WPF ComboBox a better way to format ItemsSource - wpf

Question

Morning Guys,
I have a few ComboBoxes bound to List of TimeSpan. I am formatting the TimeSpans using IValueConverter and ItemTemplate. I was wondering if there were an easier way to format the TimeSpans. Here's what I'm currently doing.
public class TimeSpanConverter : IValueConverter
{
#region IValueConverter Members
public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
{
if (value == null)
return string.Empty;
TimeSpan t = TimeSpan.MinValue;
TimeSpan.TryParse(value.ToString(), out t);
return "{0:00}:{1:00}".F(t.Hours,t.Minutes);
}
public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
{
return TimeSpan.Parse(value.ToString());
}
#endregion
}
<Canvas>
<Canvas.Resources>
<bc:TimeSpanConverter x:Key="ts" />
<DataTemplate x:Key="TimeSpanTemplate">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding ., Converter={StaticResource ts}}" />
</DataTemplate>
</Canvas.Resources>
<TextBlock Canvas.Left="6"
Canvas.Top="6"
Height="21"
Name="textBlock4"
Text="Begin"
Width="40" />
<TextBlock Canvas.Left="81"
Canvas.Top="6"
Height="21"
Name="textBlock5"
Text="End"
Width="40" />
<ComboBox Canvas.Left="7"
Canvas.Top="25"
Height="23"
Name="TimeBeginCombo"
ItemTemplate="{StaticResource TimeSpanTemplate}"
SelectedItem="{Binding TimeBegin}"
Width="68" />
<ComboBox Canvas.Left="81"
Canvas.Top="25"
Height="23"
Name="TimeEndCombo"
ItemTemplate="{StaticResource TimeSpanTemplate}"
SelectedItem="{Binding TimeEnd}"
Width="68" />
</Canvas>
</GroupBox>

Answer 1

Is what you're binding to of type TimeSpan? If so, then the converter can be much simpler
public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
{
if (!(value is TimeSpan))
return string.Empty;
TimeSpan t = (TimeSpan)value;
return "{0:00}:{1:00}".F(t.Hours,t.Minutes);
}
And also, a general remark - are you sure you need to layout your UI on a Canvas and using absolute coordinates? :)