Binding to Children.Count

Question

I\'m using a binding of the form

{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self}, Path=Children.Count, Converter={StaticResource CountToDimensionConverter}, C         


        

Answer 1

public class GridEx : Grid, INotifyPropertyChanged
{
    public delegate void ChildrenUpdatedEventHandler(DependencyObject visualAdded, DependencyObject visualRemoved);

    public event ChildrenUpdatedEventHandler ChildrenUpdated;
    public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;

    public bool HasChildren => Children.Cast<UIElement>().Where(element => element != null).Count() > 0;
    public int ChildCount => Children.Cast<UIElement>().Where(element => element != null).Count();

    protected override void OnVisualChildrenChanged(DependencyObject visualAdded, DependencyObject visualRemoved)
    {
        base.OnVisualChildrenChanged(visualAdded, visualRemoved);

        ChildrenUpdated?.Invoke(visualAdded, visualRemoved);
        PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(nameof(HasChildren)));
        PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(nameof(ChildCount)));
    }
}

Use property ChildCount instead.

Answer 2

That's because UIElementCollection (the type of the Children property) doesn't raise notifications when a new item is added or removed, so the binding isn't refreshed

You could, however, create your own custom UniformGrid, and override the CreateUIElementCollection property to create an instance of a custom collection that inherits UIElementCollection and implements INotifyCollectionChanged.

Here's a basic implementation :

ObservableUIElementCollection

public class ObservableUIElementCollection : UIElementCollection, INotifyCollectionChanged, INotifyPropertyChanged
{
    public ObservableUIElementCollection(UIElement visualParent, FrameworkElement logicalParent)
        : base(visualParent, logicalParent)
    {
    }

    public override int Add(UIElement element)
    {
        int index = base.Add(element);
        var args = new NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs(NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Add, element, index);
        OnCollectionChanged(args);
        OnPropertyChanged("Count");
        OnPropertyChanged("Item[]");
        return index;
    }

    public override void Clear()
    {
        base.Clear();
        OnCollectionChanged(new NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs(NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Reset));
        OnPropertyChanged("Count");
        OnPropertyChanged("Item[]");
    }

    public override void Insert(int index, UIElement element)
    {
        base.Insert(index, element);
        var args = new NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs(NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Add, element, index);
        OnCollectionChanged(args);
        OnPropertyChanged("Count");
        OnPropertyChanged("Item[]");
    }

    public override void Remove(UIElement element)
    {
        int index = IndexOf(element);
        if (index >= 0)
        {
            RemoveAt(index);
            var args = new NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs(NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Remove, element, index);
            OnCollectionChanged(args);
            OnPropertyChanged("Count");
            OnPropertyChanged("Item[]");
        }
    }

    public override UIElement this[int index]
    {
        get
        {
            return base[index];
        }
        set
        {
            base[index] = value;
            var args = new NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs(NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Replace, value, index);
            OnCollectionChanged(args);
            OnPropertyChanged("Item[]");
        }
    }

    public event NotifyCollectionChangedEventHandler CollectionChanged;
    public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;

    protected virtual void OnCollectionChanged(NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        var handler = CollectionChanged;
        if (handler != null)
            handler(this, e);
    }

    protected virtual void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
    {
        var handler = PropertyChanged;
        if (handler != null)
            handler(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
    }
}

MyUniformGrid

public class MyUniformGrid : UniformGrid
{
    protected override UIElementCollection CreateUIElementCollection(FrameworkElement logicalParent)
    {
        return new ObservableUIElementCollection(this, logicalParent);
    }
}

XAML

<local:MyUniformGrid x:Name="MyUniformGrid"
     Rows="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self}, Path=Children.Count, Converter={StaticResource CountToDimensionConverter}, ConverterParameter=R}"
     Columns="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self}, Path=Children.Count, Converter={StaticResource CountToDimensionConverter}, ConverterParameter=C}">
    <Button Content="Hello, World!" />
    <Button Content="Hello, World!" />
    <Button Content="Hello, World!" />
    <Button Content="Hello, World!" />
    <Button Content="Hello, World!" />
    <Button Content="Hello, World!" />
</local:MyUniformGrid>