C# – Re-sort WPF DataGrid after bounded Data has changed

ccollectionviewsourcedata-bindingdatagridwpf

I am looking for a way to re-sort my DataGrid when the underlying data has changed.

(The setting is quite standard: The DataGrid's ItemSource property is bound to an ObservableCollection; The columns are DataGridTextColumns; The data inside the DataGrid reacts correctly on changes inside the ObservableCollection; Sorting works fine when clicked with the mouse)

Any ideas ?

Best Answer

It took me the whole afternoon but I finally found a solution that is surprisingly simple, short and efficient:

To control the behaviors of the UI control in question (here a DataGrid) one might simply use a CollectionViewSource. It acts as a kind of representative for the UI control inside your ViewModel without completely breaking the MVMM pattern.

In the ViewModel declare both a CollectionViewSource and an ordinary ObservableCollection<T> and wrap the CollectionViewSource around the ObservableCollection:

// Gets or sets the CollectionViewSource
public CollectionViewSource ViewSource { get; set; }

// Gets or sets the ObservableCollection
public ObservableCollection<T> Collection { get; set; }

// Instantiates the objets.
public ViewModel () {

    this.Collection = new ObservableCollection<T>();
    this.ViewSource = new CollectionViewSource();
    ViewSource.Source = this.Collection;
}

Then in the View part of the application you have nothing else to do as to bind the ItemsSource of the CollectionControl to the View property of the CollectionViewSource instead of directly to the ObservableCollection:

<DataGrid ItemsSource="{Binding ViewSource.View}" />

From this point on you can use the CollectionViewSource object in your ViewModel to directly manipulate the UI control in the View.

Sorting for example - as has been my primary problem - would look like this:

// Specify a sorting criteria for a particular column
ViewSource.SortDescriptions.Add(new SortDescription ("columnName", ListSortDirection.Ascending));

// Let the UI control refresh in order for changes to take place.
ViewSource.View.Refresh();

You see, very very simple and intuitive. Hope that this helps other people like it helped me.

Related Solutions

C# – WPF DataGrid CustomSort for each Column

I created a couple of attached properties which handle this issue. I hope this comes in handy for someone!

First - a simple interface for your directionalised comparer. This extends IComparer but gives us one more property (SortDirection). Your implementation should use this to determine the correct ordering of elements (which would otherwise have been lost).

public interface ICustomSorter : IComparer
{
    ListSortDirection SortDirection { get; set; }
}

Next is the attached behavior - this does two things: 1) tells the grid to use custom sort logic (AllowCustomSort=true) and b) gives us the ability to set this logic at a per-column level.

public class CustomSortBehaviour
{
    public static readonly DependencyProperty CustomSorterProperty =
        DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached("CustomSorter", typeof(ICustomSorter), typeof(CustomSortBehaviour));

    public static ICustomSorter GetCustomSorter(DataGridColumn gridColumn)
    {
        return (ICustomSorter)gridColumn.GetValue(CustomSorterProperty);
    }

    public static void SetCustomSorter(DataGridColumn gridColumn, ICustomSorter value)
    {
        gridColumn.SetValue(CustomSorterProperty, value);
    }

    public static readonly DependencyProperty AllowCustomSortProperty =
        DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached("AllowCustomSort", typeof(bool),
        typeof(CustomSortBehaviour), new UIPropertyMetadata(false, OnAllowCustomSortChanged));

    public static bool GetAllowCustomSort(DataGrid grid)
    {
        return (bool)grid.GetValue(AllowCustomSortProperty);
    }

    public static void SetAllowCustomSort(DataGrid grid, bool value)
    {
        grid.SetValue(AllowCustomSortProperty, value);
    }

    private static void OnAllowCustomSortChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        var existing = d as DataGrid;
        if (existing == null) return;

        var oldAllow = (bool)e.OldValue;
        var newAllow = (bool)e.NewValue;

        if (!oldAllow && newAllow)
        {
            existing.Sorting += HandleCustomSorting;
        }
        else
        {
            existing.Sorting -= HandleCustomSorting;
        }
    }

    private static void HandleCustomSorting(object sender, DataGridSortingEventArgs e)
    {
        var dataGrid = sender as DataGrid;
        if (dataGrid == null || !GetAllowCustomSort(dataGrid)) return;

        var listColView = dataGrid.ItemsSource as ListCollectionView;
        if (listColView == null)
            throw new Exception("The DataGrid's ItemsSource property must be of type, ListCollectionView");

        // Sanity check
        var sorter = GetCustomSorter(e.Column);
        if (sorter == null) return;

        // The guts.
        e.Handled = true;

        var direction = (e.Column.SortDirection != ListSortDirection.Ascending)
                            ? ListSortDirection.Ascending
                            : ListSortDirection.Descending;

        e.Column.SortDirection = sorter.SortDirection = direction;
        listColView.CustomSort = sorter;
    }
}

To use it, implement an ICustomComparer (with a parameterless constructor) and in your XAML:

<UserControl.Resources>
    <converters:MyComparer x:Key="MyComparer"/>
    <!-- add more if you need them -->
</UserControl.Resources>
<DataGrid behaviours:CustomSortBehaviour.AllowCustomSort="True" ItemsSource="{Binding MyListCollectionView}">
    <DataGrid.Columns>
        <DataGridTextColumn Header="Test" Binding="{Binding MyValue}" behaviours:CustomSortBehaviour.CustomSorter="{StaticResource MyComparer}" />
    </DataGrid.Columns>
</DataGrid>

Best Answer

Related Solutions

C# – WPF DataGrid CustomSort for each Column

Related Topic