Bind an ObservableCollection to a ComboBox in WPF

Question

I'm using Entity Framework as my database source and need to convert a Linq query "var" type to an ObservableCollection. I then need to bind the ObservableCollection to a ComboBox on WPF form; binding to ItemsSource, DisplayMemeberPath, SelectedValuePath and SelectedValue.

Here is Code:

using (PulseContext pc = new PulseContext())
{
    var maritalcodes =  from m in pc.CodeMaster
                        where m.Type == "16"
                        select new { m.Code, m.Description };

    prop.ClientData.Options = new ObservableCollection<object>(maritalcodes);
}

Problem is the ComboBox is showing this as "{ Code = ????, Description = ???? }" instead of bind to code for value and description for display. What do I have to do to get the ComboBox to bind to the individual elements?

You should mark the best answers to your questions as your accepted answers. — david.s

david.s david.s · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-18T22:41:38

You need to set SelectedValuePath and DisplayMemberPath like this:

prop.ClientData.Options = new ObservableCollection<object>(maritalcodes);
prop.ClientData.Options.SelectedValuePath = "Code";
prop.ClientData.Options.DisplayMemberPath = "Description";

Or you can set them in xaml like this:

<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Path=maritalcodes}"
          SelectedValuePath="Code"
          DisplayMemberPath="Description" />

Bind an ObservableCollection to a ComboBox in WPF

2 Answers