Disable save button when validation fails

Question

As you can likely see from the title, I am about to ask something which has been asked many times before. But still, after reading all these other questions, I cannot find a

Answer 1

I've implemented the map approach shown in my comment above, in C# this is called a Dictionary in which I am using anonymous methods to do the validation:

partial class Player : IDataErrorInfo
{
    private delegate string Validation(string value);
    private Dictionary<string, Validation> columnValidations;
    public List<string> Errors;

    public Player()
    {
        columnValidations = new Dictionary<string, Validation>();
        columnValidations["Firstname"] = delegate (string value) {
            return String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(Firstname) ? "Geef een voornaam in" : null;
        }; // Add the others...

        errors = new List<string>();
    }

    public bool CanSave { get { return Errors.Count == 0; } }

    public string this[string columnName]
    {
        get { return this.GetProperty(columnName); } 

        set
        { 
            var error = columnValidations[columnName](value);

            if (String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(error))
                errors.Add(error);
            else
                this.SetProperty(columnName, value);
        }
    }
}

Answer 2

This approach works with Data Annotations. You can also bind the "IsValid" property to a Save button to enable/disable.

public abstract class ObservableBase : INotifyPropertyChanged, IDataErrorInfo
{
    #region Members
    private readonly Dictionary<string, string> errors = new Dictionary<string, string>();
    #endregion

    #region Events

    /// <summary>
    /// Property Changed Event
    /// </summary>
    public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;

    #endregion

    #region Protected Methods

    /// <summary>
    /// Get the string name for the property
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="expression"></param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    protected string GetPropertyName<T>(Expression<Func<T>> expression)
    {
        var memberExpression = (MemberExpression) expression.Body;
        return memberExpression.Member.Name;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Notify Property Changed (Shorted method name)
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="expression"></param>
    protected virtual void Notify<T>(Expression<Func<T>> expression)
    {
        string propertyName = this.GetPropertyName(expression);
        PropertyChangedEventHandler handler = this.PropertyChanged;
        handler?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Called when [property changed].
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="expression">The expression.</param>
    protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged<T>(Expression<Func<T>> expression)
    {
        string propertyName = this.GetPropertyName(expression);
        PropertyChangedEventHandler handler = this.PropertyChanged;

        handler?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
    }

    #endregion

    #region Properties

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets an error message indicating what is wrong with this object.
    /// </summary>
    public string Error => null;

    /// <summary>
    /// Returns true if ... is valid.
    /// </summary>
    /// <value>
    ///   <c>true</c> if this instance is valid; otherwise, <c>false</c>.
    /// </value>
    public bool IsValid => this.errors.Count == 0;

    #endregion

    #region Indexer

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets the <see cref="System.String"/> with the specified column name.
    /// </summary>
    /// <value>
    /// The <see cref="System.String"/>.
    /// </value>
    /// <param name="columnName">Name of the column.</param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public string this[string columnName]
    {
        get
        {
            var validationResults = new List<ValidationResult>();
            string error = null;

            if (Validator.TryValidateProperty(GetType().GetProperty(columnName).GetValue(this), new ValidationContext(this) { MemberName = columnName }, validationResults))
            {
                this.errors.Remove(columnName);
            }
            else
            {
                error = validationResults.First().ErrorMessage;

                if (this.errors.ContainsKey(columnName))
                {
                    this.errors[columnName] = error;
                }
                else
                {
                    this.errors.Add(columnName, error);
                }
            }

            this.OnPropertyChanged(() => this.IsValid);
            return error;
        }
    }

    #endregion  
}

Answer 3

This article http://www.asp.net/mvc/tutorials/older-versions/models-%28data%29/validating-with-the-idataerrorinfo-interface-cs moves the individual validation into the properties:

public partial class Player : IDataErrorInfo
{
    Dictionary<string, string> _errorInfo;

    public Player()
    {
        _errorInfo = new Dictionary<string, string>();
    }

    public bool CanSave { get { return _errorInfo.Count == 0; }

    public string this[string columnName]
    {
        get 
        { 
            return _errorInfo.ContainsKey(columnName) ? _errorInfo[columnName] : null;
        }
    }

    public string FirstName
    {
        get { return _firstName;}
        set
        {
            if (String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(value))
                _errorInfo.AddOrUpdate("FirstName", "Geef een voornaam in");
            else
            {
                _errorInfo.Remove("FirstName");
                _firstName = value;
            }
        }
    }
}

(you would have to handle the Dictionary AddOrUpdate extension method). This is similar to your error count idea.