I am trying to figure out how to bind a WPF DataGrid\'s column header and main data to a data source using an MVVM pattern. The result I\'m looking for would look like this:
We do something similar in our app.
What i have done is derived my own column type (DataGridSearchableBooleanColumn), then i replace the DataGridColumnHeader template, i put two content presenters in there. the first i bind to the content (the same as the default template) the second i bind to the column. I use a data template for the column (i have a few of them for different search types (text, combo, boolean). then i add the extra properties to the column so i can bind to them. See if this code makes sense.
<!--Style for the datagrid column headers, contains a text box for searching-->
<Style
x:Key="columnHeaderStyle"
TargetType="dg:DataGridColumnHeader">
<Setter
Property="Foreground"
Value="#FF000000" />
<Setter
Property="HorizontalContentAlignment"
Value="Left" />
<Setter
Property="VerticalContentAlignment"
Value="Center" />
<Setter
Property="IsTabStop"
Value="False" />
<Setter
Property="Padding"
Value="1,2,1,2" />
<Setter
Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate
TargetType="dg:DataGridColumnHeader">
<Grid
x:Name="Root">
<dg:DataGridHeaderBorder
Background="{TemplateBinding Background}"
BorderBrush="{TemplateBinding BorderBrush}"
BorderThickness="{TemplateBinding BorderThickness}"
Padding="{TemplateBinding Padding}"
IsClickable="{TemplateBinding CanUserSort}"
IsHovered="{TemplateBinding IsMouseOver}"
IsPressed="{TemplateBinding IsPressed}"
SeparatorBrush="{TemplateBinding SeparatorBrush}"
SeparatorVisibility="{TemplateBinding SeparatorVisibility}"
SortDirection="{TemplateBinding SortDirection}">
<Grid
HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"
Margin="{TemplateBinding Padding}"
VerticalAlignment="{TemplateBinding VerticalContentAlignment}">
<Grid.Resources>
<DataTemplate
DataType="{x:Type local:DataGridSearchableBooleanColumn}">
<CheckBox
Margin="0,5,0,0"
IsThreeState="True"
IsChecked="{Binding Path=IsChecked}" />
</DataTemplate>
</Grid.Resources>
<Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<ColumnDefinition />
<ColumnDefinition
Width="Auto" />
</Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition
Height="19" />
<RowDefinition
Height="Auto" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<ContentPresenter
Content="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}, Mode=OneWay, Path=Content}" />
<Path
x:Name="SortIcon"
Fill="#FF444444"
Stretch="Uniform"
HorizontalAlignment="Left"
Margin="4,0,0,0"
VerticalAlignment="Center"
Width="8"
Opacity="0"
RenderTransformOrigin=".5,.5"
Grid.Column="1"
Data="F1 M -5.215,6.099L 5.215,6.099L 0,0L -5.215,6.099 Z ">
<Path.RenderTransform>
<ScaleTransform
ScaleX=".9"
ScaleY=".9" />
</Path.RenderTransform>
</Path>
<ContentPresenter
x:Name="columnHeaderContentPresenter"
Content="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}, Path=Column}"
Grid.Row="1"
Grid.ColumnSpan="2"
Margin="0,0,0,0" />
</Grid>
</dg:DataGridHeaderBorder>
<Thumb
x:Name="PART_LeftHeaderGripper"
HorizontalAlignment="Left">
<Thumb.Style>
<Style
TargetType="{x:Type Thumb}">
<Setter
Property="Width"
Value="8" />
<Setter
Property="Background"
Value="Transparent" />
<Setter
Property="Cursor"
Value="SizeWE" />
<Setter
Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate
TargetType="{x:Type Thumb}">
<Border
Background="{TemplateBinding Background}"
Padding="{TemplateBinding Padding}" />
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
</Thumb.Style>
</Thumb>
<Thumb
x:Name="PART_RightHeaderGripper"
HorizontalAlignment="Right">
<Thumb.Style>
<Style
TargetType="{x:Type Thumb}">
<Setter
Property="Width"
Value="8" />
<Setter
Property="Background"
Value="Transparent" />
<Setter
Property="Cursor"
Value="SizeWE" />
<Setter
Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate
TargetType="{x:Type Thumb}">
<Border
Background="{TemplateBinding Background}"
Padding="{TemplateBinding Padding}" />
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
</Thumb.Style>
</Thumb>
</Grid>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
Here's what I ended up doing to use this with the MVVM pattern:
I have two sets of data for binding on my view model: one for the actual grid data and one for the column headers. Currently these are exposed as two properties:
// INotifyPropertyChanged support not shown for brevity
public DataTable GridData { get; set; }
public BindingList<ImportColumnInfo> ColumnData { get; set; }
The trick to working with two differing sets of data is in the grid. I have subclassed the DataGrid and given the grid an additional data source called ColumnSource, as a dependency property. This is what is bound to the ColumnData on my view model. I then set the header of each auto-generated column to the appropriately indexed data in the ColumnSource data source. The code is as follows:
public class ImporterDataGrid : DataGrid
{
protected override void OnAutoGeneratingColumn(DataGridAutoGeneratingColumnEventArgs e)
{
base.OnAutoGeneratingColumn(e);
int columnIndex = this.Columns.Count;
var column = new ImporterDataGridColumn();
column.Header = ColumnSource[columnIndex];
column.Binding = new Binding(e.PropertyName) { Mode = BindingMode.OneWay };
e.Column = column;
}
public IList ColumnSource
{
get { return (IList)GetValue(ColumnSourceProperty); }
set { SetValue(ColumnSourceProperty, value); }
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty ColumnSourceProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("ColumnSource", typeof(IList), typeof(ImporterDataGrid), new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(null));
}
I can now perform normal data binding in the templated header of my columns, which will all bind against the data in the ColumnData property of my view model.
