WPF DisplayMemberPath not Updating when SelectedItem is removed - wpf

I have simplified this problem down as much as I can. Basically I am overriding the "null" value of a combobox. So that if the item selected is deleted, it reverts back to "(null)". Unfortunately the behaviour of this is wrong, I hit delete, the ObservableCollection item is removed, thus the property binding is updated and it returns the "(null)" item as expected. But the combobox appearance shows blank. Yet the value its bound to is correct... this problem can be reproduced with the code below.
To reproduce this problem you select an item, and hit remove. Notice at this point the following line is called (when you remove the selected item). So its a good place to breakpoint.
if (m_Selected == null)
{
return Items[0]; //items 0 is ItemNull
}
Also notice that I have attmpted to fix it by Forcing a property update on the DisplayMemberPath. This did not work.
MainWindow.xaml
<Window x:Class="WPFCodeDump.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
<StackPanel>
<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Items}" SelectedItem="{Binding Selected, Mode=TwoWay}" DisplayMemberPath="Name"></ComboBox>
<Button Click="ButtonBase_OnClick">Remove Selected</Button>
</StackPanel>
</Window>
MainWindowViewModel.cs
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
using System.Windows.Input;
namespace WPFCodeDump
{
public abstract class ViewModelBase : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = "")
{
PropertyChangedEventHandler handler = PropertyChanged;
if (handler != null)
{
handler(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
}
//Item class
public class Item : ViewModelBase
{
public Item(string name)
{
m_Name = name;
}
public string Name
{
get { return m_Name; }
}
private string m_Name;
public void ForcePropertyUpdate()
{
OnPropertyChanged("Name");
}
}
//Item class
public class ItemNull : Item
{
public ItemNull()
: base("(null)")
{
}
}
class MainWindowViewModel : ViewModelBase
{
public MainWindowViewModel()
{
m_Items.Add(new ItemNull());
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
{
m_Items.Add(new Item("TestItem" + i));
}
Selected = null;
}
//Remove selected command
public void RemoveSelected()
{
Items.Remove(Selected);
}
//The item list
private ObservableCollection<Item> m_Items = new ObservableCollection<Item>();
public ObservableCollection<Item> Items
{
get { return m_Items; }
}
//Selected item
private Item m_Selected;
public Item Selected
{
get
{
if (m_Selected == null)
{
return Items[0]; //items 0 is ItemNull
}
return m_Selected;
}
set
{
m_Selected = value;
OnPropertyChanged();
if(m_Selected!=null) m_Selected.ForcePropertyUpdate();
}
}
}
}
MainWindow.xaml.cs
using System.Windows;
namespace WPFCodeDump
{
/// <summary>
/// Interaction logic for MainWindow.xaml
/// </summary>
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
DataContext = new MainWindowViewModel();
}
private void ButtonBase_OnClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
((MainWindowViewModel) DataContext).RemoveSelected();
}
}
}
Result:

A nice binding issue you found there. But as always, it's our fault, not theirs :)
The issue(s) is(are), using DisplayMemberPath with SelectedItem.
The DisplayMemberPath doesn't give a f*** about the changed SelectedItem.
What you have to do, to resolve this issue, are two things:
First, in the RemoveSelected method, set the Selected property to null (to force an update on the binding):
public void RemoveSelected()
{
Items.Remove(Selected);
Selected = null;
}
Then, in the XAML-definition, change the bound property:
<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Items}"
SelectedValue="{Binding Selected, Mode=TwoWay}"
DisplayMemberPath="Name"/>
Binding the SelectedValue property will correctly update the displayed text in the ComboBox.

