Validation rules using value from another control

Question

I\'m trying to do something that I previously assumed would be quite easy: use the value from one control in the validation rule of another. My application has a variety of

Answer 1

For any who might face this problem, it is far easier to implement IDataErrorInfo to validate errors in general, and to accomplish validation against other controls in some logical grouping. I encapsulated the relevant properties (start, end, min and max) in a single class, bound the controls to those properties, and then used the IDataErrorInfo interface for validation. Relevant code is below...

XAML:

    <TextBox Name="textboxStart" Grid.Row="0" Text="{Binding Path=Start, ValidatesOnDataErrors=True}" Margin="5"/>
    <TextBox Name="textboxEnd" Grid.Row="1" Text="{Binding Path=End, ValidatesOnDataErrors=True}" Margin="5"/>
</Grid>

C#:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Data;
using System.Windows.Documents;
using System.Windows.Input;
using System.Windows.Media;
using System.Windows.Media.Imaging;
using System.Windows.Navigation;
using System.Windows.Shapes;
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
using System.ComponentModel;

namespace WpfApplication1 {
    /// <summary>
    /// Interaction logic for MainWindow.xaml
    /// </summary>
    public partial class MainWindow : Window {
        public MainWindow () {
            InitializeComponent();

            Parameter testParameter = new Parameter(0, 10);
            testGrid.DataContext = testParameter;
        }
    }

    public class Parameter: INotifyPropertyChanged, IDataErrorInfo {
        private decimal _start, _end, _min, _max;
        public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;

        public Parameter () { }

        public Parameter (decimal min, decimal max) {
            this.Min = min;
            this.Max = max;
        }

        public decimal Start {
            get { return _start; }
            set {
                _start = value;
                //RaisePropertyChanged for both Start and End, because one may need to be marked as invalid because of the other's current setting.
                //e.g. Start > End, in which case both properties are now invalid according to the established conditions, but only the most recently changed property will be validated
                RaisePropertyChanged();
                RaisePropertyChanged("End");
            }
        }

        public decimal End {
            get { return _end; }
            set {
                _end = value;
                //RaisePropertyChanged for both Start and End, because one may need to be marked as invalid because of the other's current setting.
                //e.g. Start > End, in which case both properties are now invalid according to the established conditions, but only the most recently changed property will be validated
                RaisePropertyChanged();
                RaisePropertyChanged("Start");
            }
        }

        public decimal Min {
            get { return _min; }
            set { _min = value; }
        }

        public decimal Max {
            get { return _max; }
            set { _max = value; }
        }

        private void RaisePropertyChanged ([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = "") {
            if (PropertyChanged != null) {
                PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
            }
        }

        public string Error {
            get { return string.Empty; }
        }

        public string this[string columnName] {
            get {
                string result = string.Empty;

                switch (columnName) {
                    case "Start":
                        if (Start < Min || Start > Max || Start > End) {
                            result = "Out of range. Enter a value in the range: " + Min + " - " + End + ".";
                        }
                        break;
                    case "End":
                        if (End < Min || End > Max || End < Start) {
                            result = "Out of range. Enter a value in the range: " + Start + " - " + Max + ".";
                        }
                        break;
                };

                return result;
            }
        }
    }
}