How to bind Close command to a button - wpf

The easiest way is to implement ButtonClick event handler and invoke Window.Close() method, but how doing this through a Command binding?

All it takes is a bit of XAML...
<Window x:Class="WCSamples.Window1"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml">
<Window.CommandBindings>
<CommandBinding Command="ApplicationCommands.Close"
Executed="CloseCommandHandler"/>
</Window.CommandBindings>
<StackPanel Name="MainStackPanel">
<Button Command="ApplicationCommands.Close"
Content="Close Window" />
</StackPanel>
</Window>
And a bit of C#...
private void CloseCommandHandler(object sender, ExecutedRoutedEventArgs e)
{
this.Close();
}
(adapted from this MSDN article)

Actually, it is possible without C# code. The key is to use interactions:
<Button Content="Close">
<i:Interaction.Triggers>
<i:EventTrigger EventName="Click">
<ei:CallMethodAction TargetObject="{Binding ElementName=window}" MethodName="Close"/>
</i:EventTrigger>
</i:Interaction.Triggers>
</Button>
In order for this to work, just set the x:Name of your window to "window", and add these two namespaces:
xmlns:i="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/2010/interactivity"
xmlns:ei="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/2010/interactions"
This requires that you add the Expression Blend SDK DLL to your project, specifically Microsoft.Expression.Interactions.
In case you don't have Blend, the SDK can be downloaded here.

I think that in real world scenarios a simple click handler is probably better than over-complicated command-based systems but you can do something like that:
using RelayCommand from this article http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd419663.aspx
public class MyCommands
{
public static readonly ICommand CloseCommand =
new RelayCommand( o => ((Window)o).Close() );
}
<Button Content="Close Window"
Command="{X:Static local:MyCommands.CloseCommand}"
CommandParameter="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource FindAncestor,
AncestorType={x:Type Window}}}"/>

If the window was shown with Window.ShowDialog():
The simplest solution that I know of is to set the IsCancel property to true of the close Button:
<Button Content="Close" IsCancel="True" />
No bindings needed, WPF will do that for you automatically!
This properties provide an easy way of saying these are the "OK" and "Cancel" buttons on a dialog. It also binds the ESC key to the button.
Reference: MSDN Button.IsCancel property.

For .NET 4.5 SystemCommands class will do the trick (.NET 4.0 users can use WPF Shell Extension google - Microsoft.Windows.Shell or Nicholas Solution).
<Window.CommandBindings>
<CommandBinding Command="{x:Static SystemCommands.CloseWindowCommand}"
CanExecute="CloseWindow_CanExec"
Executed="CloseWindow_Exec" />
</Window.CommandBindings>
<!-- Binding Close Command to the button control -->
<Button ToolTip="Close Window" Content="Close" Command="{x:Static SystemCommands.CloseWindowCommand}"/>
In the Code Behind you can implement the handlers like this:
private void CloseWindow_CanExec(object sender, CanExecuteRoutedEventArgs e)
{
e.CanExecute = true;
}
private void CloseWindow_Exec(object sender, ExecutedRoutedEventArgs e)
{
SystemCommands.CloseWindow(this);
}

In the beginning I was also having a bit of trouble figuring out how this works so I wanted to post a better explanation of what is actually going on.
According to my research the best way to handle things like this is using the Command Bindings. What happens is a "Message" is broadcast to everything in the program. So what you have to do is use the CommandBinding. What this essentially does is say "When you hear this Message do this".
So in the Question the User is trying to Close the Window. The first thing we need to do is setup our Functions that will be called when the SystemCommand.CloseWindowCommand is broadcast. Optionally you can assign a Function that determines if the Command should be executed. An example would be closing a Form and checking if the User has saved.
MainWindow.xaml.cs (Or other Code-Behind)
void CloseApp( object target, ExecutedRoutedEventArgs e ) {
/*** Code to check for State before Closing ***/
this.Close();
}
void CloseAppCanExecute( object sender, CanExecuteRoutedEventArgs e ) {
/*** Logic to Determine if it is safe to Close the Window ***/
e.CanExecute = true;
}
Now we need to setup the "Connection" between the SystemCommands.CloseWindowCommand and the CloseApp and CloseAppCanExecute
MainWindow.xaml (Or anything that implements CommandBindings)
<Window.CommandBindings>
<CommandBinding Command="SystemCommands.CloseWindowCommand"
Executed="CloseApp"
CanExecute="CloseAppCanExecute"/>
</Window.CommandBindings>
You can omit the CanExecute if you know that the Command should be able to always be executed Save might be a good example depending on the Application. Here is a Example:
<Window.CommandBindings>
<CommandBinding Command="SystemCommands.CloseWindowCommand"
Executed="CloseApp"/>
</Window.CommandBindings>
Finally you need to tell the UIElement to send out the CloseWindowCommand.
<Button Command="SystemCommands.CloseWindowCommand">
Its actually a very simple thing to do, just setup the link between the Command and the actual Function to Execute then tell the Control to send out the Command to the rest of your program saying "Ok everyone run your Functions for the Command CloseWindowCommand".
This is actually a very nice way of handing this because, you can reuse the Executed Function all over without having a wrapper like you would with say WinForms (using a ClickEvent and calling a function within the Event Function) like:
protected override void OnClick(EventArgs e){
/*** Function to Execute ***/
}
In WPF you attach the Function to a Command and tell the UIElement to execute the Function attached to the Command instead.
I hope this clears things up...