Related

PropertyChanged remains null even if the property has been changed

I am struggling with this for a while and I cannot figure it out. I have a button and a textBox. The textBox is linked to a property named: MessageDisplay. I want to be able to access this property and update the textBox in several places. Sadly, the PropertyChanged is null. The weird thing is that if I copy/paste the MessageDisplayModel class into the *MessageViewModel * class, it works ...
here is my code :
XAMLfile :
<Grid>
<Button Command="{Binding DisplayTextCommand}" Name="DisplayTextCommand" Margin="53,72,544.6,286" Width="Auto">Push</Button>
<TextBox Name="MessageDisplay" Text="{Binding MessageDisplay, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged, Mode=TwoWay}" />
</Grid>
MessageDisplayModel file
public class MessageDisplayModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private string _message;
public string MessageDisplay
{
get { return _message; }
set
{
this._message = value;
this.OnPropertyChanged("MessageDisplay");
}
}
public void UpdateTextBox(string output)
{
MessageDisplay = output;
}
protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
PropertyChangedEventHandler handler = this.PropertyChanged;
if (handler != null)
{
var e = new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName);
handler(this, e);
}
}
}//class
MessageViewModel file:
public class MessageViewModel
{
private ICommand _testCommand;
public MessageDisplayModel MessageDisplaySmt = new MessageDisplayModel();
public ICommand DisplayTextCommand
{
get
{
return new DelegateCommand(DisplayMessage);
}
set
{
if (_testCommand == value) return;
_testCommand = value;
}
}
public void DisplayMessage()
{
MessageDisplaySmt.UpdateTextBox("Successfuly downloaded");
}
}//class
MainWindow file
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
MessageDisplay.DataContext = new MessageDisplayModel();
DisplayTextCommand.DataContext = new MessageViewModel();
}
}//class
I update the MessageDisplay property by using the method UpdateTextBox(string). I call this method on the click of the button. When debugging the property gets updated but when time comes to notify the UI that the property has changed, PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged has its value null ... But if I write something in the textBox, the PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged gets changed and isn't null anymore. All I want is to be able to change the textBox's property whenever I want and from anywhere I want to.
Thank you
You are using two different instances of MessageDisplayModel. You must use a shared instance.
Also the DisplayTextCommand is implemented "wrong". The set method is redundant as the property's get always returns a new instance of the ICommand.
MessageViewModel.cs
public class MessageViewModel
{
pulic MessageViewModel()
{
}
pulic MessageViewModel(MessageDisplayViewModel messageDisplayViewModel)
{
this.MessageDisplaySmt = messageDisplayViewModel;
}
public void DisplayMessage()
{
this.MessageDisplaySmt.UpdateTextBox("Successfuly downloaded");
}
public MessageDisplayViewModel MessageDisplaySmt { get; set; }
public ICommand DisplayTextCommand { get => new DelegateCommand(DisplayMessage); }
}
MainWindow.xaml.cs
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
// Alternatively use XAML to set the DataContext (see MainWindow.xaml). Would require a parameterless constructor.
this.DataContext = new MessageViewModel(new MessageDisplayViewModel());
}
}
MainWindow.xaml
<Window>
<!--
Alternative DataContext declaration using XAML instead of C#.
Requires a parameterless constructor for both view model objects.
-->
<Window.DataContext>
<MessageViewModel>
<MessageViewModel.MessageDisplaySmt>
<MessageDisplayViewModel />
</MessageViewModel.MessageDisplaySmt>
</MessageViewModel>
</Window.DataContext>
<StackPanel>
<Button Command="{Binding DisplayTextCommand}"
Content="Push" />
<TextBox Text="{Binding MessageDisplaySmt.MessageDisplay}" />
</StackPanel>
</Window>

WPF AutoCompleteBox dynamic sorting

I am using the WPF AutoCompleteBox and I have it working great, but one thing I would like to do is sort the suggestion list on the fly after each letter is entered into the primary TextBox. Does anyone know how to do this? I tried using an ICollectionView property with the DefaultView logic and adding SortDescriptions but it doesn't seem to phase the suggestion list. To make sure my collection view sorting was working I put a normal ListBox control and an AutoCompleteBox control on the same window and bound both controls to the same observable collection with the same collection view and the normal ListBox control showed the items sorted correctly using the SortDescriptions, but the AutoCompleteBox list didn't have the items sorted. It had them in the order they were added to the collection.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Has anyone done this?
