Confused in DataContext in WPF - wpf

Question

I am beginner to WPF and MVMM architecture. VI came across many links which explains about DataContext dependence property in WPF MVMM architecture,
i.e.
view.DataContext = new ViewModels.MainViewModel();
but they always made me confused. Although I have some basic idea about this DataContext like it is used to represent who's object we need in xaml file, but when blogs talks about tree structure inheritance of dataContext I gets confused. Can any one please help me with some very simple and clear example showing how this hierarchy of DataContext works?
Thanks in advanced.

Answer 1

The DataContext property specifies the default source for Data Binding. Consider the following example:
<TextBox Text="{Binding MyProperty}" />
What this Binding says: take the value of MyProperty from whatever object is inside the DataContext, convert it to a string and put it in the TextBox. So if we would set the DataContext of the TextBox to be an object of the following class:
public class Example {
int MyProperty { get { return 3; } }
}
Then, the Text of the TextBox would be set to 3.
What does it mean that the values Inherit? Consider a slightly more complex example:
<Window Name="MainWindow">
<StackPanel>
<TextBox Text="{Binding MyProperty}" />
...etc
If we would have 10 or more TextBox elements on our screen, it would be a lot of senseless work to assign the DataContext to each and every TextBox. To relieve this issue, the implementors of WPF decided that setting the DataContext on the MainWindow in our case would also apply it to everything inside that Window (all children, all nested elements) until the DataContext property is overwritten (i.e. we set the DataContext of the TextBox, then the TextBox and all its children would also receive this DataContext).
If you want to see this behavior in action, the same applies to the FontSize property, try setting the FontSize of your Window to 48 and see what happens to all the text in there!

Answer 2

The Datacontext property is the default source of all the binding of a View.
In MVVM, the Datacontext is used to link a ViewModel to a View.
As the Datacontext property is a dependence property, if you don't define it in a control, it will inherit from his father, etc.
Here is an exemple of MVVM implementation :
Parent of all ViewModel class (to implement INotifyPropertyChanged in all ViewModels) :
public abstract class ViewModelBase : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
{
if (this.PropertyChanged != null)
{
this.PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
}
}
Note : INotifyPropertyChanged allow your ViewModel to notify the View of a change (used for bindings).
Let's say I want a MainWindows (View) to be linked to a ViewModel :
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
MainViewModel mainViewModel = new MainViewModel(this);
this.DataContext = mainViewModel;
}
With for ViewModel :
class MainViewModel : ViewModelBase
{
#region fields
private MainWindow mainWindow;
private string message = "Hello world !";
#endregion
#region properties
public MainWindow MainWindow
{
get
{
return this.mainWindow;
}
}
public string Message
{
get
{
return message;
}
set
{
this.message = value; OnPropertyChanged("Message");
}
}
// ...
#endregion
public MainViewModel(MainWindow mainWindow)
{
this.mainWindow = mainWindow;
}
}
So now if I want to bind a property of MainViewModel in my View (mainwindow), i just have to have a public property in my ViewModel and to create a binding in my XAML. I won't have to specify the source as the DataContext is the default source.
So MainWindow.xaml I can add :
<TextBox Text="{Binding Message}" />