263
votes

As an example take the following code:

public enum ExampleEnum { FooBar, BarFoo }

public class ExampleClass : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
    private ExampleEnum example;

    public ExampleEnum ExampleProperty 
    { get { return example; } { /* set and notify */; } }
}

I want a to databind the property ExampleProperty to a ComboBox, so that it shows the options "FooBar" and "BarFoo" and works in mode TwoWay. Optimally I want my ComboBox definition to look something like this:

<ComboBox ItemsSource="What goes here?" SelectedItem="{Binding Path=ExampleProperty}" />

Currently I have handlers for the ComboBox.SelectionChanged and ExampleClass.PropertyChanged events installed in my Window where I do the binding manually.

Is there a better or some kind of canonical way? Would you usually use Converters and how would you populate the ComboBox with the right values? I don't even want to get started with i18n right now.

Edit

So one question was answered: How do I populate the ComboBox with the right values.

Retrieve Enum values as a list of strings via an ObjectDataProvider from the static Enum.GetValues method:

<Window.Resources>
    <ObjectDataProvider MethodName="GetValues"
        ObjectType="{x:Type sys:Enum}"
        x:Key="ExampleEnumValues">
        <ObjectDataProvider.MethodParameters>
            <x:Type TypeName="ExampleEnum" />
        </ObjectDataProvider.MethodParameters>
    </ObjectDataProvider>
</Window.Resources>

This I can use as an ItemsSource for my ComboBox:

<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource ExampleEnumValues}}"/>
14
I explored this and have a solution that you can use (complete with localization) in WPF located here.ageektrapped

14 Answers

213
votes

You can create a custom markup extension.

Example of usage:

enum Status
{
    [Description("Available.")]
    Available,
    [Description("Not here right now.")]
    Away,
    [Description("I don't have time right now.")]
    Busy
}

At the top of your XAML:

    xmlns:my="clr-namespace:namespace_to_enumeration_extension_class

and then...

<ComboBox 
    ItemsSource="{Binding Source={my:Enumeration {x:Type my:Status}}}" 
    DisplayMemberPath="Description" 
    SelectedValue="{Binding CurrentStatus}"  
    SelectedValuePath="Value"  /> 

And the implementation...

public class EnumerationExtension : MarkupExtension
  {
    private Type _enumType;


    public EnumerationExtension(Type enumType)
    {
      if (enumType == null)
        throw new ArgumentNullException("enumType");

      EnumType = enumType;
    }

    public Type EnumType
    {
      get { return _enumType; }
      private set
      {
        if (_enumType == value)
          return;

        var enumType = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(value) ?? value;

        if (enumType.IsEnum == false)
          throw new ArgumentException("Type must be an Enum.");

        _enumType = value;
      }
    }

    public override object ProvideValue(IServiceProvider serviceProvider)
    {
      var enumValues = Enum.GetValues(EnumType);

      return (
        from object enumValue in enumValues
        select new EnumerationMember{
          Value = enumValue,
          Description = GetDescription(enumValue)
        }).ToArray();
    }

    private string GetDescription(object enumValue)
    {
      var descriptionAttribute = EnumType
        .GetField(enumValue.ToString())
        .GetCustomAttributes(typeof (DescriptionAttribute), false)
        .FirstOrDefault() as DescriptionAttribute;


      return descriptionAttribute != null
        ? descriptionAttribute.Description
        : enumValue.ToString();
    }

    public class EnumerationMember
    {
      public string Description { get; set; }
      public object Value { get; set; }
    }
  }
195
votes

In the viewmodel you can have:

public MyEnumType SelectedMyEnumType 
{
    get { return _selectedMyEnumType; }
    set { 
            _selectedMyEnumType = value;
            OnPropertyChanged("SelectedMyEnumType");
        }
}

public IEnumerable<MyEnumType> MyEnumTypeValues
{
    get
    {
        return Enum.GetValues(typeof(MyEnumType))
            .Cast<MyEnumType>();
    }
}

In XAML the ItemSource binds to MyEnumTypeValues and SelectedItem binds to SelectedMyEnumType.

<ComboBox SelectedItem="{Binding SelectedMyEnumType}" ItemsSource="{Binding MyEnumTypeValues}"></ComboBox>
104
votes

I prefer not to use the name of enum in UI. I prefer use different value for user (DisplayMemberPath) and different for value (enum in this case) (SelectedValuePath). Those two values can be packed to KeyValuePair and stored in dictionary.