I have no idea how #user1089031 done this, but here is working sample for anyone who could be interested in (updated to #adabyron's comment!):
ViewModel.cs
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Linq;
using System.Windows.Data;
namespace WpfApplication12
{
public class Item
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public override string ToString()
{
return Name;
}
}
public class ViewModel: INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged = delegate {};
private readonly ObservableCollection<Item> source;
private readonly ICollectionView items;
private string searchText;
public ViewModel()
{
source = new ObservableCollection<Item>
{
new Item {Name = "111111111 Test abb - (1)"},
new Item {Name = "22222 Test - (2)"},
new Item {Name = "333 Test - (3)"},
new Item {Name = "44444 Test abc - (4)"},
new Item {Name = "555555 Test cde - (5)"},
new Item {Name = "66 Test - bbcd (6)"},
new Item {Name = "7 Test - cd (7)"},
new Item {Name = "Test - ab (8)"},
};
items = new ListCollectionView(source);
}
public ICollectionView Items
{
get { return items; }
}
public IEnumerable<Item> ItemsSorted
{
get
{
return string.IsNullOrEmpty(SearchText)
? source
: (IEnumerable<Item>)source
.OrderBy(item => item.Name.IndexOf(SearchText,
StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase));
}
}
public Item Selected { get; set; }
public string SearchText
{
get { return searchText; }
set
{
searchText = value;
PropertyChanged(this,
new PropertyChangedEventArgs("SearchText"));
PropertyChanged(this,
new PropertyChangedEventArgs("ItemsSorted"));
}
}
}
}
MainWindow.xaml:
<Window x:Class="WpfApplication12.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:controls="clr-namespace:System.Windows.Controls;assembly=System.Windows.Controls.Input.Toolkit"
xmlns:wpfApplication2="clr-namespace:WpfApplication12"
xmlns:i="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/2010/interactivity"
Title="MainWindow" Height="200" Width="500"
DataContext="{DynamicResource viewModel}">
<Window.Resources>
<wpfApplication2:ViewModel x:Key="viewModel" />
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type wpfApplication2:Item}">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Name}" FontFamily="Courier New" />
</DataTemplate>
</Window.Resources>
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition />
<ColumnDefinition />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<controls:AutoCompleteBox
ItemsSource="{Binding ItemsSorted}"
FilterMode="ContainsOrdinal"
SelectedItem="{Binding Selected, Mode=TwoWay}"
MinimumPrefixLength="0"
VerticalAlignment="Top" Margin="5">
<i:Interaction.Behaviors>
<wpfApplication2:SearchTextBindBehavior
BoundSearchText="{Binding SearchText,
Mode=OneWayToSource}" />
</i:Interaction.Behaviors>
</controls:AutoCompleteBox>
<ListBox Grid.Column="1"
ItemsSource="{Binding Items}" Margin="5" />
</Grid>
</Window>
As you could notice I've add one custom behavior to AutoCompleteBox control:
<i:Interaction.Behaviors>
<wpfApplication2:SearchTextBindBehavior
BoundSearchText="{Binding SearchText,
Mode=OneWayToSource}" />
</i:Interaction.Behaviors>
This is because AutoCompleteBox's own SearchText property is read-only. So here is the code of this behavior:
SearchTextBindBehavior.cs (Updated)
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Interactivity;
namespace WpfApplication12
{
public class SearchTextBindBehavior : Behavior<AutoCompleteBox>
{
public static readonly DependencyProperty BoundSearchTextProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("BoundSearchText",
typeof(string), typeof(SearchTextBindBehavior));
public string BoundSearchText
{
get { return (string)GetValue(BoundSearchTextProperty); }
set { SetValue(BoundSearchTextProperty, value); }
}
protected override void OnAttached()
{
base.OnAttached();
AssociatedObject.TextChanged += OnTextChanged;
}
protected override void OnDetaching()
{
base.OnDetaching();
AssociatedObject.TextChanged -= OnTextChanged;
}
private void OnTextChanged(object sender, RoutedEventArgs args)
{
if(AssociatedObject.Text.Length == 0)
{
BoundSearchText = string.Empty;
return;
}
if(AssociatedObject.SearchText ==
AssociatedObject.Text.Substring(0,
AssociatedObject.Text.Length - 1))
{
BoundSearchText = AssociatedObject.Text;
}
}
}
}
Note: To make it all work you will need to add reference to the System.Windows.Interactivity.dll from the Expression Blend 4 SDK. This is just where Behavior<T> and a few its friends live.
