WPF Databinding Deep DiveGill CleerenMicrosoft Regional Director – MVP ASP.NETOrdina .NET Architectgill.cleeren@ordina.be

About Gill• .net architect Ordina (www.ordina.be) • Microsoft Regional Director (www.theregion.com) • MVP ASP.net• Writing:

• .net magazine• Blogs • MSDN

• Speaking: • TechDays• Usergroups(Visug, Biwug, Besug)• Ineta speaker

• Blog: www.snowball.be• Email: gill.cleeren@ordina.be• Twitter: gillcleeren • MSN: gillcleeren@hotmail.com

Agenda• From manual coding to databinding• The Binding object• Types of Binding and the

DataContext• Collections binding and

datatemplates• Value conversions• Customizations of the view• Validation• Data providers

DemoTechDays 2009 easiest demo

Conclusion of demo• Lots of code• Not easy to maintain and scale to

many properties• Feels tedious to write

Hello databinding• Infrastructure for binding control properties to

objects and collectionsIt’s like saying:

“Hey ListBox, get your items here.”“And keep them up-to-date please.”“Oh and format them like this...”And much more, all automagically!

• Loosely coupled model• Bound control doesn’t need to know to what is

being bound to• Databinding isn’t unique to WPF• ASP.NET• Windows Forms

Welcome to databindingInfrastructure for binding control properties to objects

and collections• It’s like saying:

“Hey ListBox, get your items here.”“And keep them up-to-date please.”“Oh and format them like this...”And much more, all automagically!

Loosely coupled model• Bound control doesn’t need to know to what is being

bound toCan generate UI based on bound collectionsDatabinding isn’t unique to WPF

• ASP.NET• Windows Forms

Cp

Object

PropertyConversion

SynchronizationDependenc

y property

Control Data binding

Registration of property with databinding engine.Engine will keep them synchronized and take care of converion.

Demo - repriseTechDays 2009 easiest demo

Now with databinding!

The Binding object• System.Windows.Data.Binding• Glues 2 properties together

<TextBlock x:Name="currentFolder" DockPanel.Dock="Top"Background="AliceBlue" FontSize="16" />

void treeView_SelectedItemChanged(object sender,RoutedPropertyChangedEventArgs<object> e){ currentFolder.Text = (treeView.SelectedItem as TreeViewItem).Header.ToString(); Refresh();}

public MainWindow(){ InitializeComponent(); Binding binding = new Binding(); binding.Source = treeView; binding.Path = new PropertyPath(“SelectedItem.Header”); currentFolder.SetBinding(TextBlock.TextProperty, binding);}

The Binding object• Binding has a• Source• Target

• SetBinding creates link with Target dependency property

• Alternative:

• How about XAML...?

BindingOperations.SetBinding(currentFolder, TextBlock.TextProperty, binding);

Binding in XAML• More interesting to databind from

XAML

• Some important properties you need to know

<TextBlock x:Name="currentFolder" DockPanel.Dock="Top"Text="{Binding ElementName=treeView, Path=SelectedItem.Header} "Background="AliceBlue" FontSize="16" />

Property name FunctionElementName Source to update from is a

UIElementMode Type of binding: TwoWay, OneWay,

OneTime, OneWayToSourcePath Path to data on source objectSource Reference to the data to use as

source

What data can we bind?• Data sources for databinding need

to be in-memory objects• Single objects• Collection of objects...

• How the objects get there, has nothing to do with databinding• Pure data-access

DependencyProperty: a sidestep

• New type of Property• Adds many semantics on top of simple .NET

properties• Value inheritance, DataBinding, Styling, Animations...

• Defined on objects derived from DependencyObject

• Built-in change notification• Perfect for our DataBinding

• Its value can rely on one or more sources (StoryBoard, Binding...)

• DPs allow the previous kinds of Bindings

Binding to CLR objects (ie. Not DPs)

• 2 “issues”:• Requires a resource in XAML (files

collection)• Doesn’t have built-in plumbing for

change notification• INotifyPropertyChanged• INotifyCollectionChanged

• ObservableCollection

<Label x:Name=“countLabel"Content="{Binding Source={StaticResource files}, Path=Count}"DockPanel.Dock="Bottom"/>

Types of Binding• OneWay: Target updates when

source changes• TwoWay: Change to either changes

the other• OneTime: Similar to OneWay,

changes aren’t reflected in Target (snapshot view)

• OneWayToSource:Source updates when Target changes

When do bindings update?• UpdateSourceTrigger• PropertyChanged: the source is updated

when the target property value changes• LostFocus: the source is only updated

after the target element loses focus (and the value changed)

• Explicit: source is only updated when making an explicit call to BindingExpression.UpdateSource

