What is the best way to diagnose WPF UserControl DependencyProperty issues? - wpf

Question

Here is my issue, I created a UserControl as follows:
XAML:
<UserControl x:Class="ProcessVisualizationBar.UserControl1"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
mc:Ignorable="d" xmlns:lb="clr-namespace:ProcessVisualizationBar"
Name="ProcessVisualizationBar">
<Border BorderBrush="Silver" BorderThickness="1,1,1,1" Margin="0,5,5,5" CornerRadius="5" Padding="2">
<ListBox Name="ProcessVisualizationRibbon" Grid.Column="1" Height="40" ItemsSource="{Binding ElementName=ProcessVisualizationBar, Path=ItemsSource}"/>
</Border>
</UserControl>
Code Behind(C#):
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
namespace ProcessVisualizationBar
{
public partial class UserControl1 : UserControl
{
public static readonly DependencyProperty ItemsSourceProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("ItemsSource", typeof(System.Collections.IEnumerable), typeof(UserControl));
public System.Collections.IEnumerable ItemsSource
{
get { return ProcessVisualizationRibbon.ItemsSource; }
set { ProcessVisualizationRibbon.ItemsSource = value; }
}
public UserControl1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
}
}
I build my Usercontrol and add the .dll to the reference of another project. I add the reference at the top of my XAML as such:
xmlns:uc="clr-namespace:ProcessVisualizationBar;assembly=ProcessVisualizationBar"
Then I go to use the control.
<uc:UserControl1 Grid.Row="2" x:Name="ProcessVisualizationContent" />
It finds the control okay, but when I try and find the ItemsSource Property I added to it, I'm not finding it. I'm not sure what I missed, and I'm not sure what debug tools are really available to figure this out.
Anyone have some experience with this that can share their wisdom?

Answer 1

What is the actual data being passed? That is what you should be creating and not a pass through situation which you are attempting.
Create a dependency property targetting the actual data to be passed with a property changed handler. On the change event, then call internal code to bind it to the ProcessVisualazation ItemsSource. That way you can debug when the data comes through by placing a breakpoint in the event.
Here is an example where the consumer will see StringData in the Xaml and needs to pas a list of strings into the custom control:
#region public List<string> StringData
/// <summary>
/// This data is to be bound to the ribbon control
/// </summary>
public List<string> StringData
{
get { return GetValue( StringDataProperty ) as List<string>; }
set { SetValue( StringDataProperty, value ); }
}
/// <summary>
/// Identifies the StringData dependency property.
/// </summary>
public static readonly System.Windows.DependencyProperty StringDataProperty =
System.Windows.DependencyProperty.Register(
"StringData",
typeof( List<string> ),
typeof( UserControl ),
new System.Windows.PropertyMetadata( null, OnStringDataPropertyChanged ) );
/// <summary>
/// StringDataProperty property changed handler.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="d">DASTreeBinder that changed its StringData.</param>
/// <param name="e">Event arguments.</param>
private static void OnStringDataPropertyChanged( System.Windows.DependencyObject d, System.Windows.DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e )
{
UserControl source = d as UserControl;
List<string> value = e.NewValue as List<string>;
BindDataToRibbon( value );
}
#endregion public List<string> StringData
Now just create a BindDataToRibbon method which will do the dirty work. Note that I use Jeff Wilcox's Silverlight dependency snippets in Visual Studio to generate the above dependency. I have used it for WPF and Silverlight projects.