If you have Expression Blend already installed, you already have all the SDK and there is no need to download anything. Just in case - on my machine the assembly located here:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Expression\Blend.NETFramework\v4.0\Libraries\System.Windows.Interactivity.dll
And, finally, if you have some good reason to do NOT add reference to this popular official library, feel free to re-implemented this custom behavior in "the old way" via plain old attached properties.
Hope that helps.
This is what I ended up with, a slight adaptation of Sevenate's answer, so if you wanted to upvote, do that to his post.
I used a subclass (I had the AutoCompleteBox subclassed already for other reasons), which allows me to create a wrapper dependency property to get the readonly SearchText (=what the user entered via keyboard) to the ViewModel - instead of a blend behavior, which is a perfectly valid way, too.
The crux of the matter is that you should only apply the dynamic sorting upon changes of SearchText, not Text (=what is displayed in the AutoCompleteBox, will also change if a suggestion is selected in the dropdown). Sevenate's way to raise the PropertyChanged event of the readonly ItemsSource (ItemsSorted) is a nice and clean way to apply the sorting.
ViewModel:
public class Item
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public override string ToString()
{
return Name;
}
}
public class AutoCompleteBoxDynamicSortingVM : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private readonly ObservableCollection<Item> source;
public AutoCompleteBoxDynamicSortingVM()
{
source = new ObservableCollection<Item>
{
new Item {Name = "111111111 Test abb - (1)"},
new Item {Name = "22222 Test - (2)"},
new Item {Name = "333 Test - (3)"},
new Item {Name = "44444 Test abc - (4)"},
new Item {Name = "555555 Test cde - (5)"},
new Item {Name = "66 Test - bbcd (6)"},
new Item {Name = "7 Test - cd (7)"},
new Item {Name = "Test - ab (8)"},
};
}
public IEnumerable<Item> ItemsSorted
{
get
{
return string.IsNullOrEmpty(Text) ? (IEnumerable<Item>)source :
source.OrderBy(item => item.Name.IndexOf(Text, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));
}
}
public Item Selected { get; set; }
// Text that is shown in AutoCompleteBox
private string text;
public string Text
{
get { return text; }
set { text = value; OnPropertyChanged("Text"); }
}
// Text that was entered by user (cannot be changed from viewmodel)
private string searchText;
public string SearchText
{
get { return searchText; }
set
{
searchText = value;
OnPropertyChanged("SearchText");
OnPropertyChanged("ItemsSorted");
}
}
private void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
Subclass of AutoCompleteBox:
public class MyAutoCompleteBox : AutoCompleteBox
{
/// <summary>
/// Bindable property that encapsulates the readonly property SearchText.
/// When the viewmodel tries to set SearchText by way of EnteredText, it will fail without an exception.
/// </summary>
public string EnteredText
{
get { return (string)GetValue(EnteredTextProperty); }
set { SetValue(EnteredTextProperty, value); }
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty EnteredTextProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("EnteredText", typeof(string), typeof(MyAutoCompleteBox), new PropertyMetadata(null));
protected override void OnPropertyChanged(DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
// synchronize SearchText and EnteredText (only one-way)
if (e.Property == AutoCompleteBox.SearchTextProperty && this.EnteredText != this.SearchText)
EnteredText = SearchText;
base.OnPropertyChanged(e);
}
}
Xaml:
<UserControl x:Class="WpfApplication1.Controls.AutoCompleteBoxDynamicSorting"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:myctrls="clr-namespace:WpfApplication1.Controls"
xmlns:models="clr-namespace:WpfApplication1.ViewModels"
Height="350" Width="525"
DataContext="{DynamicResource viewModel}">
<UserControl.Resources>
<models:AutoCompleteBoxDynamicSortingVM x:Key="viewModel" />
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type models:Item}">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Name}" />
</DataTemplate>
</UserControl.Resources>
<Grid>
<myctrls:MyAutoCompleteBox
ItemsSource="{Binding ItemsSorted}"
Text="{Binding Text, Mode=TwoWay}"
EnteredText="{Binding SearchText, Mode=OneWayToSource}"
FilterMode="ContainsOrdinal"
VerticalAlignment="Top" Margin="5" />
</Grid>
</UserControl>

Adding\Removing from ListView but not reflecting in UI

I have two List<ColumnClass>. one for left side listview and another for right side list view. these listviews are in a pop up box. I am modifying the List of both the Listviews and again assigning that to the Listview's ItemsSource. But this doesn't reflect in the UI immediatly. When I close the popup and open again it reflects the changes. What am I missing?
