Why won't MEF Lazy load work in the ViewModel? - wpf

Question

I'm trying to get Lazy to work for a collection in my ViewModel that I'm binding to. The collection loads through MEF fine, but never gets displayed in the bound UI.
Here's the UI:
<Window x:Class="TestWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml">
<StackPanel>
<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding MyList}">
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<Label Content="{Binding ItemTitle}" />
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
</ItemsControl>
<StackPanel>
</Window>
The code-behind class:
public partial class TestWindow : Window
{
public TestWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
this.DataContext = new TestVM();
}
}
The ViewModel:
public class TestVM : INotifyPropertyChanged, IPartImportsSatisfiedNotification
{
public TestVM()
{
//I'm using a static class to initiate the import
CompositionInitializer.SatisfyImports(this);
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged = delegate { };
[ImportMany(typeof(MyItemBase))]
public Lazy<MyItemBase>[] MyList { get; set; }
public void OnImportsSatisfied()
{
this.PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs("MyList"));
}
}
The base class for the items, and some inherited test classes:
[InheritedExport]
public class MyItemBase
{
public MyItemBase()
{
}
public string ItemTitle{ get; set; }
}
public class MyItem1: MyItemBase
{
public MyItem1()
{
this.ItemTitle = "Item 1";
}
}
public class MyItem2: MyItemBase
{
public MyItem2()
{
this.ItemTitle = "Item 2";
}
}
This works IF I just remove the Lazy loading. However, I'll need to apply some export attributes later, which means going to Lazy.

Answer 1

the problem is that you want bind to a list of MyItembase object, but your actual binding is to a lazy arrray of MyItembase objects.(as long as you never call .Value for your lazy item nothing will happen)
i my projects i use a private lazy collection for mef and a normal ObservableCollection for wpf. btw i would prefer Constructor injection for your Mef import
public class TestVM : INotifyPropertyChanged, IPartImportsSatisfiedNotification
{
public TestVM()
{
//I'm using a static class to initiate the import
CompositionInitializer.SatisfyImports(this);
this.MyList = new ObservableCollection();
foreach(var lazyitem in _mefList)
{
this.MyList.Add(lazyitem.Value);
}
}
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged = delegate { };
public ObservbableCollection<MyItemBase> MyList{ get; set; }
[ImportMany(typeof(MyItemBase))]
private IEnumarable<Lazy<MyItemBase>> _mefList { get; set; }
public void OnImportsSatisfied()
{
//this.PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs("MyList"));
}
}