dispay data matrix with different number of columns in each row - wpf

Question

I need to display ,in a WPF app, a 'data matrix' that has no fixed tabular structure i.e.
data row 1: aaa bb ccc
data row 2: 222 $$ ddddd eeee
...
all data is in a list of arrays.
i need to show this data and enable a user to scroll through it.
the strange data structure comes from a textual flat file, and i cannot change this.
i have read a lot, and experimented with a list-view and a grid-view, but so far i am only able to get:
1. dymanic column creation, but this is no good since i have a different schema for each row
2. rendering each row of data as (delimited/formatted) text. but this is no good since all row data is endign up in a single cell (obviously).
3. (havn't done this yet, hoping to avoid) have lots of data templates with triggers, each with a diffrent column count - say from 5 to 40 - to acomodate vast majority of row types.
my question is: how do i bind this data to a list-like / grid-like scrollable view ?
Thanks in advance

Answer 1

If you don't need the ability to select an item, you can use nested ItemsControls
Simply bind the first ItemsControl to your collection of arrays, and set the ItemTemplate to another ItemsControl which binds to the array of values.
Something like this:
<ScrollViewer Height="300" Width="400">
<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding ListOfArrays}">
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding }">
<ItemsControl.ItemsPanel>
<ItemsPanelTemplate>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal" />
</ItemsPanelTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemsPanel>
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding }" Width="50" />
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
</ItemsControl>
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
</ItemsControl>
</ScrollViewer>

Answer 2

One pass to find the maximum number of columns.
Build a simple Row class that has a property cols string[maxColCount].
Build the maxColCount columns for a GridView in code bind and bind the source to cols[x].
The compiler needs a property but you can bind the column to an collection name index
Syntax for building and binding a GridViewColumn
gvc = new GridViewColumn();
gvch = new GridViewColumnHeader();
gvch.Content = fd.FieldDef.DispName;
gvch.HorizontalContentAlignment = System.Windows.HorizontalAlignment.Stretch;
if (fd.FieldDef.Sort)
{
gvch.Click += new RoutedEventHandler(SortClick);
gvch.Tag = fd.FieldDef.Name;
}
// if (fd.ID == 0 || fd.ID == 1) gvc.Width = 60; sID, sParID
if (!fd.AppliedDispGrid) gvc.Width = 0;
gvc.Header = gvch;
gvBinding = new Binding();
gvBinding.Mode = BindingMode.OneWay;
gvBinding.Path = new PropertyPath("DocFields[" + sDocBaseResultDocsFieldsIndex.ToString() + "].DispValueShort");
template = new DataTemplate();
textblock = new FrameworkElementFactory(typeof(TextBlock));
textblock.SetValue(TextBlock.TextProperty, gvBinding);
textblock.SetValue(TextBlock.TextTrimmingProperty, TextTrimming.WordEllipsis);
// <Setter Property="TextTrimming" Value="WordEllipsis" />
template.VisualTree = new FrameworkElementFactory(typeof(Grid));
template.VisualTree.AppendChild(textblock);
gvc.CellTemplate = template;
gvSearchResults.Columns.Add(gvc);