You should replace the List<T> with ObservableCollection<T>, ObservableCollections will update your ListView whenever an Item is removed, If you are just modifing properties your ColumnClass make sure your ColumnClass implements INotifyPropertyChanged this will allow the UI to update when a property changes.
Example:
Code:
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
MyColumns.Add(new ColumnClass { Name = "Column1" });
MyColumns.Add(new ColumnClass { Name = "Column2" });
MyColumns.Add(new ColumnClass { Name = "Column3" });
}
private ObservableCollection<ColumnClass> _myColumns = new ObservableCollection<ColumnClass>();
public ObservableCollection<ColumnClass> MyColumns
{
get { return _myColumns; }
set { _myColumns = value; }
}
}
xaml:
<Window x:Class="WpfApplication8.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="WpfApplication8" Height="368" Width="486" Name="UI" >
<Grid>
<ListView ItemsSource="{Binding ElementName=UI, Path=MyColumns}" DisplayMemberPath="Name" />
</Grid>
</Window>
Model:
public class ColumnClass : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private string _name;
public string Name
{
get { return _name; }
set { _name = value; NotifyPropertyChanged("Name"); }
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
/// <summary>
/// Notifies the property changed.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="property">The info.</param>
public void NotifyPropertyChanged(string property)
{
if (PropertyChanged != null)
{
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(property));
}
}
}
You should change List<T> to ObservableCollection<T> or BindingList<T>.
Reason, List doesnot implement INotifyPropertyChanged.

IndexOutOfRangeException when changing selected TabItem twice

I have the following simple WPF-app:
<Window x:Class="TabControlOutOfRangeException.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
<TabControl ItemsSource="{Binding ItemsSource}"
SelectedIndex="{Binding SelectedIndex, IsAsync=True}" />
</Window>
with following simple code-behind:
using System.Collections.Generic;
namespace TabControlOutOfRangeException
{
public partial class MainWindow
{
public List<string> ItemsSource { get; private set; }
public int SelectedIndex { get; set; }
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
ItemsSource = new List<string>{"Foo", "Bar", "FooBar"};
DataContext = this;
}
}
}
When I click on the second tab ("Bar"), nothing is displayed. When I click again on any tab, I get an IndexOutOfRangeException. Setting IsAsync to False, the TabControl works.
Unfortunately, I have the requirement to query the user a "Save changes?" question when he leaves the current tab. So I wanted to set the SelectedIndex back to the old value within the set-property. Obviously this doesn't work. What am I doing wrong?
