WPF ListView column selection - wpf

Question

I have a ListView. When I select a row I want that only one cell was selected not the whole row. How can I get this?
Here is my styles and templates.
<ListView x:Name="List"
ItemsSource="{Binding }"
ItemContainerStyle="{DynamicResource ListItemStyle}">
<ListView.View>
<GridView AllowsColumnReorder="False">
<GridViewColumn HeaderContainerStyle="{StaticResource myHeaderStyle}"
Header="1"
CellTemplate="{StaticResource myCellTemplate1}">
</GridViewColumn>
<GridViewColumn Header="2"
HeaderContainerStyle="{StaticResource myHeaderStyle}"
HeaderTemplate="{StaticResource myHeaderTemplate}"
CellTemplate="{StaticResource cellTemplate2}">
</GridViewColumn>
<GridViewColumn Header="3"
HeaderContainerStyle="{StaticResource myHeaderStyle}"
HeaderTemplate="{StaticResource myHeaderTemplate}"
CellTemplate="{StaticResource cellTemplate3}" />
<GridViewColumn Header="4"
HeaderContainerStyle="{StaticResource myHeaderStyle}"
HeaderTemplate="{StaticResource myHeaderTemplate}"
CellTemplate="{StaticResource cellTemplate4}"/>
</GridView>
</ListView.View>
</ListView>
<Style x:Key="ListItemStyle" TargetType="{x:Type ListViewItem}">
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type ListViewItem}" >
<Grid SnapsToDevicePixels="True" Margin="0" Width="410" x:Name="GridSmall">
<Border x:Name="Border"
Background="{TemplateBinding Background}"
BorderBrush="{TemplateBinding BorderBrush}"
BorderThickness="{TemplateBinding BorderThickness}"
CornerRadius="0" />
<GridViewRowPresenter x:Name="Rows" />
</Grid>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
<Style.Triggers>
<Trigger Property="IsSelected" Value="True">
<Setter Property="Background" Value="Yellow"/>
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="Black"/>
</Trigger>
<Trigger Property="IsSelected" Value="False">
<Setter Property="Background" Value="Black"/>
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="Green"/>
</Trigger>
</Style.Triggers>
</Style>
<DataTemplate x:Key="myCellTemplate1">
<DataTemplate.Resources>
<local:NullIdConverter x:Key="NullIdConverterKey"/>
</DataTemplate.Resources>
<DockPanel x:Name="RR">
<TextBlock FontSize="18" x:Name="TxtBl"
HorizontalAlignment="Center"
Text="{Binding Path = Id}"/>
</DockPanel>
</DataTemplate>
Thanks.

Answer 1

If you're using .NET 3.5 SP1 or .NET 4, I'd suggest looking into the DataGrid rather than ListView.
I think it gives you much more flexibility over your data and has a property called SelectionUnit that you can set to "Cell" that gives you the functionality that you desire.
Unfortunately, I don't think there is an easy way to do the same with the ListView.

Answer 2

Well.....it isn't easy. Like Scott says you may have a lot easier life using SelectionUnit and SelectionMode in .Net 4 and its DataGrid control. But, if you want to do it like you started to then try this:
In XAML (I didn't do the whole thing as Template or a Style, just the one column to get it working) you need code such as this:
<GridViewColumn.CellTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<Border Name="myOwnBorder" BorderBrush="Gray" BorderThickness="1,1,1,0" Margin="-6,0,-6,0">
<Grid Margin="6,0,6,0">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding}"/>
</Grid>
</Border>
</DataTemplate>
</GridViewColumn.CellTemplate>
...and then in the code behing (not good design practice but for the sake of demo) create a function such as:
static bool FindBorderInListView(DependencyObject dep, ListView listView,
out Border border, out ListViewItem lvItem)
{
border = null;
lvItem = null;
DependencyObject depObj = dep;
while (depObj != listView)
{
if (border == null && depObj is Border)
{
border = depObj as Border;
if (border.Name != "myOwnBorder")
{
border = null;
}
}
else if (depObj is ListViewItem)
{
lvItem = depObj as ListViewItem;
}
depObj = VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(depObj);
}
return border != null && lvItem != null;
}
and then call it from the PreviewMouseDown event of your ListView:
private void MyList_PreviewMouseDown(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)
{
Border border;
ListViewItem lvItem;
if (FindBorderInListView(e.OriginalSource as DependencyObject, this.MyList,
out border, out lvItem))
{
ItemContainerGenerator generator = this.MyList.ItemContainerGenerator;
int rowIndex = generator.IndexFromContainer(lvItem);
int columnIndex = Grid.GetColumn(border);
MessageBox.Show("Cell #:" + rowIndex + columnIndex);
}
}
Credit where credit is due, Josh Smith worked out how to do this back in about 2007 I think in a reply to an MSDN community question.
Good luck with it! I had to implement something similar in a DataGrid once too.