I was going to create a Style for MapPolygon, but I can't seem to add a Setter for anything other than the properties inherited from Control, which doesn't help very much since the MapPolygon doesn't actually use many of those properties.
I mainly want to be able to style the Fill, Stroke, and StrokeThickness properties. When I try to do this, however, I get the following error: "Object reference not set to an instance of an object". Am I correct in thinking this is because the properties that I am trying to style are not dependency properties (DependencyProperty)?
If my thinking here is indeed correct, would the easiest way to solve this problem be to create a custom MapPolygon control and create dependency properties for Fill, Stroke, and StrokeThickness?
Let me know if I need to clarify something.
Update:
public class StyledMapPolygon : MapPolygon {
public static readonly DependencyProperty FillProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("Fill", typeof(Brush), typeof(StyledMapPolygon),
new PropertyMetadata(new SolidColorBrush(), new PropertyChangedCallback(OnFillChanged)));
private static void OnFillChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e) {
StyledMapPolygon instance = (StyledMapPolygon) d;
instance.Fill = e.NewValue as Brush;
}
}
.
<Style x:Key="CustomStyle" TargetType="exts:StyledMapPolygon">
<Setter Property="Fill" Value="{StaticResource BuildingFillBrush}" />
</Style>
This is just a simplified version of a style that I would like to use. the StyledMapPolygon is a object I created inherited from MapPolygon. The only difference is that I created a DependencyProperty for "Fill" that just maps to the base property.
The error mentioned above still appears on "Fill" within the Setter, but it now works (displays correctly on the phone). I can live with the error there since it still runs, but I would very much like to have my app be error free.
Yes, a property must be a DependencyProperty in order to be set by a style.
There's nothing wrong with adding your own dependency property that wraps a property on the base class, but I wouldn't recommend trying to use the same property name. Create a differently named property, with property changed handler which relays the value which is set to the underlying property.
Of course if the "error" you mention is Intellisense there's really no reason to care, so long as code compiles and runs.
Related
In a custom control I have a class which derives from DependencyObject and has a dependency property called MaxIdealWidth. I have several custom controls which do some pretty weird measure/arrange, and they all use this property in some way, but not in a binding.
My problem is, when everything is drawn the first time, it works well. However when the MaxIdealWidth is changed by one custom control, none of the others will do measure/arrange. I can understand why this happens, but I need to force all custom controls to measure/arrange at the same time.
FrameworkPropertyMetadata.AffectsArrange
Looking at the documentation, this looks like a promising way forward, however I have absolutely no idea how to apply it in practice. It doesn't seem to be documented from a point of view of how to use it in my situation. Can someone tell me how to apply AffectsArrange from XAML or code-behind to indicate from a custom control that a dependency property on the DataContext should cause measure/arrange?
You do that by using the FrameworkPropertyMetadata class instead of the PropertyMetadata for the last Parameter of the dependency propery Registration. There you set all the bits you like:
public static readonly DependencyProperty ArrowEndsProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("your name",
typeof(<class>), typeof(<owner class>),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(<initial value>,
FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.AffectsMeasure));
I just discovered than I can do the following:
var button = new Button();
button.SetValue(TextBlock.TextProperty, "text");
var text = (string)button.GetValue(TextBlock.TextProperty); // text is "text"
While the above example is a bit unrealistic, it does show that I can attach a regular dependency property onto another object. It doesn't have to be a an attached property (TextBlock.TextProperty is not registerd with DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached().
This bares the questions why are there attached properties in the first place? The only difference I can see for now ist that I can't attach regular dependency properties in XAML. But that's about it. Are there any other differences?