One option that I've found to work is to set this function up as a Behavior.
The Behavior:
public class WindowCloseBehavior : Behavior<Window>
{
public bool Close
{
get { return (bool) GetValue(CloseTriggerProperty); }
set { SetValue(CloseTriggerProperty, value); }
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty CloseTriggerProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("Close", typeof(bool), typeof(WindowCloseBehavior),
new PropertyMetadata(false, OnCloseTriggerChanged));
private static void OnCloseTriggerChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
{
var behavior = d as WindowCloseBehavior;
if (behavior != null)
{
behavior.OnCloseTriggerChanged();
}
}
private void OnCloseTriggerChanged()
{
// when closetrigger is true, close the window
if (this.Close)
{
this.AssociatedObject.Close();
}
}
}
On the XAML Window, you set up a reference to it and bind the Behavior's Close property to a Boolean "Close" property on your ViewModel:
xmlns:i="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/2010/interactivity"
<i:Interaction.Behaviors>
<behavior:WindowCloseBehavior Close="{Binding Close}" />
</i:Interaction.Behaviors>
So, from the View assign an ICommand to change the Close property on the ViewModel which is bound to the Behavior's Close property. When the PropertyChanged event is fired the Behavior fires the OnCloseTriggerChanged event and closes the AssociatedObject... which is the Window.

Related

Why WPF CommandBinding with one button is effecting the other button?

My following code is Implementing a custom WPF Command. I have bonded only the first button (titled Exit) with the CommandBinding so that when Exit button is clicked and e.CanExecute is true in CommandBinding_CanExecute event, the CommandBinding_Executed event closes the app. This scenario works fine with Exit button. But, when btnTest button - that is not bonded with any command - is clicked, CommandBinding_CanExecute event also gets called. This can be tested by placing a breakpoint on the btnTest_Click event and noticing that after the code exits this event the cursor goes to CommandBinding_CanExecute event.
Question: Why the btnTest button is also calling CommandBinding_CanExecute event despite that fact that CommandBinding is used only on Exit button. What I may be missing here, and how can we fix the issue?
Remarks For brevity I have simplified the issue. But in real scenario e.CanExecute value in CommandBinding_CanExecute is set to true by calling a function that performs a long complex logic that returns true or false based on certain scenario for the Exit button. And I don't want that long logic to be performed when other buttons (e.g. btnTest) is clicked.
MainWindow.Xaml:
<Window x:Class="WpfApp1.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:WpfApp1"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Title="MainWindow" Height="450" Width="800">
<Grid>
<StackPanel HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center">
<Button Content="Exit" Command="local:CustomCommands.Exit">
<Button.CommandBindings>
<CommandBinding Command="local:CustomCommands.Exit" CanExecute="CommandBinding_CanExecute" Executed="CommandBinding_Executed"/>
</Button.CommandBindings>
</Button>
<Button x:Name="btnTest" Content="Test" Click="btnTest_Click" Margin="10"/>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
</Window>
MainWindow.Xaml.cs:
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void btnTest_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Why this event is calling ExitCommand_CanExecute");
}
private void CommandBinding_CanExecute(object sender, CanExecuteRoutedEventArgs e)
{
e.CanExecute = true;
}
private void CommandBinding_Executed(object sender, ExecutedRoutedEventArgs e)
{
Application.Current.Shutdown();
}
}
public static class CustomCommands
{
public static readonly RoutedUICommand Exit = new RoutedUICommand
(
"Exit",
"Exit",
typeof(CustomCommands),
new InputGestureCollection()
{
new KeyGesture(Key.F4, ModifierKeys.Alt)
}
);
}
What makes you think btnTest is calling CommandBinding_CanExecute? It doesn't.
The CanExecute method of the command is called by the CommandManager whenever it wants to know the current status of the command. You don't control when this happens. The framework does. It's not connected to the btnTest.
If you have some complex logic in CanExecute, you should consider creating a custom command class that implements the ICommand interface and raise the CanExecuteChanged event whenever you want the framework to refresh the status of the command by calling its CanExecute method. This way you can control when the command should be refreshed.
You could then bind the Command property of the Button to an instance of your custom command class. If you google for "DelegateCommand" or "RelayCommand", you should find a lot of examples. This blog post may be a good starting point.
Any interaction with the UI which is considered by the designers of wpf to be significant will indirectly initiate a check of all bound canexecute.
The idea being you changed something, did something or other. Best check if all these commands should still be enabled.
It's actually commandmanager.requerysuggested() that is invoked.
This doesn't directly invoke canexecute.
What it does is tells commands they should go check whether they can still be executed.
This isn't completely insane because whilst your button's command is invoking some code then there's a fair chance if the user clicks some other button then your viewmodel will be partly updated or in some indeterminate state,
You should never drive other logic using canexecute.
It is very common to add a bool IsBusy to a base viewmodel and check that to see if anything is doing stuff and you should not allow the user to do something else.
An extra check within commands on IsBusy is part of this pattern.