Update
I've subclassed the TabControl with the evil hack and it works for me. Here is the code of MainWindow.xaml:
<Window x:Class="TabControlOutOfRangeException.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:TabControlOutOfRangeException="clr-namespace:TabControlOutOfRangeException" Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
<Grid>
<TabControlOutOfRangeException:PreventChangingTabsTabControl
ItemsSource="{Binding ItemsSource}"
SelectedIndex="{Binding SelectedIndex}"
CanChangeTab="{Binding CanChangeTab}" Margin="0,0,0,51" />
<CheckBox Content="CanChangeTab" IsChecked="{Binding CanChangeTab}" Margin="0,287,0,0" />
</Grid>
</Window>
And here MainWindow.xaml.cs:
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
namespace TabControlOutOfRangeException
{
public partial class MainWindow : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public int SelectedIndex { get; set; }
public List<string> ItemsSource { get; private set; }
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
ItemsSource = new List<string> { "Foo", "Bar", "FooBar" };
DataContext = this;
}
private bool _canChangeTab;
public bool CanChangeTab
{
get { return _canChangeTab; }
set
{
_canChangeTab = value;
OnPropertyChanged("CanChangeTab");
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private void OnPropertyChanged(string property)
{
var handler = PropertyChanged;
if (handler != null)
handler(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(property));
}
}
}
And finally the subclassed TabControl:
using System;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
namespace TabControlOutOfRangeException
{
public class PreventChangingTabsTabControl : TabControl
{
private int _previousTab;
public PreventChangingTabsTabControl()
{
SelectionChanged += (s, e) =>
{
if (!CanChangeTab)
{
e.Handled = true;
SelectedIndex = _previousTab;
}
else
_previousTab = SelectedIndex;
};
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty CanChangeTabProperty = DependencyProperty.Register(
"CanChangeTab",
typeof(Boolean),
typeof(PreventChangingTabsTabControl)
);
public bool CanChangeTab
{
get { return (bool)GetValue(CanChangeTabProperty); }
set { SetValue(CanChangeTabProperty, value); }
}
}
}
I'd consider a redesign of that window instead of introducing a heap of new problems by just trial-and-erroring on the "IsAsync" property of the binding.
I am not sure if a tab control will allow this level of control you seek. You could try to catch the event when someone tries to change the selected item, but you would not be able to cancel it out. There is a way however, see Option 4 if you dont want to read the other suggestions.
Option 1: The custom control
I would consider writing a bit of custom code that mimics the functionality of an item container. Its easy to achieve your desired behaviour this way. Just bind a command to the buttons (or whatever control you wish the user to click on), and return CanExecute with false if there are still changes to be submitted - or ask your user whatever you want when it gets executed, and only change the content displayed (ie your custom "TabItem") if desired.
Option 2: Preventing the user by disabling the tabs
Another way would be to bind the "IsEnabled" property of each of the tabitems to a dependency property on your viewmodel, that controls which of them is available to the user. Like, you know that the first page still needs work, just disable all the other ones meanwhile. But be aware that right now you are not creating any TabItems - your content are just plain strings.
public List<TabItem> ItemsSource { get; private set; }
....
ItemsSource = new List<TabItem> { new TabItem() { Header = "Foo", Content = "Foo" }, new TabItem() { Header = "Bar", Content = "Bar" }, new TabItem() { Header = "FooBar", Content = "FooBar" } };
Since you don't want to prevent the user doing something but rather would like to ask to save the changes, i'd go for the custom control route. Still there is option 3.
Option 3: Popup window
Use a popup window and ask to save changes if the user is finished with changing whatever is on that page and clicks on the "Close" button (rather than the "Save" button that should also reside on the same page ;) )
Option 4: Check on StackOverflow
Actually i did that for you, and here is a solution another user has found for the exact same problem: WPF Tab Control Prevent Tab Change
The reason why i didnt post that up-front was that i personally wouldnt do it that way because, man do i HATE applications that do this.
Here you go.
Try actually implementing the SelectedIndex
namespace TabControlOutOfRangeException
{
public partial class MainWindow
{
public List<string> ItemsSource { get; private set; }
private int selectedIndex
public int SelectedIndex {
get { return selectedIndex; }
set { selecectedIndex = value; } }
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
ItemsSource = new List<string>{"Foo", "Bar", "FooBar"};
DataContext = this;
}
}
}
If you want to be able to affect the TabControl the binding needs to be two-way, i.e. your code-behind needs to be able to notify the view that the property changed, for that you should implement INotifyPropertyChanged in your window, e.g.
public partial class MainWindow : INotifyPropertyChanged
private int _selectedIndex;
public int SelectedIndex
{
get { return _selectedIndex; }
set
{
if (_selectedIndex != value)
{
_selectedIndex = value;
OnPropertyChanged("SelectedIndex");
}
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
if (this.PropertyChanged != null)
{
this.PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
Async bindings are usually for properties which have a long-running getter, with e.g. a database query, you should not need this here.