Update:
To make it more clear, the below code works and looks pretty close to an attached property from the end users perspective:
public static class AttachedPropertyDeclarer
{
public static readonly DependencyProperty TextProperty = DependencyProperty.Register(
"Text",
typeof(string),
typeof(Button),
new PropertyMetadata(default(string),OnTextChanged));
private static void OnTextChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
// do something when text changed
}
}
...
button.SetValue(AttachedPropertyDeclarer.TextProperty, "text");
var text = (string)button.GetValue(AttachedPropertyDeclarer.TextProperty);
Compare this to the attached property way:
public static class AttachedPropertyDeclarer
{
public static readonly DependencyProperty TextProperty = DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached(
"Text",
typeof(string),
typeof(AttachedPropertyDeclarer),
new PropertyMetadata(default(string),OnTextChanged));
private static void OnTextChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
// do something when text changed
}
}
The only effective differnce to an attached property here is that I have to declare the owner of type Button whereas in a attached property it would usually be AttachedPropertyDeclarer. But this only needs to be done if I need a changed event handler (i.e. OnTextChanged).
Regarding your example, you have not as you say, attached a regular dependency property onto another object. All your code has achieved is to store a string value in a Dictionary along with a reference to your object. That does not make it an Attached Property - importantly, you cannot access that string value from the Button directly, as there is no Text property on a Button.
What your code does is actually very similar to this:
Dictionary<object, object> values2 = new Dictionary<object, object>();
var button = new Button();
values2.Add(button, "text");
string text = values2[button].ToString();
Now to answer your question:
The main reason to declare an Attached Property is in order to add a property to a type that you didn't declare, thereby extending its functionality.
A great example of this would be to add a SelectedItems property to the ItemsControl or ListBox class. In doing so, we extend the current, or default functionality of the class. Another good example would be declaring an Attached Property that automatically brings added items into view (again in an ItemsControl or ListBox class).
UPDATE >>>
According to your comments, you seem to be refusing to accept the differences that I have outlined... you said:
There is literally no difference from the end users perspective except that I can't use it in XAML.
Firstly, do you not think that this is a huge difference?.. you won't be able to use it for data binding for a start. Furthermore, you keep saying that you can attach a property to a type that you haven't declared using a DependencyProperty, but you are 100% incorrect. You can reference an Attached Property directly in both code and XAML, while you can't reference what you are calling your attached property directly in either XAML or code.
All you are doing is storing a value in a Dictionary and you certainly don't need the overhead of a DependencyProperty to do that. There really is no comparison between doing that and declaring an Attached Property. From the Attached Properties Overview page on MSDN:
You might create an attached property when there is a reason to have a property setting mechanism available for classes other than the defining class.
Note the following part: a property setting mechanism
Adding values into a Dictionary is not a property setting mechanism. So again, you lose the ability to use your pretend Attached Property in Styles, Animations, Triggers, etc.
To clarify this situation for once and for all, you can develop a simple test project. Implement the IList SelectedItems Attached Property for a ListBox that I mentioned (you can find online tutorials for this) and then do the same using your pretend Attached Property (if it is even possible). The difference in the simplicity of development bewteen the two will clearly show you why you should use an Attached Property instead of a regular DependencyProperty.
If you look closely at dependency property identifier, all DP's are registered with class DependencyProperty and we pass the Owner class type and property name at time of registration.
Sample:
public static readonly DependencyProperty IsSpinningProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register(
"IsSpinning", typeof(Boolean), typeof(OwnerClass));
At time of registration it creates some unique hash code combining property name and owner class type to represent each DP uniquely.
So, when you set value for that DP on some object like in your case on Button, code flow is like this:
First it will get the unique value generated at time of registration of property and add the key value pair in private dictionary named _effectiveValues declared in class Dependency Object with Key set to unique hashcode at time of registration and value being the value set by user.
Note - No written documentation for this on MSDN but verified this by peeking into source code using reflector.
So, when you set the value from code behind it will work like I mentioned above because it does not validate before adding value in the dictionary if it belongs to that type or not and fetching value will get you the value from dictionary.
Not sure but might be constraint is there in XAML only where WPF guys enforced the type check. Sadly there is no written documentation for this on MSDN.
