Windows Phone 7 MVVM databinding form - windows-phone-7

Question

I'm new to Windows Phone development, and currently have a simple form. I'm using the MVVM pattern and MvvmLight to run a command. The "Applicant" entity is always empty, and it looks like the 2 way databinding isn't working. Here is my code, I hope someone can point me in the right direction.
View
<Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="Transparent" DataContext="{Binding Applicant}">
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
<RowDefinition Height="*"/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<!--TitlePanel contains the name of the application and page title-->
<StackPanel x:Name="TitlePanel" Grid.Row="0" Margin="12,17,0,28">
<TextBlock x:Name="ApplicationTitle" Text="MY APPLICATION" Style="{StaticResource PhoneTextNormalStyle}"/>
<TextBlock x:Name="PageTitle" Text="create account" Margin="9,-7,0,0" Style="{StaticResource PhoneTextTitle1Style}"/>
</StackPanel>
<!--ContentPanel - place additional content here-->
<Grid x:Name="ContentPanel" Grid.Row="1" Margin="12,0,12,0">
<StackPanel>
<StackPanel>
<TextBlock FontSize="15" TextWrapping="Wrap" Margin="0,0,0,10" Text="Please register to create your applicant account. No information will be passed to third parties for any reason."></TextBlock>
</StackPanel>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBlock VerticalAlignment="Center" Text="Forename" Width="100"></TextBlock>
<TextBox Width="350" BorderBrush="Red" DataContext="{Binding Forename, Mode=TwoWay}"></TextBox>
</StackPanel>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBlock VerticalAlignment="Center" Text="Surname" Width="100"></TextBlock>
<TextBox Width="350" x:Name="Surname" BorderBrush="Red" DataContext="{Binding Surname, Mode=TwoWay}"></TextBox>
</StackPanel>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBlock VerticalAlignment="Center" Text="Email" Width="100"></TextBlock>
<TextBox Width="350" x:Name="EmailAddress" BorderBrush="Red" DataContext="{Binding EmailAddress, Mode=TwoWay}"></TextBox>
</StackPanel>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBlock VerticalAlignment="Center" Text="Password" Width="100"></TextBlock>
<PasswordBox Width="350" x:Name="PassPhrase" BorderBrush="Red" DataContext="{Binding PassPhrase, Mode=TwoWay}"></PasswordBox>
</StackPanel>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBlock VerticalAlignment="Center" Text="City" Width="100"></TextBlock>
<TextBox Width="350" x:Name="City" DataContext="{Binding City, Mode=TwoWay}"></TextBox>
</StackPanel>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBlock VerticalAlignment="Center" Text="State" Width="100"></TextBlock>
<TextBox Width="350" x:Name="County" DataContext="{Binding County, Mode=TwoWay}"></TextBox>
</StackPanel>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBlock VerticalAlignment="Center" Text="Country" Width="100"></TextBlock>
<TextBox Width="350" x:Name="Country" DataContext="{Binding Country, Mode=TwoWay}"></TextBox>
</StackPanel>
<StackPanel>
<Button Name="btnContact"
Content="Register"
DataContext="{Binding ElementName=this, Path=DataContext}"
Command="{Binding SaveApplicantCommand}"
Width="300"/>
</StackPanel>
</StackPanel>
</Grid>
</Grid>
View code behind
protected override void OnNavigatedTo(System.Windows.Navigation.NavigationEventArgs e)
{
base.OnNavigatedTo(e);
ApplicantViewModel vm = new ApplicantViewModel();
DataContext = vm;
}
View Model (the view model inherits from ViewModelBase which implements INotifyPropertyChanged)
public class ApplicantViewModel : ViewModelBase
{
public ApplicantViewModel()
{
SaveApplicantCommand = new RelayCommand(SaveApplicant);
Applicant = new Applicant();
}
public ICommand SaveApplicantCommand {get; set;}
void SaveApplicant()
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(Applicant.Forename))
{
MessageBox.Show("Please enter a forename", "Oops...", MessageBoxButton.OK);
return;
}
db.AddObject("Applicants", Applicant);
db.BeginSaveChanges(OnChangesSaved, db);
}
void OnChangesSaved(IAsyncResult result)
{
}
private Applicant _applicant;
public Applicant Applicant
{
get
{
return _applicant;
}
set
{
if (_applicant != value)
{
_applicant = value;
RaisePropertyChanged("Applicant");
}
}
}
}
Whatever is entered into the Forename text box, I always get the error message because Forename is null.
***** UPDATE *********
Here is the Forename property in the model
[System.CodeDom.Compiler.GeneratedCodeAttribute("System.Data.Services.Design", "1.0.0")]
public string Forename
{
get
{
return this._Forename;
}
set
{
this.OnForenameChanging(value);
this._Forename = value;
this.OnForenameChanged();
this.OnPropertyChanged("Forename");
}
}

Answer 1

An ApplicantViewModel does not have a Forename property. Only Applicant has. So do the following:
<TextBox Width="350" BorderBrush="Red"
DataContext="{Binding Applicant.Forename, Mode=TwoWay}"/>
do the same with the other text boxes.