How to Display ObservableCollection<string> in a UserControl - wpf

Question

I'm new to WPF and I've found some similar questions but can't quite figure out the last part. I have a ViewModel with an ObservableCollection that contains error messages. I want to display these on the form AND allow the user to select and copy all or part of the messages. (In the past in WinForm apps I used a RichTextBox for this, but I can't figure out how to bind to one to the collection in WPF.)
I got the look I was after with the following xaml, but there is no built-in way to select and copy like I could with a RichTextBox. Does anyone know which control I should use or if there is way to enable selecting/copying the contents of all the TextBlocks, or a way to bind this to a RichTextBox?
<Grid Margin="6">
<ScrollViewer VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" Height="40" Grid.Column="0" Margin="6">
<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding ErrorMessages}" >
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Mode=OneWay}" />
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
</ItemsControl>
</ScrollViewer>
</Grid>
[Edit]
#Andrey Shvydky - This wouldn't fit in a comment.
It took me a while to figure out the proper syntax (especially the /, thing) but eventually I ended up with the Flow Document syntax shown below. It looks correct on the form and at first seems to support select all/copy. But when I paste after a select all/copy nothing ever shows up. Anyone know why?
<Grid Margin="6">
<FlowDocumentScrollViewer>
<FlowDocument >
<Paragraph>
<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding ErrorMessages, Mode=OneWay}" />
<Run Text="{Binding /, Mode=OneWay}" />
</Paragraph>
</FlowDocument>
</FlowDocumentScrollViewer>
</Grid>

Answer 1

Unless you have a great amount of messages a simple converter might be viable:
<TextBox IsReadOnly="True">
<TextBox.Text>
<Binding Path="Messages" Mode="OneWay">
<Binding.Converter>
<vc:JoinStringsConverter />
</Binding.Converter>
</Binding>
</TextBox.Text>
</TextBox>
public class JoinStringsConverter : IValueConverter
{
public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
{
var strings = value as IEnumerable<string>;
return string.Join(Environment.NewLine, strings);
}
public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
{
throw new NotSupportedException();
}
}

Answer 2

May be usefull to generate FlowDocument and show this document in FlowDocumentReader.
Try to start from this article: Flow Document Overview.
Example of generation:
void ShowErrors(FlowDocumentReader reader, Exception[] errors) {
FlowDocument doc = new FlowDocument();
foreach (var e in errors) {
doc.Blocks.Add(new Paragraph(new Run(e.GetType().Name)) {
Style = (Style)this.FindResource("header")
});
doc.Blocks.Add(new Paragraph(new Run(e.Message)) {
Style = (Style)this.FindResource("text")
});
}
reader.Document = doc;
}
In this example I have added some styles for text in flowdocument. PLease look at XAML:
<Window x:Class="WpfApplication1.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
<Window.Resources>
<Style x:Key="header" TargetType="{x:Type Paragraph}">
<Setter Property="FontWeight" Value="Bold"/>
</Style>
<Style x:Key="text" TargetType="{x:Type Paragraph}">
<Setter Property="Margin" Value="30, 0, 0, 0"/>
</Style>
</Window.Resources>
<FlowDocumentReader Name="reader">
</FlowDocumentReader>
Result:

Answer 3

Simplest way:
Assuming your viewmodel implements INotifyPropertyChange, create an event handler for the ObservableCollection PropertyChanged event. Create a property which aggregates all of the items in the observable colleciton into a single string. Whenever the observable collection changes, fire off a notification event for your new property. Bind to that property
public class ViewModel : INotifyPropertyChange
{
public ViewModel()
{
MyStrings.CollectionChanged += ChangedCollection;
}
public ObservableCollection<string> MyStrings{get;set;}
public void ChangedCollection(args,args)
{
base.PropertyChanged("MyAllerts");
}
public string MyAllerts
{
get
{
string collated = "";
foreach(var allert in MyStrings)
{
collated += allert;
collated += "\n";
}
}
}
}
I know this code is fraught with errors (i wrote it in SO instead of VS), but it should give you some idea.

Answer 4

<Grid Margin="6">
<ScrollViewer VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" Height="40" Grid.Column="0" Margin="6">
<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding ErrorMessages}" >
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<TextBox Text="{Binding ViewModelMemberRepresentingYourErrorMessage}" />
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
</ItemsControl>
</ScrollViewer>
</Grid>