GridExtra Child Element Z-index

Question

I have used grid extra to design individual responsive components in my WPF application. I have a View like following:

<UserControl x:Class="..."
         xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
         xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
         xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" 
         xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008" 
         xmlns:local="clr-namespace:..."
         mc:Ignorable="d" 
         xmlns:ge="clr-namespace:SourceChord.GridExtra;assembly=GridExtra.Wpf">
<UserControl.Resources>
    <ResourceDictionary>
        <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
            <ResourceDictionary Source="...">
            </ResourceDictionary>
            <ResourceDictionary Source="...">
            </ResourceDictionary>
        </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
    </ResourceDictionary>
</UserControl.Resources>
<UserControl.Width>
    <StaticResource ResourceKey="ApplicationWidth" />
</UserControl.Width>
<Grid Style="{StaticResource SelectContainer}"
    ge:GridEx.RowDefinition="1*, 3*"
      ge:GridEx.TemplateArea="Message/ Companies/">
    <Grid ge:GridEx.AreaName="Message"
          ge:GridEx.RowDefinition="*"
          ge:GridEx.ColumnDefinition="*,*"
          ge:GridEx.TemplateArea="L1 L2/"
          >
        <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=MessageL1Text}" Style="{StaticResource MessageTextStyle}" ge:GridEx.AreaName="L1"/>
        <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=MessageL2Text}" Style="{StaticResource MessageTextUrduStyle}" ge:GridEx.AreaName="L2"/>
    </Grid>
    <Grid ge:GridEx.AreaName="Companies"
            ge:GridEx.RowDefinition="*"
            ge:GridEx.ColumnDefinition="1*,1.5*,1.5*,1.5*,1.5*,1.5*,1.5*,1*"
            ge:GridEx.TemplateArea="MarginLeft Company1 Company2 Company3 Company4 Company5 More MarginRight/">
        <Grid ge:GridEx.AreaName="MarginLeft"></Grid>
        <Grid ge:GridEx.AreaName="MarginRight"></Grid>
        <Grid ge:GridEx.AreaName="Company1" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButtonOneStyle}">
            <Grid.Resources>
                <ImageBrush x:Key="AddButtonImageBrush" ImageSource="{Binding Path=CompanyOne.ButtonImagePath}" Stretch="Uniform"/>
            </Grid.Resources>
            <Button Command="{Binding Path=CompanyOneClick}" Height="Auto" Width="Auto" Background="{StaticResource AddButtonImageBrush}" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButton}" Visibility="{Binding Path=CompanyOne.IsVisible}" IsEnabled="{Binding Path=CompanyOne.IsActive}">

            </Button>
        </Grid>

        <Grid ge:GridEx.AreaName="Company2" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButtonTwoStyle}">
            <Grid.Resources>
                <ImageBrush x:Key="AddButtonImageBrush" ImageSource="{Binding Path=CompanyTwo.ButtonImagePath}" Stretch="Uniform"/>
            </Grid.Resources>
            <Button Command="{Binding Path=CompanyTwoClick}" Height="Auto" Width="Auto" Background="{StaticResource AddButtonImageBrush}" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButton}" Visibility="{Binding Path=CompanyTwo.IsVisible}" IsEnabled="{Binding Path=CompanyTwo.IsActive}">

            </Button>
        </Grid>
        <Grid ge:GridEx.AreaName="Company3" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButtonThreeStyle}">
            <Grid.Resources>
                <ImageBrush x:Key="AddButtonImageBrush" ImageSource="{Binding Path=CompanyThree.ButtonImagePath}" Stretch="Uniform"/>
            </Grid.Resources>
            <Button Command="{Binding Path=CompanyThreeClick}" Height="Auto" Width="Auto" Background="{StaticResource AddButtonImageBrush}" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButton}" Visibility="{Binding Path=CompanyThree.IsVisible}" IsEnabled="{Binding Path=CompanyThree.IsActive}">