Galasoft RelayCommand not firing

I am using the MVVM Light framework to build a SL4 application. My simple app is composed primarily by a single main view (shellView), which is divided into multiple UserControls. They are just a convenient separation of the UI, therefore they don't have their own ViewModel.
The ShellView contains a Keypad (custom usercontrol) that contains multiple KeypadButtons (custom usercontrols).
I am quite sure (because I've checked) that the DataContext is set properly and it is used by all usercontrols in the hierarchy. (ShellView's Datacontext is ShellViewModel, Keypad's DataContext is ShellViewModel, etc.).
In the ShellViewModel I have a ICommand (RelayCommand) that is named "ProcessKey".
In the Keypad control, I have something like:
<controls:KeypadButton x:Name="testBtn" Text="Hello">
<i:Interaction.Triggers>
<i:EventTrigger EventName="Click">
<GalaSoft_MvvmLight_Command:EventToCommand Command="{Binding PressStandardKeyCommand}" />
</i:EventTrigger>
</i:Interaction.Triggers>
</controls:KeypadButton>
The KeypadButton is basically a Grid that contains a Button. The MouseLeftButtonUp event is caught and a custom "Click" event is fired. Let me show you some code to explain easily what I am doing:
public partial class KeypadButton : UserControl
{
public delegate void KeypadButtonClickHandler(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e);
public event KeypadButtonClickHandler Click;
public KeypadButton()
{
// Required to initialize variables
InitializeComponent();
}
private void innerButton_Click(object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)
{
if (Click != null)
Click(sender, new KeypadButtonEventArgs());
}
}
public class KeypadButtonEventArgs : RoutedEventArgs
{
public string test { get; set; }
}
Now, if I set a breakpoint to the body of innerButton_Click, I can see the Click is properly caught and it contains points to the RelayCommand. However, nothing happens: "Click(sender, new KeypadButtonEventArgs());" is executed but nothing more.
Why is this behaving so? Shouldnt execute the target function that is defined in the RelayCommand? Is maybe a scope-related issue?
Thanks in advance,
Cheers,
Gianluca.
As noted by other comments, this is probably related to the Click event not being a RoutedEvent.
As a quick hack you might be able to use MouseLeftButtonDown instead of the Click event on your UserControl.
<!-- Kinda Hacky Click Interception -->
<controls:KeypadButton x:Name="testBtn" Text="Hello">
<i:Interaction.Triggers>
<i:EventTrigger EventName="MouseLeftButtonDown">
<GalaSoft_MvvmLight_Command:EventToCommand Command="{Binding PressStandardKeyCommand}" />
</i:EventTrigger>
</i:Interaction.Triggers>
</controls:KeypadButton>
Another option you could consider is inheriting from Button instead of UserControl. Silverlight Show has an article about inheriting from a TextBox that probably is relevant for this.
Routed events should be defined like this (see documentation):
public static readonly RoutedEvent TapEvent = EventManager.RegisterRoutedEvent(
"Tap", RoutingStrategy.Bubble, typeof(RoutedEventHandler), typeof(MyButtonSimple));
// Provide CLR accessors for the event
public event RoutedEventHandler Tap
{
add { AddHandler(TapEvent, value); }
remove { RemoveHandler(TapEvent, value); }
}

Is there a way to call external functions from xaml?