Attached properties are discovered, when you want to have control over an existing control, but dont want to extend it. A pretty good example is, there is no way to bind BlackOutDates property in XAML for WPF DatePicker. In that case you can use an Attached Property to attach a custom functionality to map the BlackOutDates. This suits good in MVVM, since attached properties provided way for binding in XAML.
public class BlackOutDatesAdapter
{
public static List<DateTime> GetBlackOutDates(DependencyObject obj)
{
return (List<DateTime>)obj.GetValue(BlackOutDatesProperty);
}
public static void SetBlackOutDates(DependencyObject obj, List<DateTime> value)
{
obj.SetValue(BlackOutDatesProperty, value);
}
// Using a DependencyProperty as the backing store for BlackOutDates. This enables animation, styling, binding, etc...
public static readonly DependencyProperty BlackOutDatesProperty =
DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached("BlackOutDates", typeof(List<DateTime>), typeof(BlackOutDatesAdapter), new PropertyMetadata(null, OnBlackOutDatesChanged));
private static void OnBlackOutDatesChanged(DependencyObject sender, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
var control = sender as DatePicker;
var list = (List<DateTime>)e.NewValue;
foreach(var date in list)
{
control.BlackoutDates.Add(new CalendarDateRange(date));
}
}
}
Binding in XAML will look like this,
<DatePicker VerticalAlignment="Center"
Width="200"
local:BlackOutDatesAdapter.BlackOutDates="{Binding BlackOutDates}"
DisplayDate="{Binding DisplayDate}" />
In the callback of property, you can do your own mapping of adding the dates to DatePicker. For more information, please read this post.
I got a binding source not being updated when the targeted DependencyProperty of a custom UserControl changes.
The source is a ViewModel loaded with MEF into the DataContext of my custom UserControl.
My binding looks like this in the root XAML of MyUserControl
// MyUserControl.xaml
<MyUserControlBase x:Class="MyUserControl" MyDependencyProperty="{Binding ViewModelProperty}">
If i use the MyDependencyProperty with a FrameworkPropertyMetadata and use the callback function when the property changes i can do the following which works fine
// MyUserControlBase.cs
private static void MyDependencyProperty_Changed(DependencyObject depObj, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs args)
{
var filter = (UserControl )depObj;
var vm = (ViewModel)filter.DataContext;
vm.ViewModelProperty= (VMPropType)args.NewValue;
}
Registration of the DependencyProperty in MyUserControlBase which inherit UserControl.
// MyUserControlBase.cs
public static readonly DependencyProperty MyDependencyPropertyProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("MyDependencyProperty",
typeof(VMPropType),
typeof(MyUserControlBase),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(null, MyDependencyProperty_Changed));
But why can't i get the simple two way binding to work when done in the XAML?
Output window show no binding failurs. I can see the ViewModel.ViewModelProperty getter is being called. Just not the setter once MyDependencyProperty changes.
It don't appear to be a problem with the ordering of events. The ViewModel is created long before DependencyProperty is changed for the first time.
I've also looked at Setting up binding to a custom DependencyProperty inside a WPF user control
But his problem seems slightly different since i actualy inherit from my own Base class which holds the DependencyProperty.
Thank you for any help.
Edit: with link to example solution.
Solution zip here
Sorry for the scary looking link, I don't know alot of quick fileshareing sites. If its bad post comment and I will remove it asap, but it seems ok.
Answer updated / irrelevant info deleted
After looking at the code in your sample I saw what the problem is. You have this "selector" control. In the BindDependencies method you set a binding on the MyControlBase.MyDependencyProperty. But at the same time you also bind this property to your control's datacontext (in MyUserControl.xaml). Effectively this means that in the BindDependencies method you are overwriting the binding to your viewmodel thus it is not active after that method - you can see this yourself by breaking into before and after the SetBinding call and calling BindingOperations.GetBindingExpression(control, MyUserControlBase.MyPropertyDependencyProperty) - the bindings are different. This is why your code does not work. I guess you will have to find another way of transferring the value there :)
Some additional info
In WPF a property can be a target of only one binding. This is actually very logical - if a property is bound to two sources - which one should it use? The fact that the binding is marked as OneWayToSource does not really matter in this situation as it still counts as a binding that targets the control's property.
