Silverlight - Get the ItemsControl of a DataTemplate - silverlight

Question

I have a Silverlight application that is using a DataGrid. Inside of that DataGrid I have a DataTemplate that is defined like the following:
<Grid x:Name="myGrid" Tag="{Binding}" Loaded="myGrid_Loaded">
<ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding MyItems}" Tag="{Binding}">
<ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal" Width="138">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Type}" />
<TextBox x:Name="myTextBox" TextChanged="myTextBox_TextChanged" />
</StackPanel>
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
</ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
</ItemsControl>
</Grid>
When a user enters text into the TextBox, I have an event (myTextBox_TextChanged) that must be fired at this point. When that event gets fired, I would like to get the ItemsControl element that is the container for this TextBox. How do I get that ItemsControl from my event handler?
Please note: Because the ItemsControl is in the DataTemplate of DataGrid, I don't believe I can just add an x:Name and reference it from my code-behind. Or is there a way to do that?
Thank you!

Answer 1

Using a combination of ItemsControl.ItemsControlFromItemContainer and VisualTreeHelper.GetParent you should be able to find your ItemsControl
var txt = sender as TextBox;
var panel1 = VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(txt);
var panel2 = VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(panel1);
var contentPresenter = VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(panel2);
var ic = ItemsControl.ItemsControlFromItemContainer(contentPresenter);
You may also want search the web for VisualTreeHelper Recursive functions to make some of this easier.

Answer 2

I like to have this little extension method in a static class somewhere in my app:-
public static IEnumerable<DependencyObject> Ancestors(this DependencyObject root)
{
DependencyObject current = VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(root);
while (current != null)
{
yield return current;
current = VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(current);
}
}
With that you should be able to do something like this:-
ItemsControl control = ((DependencyObject)sender).Ancestors()
.TypeOf<ItemsControl>().FirstOrDefault();

Answer 3

Not sure if this applies but this creates a "toggling button bar" using the same principles.
private void UIClassButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e){
Button SenderButton = (Button)sender;
ItemsControl SendersItemControl = ItemsControl.ItemsControlFromItemContainer(VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(SenderButton));
IEnumerable<DependencyObject> DependencyObjectCollection = SendersItemControl.GetContainers();
foreach (ContentPresenter item in DependencyObjectCollection) {
ContentPresenter UIClassPresenter = (ContentPresenter)item;
Button UIClassButton = (Button)UIClassPresenter.GetVisualChildren().First();
if (UIClassButton != SenderButton) {
VisualStateManager.GoToState(UIClassButton, "Normal", true);
}
else {
VisualStateManager.GoToState(UIClassButton, "Pressed", true);
}
}
}

Answer 4

Here's an example of capturing a container that houses your ItemsControl's item:
CheckBox checkbox = sender as CheckBox;
foreach (var item in MembersItemsControl.Items)
{
var container = MembersItemsControl.ItemContainerGenerator.ContainerFromItem(item) as FrameworkElement;
UserInformation user = container.DataContext as UserInformation;
bool isMale = true;
if (user.sex == isMale && checkbox.IsChecked.Value == true)
{
container.Visibility = System.Windows.Visibility.Visible;
}
}
I hope that helps.