            </Button>
        </Grid>

        <Grid ge:GridEx.AreaName="Company4" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButtonFourStyle}">
            <Grid.Resources>
                <ImageBrush x:Key="AddButtonImageBrush" ImageSource="{Binding Path=CompanyFour.ButtonImagePath}" Stretch="Uniform"/>
            </Grid.Resources>
            <Button Command="{Binding Path=CompanyFourClick}" Height="Auto" Width="Auto" Background="{StaticResource AddButtonImageBrush}" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButton}" Visibility="{Binding Path=CompanyFour.IsVisible}" IsEnabled="{Binding Path=CompanyFour.IsActive}">

            </Button>
        </Grid>

        <Grid ge:GridEx.AreaName="Company5" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButtonFiveStyle}">
            <Grid.Resources>
                <ImageBrush x:Key="AddButtonImageBrush" ImageSource="{Binding Path=CompanyFive.ButtonImagePath}" Stretch="Uniform"/>
            </Grid.Resources>
            <Button Command="{Binding Path=CompanyFiveClick}" Height="Auto" Width="Auto" Background="{StaticResource AddButtonImageBrush}" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButton}" Visibility="{Binding Path=CompanyFive.IsVisible}" IsEnabled="{Binding Path=CompanyFive.IsActive}">

            </Button>
        </Grid>

        <Grid ge:GridEx.AreaName="More" Style="{StaticResource MoreButtonStyle}">
            <Grid.Resources>
                <ImageBrush x:Key="AddButtonImageBrush" ImageSource="{Binding Path=More.ButtonImagePath}" Stretch="Uniform"/>
            </Grid.Resources>
            <Button Command="{Binding Path=MoreClick}" Height="Auto" Width="Auto" Background="{StaticResource AddButtonImageBrush}" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButton}" Visibility="{Binding Path=More.IsVisible}" IsEnabled="{Binding Path=More.IsActive}">

            </Button>
        </Grid>
    </Grid>
</Grid>

Next what I require was to bring a disable panel to flood over this user control disabling all the controls and graying out the UI like:

<UserControl x:Class="..."
         xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
         xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
         xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" 
         xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008" 
         xmlns:local="clr-namespace:..."
         mc:Ignorable="d" 
         xmlns:ge="clr-namespace:SourceChord.GridExtra;assembly=GridExtra.Wpf">

<UserControl.Resources>
    <ResourceDictionary>
        <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
            <ResourceDictionary Source="...">
            </ResourceDictionary>
        </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
    </ResourceDictionary>
</UserControl.Resources>
<Grid Style="{StaticResource DisableGridStyle}" Opacity="0.8" Background="Gray">

</Grid>

As you can see next I wrap both in a container Panel and will keep the disabled control hidden till I want it to appear on top of the actual panel using Grid and Grid.Zindex in somewhat manner like explained in this answer.

I have tried it and it works like a charm.

So now let's move on to my actual requirement which is to bring up one of the child component of the actual panel say the following on top while keeping the others behind the disabled panel;

<Grid ge:GridEx.AreaName="Company1" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButtonOneStyle}">
        <Grid.Resources>
            <ImageBrush x:Key="AddButtonImageBrush" ImageSource="{Binding Path=CompanyOne.ButtonImagePath}" Stretch="Uniform"/>
        </Grid.Resources>
        <Button Command="{Binding Path=CompanyOneClick}" Height="Auto" Width="Auto" Background="{StaticResource AddButtonImageBrush}" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButton}" Visibility="{Binding Path=CompanyOne.IsVisible}" IsEnabled="{Binding Path=CompanyOne.IsActive}">

        </Button>
    </Grid>

I tried to do it by tweaking the Z-index for the said component but it did not work for me. I do not know if this is being caused by grid extra but using grid extra is a constraint that I cannot let go. Thus, what I need is a solution to get the required results using grid extra. Thanks in advance.

Note details about GridExtra can be viewed here.

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 08 '19 at 09:08

Z Index is used to control the ordering of the elements that are at the same level in your components heirarchy. As per you state that:

As you can see next I wrap both in a container Panel and will keep the disabled control hidden till I want it to appear on top of the actual panel using Grid and Grid.Zindex

I believe in doing so, your required component is not at the same level as your disable panel and it would not be possible to bring it up using the Z-Index.