XAML

<ComboBox Name="fooBarComboBox" 
          ItemsSource="{Binding Path=ExampleEnumsWithCaptions}" 
          DisplayMemberPath="Value" 
          SelectedValuePath="Key"
          SelectedValue="{Binding Path=ExampleProperty, Mode=TwoWay}" > 

C#

public Dictionary<ExampleEnum, string> ExampleEnumsWithCaptions { get; } =
    new Dictionary<ExampleEnum, string>()
    {
        {ExampleEnum.FooBar, "Foo Bar"},
        {ExampleEnum.BarFoo, "Reversed Foo Bar"},
        //{ExampleEnum.None, "Hidden in UI"},
    };


private ExampleEnum example;
public ExampleEnum ExampleProperty
{
    get { return example; }
    set { /* set and notify */; }
}

EDIT: Compatible with the MVVM pattern.

44
votes

I don't know if it is possible in XAML-only but try the following:

Give your ComboBox a name so you can access it in the codebehind: "typesComboBox1"

Now try the following

typesComboBox1.ItemsSource = Enum.GetValues(typeof(ExampleEnum));
27
votes

Use ObjectDataProvider:

<ObjectDataProvider x:Key="enumValues"
   MethodName="GetValues" ObjectType="{x:Type System:Enum}">
      <ObjectDataProvider.MethodParameters>
           <x:Type TypeName="local:ExampleEnum"/>
      </ObjectDataProvider.MethodParameters>
 </ObjectDataProvider>

and then bind to static resource:

ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource enumValues}}"

Find this solution at this blog

24
votes

Based on the accepted but now deleted answer provided by ageektrapped I created a slimmed down version without some of the more advanced features. All the code is included here to allow you to copy-paste it and not get blocked by link-rot.

I use the System.ComponentModel.DescriptionAttribute which really is intended for design time descriptions. If you dislike using this attribute you may create your own but I think using this attribute really gets the job done. If you don't use the attribute the name will default to the name of the enum value in code.

public enum ExampleEnum {

  [Description("Foo Bar")]
  FooBar,

  [Description("Bar Foo")]
  BarFoo

}

Here is the class used as the items source:

public class EnumItemsSource : Collection<String>, IValueConverter {

  Type type;

  IDictionary<Object, Object> valueToNameMap;

  IDictionary<Object, Object> nameToValueMap;

  public Type Type {
    get { return this.type; }
    set {
      if (!value.IsEnum)
        throw new ArgumentException("Type is not an enum.", "value");
      this.type = value;
      Initialize();
    }
  }

  public Object Convert(Object value, Type targetType, Object parameter, CultureInfo culture) {
    return this.valueToNameMap[value];
  }

  public Object ConvertBack(Object value, Type targetType, Object parameter, CultureInfo culture) {
    return this.nameToValueMap[value];
  }

  void Initialize() {
    this.valueToNameMap = this.type
      .GetFields(BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.Public)
      .ToDictionary(fi => fi.GetValue(null), GetDescription);
    this.nameToValueMap = this.valueToNameMap
      .ToDictionary(kvp => kvp.Value, kvp => kvp.Key);
    Clear();
    foreach (String name in this.nameToValueMap.Keys)
      Add(name);
  }

  static Object GetDescription(FieldInfo fieldInfo) {
    var descriptionAttribute =
      (DescriptionAttribute) Attribute.GetCustomAttribute(fieldInfo, typeof(DescriptionAttribute));
    return descriptionAttribute != null ? descriptionAttribute.Description : fieldInfo.Name;
  }

}

You can use it in XAML like this:

<Windows.Resources>
  <local:EnumItemsSource
    x:Key="ExampleEnumItemsSource"
    Type="{x:Type local:ExampleEnum}"/>
</Windows.Resources>
<ComboBox
  ItemsSource="{StaticResource ExampleEnumItemsSource}"
  SelectedValue="{Binding ExampleProperty, Converter={StaticResource ExampleEnumItemsSource}}"/> 
6
votes

My favorite way to do this is with a ValueConverter so that the ItemsSource and SelectedValue both bind to the same property. This requires no additional properties to keep your ViewModel nice and clean.

