Binding data to ComboBox WPF - wpf

Question

I am newbie to WPF, and needs help to bind data into the ComboBox. The xaml file contains the tag below.
<UserControl x:Class="SKAT.Postfordeler.Client.UI.View.ChooseInboxView"
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"
d:DesignHeight="42" d:DesignWidth="598">
<Grid>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<ComboBox Name="_currentInbox" Width="180" Margin="5" Height="22" DataContext="{Binding}" />
<Label Content="Et job kører allerede i denne indbakke (1500 ud af 1700 poster behandlet)" Name="_currentProcess" Margin="5" Height="25" />
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
//Inbox class , this class was implemented in seperate project
namespace SKAT.Postfordeler.Shared.DataTypes
{
[DataContract]
public class Inbox
{
[DataMember]
public String Id { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public String Folder { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public Rule Rules { get; set; }
}
}
//This code is located in the controller, the Activate method will fire when the MainWindow was executed
public void Activate()
{
var configuration = _configurationManager.GetConfiguration();// this method gets the xaml file settings
_chooseInboxView.FillInboxes(configuration.Inboxes); // Inboxes data binds to combobox
}
and in the View code behind, I created a method to bind the data which contains a type of list
public void FillInboxes(List<Inbox> inboxes)
{
DataContext = inboxes;
}
But it won't works,Any help please?

Answer 1

I assume your Inbox class consists of two properties (for simplicity), but there may be any number of them:
public class Inbox
{
public int ID { get; set; }
public string Text { get; set; }
}
You write a DataTemplate, for example:
<Grid.Resources>
<DataTemplate x:Key="InboxTemplate">
<WrapPanel>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=ID}"/>
<TextBlock>:</TextBlock>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Text}"/>
</WrapPanel>
</DataTemplate>
</Grid.Resources>
Then correct your ComboBox declaration like:
<ComboBox Name="_currentInbox" Width="180" Margin="5" Height="22" ItemsSource="{Binding}" ItemTemplate="{StaticResource InboxTemplate}" />
Finally you set DataContext of your ComboBox to your List<Inbox>:
public void FillInboxes(List<Inbox> inboxes)
{
_currentInbox.DataContext = inboxes;
}
EDIT: As you've asked for a simpler solution, you can just override ToString() method of your Inbox class:
protected override string ToString()
{
return ID.ToString() + ":" + Text;
}

Answer 2

Instead of DataContext={Binding} you should have ItemsSource={Binding}.
The data context for any frameworkelement in the visual tree is by default {Binding}.
<ComboBox Name="_currentInbox"
SelectedItem="Hoved"
Width="180"
Margin="5"
Height="22"
DisplayMemberPath="Name"
ItemSource="{Binding}" />
Also for the combobox to display text of the items correctly I suppose you need DisplayMemberPath too. I assumed the property from Inbox class that you need to display is Name. Please replace with your relevant property name.

Answer 3

If your Inbox class is like,
public class Inbox
{
public int ID { get; set; }
public string Text { get; set; }
}
And if you do not want to change your xmal, the code behind method should be like this,
public void FillInboxes(List<Inbox> inboxes)
{
_currentInbox.DisplayMemberPath = "Text"; // To display the 'Text' property in the combobox dropdown
//_currentInbox.DisplayMemberPath = "ID"; // To display the 'ID' property in the combobox dropdown
_currentInbox.DataContext = inboxes;
}