Changing ContentTemplate based on ListBox selection - wpf

Question

I have a Listbox and a Border in a StackPanel similar to the following:
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<ListBox>
<ListBoxItem Content="People"/>
<ListBoxItem Content="Animals"/>
<ListBoxItem Content="Cars"/>
</ListBox>
<Border Width="200>
<ContentPresenter/>
</Border>
</StackPanel>
When selecting an item in the listbox I would like to change the content in the ContentPresenter accordingly e.g. selecting People would change the template to display a series of input fields related to people where as selecting Animals would display a series of fields related to Animals etc. - the behavior of this would be akin to a TabControl.
I think I can achieve this with a DataTrigger which changes the DataTemplate in the Border but I'm not sure how to achieve this.
Any pointers?
Thanks

Answer 1

You can toggle the ContentTemplate using a DataTrigger as follows.
Note, that I am binding an ObservableCollection to a simple object (Thing) with one property called Name, and am I binding the Content of the ContentControl to the SelectedItem in the ListBox using a ViewModel.
<Grid>
<Grid.Resources>
<local:MultiValueConverter x:Key="con" />
<DataTemplate x:Key="PeopleTemplate">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<Label Margin="0,0,5,0" Content="People Name" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Grid.Column="0" />
<TextBox Grid.Column="1" Width="100" Height="25"></TextBox>
<Button Content="OK" Grid.Column="2" />
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
<DataTemplate x:Key="AnimalsTemplate">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<Label Margin="0,0,5,0" Content="Animal Name" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Grid.Column="0" />
<TextBox Grid.Column="1" Width="100" Height="25"></TextBox>
<Button Content="OK" Grid.Column="2" />
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
<DataTemplate x:Key="CarsTemplate">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<Label Margin="0,0,5,0" Content="Car Name" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Grid.Column="0" />
<TextBox Grid.Column="1" Width="100" Height="25"></TextBox>
<Button Content="OK" Grid.Column="2" />
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
</Grid.Resources>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="*"/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<StackPanel Grid.Row="0" Orientation="Horizontal">
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding Things}" SelectedItem="{Binding SelectedThing}">
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<StackPanel Margin="0" Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBlock Padding="5" Text="{Binding Name}" Margin="0"></TextBlock>
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
<Border Width="200">
<ContentControl Content="{Binding SelectedThing}">
<ContentControl.ContentTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<ContentControl Name="cc"
Content="{Binding}"
ContentTemplate="{StaticResource PeopleTemplate}" />
<DataTemplate.Triggers>
<DataTrigger Binding="{Binding Path=Name}" Value="People">
<Setter TargetName="cc"
Property="ContentTemplate"
Value="{StaticResource PeopleTemplate}" />
</DataTrigger>
<DataTrigger Binding="{Binding Path=Name}" Value="Animals">
<Setter TargetName="cc"
Property="ContentTemplate"
Value="{StaticResource AnimalsTemplate}" />
</DataTrigger>
<DataTrigger Binding="{Binding Path=Name}" Value="Cars">
<Setter TargetName="cc"
Property="ContentTemplate"
Value="{StaticResource CarsTemplate}" />
</DataTrigger>
</DataTemplate.Triggers>
</DataTemplate>
</ContentControl.ContentTemplate>
</ContentControl>
</Border>
</StackPanel>
<Grid>
Here is the Thing class:
public class Thing
{
public Thing(String name)
{
this.Name = name;
}
public String Name { get; set; }
public static ObservableCollection<Thing> GetThingList()
{
return new ObservableCollection<Thing>(new Thing[3] {
new Thing("People"),
new Thing("Animals"),
new Thing("Cars")
});
}
}