Is there any way to call methods of external objects (for example resource objects) directly from xaml?
I mean something like this:
<Grid xmlns:dm="clr-namespace:MyNameSpace;assembly=MyAssembly">
<Grid.Resources>
<dm:TimeSource x:Key="timesource1"/>
</Grid.Resources>
<Button Click="timesource_updade">Update time</Button>
</Grid>
The method timesource_update is of course the method of the TimeSource object.
I need to use pure XAML, not any code behind.
Check this thread, it has a similar problem. In general you can't call a method directly from xaml.
You could use Commands or you can create an object from xaml which will create a method on a thread, which will dispose itself when it needs.
But I am afraid you can't do it just in pure XAML. In C# you can do everything you can do in XAML, but not other way round. You can only do some certain things from XAML that you can do in C#.
OK, here is the final sollution.
XAML:
<Grid xmlns:dm="clr-namespace:MyNameSpace;assembly=MyAssembly">
<Grid.Resources>
<dm:TimeSource x:Key="timesource1"/>
</Grid.Resources>
<Button Command="{x:Static dm:TimeSource.Update}"
CommandParameter="any_parameter"
CommandTarget="{Binding Source={StaticResource timesource1}}">Update time</Button>
</Grid>
CODE in the TimeSource class:
public class TimeSource : System.Windows.UIElement {
public static RoutedCommand Update = new RoutedCommand();
private void UpdateExecuted(object sender, ExecutedRoutedEventArgs e)
{
// code
}
private void UpdateCanExecute(object sender, CanExecuteRoutedEventArgs e)
{
e.CanExecute = true;
}
// Constructor
public TimeSource() {
CommandBinding cb = new CommandBinding(TimeSource.Update, UpdateExecuted, UpdateCanExecute);
CommandBindings.Add(cb2);
}
}
TimeSource has to be derived from UIElement in order to have CommandBindings. But the result is calling outer assembly method directly from XAML. By clicking the button, 'UpdateExecuted' method of the object timesource1 is called and that is exactly what I was looking for.

WPF Standard Commands - Where's Exit?