<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Path=ExampleProperty, Converter={x:EnumToCollectionConverter}, Mode=OneTime}"
          SelectedValuePath="Value"
          DisplayMemberPath="Description"
          SelectedValue="{Binding Path=ExampleProperty}" />

And the definition of the Converter:

public static class EnumHelper
{
  public static string Description(this Enum e)
  {
    return (e.GetType()
             .GetField(e.ToString())
             .GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DescriptionAttribute), false)
             .FirstOrDefault() as DescriptionAttribute)?.Description ?? e.ToString();
  }
}

[ValueConversion(typeof(Enum), typeof(IEnumerable<ValueDescription>))]
public class EnumToCollectionConverter : MarkupExtension, IValueConverter
{
  public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
  {
    return Enum.GetValues(value.GetType())
               .Cast<Enum>()
               .Select(e => new ValueDescription() { Value = e, Description = e.Description()})
               .ToList();
  }
  public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
  {
    return null;
  }
  public override object ProvideValue(IServiceProvider serviceProvider)
  {
    return this;
  }
}

This converter will work with any enum. ValueDescription is just a simple class with a Value property and a Description property. You could just as easily use a Tuple with Item1 and Item2, or a KeyValuePair with Key and Value instead of Value and Description or any other class of your choice as long as it has can hold an enum value and string description of that enum value.

6
votes

you can consider something like that:

  1. define a style for textblock, or any other control you want to use to display your enum:

    <Style x:Key="enumStyle" TargetType="{x:Type TextBlock}">
        <Setter Property="Text" Value="&lt;NULL&gt;"/>
        <Style.Triggers>
            <Trigger Property="Tag">
                <Trigger.Value>
                    <proj:YourEnum>Value1<proj:YourEnum>
                </Trigger.Value>
                <Setter Property="Text" Value="{DynamicResource yourFriendlyValue1}"/>
            </Trigger>
            <!-- add more triggers here to reflect your enum -->
        </Style.Triggers>
    </Style>
    
  2. define your style for ComboBoxItem

    <Style TargetType="{x:Type ComboBoxItem}">
        <Setter Property="ContentTemplate">
            <Setter.Value>
                <DataTemplate>
                    <TextBlock Tag="{Binding}" Style="{StaticResource enumStyle}"/>
                </DataTemplate>
            </Setter.Value>
        </Setter>
    </Style>
    
  3. add a combobox and load it with your enum values:

    <ComboBox SelectedValue="{Binding Path=your property goes here}" SelectedValuePath="Content">
        <ComboBox.Items>
            <ComboBoxItem>
                <proj:YourEnum>Value1</proj:YourEnum>
            </ComboBoxItem>
        </ComboBox.Items>
    </ComboBox>
    

if your enum is large, you can of course do the same in code, sparing a lot of typing. i like that approach, since it makes localization easy - you define all the templates once, and then, you only update your string resource files.

5
votes

Here is a generic solution using a helper method. This can also handle an enum of any underlying type (byte, sbyte, uint, long, etc.)

Helper Method:

static IEnumerable<object> GetEnum<T>() {
    var type    = typeof(T);
    var names   = Enum.GetNames(type);
    var values  = Enum.GetValues(type);
    var pairs   =
        Enumerable.Range(0, names.Length)
        .Select(i => new {
                Name    = names.GetValue(i)
            ,   Value   = values.GetValue(i) })
        .OrderBy(pair => pair.Name);
    return pairs;
}//method

View Model:

public IEnumerable<object> EnumSearchTypes {
    get {
        return GetEnum<SearchTypes>();
    }
}//property

ComboBox:

<ComboBox
    SelectedValue       ="{Binding SearchType}"
    ItemsSource         ="{Binding EnumSearchTypes}"
    DisplayMemberPath   ="Name"
    SelectedValuePath   ="Value"
/>
2
votes

If you are using a MVVM, based on @rudigrobler answer you can do the following:

Add the following property to the ViewModel class

public Array ExampleEnumValues => Enum.GetValues(typeof(ExampleEnum));

Then in the XAML do the following:

<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding ExampleEnumValues}" ... />
1
votes

This is a DevExpress specific answer based on the top-voted answer by Gregor S. (currently it has 128 votes).

This means we can keep the styling consistent across the entire application:

enter image description here

Unfortunately, the original answer doesn't work with a ComboBoxEdit from DevExpress without some modifications.

First, the XAML for the ComboBoxEdit:

<dxe:ComboBoxEdit ItemsSource="{Binding Source={xamlExtensions:XamlExtensionEnumDropdown {x:myEnum:EnumFilter}}}"
    SelectedItem="{Binding BrokerOrderBookingFilterSelected, Mode=TwoWay, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}"
    DisplayMember="Description"
    MinWidth="144" Margin="5" 
    HorizontalAlignment="Left"
    IsTextEditable="False"
    ValidateOnTextInput="False"
    AutoComplete="False"
    IncrementalFiltering="True"
    FilterCondition="Like"
    ImmediatePopup="True"/>