One alternate solution that I can think of is to have multiple disable panels with same properties and use one at the same sibling level at the component that you wish to send back or bring in front.

As an example consider the following code:

<Window x:Class="ZindexForVaryingChildren.MainWindow"
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
    xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
    xmlns:local="clr-namespace:ZindexForVaryingChildren"
    xmlns:ge="clr-namespace:SourceChord.GridExtra;assembly=GridExtra.Wpf"
    mc:Ignorable="d"
    Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
<Grid ge:GridEx.RowDefinition="*,*"
      ge:GridEx.TemplateArea="R1/ R2/" Opacity="0.8" Background="Red">

    <TextBlock Opacity="0.8" Background="Red" Grid.ZIndex="2" ge:GridEx.Area="0,0,2,2" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"/>
    <Grid  ge:GridEx.AreaName="R1" Grid.ZIndex="1">
        <TextBlock TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="Hello" FontSize="40"/>
    </Grid>

    <Grid  ge:GridEx.AreaName="R2" Grid.ZIndex="3">
        <TextBlock TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="Hello" FontSize="40"/>
    </Grid>
</Grid>

Here you can see even using the GridExtra I have tried to illustrate how you can bring the R2 to front when pushing R1 to back. Also using the TextBlock as the disabler panel while you can use the component you wish.

The above will yield output as follows:

Also note this is one of the suggested solution you can totally work out a strategy of your own but have to keep in mind that Z-Index only works for siblings.

I followed much of your suggested approach as I have in my answer. — Asif, Jul 08 '19 at 09:40

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 08 '19 at 09:40

I ended up using my disable component as a sibling to the hierarchy as:

<UserControl x:Class="..."
         xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
         xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
         xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" 
         xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008" 
         xmlns:local="clr-namespace:..."
         mc:Ignorable="d" 
         xmlns:ge="clr-namespace:SourceChord.GridExtra;assembly=GridExtra.Wpf">
<UserControl.Resources>
    <ResourceDictionary>
        <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
            <ResourceDictionary Source="...">
            </ResourceDictionary>
            <ResourceDictionary Source="...">
            </ResourceDictionary>
        </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
    </ResourceDictionary>
</UserControl.Resources>
<UserControl.Width>
    <StaticResource ResourceKey="ApplicationWidth" />
</UserControl.Width>
<Grid Style="{StaticResource NetworkSelectContainer}"
    ge:GridEx.RowDefinition="1*, 3*"
      ge:GridEx.TemplateArea="Message/ Companies/">        
    <Grid ge:GridEx.AreaName="Message"
          ge:GridEx.RowDefinition="*"
          ge:GridEx.ColumnDefinition="*,*"
          ge:GridEx.TemplateArea="L1 L2/"
          >
        <local:DisablePanel Panel.ZIndex="3" ge:GridEx.Area="0,0,2,2" x:Name="DisableMessage"></local:DisablePanel>
        <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=MessageText}" Style="{StaticResource MessageTextStyle}" ge:GridEx.AreaName="L1"/>
        <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=MessageUrduText}" Style="{StaticResource MessageTextStyle}" ge:GridEx.AreaName="L2"/>
    </Grid>
    <Grid ge:GridEx.AreaName="Companies"
            ge:GridEx.RowDefinition="*"
            ge:GridEx.ColumnDefinition="1*,1.5*,1.5*,1.5*,1.5*,1.5*,1.5*,1*"
            ge:GridEx.TemplateArea="MarginLeft Company1 Company2 Company3 Company4 Company5 More MarginRight/">
        <local:DisablePanel ge:GridEx.Area="0,0,1,8" Panel.ZIndex="3" x:Name="DisableCompany"></local:DisablePanel>

