'IsReadOnly' property not found on 'object' ''ContentPresenter'
ComboBox style:
<Style TargetType="{x:Type ComboBox}" x:Key="ProficiencyColumnComboBoxStyle">
<Setter Property="IsEnabled"
Value="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Mode=TemplatedParent},
Path=IsReadOnly, Converter={StaticResource BooleanOppositeConverter}}" />
</Style>
I believe the problem is with how I specify the RelativeSource intended to identify my DataGridColumn. I've tried:
RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}
RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type DataGridColumn}
RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type DataGridTemplateColumn}
I've tried adding other setters to this style, and they do take effect, so I know the style and DataTemplate are being applied to the controls.
P.S.
I've used this same technique to bind another ComboBox within a DataTemplate to a property on the parent DataGrid of its templated columns. The difference is that here I'm using a converter, and trying to bind to a property on a column (instead of the grid.) However, even if I remove the converter from the above style, no binding takes place.
Try this:
<Style TargetType="{x:Type ComboBox}" x:Key="ProficiencyColumnComboBoxStyle">
<Setter Property="IsEnabled"
Value="{Binding IsReadOnly, RelativeSource={RelativeSource FindAncestor, AncestorType={x:Type DataGridCell}}, Converter={StaticResource BooleanOppositeConverter}}"/>
</Style>
DataGridCell.IsReadOnly should pick up value from its DataGridColumn.IsReadOnly.
Creating the column as a resource might work out, that way you might be able to use StaticResource to target it. e.g.
<DataGrid.Resources>
<DataGridTemplateColumn x:Key="Column" .../>
</DataGrid.Resources>
<DataGrid.Columns>
<StaticResource ResourceKey="Column"/>
</DataGrid.Columns>
{Binding IsReadOnly, Source={StaticResource Column}}
As mentioned in a comment Binding.Source and x:Reference via the name of the column might work as well, depending on the structure. If you can move the part with the reference into the resources of the element being referenced you can usually get rid of cyclical dependecy errors. You just need to use the StaticResource extension in the place where that part is needed, not all too convenient.

Adding tool tip functionality to a wpf control that does not descend from FrameworkElement

I'm working on a custom class that descends from DataGridColumn. The base class for DataGridColumn is DependencyObject. As such, it does not have a Tooltip property.
I want my custom class to have a Tooltip property. Actually, I want it to also have a ToolTipTemplate property that is a DataTemplate that can be used to generate the ToolTip. How do I go about adding this functionality to my class?
Tony
Its a common misconception that DataGridColumn being a dependency object, is part of the visual tree. It is not. So even if we create an inheritable dependency property (just like DataContext or FlowDirection which automatically propagates down the visual parent to its child elements), the new property of ToolTip wont descend down to individual cells, as those cells are not the children of the data grid column.
So now that we know this, the only way left is to add a binding in the CellStyle and bind to the self Column.ToolTip property. Just because you have decided to go with ToolTipTemplate, then you could add a ContentControl and then bind to its content template.
Something like this...
<tk:DataGrid x:Name="MyDataGrid" RowHeaderWidth="15"
ItemsSource="{StaticResource MyData}"
AutoGenerateColumns="False">
<tk:DataGrid.CellStyle>
<Style TargetType="{x:Type tk:DataGridCell}">
<Setter Property="ToolTip">
<Setter.Value>
<ContentControl
ContentTemplate="{Binding Column.ToolTipTemplate,
RelativeSource={RelativeSource FindAncestor,
AncestorType={x:Type tk:DataGridCell}}}"/>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
<Style.Triggers>
<DataTrigger
Binding="{Binding Column.ToolTipTemplate,
RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self}}"
Value="{x:Null}">
<Setter Property="ToolTip" Value="{x:Null}"/>
</DataTrigger>
</Style.Triggers>
</Style>
</tk:DataGrid.CellStyle>
....
</tk:DataGrid>

Conditionally changing the Foreground of a WPF ComboBox item depending upon a value in the databound ItemsSource item

I have a WPF ComboBox bound to a Collection List<Users>. I have applied a DataTemplate to show the FirstName using a TextBlock and this works as expected:
<ComboBox Margin="5" ItemsSource="{Binding Path=TheUsers}" Name="cboUsers">
<ComboBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<TextBlock Margin="10" Text="{Binding Path=FirstName}">
</TextBlock>
</DataTemplate>
</ComboBox.ItemTemplate>
</ComboBox>`
I have an item in my User class called IsActive which is a Boolean value. If true then I want to set the Foreground of the TextBlock to Navy.
I have spent so much time on what should be so easy and looked all over the web but most articles talk about changing the overall colour or binding to another element in the xaml.
I tried implementing a DataTrigger and after an hour removed the code because it was not working. It would not recognise my field name. Does anyone have a very simple guide to how to do this or what would be the best approach?
As you apparently are not dealing with fields after all, this style should do what you want:
<TextBlock.Style>
<Style TargetType="{x:Type TextBlock}">
<Style.Triggers>
<DataTrigger Binding="{Binding IsActive}" Value="True">
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="Navy"/>
</DataTrigger>
</Style.Triggers>
</Style>
</TextBlock.Style>
It would not recognise my field name.
You cannot bind to fields, end of story.

Resources