WPF combobox is empty when binding enum

Question

I am trying to bind values of an enum to a combo box but the combo box remain empty with no options to choose.

This is the combo box xaml defintion:

<ComboBox Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="1" ItemsSource="{Binding Path=SkillItemSource}" SelectedItem="{Binding Path=neededSkill, Mode=TwoWay}" SelectedIndex="0" Margin="5" MinWidth="100"></ComboBox>

And this is the items source and selected item which are defined in the window's cs:

public Skill neededSkill = Skill.FirstSkill;

public string[] SkillItemSource
    {
        get
        {
            return Enum.GetNames(typeof(Skill));
        }
    }

What is missing for the values to appear in the combobox?

You cannot set SelectedItem to type Skill while the ItemsSource of Combobox is type string[]. — Mathivanan KP

mm8 mm8 · Accepted Answer · 2019-05-22T13:04:17

What is missing for the values to appear in the combobox?

You need to set the DataContext of the ComboBox, or a parent element, to an instance of the class where the SkillItemSource property is defined. If the property is defined in the code-behind, you could just set the DataContext to the view itself: this.DataContext = this;

Also, you can't mix types. If the ItemsSource is bound to an IEnumerable<string>, the SelectedItem property should be bound to a string property.

Also note that neededSkill must be defined as a public property for you to be able to bind to it.

Try this:

public Skill neededSkill { get; set; } = Skill.FirstSkill;

public IEnumerable<Skill> SkillItemSource { get; } = Enum.GetValues(typeof(Skill)).Cast<Skill>();

WPF combobox is empty when binding enum

1 Answers