Silverlight datagrid runtime adding and binding

Question

I need to add columns to silverlight columns at runtime and also perform the bindings for the columns.

This is how i do it statically in xaml

<sdk:DataGridTextColumn  CanUserReorder="True" CanUserResize="True" CanUserSort="True"  Header="CriteriaName" Width="2*" Binding="{Binding Path=[CriteriaName]}" IsReadOnly="True"  />

Now i want do the same in code behind,

here is what i have done

 foreach(string Col in lColumnNames)
            {
                DataGridTextColumn DGCol=new DataGridTextColumn();
                DGCol.Header= Col;


                Binding lObjBinding = new Binding(Col);
                lObjBinding.Mode = BindingMode.OneWay;

                DGCol.Binding = lObjBinding;
                GrdQuickFindResult.Columns.Add(DGCol);


            }

This is not working.All i can see are blank rows in the DataGrid,as if the binding hasn't happened. Pls check and tell me if all the things that i have done using xaml is done using C# as well or is there some property that is left to be set in the Binding Object that i have created. Thanx

Are you sure your "Col" collumn name matches the property name you want to bind to? — Arthur Nunes
yes i m sure about that,,,,Header name and the property name are same, — Manish Nair
Can u pls tell me how do i wtite the following piece of xaml code using c# Binding="{Binding Path=[CriteriaName]}" How can i set Path property .Merely Binding lObjBinding = new Binding(Col) is not helping I tried removing the path keyword from xaml and all i see is empty rows as i see when i bind using code behind. So i feel that its because i m not including this properly Binding="{Binding Path=[CriteriaName]}" using c#. @Arthur — Manish Nair

Arthur Nunes Arthur Nunes · Accepted Answer · 2012-12-13T12:22:09

A binding like:

"{Binding Path=MyProperty}"

is just a verbose way of writing:

"{Binding MyProperty}"

In the same way that

Binding b = new Binding();

is the same as

Binding b = new Binding("MyProperty");

And means that you are binding the text of your TextBoxColumn to the value of the property "MyProperty" in the data object which will be set as DataContext of a row in your DataGrid. For this we are assuming your data object is something like:

public class DataObject{
    public object MyProperty {get; set;}
}

If your data objects are like that, your bindings in code behind are fine and they should work.

When you especify a binding like:

"{Binding Path=[MyProperty]}"

Or

"{Binding [MyProperty]}"

You are binding the the indexer of the data object (if it implements one) and acessing the value corresponding to the the index "MyProperty". If you do this, I assume your data object is a IDictionary or a class which implements a indexer, like:

public class DataObject{
    public object this[object index]
    {
        get{ /*return something*/ }
        set { /*set something*/ }
    }
}

Just a suggestion: use camel case for your local variables, it looks strange for other people looking at your code, seems they are instance properties or static fields.

Silverlight datagrid runtime adding and binding

2 Answers