Binding list of objects to WPF ListView - wpf

I have a list of objects which i want to bind to a ListView control in my WPF application.
The Objects have a DataTemplate already, so no need to define that.
The list of objects is a property in the codebehind file in the format list<object>
When i add one object programatically, it appears fine. But when i try to bind the ItemSource of the ListBox to the list of objects, nothing shows up.
I am using the following binding:
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource FindAncestor, AncestorType={x:Type Window}}, Path=Portfolios}"/>
where the name of the property i am trying to bind to is Portfolios and exists on the parent window

List<> objects don't automatically report when a new item is added. Try using an ObservableCollection<> instead, and see if that helps.

Related

trying to bind datagrid item source to a property in another class

I have a WPF app with a MainWindow. The MainWindow consists of several CLR properties of type ObservableCollection. The MainWindow has a datagrid, whose ItemsSource property is bound to one of the observable collections (works fine). Next, I have a dialog. Its purpose is to display one of the observable collections from the main window in a datagrid. The dialog gets instantiated in the MainWindow. Initially I was passing the ObservableCollection to the dialog's constructor, and copying it into the dialog's CLR property. Then I would set the DataContext of the dialog to itself, and bind the ItemsSource property in the datagrid to the name of the CLR property. This worked fine.
Is there a better way to do this instead of passing the observable collection through the constructor? I tried setting the ItemsSource property of the Datagrid in the dialog to the observable collection in the MainWindow by using the GUI editor, which generated a binding using RelativeAncestor, but the data did not show. The problem is I have a bunch of dialogs that are meant to display data from the MainWindow, and I feel like there should be a simpler solution rather than passing everything to dialog's constructor. Also, would the dialogs be considered SubViews? The main window is a view.
Let's say your Dialog control is named DialogControl and has a DependencyProperty named Items defined in its code behind. In the XAML, I would bind this property to the DataGrid like this:
<DataGrid ItemsSource="{Binding Items, RelativeSource={RelativeSource Mode=
FindAncestor, AncestorType={x:Type DialogControl}}" />
This RelativeSource binding will go off and search through the properties of your DialogControl class and find the Items property. Note: Do NOT set the DataContext of the UserControl to itself.
Now in your MainWindow.xaml.cs file where you instantiate your DialogControl, you can set the Items property:
DialogControl dialogControl = new DialogControl();
dialogControl.Items = someCollection;
dialogControl.Show();
UPDATE >>>
Oh I see what you're after now... you want to bind from your UserControl to the actual collection in the MainWindow.xaml.cs file. You can still follow my advice, but instead of having the DependencyProperty in your DialogControl, you need to have it in your MainWindow.xaml.cs file. In that case, your binding in the UserControl would be:
<DataGrid ItemsSource="{Binding Items, RelativeSource={RelativeSource Mode=
FindAncestor, AncestorType={x:Type MainWindow}}" />
For this to work, the Items property must be a DependencyProperty.

Setting RelativeSource correctly

I have a combo box on a xaml form (MainWindow).
I set the Items source to an ObservableCollection in the code behind. To populate the Combo box I used Relative Source (it sits inside an ItemsControl), which worked great (without it, if did not populate):
ItemsSource="{Binding SelectableItems, RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type Window}}}"
I have now factored out the ObservableCollection into a seperate View Model Class, named 'MainWindowViewModel', the combo box does not populate.
I have set the DataContext of the MainWindow to my ViewModel and have checked that it populates other controls as expected, which it does.
How should I construct the RelativeSource so the combo box populates?
Thanks
Joe
I needed to add the Path at the end, thus:
ItemsSource="{Binding SelectableItems, RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type Window}}, Path=DataContext.SelectableItems}"
You do not want to use a RelativeSource any longer. If you don't specify a RelativeSource (or Source, or ElementName), then the binding will resolve against the current DataContext. Since the DataContext is inherited, your ItemsControl obtains its DataContext from the parent Window. Thus, this binding will resolve against your view model.
ItemsSource="{Binding SelectableItems}"