Needsless to say, you will need to point xamlExtensions at the namespace that contains the XAML extension class (which is defined below):

xmlns:xamlExtensions="clr-namespace:XamlExtensions"

And we have to point myEnum at the namespace that contains the enum:

xmlns:myEnum="clr-namespace:MyNamespace"

Then, the enum:

namespace MyNamespace
{
    public enum EnumFilter
    {
        [Description("Free as a bird")]
        Free = 0,

        [Description("I'm Somewhat Busy")]
        SomewhatBusy = 1,

        [Description("I'm Really Busy")]
        ReallyBusy = 2
    }
}

The problem in with the XAML is that we can't use SelectedItemValue, as this throws an error as the setter is unaccessable (bit of an oversight on your part, DevExpress). So we have to modify our ViewModel to obtain the value directly from the object:

private EnumFilter _filterSelected = EnumFilter.All;
public object FilterSelected
{
    get
    {
        return (EnumFilter)_filterSelected;
    }
    set
    {
        var x = (XamlExtensionEnumDropdown.EnumerationMember)value;
        if (x != null)
        {
            _filterSelected = (EnumFilter)x.Value;
        }
        OnPropertyChanged("FilterSelected");
    }
}

For completeness, here is the XAML extension from the original answer (slightly renamed):

namespace XamlExtensions
{
    /// <summary>
    ///     Intent: XAML markup extension to add support for enums into any dropdown box, see http://bit.ly/1g70oJy. We can name the items in the
    ///     dropdown box by using the [Description] attribute on the enum values.
    /// </summary>
    public class XamlExtensionEnumDropdown : MarkupExtension
    {
        private Type _enumType;


        public XamlExtensionEnumDropdown(Type enumType)
        {
            if (enumType == null)
            {
                throw new ArgumentNullException("enumType");
            }

            EnumType = enumType;
        }

        public Type EnumType
        {
            get { return _enumType; }
            private set
            {
                if (_enumType == value)
                {
                    return;
                }

                var enumType = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(value) ?? value;

                if (enumType.IsEnum == false)
                {
                    throw new ArgumentException("Type must be an Enum.");
                }

                _enumType = value;
            }
        }

        public override object ProvideValue(IServiceProvider serviceProvider)
        {
            var enumValues = Enum.GetValues(EnumType);

            return (
                from object enumValue in enumValues
                select new EnumerationMember
                       {
                           Value = enumValue,
                           Description = GetDescription(enumValue)
                       }).ToArray();
        }

        private string GetDescription(object enumValue)
        {
            var descriptionAttribute = EnumType
                .GetField(enumValue.ToString())
                .GetCustomAttributes(typeof (DescriptionAttribute), false)
                .FirstOrDefault() as DescriptionAttribute;


            return descriptionAttribute != null
                ? descriptionAttribute.Description
                : enumValue.ToString();
        }

        #region Nested type: EnumerationMember
        public class EnumerationMember
        {
            public string Description { get; set; }
            public object Value { get; set; }
        }
        #endregion
    }
}

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with DevExpress. Telerik is also a great library.

0
votes

Try using

<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource ExampleEnumValues}}"
    SelectedValue="{Binding Path=ExampleProperty}" />
0
votes

I've created an open source CodePlex project that does this. You can download the NuGet package from here.

<enumComboBox:EnumComboBox EnumType="{x:Type demoApplication:Status}" SelectedValue="{Binding Status}" />
0
votes

Code

    public enum RULE
    {
        [Description( "Любые, без ограничений" )]
        any,
        [Description( "Любые если будет три в ряд" )]
        anyThree,
        [Description( "Соседние, без ограничений" )]
        nearAny,
        [Description( "Соседние если будет три в ряд" )]
        nearThree
    }

    class ExtendRULE
    {
        public static object Values
        {
            get
            {
                List<object> list = new List<object>();
                foreach( RULE rule in Enum.GetValues( typeof( RULE ) ) )
                {
                    string desc = rule.GetType().GetMember( rule.ToString() )[0].GetCustomAttribute<DescriptionAttribute>().Description;
                    list.Add( new { value = rule, desc = desc } );
                }
                return list;
            }
        }
    }

XAML

<StackPanel>
   <ListBox ItemsSource= "{Binding Source={x:Static model:ExtendRULE.Values}}" DisplayMemberPath="desc" SelectedValuePath="value" SelectedValue="{Binding SelectedRule}"/>
   <ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Source={x:Static model:ExtendRULE.Values}}" DisplayMemberPath="desc" SelectedValuePath="value" SelectedValue="{Binding SelectedRule}"/>                        
</StackPanel>