How to build dynamic data entry forms in a WPF application?

Question

I\'m planning a WPF application which will

• be able to create dynamic data entry forms (meaning the form gets the fields to display, their order, e

Answer 1

You will have to write data templates for your various field data types so that WPF will chose how to display your data depending on its type. something of this format:

NOTE: This is not WPF just pseudo code

<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type DateTime}">
  <DatePicker Value="{Binding}"/>
</DataTemplate>  
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type String}">
  <TextBox Text="{Binding}"/>
</DataTemplate>

It doesn't have to be a primitive type. It can be an Email, DateApproved or even a Url class type. e.g.

class Customer  
{
   public Email Email{get;set;}
   public DateTime DateApproved{get;set;}
   public URI Url{get;set;}
}

public class Email 
{
   public string Type{get;set;}
   public string Value{get;set;} 
} 

..etc...

Update

Check out this WPF Dynamic UI example on MSDN: Dynamic Data Entry with WPF and LINQ

Answer 2

You need to setup a DataTemplate for each field type eg Date, String, Bool. This will determine how each field will appear.

You could then use the columns for a database query to generate a list of objects and place them into an ItemsControl.

ObservableCollection<ColumnDef> columns = new ObservableCollection<ColumnDef>();

// Add columns from DB
columns.Add(new StringColumnDef{Object=..., Field=..., Label=..., Value=...});
columns.Add(new DateColumnDef{Object=..., Field=..., Label=..., Value=...});

items.ItemsSource = columns; // items is an ItemsControl

Each item in the item control will display based on the DataTemplate for that type.

Inside the ColumnDef you could use Reflection to update the data object with changes from the UI controls. You can then apply the changes to the databae when the user saves.