dynamic datatemplate with valueconverter

Question

I want to show data in a wpftoolkit datagrid where the data is a collection of

public class Thing
{
    public string Foo { get; set; }
    public string Bar { get; set; }
    public List<Candidate> Candidates { get; set; }
}

public class Candidate
{

    public string Name { get; set; }
    public CandidateType CandidateType { get; set; }
}

public enum CandidateType
{
    Type1,
    Type2,
    Type42
}

where the number of candidates in Candidates list is configurable at runtime.

Desired grid layout looks like this

Foo | Bar | Candidate 1 | Candidate 2 | ... | Candidate N

Thus it seems I cannot create a DataTemplate for the candidates in xaml as the binding expression will change.

I add necessary columns in AutoGeneratedColumns event like so:

private void DataGrid_AutoGeneratedColumns(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    ViewModel vm = DataContext as ViewModel;

    for (int i = 0; i < vm.LotsOfThings.First().Candidates.Count; i++)
    {
        string assName = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().Name;
        ParserContext ctx = new ParserContext();
        ctx.XamlTypeMapper = new XamlTypeMapper(new string[] { assName });
        ctx.XamlTypeMapper.AddMappingProcessingInstruction("src", "WpfToolkitDataGridTester", assName);
        ctx.XmlnsDictionary.Add("", "http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation");
        ctx.XmlnsDictionary.Add("x", "http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml");
        ctx.XmlnsDictionary.Add("src", "clr-namespace:WpfToolkitDataGridTester;assembly=" + assName);
        var template = XamlReader.Parse(@"<DataTemplate>
                                            <DataTemplate.Resources>
                                                <src:FooConverter x:Key='fooConverter' />
                                            </DataTemplate.Resources>
                                            <TextBlock  
                                                Foreground='{Binding Candidates[" + i + @"].CandidateType,Converter={StaticResource fooConverter}}'
                                                Text='{Binding Candidates[" + i + @"].Name}' />
                                        </DataTemplate>", ctx) as DataTemplate;
        dg.Columns.Add(new DataGridTemplateColumn
        {
            Header = "Candidate " + (i + 1),
            CellTemplate = template
        });
    }
}

This however fails with the following exception: The tag 'FooConverter' does not exist in XML namespace 'clr-namespace:WpfToolkitDataGridTester;assembly=WpfToolkitDataGridTester'. Line '3' Position '54'.

Changing the StaticResource to DynamicResource makes no change.

What am I missing?

FWIW: a hardcoded datatemplate

<DataTemplate x:Key="candidateTemplate">
  <DataTemplate.Resources>
    <src:FooConverter x:Key="fooConverter" />
  </DataTemplate.Resources>
  <TextBlock 
    Foreground="{Binding Candidates[0].CandidateType,Converter={StaticResource fooConverter}}"
    Text="{Binding Candidates[0].Name}" />
</DataTemplate>

and the template column defined like so

<wpftk:DataGridTemplateColumn CellTemplate="{StaticResource candidateTemplate}" />

'works' but obviously does not produce the desired result as Candidates[0] is hardcoded.

Answer 1

For whatever reason, it works as expected if I do like this...

    string assName = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().Name;
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
    sb.Append("<DataTemplate ");
    sb.Append("xmlns='http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation' ");
    sb.Append("xmlns:x='http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml' ");
    sb.Append("xmlns:src='clr-namespace:WpfToolkitDataGridTester;assembly=" + assName + "' >");
    sb.Append("<DataTemplate.Resources>");
    sb.Append("<src:FooConverter x:Key='fooConverter' />");
    sb.Append("</DataTemplate.Resources>");
    sb.Append("<TextBlock ");
    sb.Append("Foreground='{Binding Candidates[" + i + "].CandidateType,Converter={StaticResource fooConverter}}' ");
    sb.Append("Text='{Binding Candidates[" + i + @"].Name}' />");
    sb.Append("</DataTemplate>");
    var template = (DataTemplate)XamlReader.Parse(sb.ToString());

Answer 2

When the XAML files are compiled to BAML it references the assembly not the in memory source. Since the BAML is compiled into the same assembly the actual type isn't available yet.

I've found that a short term workaround is to comment out the style temporarily, build the project, then restore the style.

The more permanent solution however is to move the converter to another assembly.

Answer 3

Would it help to declare the FooConverter once at a higher level (maybe as a resource of the DataGrid) instead of in each DataTemplate?