Instantly Update Property in MVVM Light? - windows-phone-7

I have a property in my View Model
public const string WelcomeTitlePropertyName = "WelcomeTitle";
private string _welcomeTitle = string.Empty;
/// <summary>
/// Gets the WelcomeTitle property.
/// Changes to that property's value raise the PropertyChanged event.
/// </summary>
public string WelcomeTitle
{
get
{
return _welcomeTitle;
}
set
{
RaisePropertyChanging(WelcomeTitlePropertyName);
_welcomeTitle = value;
RaisePropertyChanged(WelcomeTitlePropertyName);
}
}
This is hooked up to a textbox and has 2 way binding.
Now I have a KeyDown event that I need to get the current length of the "WelcomeTitle" property
public ICommand AutoComplete
{
get
{
return new RelayCommand<KeyEventArgs>(e =>
{
var length = WelcomeTitle.Length;
});
}
}
Yep what I am finding is that WelcomeTitle property does not get updated till the user leaves the textbox. This does not work for me as I need to know the length(and later the current value in WelcomeTitle) and keydown.
How can I get around this? In codebehind this is no problem.

In WPF it would be easily achieved by setting UpdateSourceTrigger="PropertyChanged" in the binding; unfortunately, this is not possible with Windows Phone, so you need a workaround. A few options are described in this question.

Related

Xamarin Native, Binding actions to listview items

I would like to ask about bindings. What is the best approach to bind some actions in listview items in ios and android using xamarin in mvvm world. As I understand, we have few approaches.
1.
For every list item we have some Model, and to this model we have to add some Commands.
For example:
public class ItemModel
{
public string MyName { get; set; }
public ICommand RemoveCommand { get; set; }
}
Where in ViewModel we have SomeInitMethod
public class ViewModel
{
public ObservableCollection<ItemModel> Items {get;set;}
public async Task SomeInitMethod
{
Items = new ObservableCollection(await _myApiService.FetchItemsAsync());
foreach(var item in Items)
{
item.Command = new RelayCommand(RemoveItem);
}
}
public void RemoveItem(ItemModel item)
{
Items.Remove(item);
}
}
But I see a drawback in SomeInitMethod where we should set RemoveCommand. What if we should to set 2 or even more commands than we duplicate code in ListItemView(somehow we need to bind all these commands)?
Next approach is somehow handle events of remove/toggle buttons and others in Listview and then delegate this commands directly to ViewModel.
Example:
ContactsListView.ItemRemoveClicked += (ItemModel model) => ViewModel.RemoveItem
Advantages is: we no longer need to handle commands in ViewModel
Drawback is: we need every time to write custom ListView and support event handling in code-behind.
The last approach is to send ViewModel to ListItem to set Commands.
Example
somewhere we have method CreateListViewItem on the view, let's say on iOS.
private void InitTableView() {
TableView.RegisterNibForCellReuse(ItemViewCell.Nib, ItemViewCell.Key);
var source = new ObservableTableViewSource <ItemModel>
{
DataSource = ViewModel.Items,
BindCellDelegate = (cell, viewModel, index) =>
{
if (cell is ItemModel memberCell)
{
memberCell.BindViewModel(viewModel);
memberCell.RemoveItem = (item) => ViewModel.RemoveItem;
}
}
};
TableView.Source = source;
}
Advantages: we no longer need to have Commands in Model, and we don't need to setup this Commands in ViewModel.
Possibly, drawback is that we somehow need to have ViewModel reference.
In WPF or UWP you have DataContext, you can binding directly to ViewModel.
Which approach you use, maybe I miss something, and it would be perfect if you provide some examples or thoughts.
Thanks.

What is the proper way to have a ListView show a LINQ query and update dynamically?

I'm new to Xamarin and C#, so apologies in advance for any mistakes I make.
In my app, I have a list of plants. When a plant is selected, I have a detail view of info about the plant. In the detail view, I have a button that adds or removes the plant from a shopping list.
To implement this, I have a class named MyPlant, with a field called InCart, and a method ToggleInCart that the button calls.
(note that I didn't paste in some code to simplify this question as much as possible)
public class MyPlant : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
string name;
bool inCart;
...
public bool InCart
{
set
{
if (inCart != value)
{
inCart = value;
OnPropertyChanged("InCart");
}
}
get { return inCart; }
}
public ICommand ToggleCartStatus
{
get
{
if (_toggleCartStatus == null)
{
_toggleCartStatus = new Command(() => InCart = !InCart);
}
return _toggleCartStatus;
}
I have another class called PlantList, which has a method PlantsInCart that uses LINQ to return an ObservableCollection of MyPlant where InCart is true.
public class PlantList : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public ObservableCollection PlantsInCart
{
private set { }
get
{
ObservableCollection list = new ObservableCollection(myPlants.Where(i => i.InCart));
return list;
}
}
In my XAML, I have a ListView bound to PlantsInCart.
Everything works as I want EXCEPT when I remove the selected plant, the list doesn't update to show the plant is missing even though the data underneath it is correctly updated. If I refresh the list by going to a different page and coming back, then the list shows the right plants.
I suspect this doesn't work because the change in the InCart field isn't bubbling up high enough to that the ListView hears that it is supposed to update.
Can anybody advise me on the proper way to implement this kind of feature? In other words, how should you implement a scenario where you have a list that should update when a property of an item in the list changes?

