Binding const array to a grid in Silverlight - silverlight

I'm new to Silverlight, so this might be a simple question to answer. I have a grid (not DataGrid from the toolkit), so that data displayed in it can be easily tabulated. I want to bind the grid to a string array that never changes, hence the number of rows and columns in the grid will not change either. I see that I cannot specify a template like I can for a ListBox (ListBox.ItemTemplate) and I don't want to define each row and column explicitly (with a TextBlock in each one of them) in XAML. And I also dont want to generate rows and columns dynamically in code behind as it is not blendable. What's the best way to do this?

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Custom Dynamic Grid

I am trying to display items in a grid however the rows and the columns should be generated dynamically. I actually implemented a custom control that derives from Grid control and provide additional properties such as RowCount.
Here is a picture of the grid generated by my custom control using two dimensinal string array as datasource:
But i think my control consumes more than needed resources because it simply destroys column and row definitions and recreates them. Is there any simpler way to implement that control?
You don't need to create a custom control to do that for you... you can use a standard DataGrid. There have been a number of questions on displaying dynamic data in a DataGrid. Please take a look at some of these posts:
How do I bind a WPF DataGrid to a variable number of columns?
DataGridColumn Binding with Dynamically Generated Data
Visualizing 2D Data in a Table
Displaying multidimensional data in WPF

Columns in DataGrid are not generated if the itemssource contains 0 rows to display

I am assigning a datatable with multiple columns and zero rows to WPF data-grid. I am using auto-generated columns. As there are no rows to display the AutoGeneratingColumn event is not at all triggered. Because of the that it renders Data-grid in a weird manner: one single template row and now columns.
Is there any workaround for this problem? Please guide.
Regards,
Priyank
This is actually by design. The data grid uses reflection internally to infer the columns from the data type that is available in the ItemSource collection. When there are no items it is not possible for the data grid to display the column headers correctly.
There are two possible solution to this:
Bind your grid to a static resource. This way the grid will know the
clr type to which it will be bound and will correctly generate the
columns.
Do not rely on AutoGeneratedColumns ;)

WPF input datagrid?

I would like to create an input DataGrid - an empty set of rows with the column headers that can be filled with data by a user and then saved to a database. The DataGrid will not be therefore used to display data but acts like an input field. The behaviour would be similar to the one of Excell. The problem is that if the DataGrid has no data provided for it, it is not visible in the application and the user cannot enter anything. Is the DataGrid a good choice? How can this sort of functionality be implemented with a different control? I would prefer to use the DataGrid tough.
Thanks a lot for any help on this.
You can enter data in a DataGrid even without provided data at the start of the application. You just need the correct bindings for your ItemsSource, and set CanUserAddRows to true. Also, the class that corresponds to a row of a DataGrid must implement a parameterless constructor.

WPF DataGrid - Setting RowDetails programmatically

I'm using the WPF DataGrid, and I'd like to know if there is any way I can access the DataGridRow's RowDetails programatically.
For example, when the user selects the row, I'd to grab some data from somewhere (say, a database), and display it in the RowDetails.
All of the examples I've seen tend to just display some extra bound data that isn't included in the columns for the row.
You could display some extra data but lazy-load it on SelectionChanged.
It usually is not easy to work directly with the WPF controls, they are not really meant to be used without a backing databound model.
If you have all the data in list of objects (or something similar) then you can do all sorts of fun things. I'm using a WPF Datagrid in this manner, and when a user selects a row, I think populate an editor control above the grid with the row item plus additional details.
That said, there's nothing stopping you from adding in additional information in the grid that's normally hidden and a trigger on row selection to show the additional data
you can use the following code
DataRowView row = (DataRowView)MyDataGrid.SelectedItem;
string strName = row.Row["Name"].ToString(); //where "Name" is the column name

Is there a way in the WPF Toolkit datagrid to have a header below the column headers but above the first row

I looking for a way to create an area that indicates a user is at the top row of the WPF Toolkit datagrid. (Showing the scrollbar scrolled down is not enough for the user). I need something that sticks out and says "this is the top row" basically. Messing with the entities that that the grid is bound to will not work for me because I have several grids with different filters over the same collection of entities. Also this underlying collections is changing while the app is running.
Is there a way to add a control of some sort between the column headers and the first row of the datagrid? Maybe a separator of some sort?
Thanks!
Jon
A possible solution is to create your own Template for the column headers with ColumnHeaderTemplate and show whatever you need in there. This way you'll have full control of what your header looks like.
Another hackish solution could be you change the Style of the header to achieve the desired effect, like setting the bottom margin to a higher value so that there is a space between the header and the first row.

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