C# WPF DataTemplate binding

Question

I bind MyListBox to a List of MyObject instances. MyObject contains a string field named TextField. I want to bind every item in listBox to MyObject.TextField. My code is the following, but it doesn't work.

<ListBox Name="MyListBox">
    <ListBox.ItemTemplate>
            <DataTemplate>                
                    <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=TextField}"></TextBlock>
            </DataTemplate>
    </ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>

What is the proper way to do that?

Solved: TextField of My Object's class wasn't a property

Either post a proper answer and accept it or delete the question. — H.B., Dec 17 '11 at 02:49

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 16 '11 at 18:25

2

Make sure to set the ListBox's ItemsSource:

<ListBox Name="MyListBox" ItemsSource="{Binding theList}">
    <ListBox.ItemTemplate>
            <DataTemplate>                
                    <TextBlock Text="{Binding TextField}" />
            </DataTemplate>
    </ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>

answered Dec 16 '11 at 18:25

Reed Copsey

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In this way it even doesn't bind to theList. – HelloWorld Dec 16 '11 at 18:32
@HelloWorld Do you have the DataContext of the Window/UserControl set properly? – Reed Copsey Dec 16 '11 at 18:33
I don't understand exactly what do you mean – HelloWorld Dec 16 '11 at 18:37
@HelloWorld The DataContext of an object tells it where to look for bindings. You must set it on your Window or UserControl or all bindings will fail. – Reed Copsey Dec 16 '11 at 18:44
Could you show me an example how to set DataContext for the Window? – HelloWorld Dec 16 '11 at 18:48
@HelloWorld Is "theList" part of the window? If so, in the window's constructor, after InitializeComponent, add: `this.DataContext = this;` If its a different class, you can set it to the class instance. – Reed Copsey Dec 16 '11 at 18:51
Also I can bind to theList only in code but ItemsSource="{Binding theList}" doesn't bind it – HelloWorld Dec 16 '11 at 18:59
@HelloWorld: Is "theList" a **public property** of your class? Binding only works against properties (not fields)... – Reed Copsey Dec 16 '11 at 19:19

Kashif Khan · Answer 2 · 2011-12-16T21:34:45.190

EDIT: i tried the solution in VS 2010...here is the code

first you create your own class, for example person class

class Person
{

    public Person(String name)
    {
        this.name = name;
    }

    String name;
    public String Name
    {
        get { return name; }
        set { name = value; }
    }
}

then you create listbox in xaml like this

<ListBox Height="222" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="105,28,0,0" Name="listBox1" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="120" ItemsSource="{Binding}" >
        <ListBox.ItemTemplate>
            <DataTemplate>
                <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Name}" />
            </DataTemplate>
        </ListBox.ItemTemplate>
    </ListBox>

note in xaml Path=Name is the property which you want to display in the listbox

in the code behind file, enter the following code

        List<Person> persons = new List<Person>();
        persons.Add(new Person("person 1"));
        persons.Add(new Person("person 2"));

in the behind code file after initializecomponent method, set the itemsource property of your listbox to the list of MyObjects. for example MyListBox.ItemSource = listMyObjects — Kashif Khan, Dec 16 '11 at 18:43
see this link http://stackoverflow.com/questions/449410/programmatically-binding-list-to-listbox — Kashif Khan, Dec 16 '11 at 19:25

C# WPF DataTemplate binding

2 Answers2