        <Grid ge:GridEx.AreaName="MarginLeft"></Grid>
        <Grid ge:GridEx.AreaName="MarginRight"></Grid>
        <Grid ge:GridEx.AreaName="Company1" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButtonOneStyle}">
            <Grid.Resources>
                <ImageBrush x:Key="AddButtonImageBrush" ImageSource="{Binding Path=CompanyOne.ButtonImagePath}" Stretch="Uniform"/>
            </Grid.Resources>
            <Button Command="{Binding Path=CompanyOneClick}" Height="Auto" Width="Auto" Background="{StaticResource AddButtonImageBrush}" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButton}" Visibility="{Binding Path=CompanyOne.IsVisible}" IsEnabled="{Binding Path=CompanyOne.IsActive}">

            </Button>
        </Grid>

        <Grid ge:GridEx.AreaName="Company2" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButtonTwoStyle}">
            <Grid.Resources>
                <ImageBrush x:Key="AddButtonImageBrush" ImageSource="{Binding Path=CompanyTwo.ButtonImagePath}" Stretch="Uniform"/>
            </Grid.Resources>
            <Button Command="{Binding Path=CompanyTwoClick}" Height="Auto" Width="Auto" Background="{StaticResource AddButtonImageBrush}" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButton}" Visibility="{Binding Path=CompanyTwo.IsVisible}" IsEnabled="{Binding Path=CompanyTwo.IsActive}">

            </Button>
        </Grid>
        <Grid ge:GridEx.AreaName="Company3" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButtonThreeStyle}">
            <Grid.Resources>
                <ImageBrush x:Key="AddButtonImageBrush" ImageSource="{Binding Path=CompanyThree.ButtonImagePath}" Stretch="Uniform"/>
            </Grid.Resources>
            <Button Command="{Binding Path=CompanyThreeClick}" Height="Auto" Width="Auto" Background="{StaticResource AddButtonImageBrush}" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButton}" Visibility="{Binding Path=CompanyThree.IsVisible}" IsEnabled="{Binding Path=CompanyThree.IsActive}">

            </Button>
        </Grid>

        <Grid ge:GridEx.AreaName="Company4" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButtonFourStyle}">
            <Grid.Resources>
                <ImageBrush x:Key="AddButtonImageBrush" ImageSource="{Binding Path=CompanyFour.ButtonImagePath}" Stretch="Uniform"/>
            </Grid.Resources>
            <Button Command="{Binding Path=CompanyFourClick}" Height="Auto" Width="Auto" Background="{StaticResource AddButtonImageBrush}" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButton}" Visibility="{Binding Path=CompanyFour.IsVisible}" IsEnabled="{Binding Path=CompanyFour.IsActive}">

            </Button>
        </Grid>

        <Grid ge:GridEx.AreaName="Company5" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButtonFiveStyle}">
            <Grid.Resources>
                <ImageBrush x:Key="AddButtonImageBrush" ImageSource="{Binding Path=CompanyFive.ButtonImagePath}" Stretch="Uniform"/>
            </Grid.Resources>
            <Button Command="{Binding Path=CompanyFiveClick}" Height="Auto" Width="Auto" Background="{StaticResource AddButtonImageBrush}" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButton}" Visibility="{Binding Path=CompanyFive.IsVisible}" IsEnabled="{Binding Path=CompanyFive.IsActive}">

            </Button>
        </Grid>

        <Grid ge:GridEx.AreaName="More" Style="{StaticResource MoreButtonStyle}">
            <Grid.Resources>
                <ImageBrush x:Key="AddButtonImageBrush" ImageSource="{Binding Path=More.ButtonImagePath}" Stretch="Uniform"/>
            </Grid.Resources>
            <Button Command="{Binding Path=MoreClick}" Height="Auto" Width="Auto" Background="{StaticResource AddButtonImageBrush}" Style="{StaticResource CompanyButton}" Visibility="{Binding Path=More.IsVisible}" IsEnabled="{Binding Path=More.IsActive}">

            </Button>
        </Grid>
    </Grid>
</Grid>

Although using much of the approach in the above answer yet adding it for clarifying idea to others.

GridExtra Child Element Z-index

2 Answers2