I'm creating a standard menu in my WPF application.
I know that I can create custom commands, but I know there are also a bunch of standard commands to bind to.
For example, to open a file I should bind to ApplicationCommands.Open, to close a file I should bind to ApplicationCommands.Close. There's also a large number of EditCommands, ComponentCommands or NavigationCommands.
There doesn't seem to be an "Exit" command. I would have expected there to be ApplicationCommands.Exit.
What should I bind to the "Exit" menu item? To create a custom command for something this generic just seems wrong.
Unfortunately, there is no predefined ApplicationCommands.Exit. Adding one to WPF was suggested on Microsoft Connect in 2008: http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/354300/add-predefined-wpf-command-applicationcommands-exit. The item has been marked closed/postponed, however.
Mike Taulty discussed how to create your own Exit command in an article on his blog.
AFAIK there's no ApplicationCommands.Quit or ApplicationCommands.Exit, so I guess you're gonna have to create it yourself...
Anyway, if you're using the MVVM pattern, RoutedCommands are not exactly handy, so it's better to use a lightweight alternative like RelayCommand or DelegateCommand.
Not that complex actually (but still, M$ sucks for not providing it). Here you go:
public static class MyCommands
{
private static readonly ICommand appCloseCmd = new ApplicationCloseCommand();
public static ICommand ApplicationCloseCommand
{
get { return appCloseCmd; }
}
}
//===================================================================================================
public class ApplicationCloseCommand : ICommand
{
public event EventHandler CanExecuteChanged
{
// You may not need a body here at all...
add { CommandManager.RequerySuggested += value; }
remove { CommandManager.RequerySuggested -= value; }
}
public bool CanExecute(object parameter)
{
return Application.Current != null && Application.Current.MainWindow != null;
}
public void Execute(object parameter)
{
Application.Current.MainWindow.Close();
}
}
And the body of the AplicationCloseCommand.CanExecuteChanged event handler may not be even needed.
You use it like so:
<MenuItem Header="{DynamicResource MenuFileExit}" Command="MyNamespace:MyCommands.ApplicationCloseCommand"/>
Cheers!
(You cannot imagine how long it took me to discover this Command stuff myself...)
Yes, it would've made a lot of sense for Microsoft to include an ApplicationCommands.Exit command in their collection of pre-defined commands. It disappoints me that they didn't. But as the answers to this question demonstrate, not all is lost.
There are lots of workarounds possible for the lack of a proper ApplicationCommands.Exit object. However, I feel most miss the point. Either they implement something in the view model, for something that really is strictly a view behavior (in some cases reaching into the view object graph with e.g. Application.Current.MainWindow!), or they write a bunch of code-behind to do what XAML does very well and much more conveniently.
IMHO, the simplest approach is just to declare a RoutedUICommand resource for the window, attach that to a command binding, and to a menu item, to hook all the parts up. For example:
<Window x:Class="ConwaysGameOfLife.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Title="MainWindow" Height="450" Width="800">
<Window.Resources>
<RoutedUICommand x:Key="fileExitCommand" Text="File E_xit">
<RoutedUICommand.InputGestures>
<KeyGesture >Alt+F4</KeyGesture>
</RoutedUICommand.InputGestures>
</RoutedUICommand>
</Window.Resources>
<Window.CommandBindings>
<CommandBinding Command="{StaticResource fileExitCommand}" Executed="fileExitCommand_Executed"/>
</Window.CommandBindings>
<DockPanel>
<Menu DockPanel.Dock="Top">
<MenuItem Header="_File">
<!-- other menu items go here -->
<Separator/>
<MenuItem Command="{StaticResource fileExitCommand}"/>
</MenuItem>
</Menu>
<!-- the main client area UI goes here -->
</DockPanel>
</Window>
The Executed event handler for the command binding is trivial:
private void fileExitCommand_Executed(object sender, ExecutedRoutedEventArgs e)
{
Close();
}
Assuming, of course, your program implementation follows the usual semantics of closing the main window to exit the program.
In this way, all of the UI-specific elements go right into the RoutedUICommand object, which can be configured correctly and conveniently right in the XAML rather than having to declare a new C# class to implement the command and/or mess around with the input bindings from code-behind. The MenuItem object already knows what to do with a RoutedUICommand in terms of display, so going this route provides a nice decoupling of the command's properties from the rest of the UI. It also provides a convenient way to provide a secondary key gesture, in case you'd prefer something other than the default Alt+F4 (e.g. Ctrl+W).
You can even put the RoutedUICommand declaration in the App.xaml file, for reuse among multiple windows in your program, should they exist. Again, decoupling the UI-specific aspects, which are declared in the resource, from the consumers that are found throughout the program.
I find this approach much more generalizable and easily implemented than the other options which I've seen presented (here and elsewhere).
private void MenuItem_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
Application.Current.Shutdown();
}
Pretty simple to do:
using System.Windows.Input;
namespace YourApp
{
static class ApplicationCommands
{
public static RoutedCommand Quit { get; }
static ApplicationCommands()
{
var inputGestures = new InputGestureCollection();
inputGestures.Add(new KeyGesture(Key.Q, ModifierKeys.Control));
Quit = new RoutedUICommand("Quit", "Quit", typeof(ApplicationCommands),
inputGestures);
}
}
}
Use it in your XAML like this:
<Window.CommandBindings>
<CommandBinding Command="local:ApplicationCommands.Quit"
Executed="QuitCommandOnExecuted"/>
</Window.CommandBindings>
[..]
<MenuItem Command="local:ApplicationCommands.Quit" />
Code-behind:
void QuitCommandOnExecuted(object sender, ExecutedRoutedEventArgs e)
{
Application.Current.Shutdown();
}
You can modify the Text property of a command before you bind it in a window. This will change the text of the command everywhere it appears in your ui.
EDIT: Do this to Close in the Window or App ctor