WPF Binding RelativeSource to Ancestor Issue

I'm binding a collection of collections to a WPF datagrid component(external library) and the underlying DataSource has the following structure. This basically gives me a datagrid with hierarchical records
class DataGridItemType
{
public string weightType;
public string SourceType;
private BindingList<DataGridItem> typeCollection = new BindingList<DataGridItem>();
}
BindingList<DataGridItemType> list = new BindingList<DataGridItemType>();
list is the datagrids DataSource and this performs hierarchical binding. Now, I tried binding a component(The header label of the records one level into the hierarchy whose datasource is typeCollection) to the variable weightType by using, Text="{Binding Path=weightType, Mode=TwoWay, RelativeSource={RelativeSource Mode=FindAncestor, AncestorType={x:Type btm:DataGridItemType}}} but the binding doesn't work. Am I missing something?
AncestorType should be the UI Element in the UI hierarchy whose DataContext (which would be an object of DataGridItemType - your custom class) you want to bind to.
There is no code snippet here but read the remarks section here

WPF UserControl in DataTemplate within ItemsControl - how to bind to parent of ItemsSource

The subject line says it all really! I have a user control which can be bound successfully to, say, a Fullname object - i.e. it works ok.
I now need to show a list of these and, again, this works ok when the control is in a DataTemplate within ItemsControl.Template.
But, the control has a property (InEditMode) that is not a property of the Fullname object but of the object that has the FullnameList property to which the ItemsControl is bound, via ItemsSource. This InEditMode property works fine when the control is not in a list and is bound to parent sibling properties named, say, ParentInEditMode and ParentFullname.
The question is - what style of binding expression is required to 'get at' the edit mode property of the parent object when the control is an ItemsControl?
Or, should I re-design the Fullname object to contain an EditMode property?
Many thanks in advance!
Update:
The item (i.e. that which is in collection bound to the ItemsControl) does NOT have such a property. Code is very simple:
<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding Path=FullnameList}">
...then...
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<jasControls:NameView
NameValue="{Binding Path=.}"
InEditMode= ??????? />
The overall parent (the viewmodel for the window) has properties:
FullnameList
ParentInEditMode
Fullname (single item for testing NameView which works perfectly with this xaml outside of any list control using:
<jasControls:NameView NameValue="{Binding Path=Fullname}" InEditMode="{Binding Path=ParentInEditMode}"/>
I would like to apply the edit mode to the entire collection - making that flag part of Fullname does not seem right!?
I have found an answer to my own question, which I hope will help others.
The working syntax I have is this:
<StackPanel>
<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding Path=FullnameList}">
...then...
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<jasControls:NameView
NameValue="{Binding Path=.}"
InEditMode= "{Binding DataContext.ParentInEditMode,RelativeSource={RelativeSource FindAncestor, AncestorType={x:Type StackPanel}}}" />
This correctly picks up the property that is a sibling of FullnameList and passes it to the data template item. More by luck than judgement, but I hope this is a valid way to do this!
For each Item in ItemsSource, ItemsControl creates the specified DataTemplate and to its DataContext it assigns the respective Item. Now every DataTemplate can bind to its item in its data context.
So I suppose your item does have a property "ParentInEditMode"; there should be no issue with binding to that property.
If it doesn't work, please update your question with some code.

WPF : Binding Order

I have a usercontrol (ItemsView) that I use in one of my other view. Since I need to access its ViewModel, the ItemsViewViewModel is contained by the ViewModel of the view that contained the control. I use this control at many times and I find it useful to bind a collection on the ItemsSource of my ItemsView control (differently, depending on the view that used it). It works, but not all the time.
Here some code :
<local:ItemsView DataContext="{Binding Path=ItemsViewModel}" ItemsSource="{Binding Path=DataContext.CurrentItem.Children, RelativeSource={RelativeSource Mode=FindAncestor, AncestorType=UserControl}}" />
The problem is that the DataContext of the ItemsView is sometimes set before the ItemsSource, and sometimes after. This is problematic because the ItemsSource is a dependency property linked to the ItemsViewViewModel.
Is there a way to have the DataContext set before the ItemsSource everytime?
After InitializeComponent, set SelectedIndex to -1 - this worked for me.

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