WPF Listbox not redrawing - wpf

Question

I have a listbox defined in XAML as:
<ListBox x:Name="directoryList"
MinHeight="100"
Grid.Row="0"
ItemsSource="{Binding Path=SelectedDirectories}"/>
The SelectedDirectories is a property on the lists DataContext of type List<DirectoryInfo>
The class which is the datacontext for the listbox implements INotifyPropertyChanged. When the collection changes the items are added successfully to the list however the display does not update until I force the listbox to redraw by resizing it.
Any ideas why?
EDIT: INotifyPropertyChanged implementation
public class FileScannerPresenter : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private FileScanner _FileScanner;
public FileScannerPresenter()
{
this._FileScanner = new FileScanner();
}
public List<DirectoryInfo> SelectedDirectories
{
get
{
return _FileScanner.Directories;
}
}
public void AddDirectory(string path)
{
this._FileScanner.AddDirectory(path);
OnPropertyChanged("SelectedDirectories");
}
public void OnPropertyChanged(string property)
{
if (this.PropertyChanged != null)
{
PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(property));
}
}
}

Answer 1

Try
ObservableCollection<DirectoryInfo>
instead - you're triggering a refresh of the entire ListBox for no reason, and you don't need to make your hosting class implement INotifyPropertyChanged - it could easily just be a property of the window. The key is to never set the property to a new instance. So:
class SomeWindow : Window {
public ObservableCollection<DirectoryInfo> SelectedDirectories {get; private set;}
SomeWindow() { SelectedDirectories = new ObservableCollection<DirectoryInfo>(); }
public void AddDirectory(string path) {
SelectedDirectories.Add(new DirectoryInfo(path));
}
}
If you end up using that FileScanner class, you need to implement INotifyCollectionChanged instead - that way, the ListBox knows what to add/remove dynamically.

Answer 2

(See Update below). WPF seems to be working alright. I put your code into a new project. The listbox updates whenever I click the button to invoke AddDirectory. You should not need any more code changes.
The problem seems to be something else.. Are there multiple threads in your UI?
I didnt have the FileScanner type. So I created a dummy as follows.
public class FileScanner
{
string _path;
public FileScanner()
{ _path = #"c:\"; }
public List<DirectoryInfo> Directories
{
get
{
return Directory.GetDirectories(_path).Select(path => new DirectoryInfo(path)).ToList();
}
}
internal void AddDirectory(string path)
{ _path = path; }
}
No changes to your FileScannerPresenter class. Or your listbox XAML. I created a Window with a DockPanel containing your listbox, a textbox and a button.
Update: Paul Betts is right. It works because I return a new list each time from the Bound property. Data binding with lists always messes me up.
With more tinkering, the easy way to do this is:
Make FileScanner#Directories return an ObservableCollection<DirectoryInfo> (which implements INotifyCollectionChanged for you). Change all signatures all the way up to return this type instead of a List<DirectoryInfo>
FileScanner and FileScannerPresenter themselves do not have to implement any INotifyXXX interface.
// in FileScanner class def
public ObservableCollection<DirectoryInfo> Directories
{
get
{ return _DirList; }
}
internal void AddDirectory(string path)
{
_path = path;
//var newItems = Directory.GetDirectories(_path).Select(thePath => new DirectoryInfo(thePath)).ToList();
//_DirList.Concat( newItems ); -- doesn't work for some reason.
foreach (var info in Directory.GetDirectories(_path).Select(thePath => new DirectoryInfo(thePath)).ToList())
{
_DirList.Add(info);
}
}