Key press inside of textbox MVVM

I am just getting started with MVVM and im having problems figuring out how I can bind a key press inside a textbox to an ICommand inside the view model. I know I can do it in the code-behind but im trying to avoid that as much as possible.
Update: The solutions so far are all well and good if you have the blend sdk or your not having problems with the interaction dll which is what i'm having. Is there any other more generic solutions than having to use the blend sdk?
First of all, if you want to bind a RoutedUICommand it is easy - just add to the UIElement.InputBindings collection:
<TextBox ...>
<TextBox.InputBindings>
<KeyBinding
Key="Q"
Modifiers="Control"
Command="my:ModelAirplaneViewModel.AddGlueCommand" />
Your trouble starts when you try to set Command="{Binding AddGlueCommand}" to get the ICommand from the ViewModel. Since Command is not a DependencyProperty you can't set a Binding on it.
Your next attempt would probably be to create an attached property BindableCommand that has a PropertyChangedCallback that updates Command. This does allow you to access the binding but there is no way to use FindAncestor to find your ViewModel since the InputBindings collection doesn't set an InheritanceContext.
Obviously you could create an attached property that you could apply to the TextBox that would run through all the InputBindings calling BindingOperations.GetBinding on each to find Command bindings and updating those Bindings with an explicit source, allowing you to do this:
<TextBox my:BindingHelper.SetDataContextOnInputBindings="true">
<TextBox.InputBindings>
<KeyBinding
Key="Q"
Modifiers="Control"
my:BindingHelper.BindableCommand="{Binding ModelGlueCommand}" />
This attached property would be easy to implement: On PropertyChangedCallback it would schedule a "refresh" at DispatcherPriority.Input and set up an event so the "refresh" is rescheduled on every DataContext change. Then in the "refresh" code just, just set DataContext on each InputBinding:
...
public static readonly SetDataContextOnInputBindingsProperty = DependencyProperty.Register(... , new UIPropetyMetadata
{
PropertyChangedCallback = (obj, e) =>
{
var element = obj as FrameworkElement;
ScheduleUpdate(element);
element.DataContextChanged += (obj2, e2) =>
{
ScheduleUpdate(element);
};
}
});
private void ScheduleUpdate(FrameworkElement element)
{
Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(DispatcherPriority.Input, new Action(() =>
{
UpdateDataContexts(element);
})
}
private void UpdateDataContexts(FrameworkElement target)
{
var context = target.DataContext;
foreach(var inputBinding in target.InputBindings)
inputBinding.SetValue(FrameworkElement.DataContextProperty, context);
}
An alternative to the two attached properties would be to create a CommandBinding subclass that receives a routed command and activates a bound command:
<Window.CommandBindings>
<my:CommandMapper Command="my:RoutedCommands.AddGlue" MapToCommand="{Binding AddGlue}" />
...
in this case, the InputBindings in each object would reference the routed command, not the binding. This command would then be routed up the the view and mapped.
The code for CommandMapper is relatively trivial:
public class CommandMapper : CommandBinding
{
... // declaration of DependencyProperty 'MapToCommand'
public CommandMapper() : base(Executed, CanExecute)
{
}
private void Executed(object sender, ExecutedRoutedEventArgs e)
{
if(MapToCommand!=null)
MapToCommand.Execute(e.Parameter);
}
private void CanExecute(object sender, CanExecuteRoutedEventArgs e)
{
e.CanExecute =
MapToCommand==null ? null :
MapToCommand.CanExecute(e.Parameter);
}
}
For my taste, I would prefer to go with the attached properties solution, since it is not much code and keeps me from having to declare each command twice (as a RoutedCommand and as a property of my ViewModel). The supporting code only occurs once and can be used in all of your projects.
On the other hand if you're only doing a one-off project and don't expect to reuse anything, maybe even the CommandMapper is overkill. As you mentioned, it is possible to simply handle the events manually.
The excellent WPF framework Caliburn solves this problem beautifully.
<TextBox cm:Message.Attach="[Gesture Key: Enter] = [Action Search]" />
The syntax [Action Search] binds to a method in the view model. No need for ICommands at all.
Perhaps the easiest transition from code-behind event handling to MVVM commands would be Triggers and Actions from Expression Blend Samples.
Here's a snippet of code that demonstrates how you can handle key down event inside of the text box with the command:
<TextBox>
<i:Interaction.Triggers>
<i:EventTrigger EventName="KeyDown">
<si:InvokeDataCommand Command="{Binding MyCommand}"/>
</i:EventTrigger>
</i:Interaction.Triggers>
</TextBox>
The best option would probably be to use an Attached Property to do this. If you have the Blend SDK, the Behavior<T> class makes this much simpler.
For example, it would be very easy to modify this TextBox Behavior to fire an ICommand on every key press instead of clicking a button on Enter.

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