DataContext• Place for bindings to look for data source

if nothing more specific is specified• A Profile form will often bind to a Profile

object• DataContext should be specified on

common parent element• Flows down on its child elements

• Defined as DP on FrameworkElement• WPF traverses logical tree to find nonnull

DataContext

DemoBinding objectBinding in XAMLDataContextOneWay, TwoWay bindings

Collections YDatabinding• Binding an entire collection to a list

control is similar• Don’t use *.Items property (not a

DP), use ItemsSource• Source collection must implement

INotifyCollectionChanged• ObservableCollection

<ListBox x:Name=”lstFiles”ItemsSource=”{Binding Source={StaticResource files}}” …></ListBox>

Collections YDatabinding• Important properties• DisplayMemberPath• SelectedValuePath

• Customization via• Data Templates• ICollectionView

DataTemplates• Piece of XAML to be applied to

a .NET object when it is rendered• Swap in new visual tree for element

• Can be defined in resources or on control itself

• Many control have property of type DataTemplate• ItemsControl: ItemTemplate• Gets spit out for every item

DataTemplates

Data triggers• Can be used in combination with

DataTemplates• Change value of property when

property of object is certain value

DemoDatabound collectionsDataTemplatesDataTriggers

Value conversion• Morph source value in different target value• Plug in custom logic and still use databinding• Change TextBox border based on value of some

field• Formatting values

• Achieved using Converter property with optional parameter

• Class implements IValueConverter and has ValueConversion attribute• Convert and ConvertBack method

DemoValue conversion – Before and after...

Further customization of the View

• When binding, a view is inserted between source and target• Stores current item• Allows for sorting, grouping, filtering

and navigation• Type is ICollectionView

Let’s look at Sorting...• SortDescriptions property on

ICollectionView• Is a collection itselfview.SortDescriptions.Add(new SortDescription(“DateTime”,ListSortDirection.Descending));view.SortDescriptions.Add(new SortDescription(“Name”,ListSortDirection.Ascending));

And then there was Grouping...• Allows to group items in groups and

possibly subgroups

• Needs GroupStyle on ItemsControl to be set

ICollectionView view = CollectionViewSource.GetDefaultView(this.FindResource(“photos”));view.GroupDescriptions.Clear();view.GroupDescriptions.Add(new PropertyGroupDescription(“DateTime”));

DemoSortingGrouping Filtering

Validation• WPF Databinding has built-in validation• Confusing because of many options

• Several options to do validation• ExceptionValidationRule • Custom validation rules

• Binding has ValidationRules property• Validation follows a strict pattern

Validation: ExceptionValidationRule

• Built-in validation rule• Checks for errors thrown in update

process

<Binding Path="Salary" UpdateSourceTrigger="PropertyChanged"> <Binding.ValidationRules> <ExceptionValidationRule /> </Binding.ValidationRules> </Binding>

Validation: Custom rules• Derive from ValidationRule class and

implement Validate method• Called on every attempt to update

underlying data item• UIElement will be marked red (Can be

overriden through Validation.ErrorTemplate)

• Validation.HasError• Validation.Error event raised• Implement richer logic if needed

DemoValidation

Data providers• Generic databinding-friendly way to

expose common items• 2 types• ObjectDataProvider• XmlDataProvider

XmlDataProvider• Provides easy way to databind XML• Allows to bind to• Embedded XML• XML file (via Source property)• XmlDocument (via Document property)

• XPath expression is used to extract data

• Read-only access to XML• If more is needed, use other XML

options

ObjectDataProvider• Opens .NET object for databinding• ...?• Extra options• Object can be declared in XAML• Even with parameters• Bind to methods• Async options

ObjectDataProvider• Instantiate on demand

• Instantiate with parameters

• Bind to method

<Window.Resources> <ObjectDataProvider x:Key=“myData" ObjectType="{x:Type my:Staff}"/></Window.Resources>

<ObjectDataProvider x:Key="myData" ObjectType="{x:Type my:Staff}"> <ObjectDataProvider.ConstructorParameters> <sys:Int32>23</sys:Int32> </ObjectDataProvider.ConstructorParameters></ObjectDataProvider>

<ObjectDataProvider x:Key="myData" ObjectType="{x:Type my:Staff}"MethodName="GetAllStaffMembers"/>

DemoXmlDataProvider

Summary• Databinding reduces code written• Strongly customizable• Not always that easy when it comes

to syntax

Resources• WPF Unleashed • Programming WPF, 2nd edition• MSDN Library

Q&A

Did you understand everything...?

WPF Databinding Deep DiveGill CleerenMicrosoft Regional Director – MVP ASP.NETOrdina .NET Architectgill.cleeren@ordina.be

Thank you