In case you want to to change the selectedIndex in the setter itself, then to get it updated on UI, you have to raise the property changed in an async manner like this -
public partial class MainWindow : INotifyPropertyChanged
private int _selectedIndex;
public int SelectedIndex
{
get { return _selectedIndex; }
set
{
if (_selectedIndex != value)
{
_selectedIndex = value;
OnPropertyChangedAsAsync("SelectedIndex");
}
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
if (this.PropertyChanged != null)
{
this.PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
protected virtual void OnPropertyChangedAsAsync(string propertyName)
{
Dispatcher.CurrentDispatcher.BeginInvoke((Action)delegate { OnPropertyChanged(propertyName); }, DispatcherPriority.Render, null);
}

Mutually Exclusive comboboxes that binds to same data source - MVVM implementation

I'm not sure my Title is right but this is the problem I am facing now.. I have the below XAML code..
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Path=AvailableFields}"
SelectedItem="{Binding Path=SelectedField}"
></ComboBox>
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
What this basically does is, If my data source contains ten items, this is going to generate 10 row of comboboxes and all comboboxes are bounded to the same itemsource.
Now my requirement is Once an item is selected in the first combo box, that item should not be available in the subsequent combo boxes. How to satisfy this requirement in MVVM and WPF?
This turned out to be harder than I thought when I started coding it. Below sample does what you want. The comboboxes will contain all letters that are still available and not selected in another combobox.
XAML:
<Window x:Class="TestApp.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">
<StackPanel>
<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding Path=SelectedLetters}">
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<ComboBox
ItemsSource="{Binding Path=AvailableLetters}"
SelectedItem="{Binding Path=Letter}" />
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
</ItemsControl>
</StackPanel>
</Window>
Code behind:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Linq;
using System.Windows;
namespace TestApp
{
public partial class Window1 : Window
{
public Window1()
{
InitializeComponent();
DataContext = new VM();
}
}
public class VM : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public VM()
{
SelectedLetters = new List<LetterItem>();
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
{
LetterItem letterItem = new LetterItem();
letterItem.PropertyChanged += OnLetterItemPropertyChanged;
SelectedLetters.Add(letterItem);
}
}
public List<LetterItem> SelectedLetters { get; private set; }
private void OnLetterItemPropertyChanged(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
if (e.PropertyName != "Letter")
{
return;
}
foreach (LetterItem letterItem in SelectedLetters)
{
letterItem.RefreshAvailableLetters(SelectedLetters);
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
public class LetterItem : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
static LetterItem()
{
_allLetters = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ".Select(c => c.ToString());
}
public LetterItem()
{
AvailableLetters = _allLetters;
}
public void RefreshAvailableLetters(IEnumerable<LetterItem> letterItems)
{
AvailableLetters = _allLetters.Where(c => !letterItems.Any(li => li.Letter == c) || c == Letter);
}
private IEnumerable<string> _availableLetters;
public IEnumerable<string> AvailableLetters
{
get { return _availableLetters; }
private set
{
_availableLetters = value;
if (PropertyChanged != null)
{
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs("AvailableLetters"));
}
}
}
private string _letter;
public string Letter
{
get { return _letter; }
set
{
if (_letter == value)
{
return;
}
_letter = value;
if (PropertyChanged != null)
{
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs("Letter"));
}
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private static readonly IEnumerable<string> _allLetters;
}
}
}
This functionality is not provided by WPF, but it can be implemented using some custom coding.
I've created 3 ViewModel classes:
PreferencesVM - This will be our DataContext. It contains the master list of options which can appear in the ComboBoxes, and also contains a SelectedOptions property, which keeps track of which items are selected in the various ComboBoxes. It also has a Preferences property, which we will bind our ItemsControl.ItemsSource to.
