Silverlight PropertyGrid-like binding - silverlight

Question

I know that there are 3rd party silverlight property grids (in fact my company owns one) so please dont suggest 3rd party controls : I am trying to learn more about binding in xaml with this question.
I am writing a Silverlight front end as a sign facade to launch SSRS, and php based reports.
I have created a Report class with information about the report, and it has a parameters collection containing the information about parameters that need to be filled in to run the report.
My plan is to create a silverlight property grid that is bound to the Parameters collection of the Report.
Here's a simpler version of the classes:
public class Report
{
public int ReportId { get; set; }
public string ReportName { get; set; }
public string Description { get; set; }
private List<ReportParameter> _Parameters = new List<ReportParameter>();
public List<ReportParameter> Parameters
{
get { return _Parameters; }
set { _Parameters = value; }
}
}
public class ReportParameter
{
public int ReportId { get; set; }
public string ParameterName { get; set; }
public string DataTemplateName { get; set; }
public bool IsRequired { get; set; }
}
I was hoping to use the DataTemplateName property of ReportParameter to bind to data templates: for example if I have a parameter that is a date, I want to be able to set DataTemplateName="MyDatePicker" and then DataTemplate={StaticResource {Binding DataTemplateName}} and have that row use a DataTemplate defined in the Resources for editing the parameter value.
Here's some XAML I am using to try to get it to work:
<UserControl x:Class="ReportLauncherWorkbench.MainPage"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:ReportLauncherWorkbench"
mc:Ignorable="d"
d:DesignHeight="300" d:DesignWidth="400">
<UserControl.Resources>
<local:Report x:Key="MyData"
ReportName="Rick Report"
Description="Great report, try it!"
ReportId="0"
>
<local:Report.Parameters>
<local:XReportParameter DataTemplateName="DatePickerTemplate"
ParameterName="StartDate"
IsRequired="True"
Tooltip="Please enter the start date"
/>
<local:XReportParameter DataTemplateName="CheckBoxTemplate"
ParameterName="AmIHot"
IsRequired="True"
Tooltip="Please check here if you are hot"
/>
</local:Report.Parameters>
</local:Report>
<DataTemplate x:Key="DatePickerTemplate">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBox />
<Button Content="..."/>
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
<DataTemplate x:Key="CheckBoxTemplate">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<CheckBox/>
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
</UserControl.Resources>
<Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="White" DataContext="{StaticResource MyData}">
<Grid x:Name="Test1" Background="White">
<StackPanel>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding ReportName}"/>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Description}"/>
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding Parameters}">
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<StackPanel>
<Grid>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition Width="50"></ColumnDefinition>
<ColumnDefinition></ColumnDefinition>
<ColumnDefinition></ColumnDefinition>
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding ParameterName}" Grid.Column="1" Margin="5"/>
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding}" Grid.Column="2" Width="100" ItemTemplate="{StaticResource {Binding DataTemplateName}}">
<!-- I want to somehow bind which DataTemplate is rendered-->
</ListBox>
</Grid>
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
</Grid>
</UserControl>
Thanks!

Answer 1

I figured it out - with the help of a great FAQ on the silverlight forum:
http://forums.silverlight.net/p/95440/218611.aspx
Silverlight does not have the DataTemplateSelector class that WPF does, which would have solved the problem.
In section titled
7.1 What data binding features of WPF are not yet supported in Silverlight? Is there a workaround?
There is a simple workaround that for DataTemplateSelector functionality.
So here's how I fixed it in my code sample:
Replace the Listbox with the following:
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding Parameters}">
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<ContentControl Content="{Binding}" Loaded="ContentControl_Loaded"/>
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
And then fill in the ContentControl_Loaded event in the code behind with:
private void ContentControl_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
ContentControl cc = (ContentControl) sender;
XReportParameter p = (XReportParameter)cc.DataContext;
cc.ContentTemplate = (DataTemplate)this.Resources[p.DataTemplateName];
}
Works great!