Why does ObservableCollection throws an exception when being modified?

Question

Hi!

My application uses a WPF DataGrid. One of the columns is a template column that containts a combobox bound to an ObservableCollection of the entity which feeds the row. When I add a value to the ObservableCollection, a NullReferenceException is thrown.

Has anybody an idea why this happens? Here is the stacktrace of the exception:

   at MS.Internal.Data.PropertyPathWorker.DetermineWhetherDBNullIsValid()
   at MS.Internal.Data.PropertyPathWorker.get_IsDBNullValidForUpdate()
   at MS.Internal.Data.ClrBindingWorker.get_IsDBNullValidForUpdate()
   at System.Windows.Data.BindingExpression.ConvertProposedValue(Object value)
   at System.Windows.Data.BindingExpressionBase.UpdateValue()
   at System.Windows.Data.BindingExpression.Update(Boolean synchronous)
   at System.Windows.Data.BindingExpressionBase.Dirty()
   at System.Windows.Data.BindingExpression.SetValue(DependencyObject d, DependencyProperty dp, Object value)
   at System.Windows.DependencyObject.SetValueCommon(DependencyProperty dp, Object value, PropertyMetadata metadata, Boolean coerceWithDeferredReference, OperationType operationType, Boolean isInternal)
   at System.Windows.DependencyObject.SetValue(DependencyProperty dp, Object value)
   at System.Windows.Controls.Primitives.Selector.UpdatePublicSelectionProperties()
   at System.Windows.Controls.Primitives.Selector.SelectionChanger.End()
   at System.Windows.Controls.Primitives.Selector.OnItemsChanged(NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Controls.ItemsControl.OnItemCollectionChanged(Object sender, NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs e)
   at System.Collections.Specialized.NotifyCollectionChangedEventHandler.Invoke(Object sender, NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Data.CollectionView.OnCollectionChanged(NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs args)
   at System.Windows.Controls.ItemCollection.System.Windows.IWeakEventListener.ReceiveWeakEvent(Type managerType, Object sender, EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.WeakEventManager.DeliverEventToList(Object sender, EventArgs args, ListenerList list)
   at System.Windows.WeakEventManager.DeliverEvent(Object sender, EventArgs args)
   at System.Collections.Specialized.CollectionChangedEventManager.OnCollectionChanged(Object sender, NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs args)
   at System.Windows.Data.CollectionView.OnCollectionChanged(NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs args)
   at System.Windows.Data.ListCollectionView.ProcessCollectionChangedWithAdjustedIndex(NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs args, Int32 adjustedOldIndex, Int32 adjustedNewIndex)
   at System.Windows.Data.ListCollectionView.ProcessCollectionChanged(NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs args)
   at System.Windows.Data.CollectionView.OnCollectionChanged(Object sender, NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs args)
   at System.Collections.ObjectModel.ObservableCollection`1.OnCollectionChanged(NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs e)
   at System.Collections.ObjectModel.ObservableCollection`1.InsertItem(Int32 index, T item)
   at System.Collections.ObjectModel.Collection`1.Add(T item)
   at ORF.PersonBook.IdentityModule.Model.SubsidiaryModel.AddRoom(RoomModel room) in C:\Project\Phoenix\Development\src\ORF.PersonBook.IdentityModule\Model\SubsidiaryModel.cs:line 127

Answer 1

Is your Room class object actually instantiated? It looks as if your adding an uninitialised value.

Answer 2

Finally I found the reason for the exception. The problem occurs when you are removing the selected item from the list. Below I've posted an incomplete piece of code.

<!-- XAML -->
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding Rooms}" SelectedItem="{Binding SelectedRoom}">
    <ListBox.ItemTemplate>
        <DataTemplate>
            <DockPanel>
                <Button Content="remove" DockPanel.Dock="Right" Command="{Binding Some Remove Command}" />
                <TextBlock Text="{Binding Name}" />
            </DockPanel>
        </DataTemplate>
    </ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>

And the view model:

// View Model
public ObservableCollection<Room> Rooms { get; private set; }
public Room SelectedRoom { get; set; }

public RemoveRoom()
{
    var room = SelectedRoom;
    //SelectedRoom = null; // Uncomment this line to avoid the exception

    Rooms.Remove(room);
}

The solution is to first set the selected item to null (or any other item) before actually removing the item from the list.

Oliver Hanappi