Validation for items in ObservableCollection bound to DataGrid when validation of one item of collection depends on other items

I am using MVVM and displaying some items on a DataGrid. My model is RecordingInfo and looks like:
public class RecordingInfo : IDataErrorInfo
{
public RecordingInfo(string fullDirectoryName, string recordingName, int recordingNumber)
{
FullDirectoryName = fullDirectoryName;
RecordingName = recordingName;
RecordingNumber = recordingNumber;
}
public string FullDirectoryName { get; internal set; }
public string RecordingName { get; set; }
public int RecordingNumber { get; internal set; }
public string Error
{
get { throw new NotImplementedException(); }
}
public string this[string propertyName]
{
get {
if (propertyName == "RecordingName")
{
if (this.RecordingName.Length < 2)
return "Recording Name must be at least two characters";
}
return null;
}
}
}
I end up with a collection of these RecordingInfo programmatically. The user is not allowed to do much with these but he/she can change the RecordingName subject to the name being 2 characters or more AND that the RecordingName must be unique. I.e. no changing it to match another RecordingName. I have taken care of the first requirement. It's the second one that is giving me grief.
For my ViewModel, I have
public class RecordingListViewModel : ViewModelBase//, IDataErrorInfo
{
private ObservableCollection<RecordingInfo> _recordings = null;
public RecordingListViewModel()
{
}
public ObservableCollection<RecordingInfo> Recordings
{
get
{
return _recordings;
}
}
// more stuff left off for brevity
In my view I bind the collection to a DataGrid and have:
<DataGrid ItemsSource="{Binding Path=Recordings}" AutoGenerateColumns="False" >
<DataGrid.Columns>
<DataGridTextColumn Header="Recording" IsReadOnly="False" EditingElementStyle="{StaticResource CellEditStyle}" ElementStyle="{StaticResource CellNonEditStyle}" Binding="{Binding RecordingName, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged, ValidatesOnDataErrors=True}" >
</DataGridTextColumn>
...
</DataGrid.Columns>
My way of checking for 2 or more characters works great. But this doesn't work for checking that the user is not trying to give a recording an existing name. Presumably, I need to somehow handle this at the ViewModel layer since the ViewModel knows about all Recordings. I tried playing with having my ViewModel derive from IDataErrorInfo but the property indexer never gets called, which makes sense as it's the Observable collection and therefore the individual RecordingInfos that are bound. I also thought about doing something with a "Lost Focus" event, but DataGridTextColumn doesn't seem to have that. I would think this is a somewhat common problem: validation must take into account relationships between the items of the collection.
By the way, I'm not wedded to the IDataErrorInfo and I am not opposed to other changes in architecture. Please let me know if I can provide more details. I have tried to provide a minimal amount of code. Clearly, this is part of a much bigger project. Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks,
Dave
I would do the following
1) Make RecordingInfo implement INotifyPropertyChanged
2) Use a BindingList<> instead of ObservableCollection<>
In your viewmodel, subscribe to the BindingList.ListChanged Event. This event will fire when items are added and removed, but also when the top level properties on RecordingInfo changes. In the case of a property being changed, the ListChangedEventArgs.PropertyDescriptor property will contain the name of the property, if you want to run validation for just that property (be careful though, this can be null when the item as added/removed). You'll need to use the ListChangedType property to determine the reason of the event (E.x.: Reset means everything changed, ItemAdded means the item was added, but the ItemChanged means a property changed as occurred on an existing item.
You can have the parent ViewModel (that contains and creates your RecordingInfos) pass a name validation Func in their constructors for them to call when validating their name changes.