PreferenceVM - This represents one ComboBox. It has a SelectedOption property, which ComboBox.SelectedItem is bound to. It also has a reference to PreferencesVM, and a property named Options (ComboBox.ItemsSource is bound to this), which returns the Options on PreferencesVM via a filter which checks if the item may be displayed in the ComboBox.
OptionVM - Represents a row in the ComboBox.
The following points form the key to the solution:
When PreferenceVM.SelectedOption is set (ie a ComboBoxItem is selected), the item is added to the PreferencesVM.AllOptions collection.
PreferenceVM handles Preferences.SelectedItems.CollectionChanged, and triggers a refresh by raising PropertyChanged for the Options property.
PreferenceVM.Options uses a filter to decide which items to return - which only allows items which are not in PreferencesVM.SelectedOptions, unless they are the SelectedOption.
What I've described above might be enough to get you going, but to save you the headache I'll post my code below.
PreferencesVM.cs:
public class PreferencesVM
{
public PreferencesVM()
{
PreferenceVM pref1 = new PreferenceVM(this);
PreferenceVM pref2 = new PreferenceVM(this);
PreferenceVM pref3 = new PreferenceVM(this);
this._preferences.Add(pref1);
this._preferences.Add(pref2);
this._preferences.Add(pref3);
//Only three ComboBoxes, but you can add more here.
OptionVM optRed = new OptionVM("Red");
OptionVM optGreen = new OptionVM("Green");
OptionVM optBlue = new OptionVM("Blue");
_allOptions.Add(optRed);
_allOptions.Add(optGreen);
_allOptions.Add(optBlue);
}
private ObservableCollection<OptionVM> _selectedOptions =new ObservableCollection<OptionVM>();
public ObservableCollection<OptionVM> SelectedOptions
{
get { return _selectedOptions; }
}
private ObservableCollection<OptionVM> _allOptions = new ObservableCollection<OptionVM>();
public ObservableCollection<OptionVM> AllOptions
{
get { return _allOptions; }
}
private ObservableCollection<PreferenceVM> _preferences = new ObservableCollection<PreferenceVM>();
public ObservableCollection<PreferenceVM> Preferences
{
get { return _preferences; }
}
}
PreferenceVM.cs:
public class PreferenceVM:INotifyPropertyChanged
{
private PreferencesVM _preferencesVM;
public PreferenceVM(PreferencesVM preferencesVM)
{
_preferencesVM = preferencesVM;
_preferencesVM.SelectedOptions.CollectionChanged += new NotifyCollectionChangedEventHandler(SelectedOptions_CollectionChanged);
}
void SelectedOptions_CollectionChanged(object sender, NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
if (this.PropertyChanged != null)
this.PropertyChanged(this,new PropertyChangedEventArgs("Options"));
}
private OptionVM _selectedOption;
public OptionVM SelectedOption
{
get { return _selectedOption; }
set
{
if (value == _selectedOption)
return;
if (_selectedOption != null)
_preferencesVM.SelectedOptions.Remove(_selectedOption);
_selectedOption = value;
if (_selectedOption != null)
_preferencesVM.SelectedOptions.Add(_selectedOption);
}
}
private ObservableCollection<OptionVM> _options = new ObservableCollection<OptionVM>();
public IEnumerable<OptionVM> Options
{
get { return _preferencesVM.AllOptions.Where(x=>Filter(x)); }
}
private bool Filter(OptionVM optVM)
{
if(optVM==_selectedOption)
return true;
if(_preferencesVM.SelectedOptions.Contains(optVM))
return false;
return true;
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
}
OptionVM.cs:
public class OptionVM
{
private string _name;
public string Name
{
get { return _name; }
}
public OptionVM(string name)
{
_name = name;
}
}
MainWindow.xaml.cs:
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
this.DataContext = new PreferencesVM();
}
}
MainWindow.xaml:
<Window x:Class="WpfApplication64.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
<Grid>
<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding Path=Preferences}">
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Path=Options}" DisplayMemberPath="Name" SelectedItem="{Binding Path=SelectedOption}"></ComboBox>
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
</ItemsControl>
</Grid>
</Window>
**Note that to reduce lines of code, my provided solution only generates 3 ComboBoxes (not 10).

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