MVVM Binding to 2 controls not working - wpf

Question

I'm trying to make a control that has a current value with an optional equation string.
I have 2 textboxes:
One (a) where you can enter an equation shortcut to a value to put into the other (b).
(b) contains the actual value.
(for example, in (a), if you enter 'pi', the second will then fill with "3.1415926535897931")
I'm using 2 textboxes so the user can refine their equation if they need to, and watch the value change as they modify it.
The data has 2 fields, one being the equation string and the other being the current value.
so I have (a).Text bound to the string, a new property on (a) that holds the value, and I bind (b).Text to the value also.
(a).Text is TwoWay
(a).Value is OneWayToSource (since changes to the text should only be pushed to b)
(b).Value is TwoWay
This all works fine if I have the data set in the constructor before any XAML binding, but does not work at all if I add the data after binding.
Here is a minimal amount of code that shows the problem.
The only comment is at the line that can make it work or not.
As a last resort I could turn it into a custom control and handle it in the code-behind, but I'd think this should work in the first place.
Any ideas why this isn't working?
Thanks!
Here is the XAML:
<Window x:Class="twoBindingsOnSameField.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:diag="clr-namespace:System.Diagnostics;assembly=WindowsBase"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:twoBindingsOnSameField"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
<StackPanel>
<Button Content="load data" Click="Button_Click" Width="80" IsEnabled="{Binding NeedsData}"/>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBlock Text="enter text:" Width="80"/>
<local:TextBoxCalc Text="{Binding Item.ItemString, Mode=TwoWay, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}"
TextBoxCalculatedValue="{Binding Item.ItemValue, Mode=OneWayToSource, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}"
Width="200"
IsEnabled="{Binding HasData}"
/>
</StackPanel>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBlock Text="updated text:" Width="80"/>
<TextBox Text="{Binding Item.ItemValue, Mode=TwoWay, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}"
Width="200"
IsEnabled="{Binding HasData}"
/>
</StackPanel>
</StackPanel>
</Window>
Here is the codebehind.
using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
namespace twoBindingsOnSameField
{
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
data data;
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
data = new data();
/// ---- Does not work with the following line commented out, but does if it is uncommented ----
/// ---- use the button to set the data ----
//setdata();
DataContext = data;
}
private void Button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
setdata();
}
void setdata()
{
if (data.Item == null)
data.Item = new dataitem();
}
}
public class data : notifybase
{
dataitem item;
public data()
{
}
public dataitem Item
{
get
{
return item;
}
set
{
if (item != value)
{
item = value;
notifyPropertyChanged("Item");
notifyPropertyChanged("HasData");
notifyPropertyChanged("NeedsData");
}
}
}
public bool HasData
{
get
{
return Item != null;
}
}
public bool NeedsData
{
get
{
return Item == null;
}
}
}
public class dataitem : notifybase
{
string itemString;
string itemValue;
public dataitem()
{
itemString = "3";
itemValue = "4";
}
public virtual string ItemString
{
get
{
return this.itemString;
}
set
{
if (!object.Equals(this.itemString, value))
{
this.itemString = value;
notifyPropertyChanged("ItemString");
}
}
}
public virtual string ItemValue
{
get
{
return this.itemValue;
}
set
{
if (!object.Equals(this.itemValue, value))
{
this.itemValue = value;
notifyPropertyChanged("ItemValue");
}
}
}
}
public class TextBoxCalc : TextBox
{
public TextBoxCalc()
{
TextProperty.AddHandler(this, (o,e)=>TextBoxCalculatedValue="updated:" + Text);
}
#region TextBoxCalculatedValue
public static DependencyProperty TextBoxCalculatedValueProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("TextBoxCalculatedValue", typeof(string), typeof(TextBoxCalc), new PropertyMetadata(""));
public string TextBoxCalculatedValue
{
get
{
return (string)GetValue(TextBoxCalculatedValueProperty);
}
set
{
if (!object.Equals(TextBoxCalculatedValue, value))
SetValue(TextBoxCalculatedValueProperty, value);
}
}
#endregion
}
public class notifybase : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged(PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
PropertyChanged(this, e);
}
protected virtual void notifyPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
PropertyChangedEventArgs e = new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName);
OnPropertyChanged(e);
}
}
static class extensions
{
public static void AddHandler(this DependencyProperty prop, object component, EventHandler handler)
{
DependencyPropertyDescriptor dpd = DependencyPropertyDescriptor.FromProperty(prop, component.GetType());
if (dpd != null)
dpd.AddValueChanged(component, handler);
}
}
}

Answer 1

The reason why it works when you uncomment //setdata(); is because it is initializing the object in what is effectively your viewmodel, therefore you can change its properties via binding. To clarify as a side note, data would be your view model, and dataitem is your model, however you're dataitem is using INPC, so it doesn't really make sense in this case to have a viewmodel necessarily.
Anyways, the issue is that TextBoxCalculatedValue is set to a OneWayToSource binding. When you run the code commented out, its going to try and bind to a null value. When it does, it tries to update a null value, which isn't possible. WPF handles what would normally be a null exception automatically. When you update the dataItem by clicking the button, it doesn't update the object TextBoxCalc is bound to, so instead, it will continue trying to bind & update the null object. Change it to a TwoWay binding and you'll see a difference. Changing to TwoWay is probably your best option.
Good practice is to use constructor injection to practice dependency injection. With that being said, passing a dataItem to data would be the best route, and at the very least, initializing dataItem in data's constructor would be an ideal approach. So,
public data(dataItem item)
{
Item = item;
}
or
public data()
{
Item = new dataitem();
}