UPDATE: I was asked to show the XAML for my grid. It's really basic, but here it is:
<Controls:ImporterDataGrid
AutoGenerateColumns="True" x:Name="previewDataGrid"
VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Visible"
HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Visible"
IsReadOnly="True"
SelectionMode="Extended"
HeadersVisibility="Column"
ItemsSource="{Binding PreviewData}"
ColumnSource="{Binding PreviewColumnData}"
Style="{StaticResource ImporterDataGridStyle}"
Background="White" CanUserReorderColumns="False" CanUserResizeRows="False"
CanUserSortColumns="False" AlternatingRowBackground="#FFFAFAFA" AllowDrop="True" />
And here is the ImporterColumnHeaderStyle:
<Style x:Key="ImporterDataGridColumnHeaderStyle" TargetType="{x:Type toolkit:DataGridColumnHeader}">
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type toolkit:DataGridColumnHeader}">
<Grid>
<toolkit:DataGridHeaderBorder Background="{TemplateBinding Background}" BorderBrush="{TemplateBinding BorderBrush}" BorderThickness="{TemplateBinding BorderThickness}" Padding="{TemplateBinding Padding}" IsClickable="{TemplateBinding CanUserSort}" IsHovered="False" IsPressed="False" SortDirection="{TemplateBinding SortDirection}">
<Grid>
<CheckBox Height="16" Margin="6,6,16,0" Name="importCheckBox" IsChecked="{Binding Path=Import}" VerticalAlignment="Top">Import Column</CheckBox>
<StackPanel IsEnabled="{Binding Path=Import}">
<ComboBox Height="24" Margin="6,29,6,0" Name="columnTypeComboBox" VerticalAlignment="Top" SelectedValue="{Binding ColumnType}" ItemsSource="{Binding Source={local:EnumList {x:Type Models:ImportColumnType}}}">
</ComboBox>
<TextBox Height="23" Margin="6,6,6,33" Name="customHeadingTextBox" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" Text="{Binding Path=CustomColumnName}" IsEnabled="{Binding ColumnType, Converter={StaticResource ColumnTypeToBooleanConverter}}" />
</StackPanel>
<TextBlock Height="20" Margin="6,0,6,7" Name="originalHeadingTextBlock" Text="{Binding Path=OriginalColumnName}" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" Foreground="Gray" />
</Grid>
</toolkit:DataGridHeaderBorder>
<Thumb x:Name="PART_LeftHeaderGripper" HorizontalAlignment="Left">
<Thumb.Style>
<Style TargetType="{x:Type Thumb}">
<Setter Property="Width" Value="8"/>
<Setter Property="Background" Value="Transparent"/>
<Setter Property="Cursor" Value="SizeWE"/>
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type Thumb}">
<Border Background="{TemplateBinding Background}" Padding="{TemplateBinding Padding}"/>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
</Thumb.Style>
</Thumb>
<Thumb x:Name="PART_RightHeaderGripper" HorizontalAlignment="Right">
<Thumb.Style>
<Style TargetType="{x:Type Thumb}">
<Setter Property="Width" Value="8"/>
<Setter Property="Background" Value="Transparent"/>
<Setter Property="Cursor" Value="SizeWE"/>
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type Thumb}">
<Border Background="{TemplateBinding Background}" Padding="{TemplateBinding Padding}"/>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
</Thumb.Style>
</Thumb>
</Grid>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
I am definitely a WPF / MVVM / databinding noob, but have been working hard on this stuff lately. I don't know what you have wired up so far, but first you'll want to set the DataContext for your View. Since you're using MVVM, I assume you have a ViewModel, so that should be the DataContext for your View.
i.e. if you have your View create / own your ViewModel, it could look something like this:
MyViewModel vm = new MyViewModel();
this.DataContext = vm;
You can easily databind your CheckBox, ComboBox, and TextBox to properties in your ViewModel. I have found the easiest way is to make your ViewModel inherit from a base viewmodel class, like the one that Josh Smith wrote. This will give you a method to call internally when you want the ViewModel to notify the GUI of any changes in values.
Assuming you have properties like ImportColumn, LastName, and LastNameText (all C# properties, not fields that call OnPropertyChanged accordingly), then your XAML would look something like this:
<CheckBox IsChecked="{Binding ImportColumn}" />
<ComboBox SelectedItem="{Binding LastName}" />
<TextBox Text="{Binding LastName Text, Mode=TwoWay}" />
I hope this helps you out. If not, please comment and I'll try to do as best as I can to try other things out.