Wpf – Databinding to a Parent datacontext in XAML

wpfxaml

The user control into which those 2 elements live has a property called ColumnTypes.

Each of those elements refer relatively with the same expression to the main datacontext, yet the first one does not work, while the latter does.

Do you have any idea how to investigate that ?

<DataGrid  x:Name="DataGrid" AutoGenerateColumns="False" ItemsSource="{Binding Table}"  >
    <DataGrid.Columns>
            <DataGridComboBoxColumn  Header="Type"   >
                <DataGridComboBoxColumn.ItemsSource>
                    <Binding Path="DataContext.GetColumnTypes"   RelativeSource="{RelativeSource FindAncestor, AncestorType={x:Type UserControl}}" />
                </DataGridComboBoxColumn.ItemsSource>
            </DataGridComboBoxColumn>
    </DataGrid.Columns>
</DataGrid>
<ComboBox Grid.Row="1">
    <ComboBox.ItemsSource>
        <Binding Path="DataContext.GetColumnTypes"   RelativeSource="{RelativeSource FindAncestor, AncestorType={x:Type UserControl}}" />
    </ComboBox.ItemsSource>
</ComboBox>

System.Windows.Data Error: 4 : Cannot find source for binding with reference 'RelativeSource FindAncestor, AncestorType='System.Windows.Controls.UserControl', AncestorLevel='1''. BindingExpression:Path=DataContext.GetColumnTypes; DataItem=null; target element is 'DataGridComboBoxColumn' (HashCode=53813616); target property is 'ItemsSource' (type 'IEnumerable')

Best Answer

This is a known limitation of the DataGridComboBoxColumn.

You can see on MSDN what kind of things you can bind to its ItemsSource property. A regular property is not one of them, so your case wont work.

A different way to achieve what you want, is to make a DataGridTemplateColumn which contains a ComboBox.

In your case that would look something like this:

<DataGrid.Columns>
    <DataGridTemplateColumn Header="Type">
        <DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
            <DataTemplate>
                <ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding DataContext.GetColumnTypes, 
                        RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type UserControl}}}" />
            </DataTemplate>
        </DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
    </DataGridTemplateColumn>
</DataGrid.Columns>

Related Solutions

Wpf – Using WPF DataGridComboBoxColumn with MVVM – Binding to Property in ViewModel

DataGrid column definitions don't participate in the logical tree in the way you would expect. It's ridiculous, but last I checked you have to do something like this:

<DataGridComboBoxColumn Header="CourtType" SelectedItemBinding="{Binding Type}">
    <DataGridComboBoxColumn.ElementStyle>
        <Style TargetType="ComboBox">
            <Setter Property="ItemsSource" Value="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource FindAncestor, AncestorType={x:Type Window}}, Path=DataContext.CourtCodesTypeCourt}"/>
            <Setter Property="IsReadOnly" Value="True"/>
        </Style>
    </DataGridComboBoxColumn.ElementStyle>
    <DataGridComboBoxColumn.EditingElementStyle>
        <Style TargetType="ComboBox">
            <Setter Property="ItemsSource" Value="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource FindAncestor, AncestorType={x:Type Window}}, Path=DataContext.CourtCodesTypeCourt}"/>
        </Style>
    </DataGridComboBoxColumn.EditingElementStyle>
</DataGridComboBoxColumn>

You'll notice I've also changed your TextBinding to a SelectedItemBinding. I'm not sure if you actually intended a TextBinding, but if you just want to allow the user to select between the list, then SelectedItemBinding is likely what you want.

Also, your VMs don't exactly follow best practices. You're using List<T> instead of ObservableCollection<T>, and you're exposing it as List<T> rather than something simpler such as ICollection<T>.

.net – Binding ItemsSource of a ComboBoxColumn in WPF DataGrid

Pls, check if DataGridComboBoxColumn xaml below would work for you:

<DataGridComboBoxColumn 
    SelectedValueBinding="{Binding CompanyID}" 
    DisplayMemberPath="Name" 
    SelectedValuePath="ID">

    <DataGridComboBoxColumn.ElementStyle>
        <Style TargetType="{x:Type ComboBox}">
            <Setter Property="ItemsSource" Value="{Binding Path=DataContext.CompanyItems, RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type Window}}}" />
        </Style>
    </DataGridComboBoxColumn.ElementStyle>
    <DataGridComboBoxColumn.EditingElementStyle>
        <Style TargetType="{x:Type ComboBox}">
            <Setter Property="ItemsSource" Value="{Binding Path=DataContext.CompanyItems, RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType={x:Type Window}}}" />
        </Style>
    </DataGridComboBoxColumn.EditingElementStyle>
</DataGridComboBoxColumn>

Here you can find another solution for the problem you're facing: Using combo boxes with the WPF DataGrid

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Wpf – Using WPF DataGridComboBoxColumn with MVVM – Binding to Property in ViewModel

.net – Binding ItemsSource of a ComboBoxColumn in WPF DataGrid

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