R – Silverlight/xaml – displaying child data in a datagrid

entity-frameworksilverlightwcf-ria-servicesxaml

I have two tables in a database and using entity framework and ria services to display data in a simple datagrid. Here is the database/EF structure

Cars      Make
-----     ----
CarId     MakeId
Car       Make
MakeId

In my Silverlight datagrid I want to show the following two columns, for example

Car      Make
---      -----
Escort   Ford
Megane   Renault
Rav4     Toyota

I can easily bind to the Cars table and show cars but I can't work out how to display the Make taken from the child table

The xaml that I am using to configure the datagrid is as follows:

<datagrid:DataGrid x:Name="CarGrid" AutoGenerateColumns="False" MinHeight="100" IsReadOnly="True" ItemsSource="{Binding ElementName=MyData, Path=Data}">
                    <datagrid:DataGrid.Columns>

                        <datagrid:DataGridTextColumn Header="Car" Binding="{Binding Car}"/>
                        <datagrid:DataGridTextColumn Header="Make" Binding="{Binding Cars.Make}"/>
......

The datagrid datasource binds to a DomainDataSource method "GetCars". I'm not sure if it is automatically loading the child table (not sure whether I have to explicitly tell it to or not, and have no idea how to do this in xaml).

I'm sure I could ditch the xaml and do it in c# but I'm trying to be a good coder and do it in xaml.

Best Answer

I find a good solution. Let's try this: http://jeffhandley.com/archive/2010/03/12/lookupdata.aspx

Then don't forget to "include" your child table in the Query lookup on your domain service class.

ex:

public IQueryable<Car> GetCars()
{
    return this.ObjectContext.Cars.Include("Make");
}

replace the names with your own.

PS: remember to do all the steps that the blog indicates.

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