I am factoring some code into UserControls which parameters are bound when consumed. I am meeting difficulties with the use of ObservableCollection as a DependencyProperty.
The example showing the difficulty is a project consisting in a MainWindow with two DependencyProperty:
- one representing a String (named "Data") and
- another one representing an ObservableCollection (named "Origin");
and a UserControl (named UserControl1) exposing two similar DependencyProperty (named resp. "Liste" and "Noun").
The MainWindow contains a TextBlock which Text is bound to "Data" and a ComboBox which ItemsSource is bound to "Origin". Both are working fine. Both controls are factored into UserControl1, with the DependencyProperty "Liste" and "Noun" acting as intermediate, and UserControl1 is consumed in MainWindow.
Each DataContext (of MainWindow and of UserControl1) is set to "this".
The trouble is while the factored TextBlock (within UserControl1) is working and showing the content of "Data", the factored ComboBox is not working and its DropDown is empty.
The code of MainWindow.xaml is:
<Window x:Class="ChainedBindingUserControl.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
Title="MainWindow"
Height="350" Width="525"
xmlns:Local="clr-namespace:ChainedBindingUserControl"
>
<StackPanel>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Data}"
Width="150"
/>
<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Origin}"
Width="150"
/>
<Label Content="--------------------------------------------------"
Width="200"
/>
<Local:UserControl1 Liste="{Binding Origin}"
Noun="{Binding Data}"
Height="50" Width="150"
/>
</StackPanel>
</Window>
Its code behind is :
namespace ChainedBindingUserControl
{
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public ObservableCollection<String> Origin
{
get { return (ObservableCollection<String>)GetValue(OriginProperty); }
set { SetValue(OriginProperty, value); }
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty OriginProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("Origin", typeof(ObservableCollection<String>), typeof(MainWindow),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(null, FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.AffectsRender));
public String Data
{
get { return (String)GetValue(DataProperty); }
set { SetValue(DataProperty, value); }
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty DataProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("Data", typeof(String), typeof(UserControl1),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata("Blablabla", FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.AffectsRender));
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
this.DataContext = this;
ObservableCollection<String> zog = new ObservableCollection<String>();
zog.Add("A");
zog.Add("B");
zog.Add("C");
Origin = zog;
}
}
}
The file UserControl1.xaml is :
<UserControl x:Class="ChainedBindingUserControl.UserControl1"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Name="root"
d:DesignHeight="300" d:DesignWidth="300">
<StackPanel>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Noun}"
/>
<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Liste}"
/>
</StackPanel>
</UserControl>
Its code behind is :
namespace ChainedBindingUserControl
{
public partial class UserControl1 : UserControl
{
public ObservableCollection<String> Liste
{
get { return (ObservableCollection<String>)GetValue(ListeProperty); }
set { SetValue(ListeProperty, value); }
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty ListeProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("Liste", typeof(ObservableCollection<String>), typeof(UserControl1),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(null, FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.AffectsRender));
public String Noun
{
get { return (String)GetValue(NounProperty); }
set { SetValue(NounProperty, value); }
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty NounProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("Noun", typeof(String), typeof(UserControl1),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata("", FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.AffectsRender));
public UserControl1()
{
InitializeComponent();
this.DataContext = this;
}
}
}
`
EDIT
According to the pieces of information and snippets provided on http://sshumakov.com/2012/11/13/how-to-create-dependency-properties-for-collections/ , I changed the code behind of UserControl1 into
public partial class UserControl1 : UserControl
{
public IList Liste
{
get { return (List<String>)GetValue(ListeProperty); }
set { SetValue(ListeProperty, value); }
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty ListeProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("Liste", typeof(IList), typeof(UserControl1),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(new List<String>(), FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.AffectsRender));
public String Noun
{
get { return (String)GetValue(NounProperty); }
set { SetValue(NounProperty, value); }
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty NounProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("Noun", typeof(String), typeof(UserControl1),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata("", FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.AffectsRender));
public UserControl1()
{
InitializeComponent();
this.DataContext = this;
SetValue(ListeProperty, new List<String>());
}
}
but it is still not working.
The trouble doesn't come from the DataContext since the TextBlock works as expected.
The trouble here is specific: why a DependecyProperty acting as an intermediate for Binding is working when the property is of type String while it doesn't work when it is of type ObservableCollection (or List, etc).
Thanks in advance for any explanation.
