How to use MultiBinding in a WPF ComboBox

Question

This is driving me NUTS!!!

I have a ComboBox used to filter a query by employee which works fine but only displays the employees first name. I want to use a MultiValueConverter to display the employees full name (This would be less urgent if we did not have 2 Mikes and 2 Daves)

Below is my working code and the IMultiValueConverter Class (With unnecessary formatting trimmed out for brevity). I have tried everything I can think of to get the MultiConverter to work but I have had no luck.

<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Path=EmployeesFilter}" 
                       DisplayMemberPath="EmpFirstName"
                       SelectedValue="{Binding Path=EmployeeToShow, Mode=TwoWay}"/>

The ViewModel Properties it is bound to:

// This collection is used to populate the Employee Filter ComboBox
private ObservableCollection<Employee> employeesFilter;
public ObservableCollection<Employee> EmployeesFilter
{
    get {
            return employeesFilter;
        }
    set {
        if (employeesFilter != value)
        {
            employeesFilter = value;
            OnPropertyChanged("EmployeesFilter");
        }
    }
}

// This property is TwoWay bound to the EmployeeFilters SelectedValue
private Employee employeeToShow;
public Employee EmployeeToShow
{
    get {
            return employeeToShow;
        }
    set {
        if (employeeToShow != value)
        {
            employeeToShow = value;
            OnPropertyChanged("EmployeeToShow");
            QueryIssues(); // Requery with new employee filter
        }
    }
}

The IMultiValueConverter:

class StringsToFullNameMultiConverter : IMultiValueConverter
{
    public object Convert(object[] values, 
                          Type targetType, 
                          object parameter, 
                          System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
    {
        // I added this because I kept getting DependecyProperty.UnsetValue 
        // Passed in as the program initializes
        if (values[0] as string != null)
        {
            string firstName = (string)values[0];
            string lastName = (string)values[1];
            string fullName = firstName + " " + lastName;
            return fullName;
        }
        return null;
    }

    public object[] ConvertBack(object value, 
                                Type[] targetTypes, 
                                object parameter, 
                                System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
    {
        return null; 
    }
}

I tried a lot of different things but basically am using the following in the ComboBox

<ComboBox.SelectedValue>
     <MultiBinding Converter="{StaticResource StringsToFullNameMultiConverter}" 
                   Mode="OneWay" > 
           <Binding Path="EmpFirstName" />
           <Binding Path="EmpLastName"/>
     </MultiBinding>
</ComboBox.SelectedValue>

As it stands now the converter is called when the program initializes with the values set to DependencyProperty.UnsetValue. after that it is never called again, even when you select a name from the box. The names are still displayed as a first name.

Thanks for any help or pointers to good tutorials/samples you can provide. All the ones I keep finding on the web are for textboxes and I can use them just fine all day.

Answer 1

You're close! What you want to do though is ComboBox.ItemTemplate, not SelectedValue. Prepare for some XAML hell.

<ComboBox.ItemTemplate>
    <DataTemplate>
        <TextBlock>
            <TextBlock.Text>
                <MultiBinding Converter="{StaticResource StringsToFillNameMultiConverter}">
                    <Binding Path="EmpFirstName" />
                    <Binding Path="EmpLastName" />
                </MultiBinding>
            </TextBlock.Text>
        </TextBlock>
    </DataTemplate>
</ComboBox.ItemTemplate>

Also, if I recall correctly, you don't need to create your own converter if you're just formatting strings. I think you can do the following (someone please correct me if I'm wrong.)

<!-- "Last, First" -->
<MultiBinding StringFormat="{}{1}, {0}">
    <Binding Path="EmpFirstName" />
    <Binding Path="EmpLastName" />
</MultiBinding>

Answer 2

You may be better of using a data template for the items, so you have complete control over how each person is displayed in the dropdown list.

The type convert is OK provided you don’t have a need to control the formatting of the different fields.