How can I write to a form textbox from another object without having to return

I am working on a Windows Application form and I have a multi-line textbox that I would like to write output from another object. I saw there was a similar posting about getting text from one textbox to another form's textbox. However, I am working with the mainform and can't new up another one.
So how can I assign values to the mainform's .Text from another class?
You can create public properties on the form that get or set control properties e.g.
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
...
public string OperatorId
{
get { return OperatorIdField.Text.Trim().ToLower(); }
}
public string Password
{
get { return PasswordField.Text.Trim().ToLower(); }
}
...
}
(OperatorIdField and PasswordField are textboxes. In my example, the properties are read only i.e. they only have "get" methods. In your case you'd have to add "set" methods as well).
To expose the main form to other objects, you can create a static member that exposes the main form e.g.
static class Program
{
public static Form MainForm;
/// <summary>
/// The main entry point for the application.
/// </summary>
[STAThread]
static void Main()
{
Application.EnableVisualStyles();
Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
MainForm = new Form1();
Application.Run(MainForm);
}
}
When another object needs to get the password, the code would be something like:
string password = Program.MainForm.Password;
Second form should have some event, that you call once you need change text box value in main form. And main form should be subscribed to this event and change text in at some eventHandler.

VS2008 Windows Form Designer does not like my control

I have a control that is created like so:
public partial class MYControl : MyControlBase
{
public string InnerText {
get { return textBox1.Text; }
set { textBox1.Text = value; }
}
public MYControl()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
}
partial class MYControl
{
/// <summary>
/// Required designer variable.
/// </summary>
private System.ComponentModel.IContainer components = null;
/// <summary>
/// Clean up any resources being used.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="disposing">true if managed resources should be disposed; otherwise, false.</param>
protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
{
if (disposing && (components != null))
{
components.Dispose();
}
base.Dispose(disposing);
}
#region Component Designer generated code
/// <summary>
/// Required method for Designer support - do not modify
/// the contents of this method with the code editor.
/// </summary>
private void InitializeComponent()
{
this.textBox1 = new System.Windows.Forms.TextBox();
this.listBox1 = new System.Windows.Forms.ListBox();
this.label1 = new System.Windows.Forms.Label();
this.SuspendLayout();
//
// textBox1
//
this.textBox1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(28, 61);
this.textBox1.Name = "textBox1";
this.textBox1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(100, 20);
this.textBox1.TabIndex = 0;
//
// listBox1
//
this.listBox1.FormattingEnabled = true;
this.listBox1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(7, 106);
this.listBox1.Name = "listBox1";
this.listBox1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(120, 95);
this.listBox1.TabIndex = 1;
//
// label1
//
this.label1.AutoSize = true;
this.label1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(91, 42);
this.label1.Name = "label1";
this.label1.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(35, 13);
this.label1.TabIndex = 2;
this.label1.Text = "label1";
//
// MYControl
//
this.AutoScaleDimensions = new System.Drawing.SizeF(6F, 13F);
this.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Font;
this.Controls.Add(this.label1);
this.Controls.Add(this.listBox1);
this.Controls.Add(this.textBox1);
this.Name = "MYControl";
this.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(135, 214);
this.ResumeLayout(false);
this.PerformLayout();
}
#endregion
private System.Windows.Forms.Label label1;
}
MyControlBase contains the definition for the ListBox and TextBox. Now when I try to view this control in the Form Designer it gives me these errors:
The variable 'listBox1' is either
undeclared or was never assigned.
The variable 'textBox1' is either
undeclared or was never assigned.
This is obviously wrong as they are defined in MyControlBase with public access. Is there any way to massage Form Designer into allowing me to visually edit my control?
I think you'll have to use base.listBox1 and base.textBox1. They are defined in MyControlBase which is the base class, not the child class where you need to use the this keyword.
Dunno if this is your problem, but the designer has trouble when multiple types are defined in the same .cs file. If this is the case, try using a .cs file for each class.
Sometimes (always?) VS needs you to recompile your project before it can successfully display your usercontrol in the designer.
Also take into account that the VS designer actually loads up and instantiates your control to show it on the form. Your code is actually running in the background. However it will not have all the things it might expect to be there - like some global application variables or even other things on the same form. Your control has to be prepared for the "design mode". Otherwise if it generates an exception the designer will not show it. There was a property on every control (don't remember the name, but you should find it easily) that allowed you to determine if the control is in "design mode" or actually running.
The compiler is right (as it tends to be).
Neither textbox1 nor listbox1 are defined in the source code. They don't appear in either the derived class or the base class.
You should add the following to your base class:
protected System.Windows.Forms.TextBox textbox1;
protected System.Windows.Forms.ListBox listbox1;
You'll also need to do the changes outlined by Nazgulled if you decide to use private instead of protected for textbox1 and listbox1.

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