One way you can investigate and see if it works for you is the MultiBinding - it does allow to bind the control's property to several sources by implementing your own IMultiValueConverter. You can find more info on this on MSDN in the link provided.
Do you expose the ViewModelProperty as a regular property..
Usually you do the following....
public static readonly DependencyProperty ViewModelPropertyProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("ViewModelProperty",
typeof(VMPropType),
typeof(MyUserControlBase),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(null, ViewModelProperty_Changed));
public VMPropType ViewModelProperty {
get { return (VMPropType)GetValue(ViewModelPropertyProperty); }
set { SetValue(ViewModelPropertyProperty,value); }
}
EDIT -- After comment.
When are you checking that the property has changed? By default WPF bindings only update the values when they lose focus, you change change the UpdateSourceTrigger property of the binding to alter this behaviour.
Is it possible to create a Dependency Property for multiple controls without resorting to subclass every one of it?
I thought about using Attached Properties but they nest only one level deep as far as I understand it.
I want something like this to be possible:
<!-- MyDataGrid implements the new Attached Properties SourceData and TargetData -->
<MyDataGrid>
<StackPanel>
<TextBox MyDataGrid.SourceData="{Binding Somewhere}" MyDataGrid.TargetData="{Binding Somewhere}" />
</StackPanel>
<CheckBox MyDataGrid.SourceData="{Binding Somewhere}" MyDataGrid.TargetData="{Binding Somewhere}" />
</MyDataGrid>
This won't work since the Attached Properties wouldn't be found in the TextBox since it's no direct descendent of MyDataGrid.
Background is that I try to automatically convert an old Xaml-like Gui-syntax into real Xaml and with the old system it was possible to set different sources and targets for changed data. Now I'm searching for a Xaml-solution that doesn't involve subclassing every control there is.
Thanks in advance.
are you sure you are using Attached property correctly?
public static readonly DependencyProperty SourceDataProperty = DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached(
"SourceData", typeof (string), typeof (MyDataGrid), new PropertyMetadata("test"));
public static void SetSourceData(DependencyObject obj, string sourceData)
{
obj.SetValue(SourceDataProperty, sourceData);
}
public static string GetSourceData(DependencyObject obj)
{
return (string) obj.GetValue(SourceDataProperty);
}
This worked for me.Though SetSourceData was not get called, but data was there.
To retrive data.
MyDataGrid.GetSourceData(tbox);
Where tbox is the instance of your TextBox.
I am new to WPF and the below question may look silly for many, please pardon me.
How can I create a dependency property in app.xaml.cs?
Actually, I tried to created it. The below code,
public static DependencyProperty TempProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("Temp", typeof(string), typeof(App));
public string Temp
{
get { return (string)GetValue(TempProperty); }
set { SetValue(TempProperty, value); }
}
throws the below compile time errors:
The name 'GetValue' does not exist in the current context
The name 'SetValue' does not exist in the current context
Can anybody help me in this?
Thank you!
DependencyProperties can only be created on DependencyObjects, and since Application (which your App class inherits from) doesn't implement it, you can't create a DependencyProperty directly on the App class.
I assume you want this property to support binding. If this is the case, you have two options:
Implement INotifyPropertyChanged in App.xaml.cs
Create a DependencyObject derived class with your properties on it, and expose it as a standard read-only property of your App. The properties can then be successfully bound by "dotting-down" to them.
i.e if your new property is called Properties, you can bind like so:
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Properties.Temp}" />
If the property needs to be the target of a Binding, then option #2 is your best bet.
You class that contains dependency properties must inherit from DependencyObject.