views:

658

answers:

2

I have a combo box using an observable collection as a datasource and I want a "dummy" value of "None" as the first item in the box as it controls filters against other data sources.

Other databound objects also use the same observable collection so adding a "None" value directly to the datasource is not possible as I dont want, for example, my datagrids having a "none" in them. Also I'd rather avoid filters to just remove the "none" value for those that do not use it, as I'd like the observable collection to direclty reflect the database data; if at all possible. I'd also like to avoid having one observable collection per databound control.

What I'm really after is a was to put a, non data bound, first entry into a combobox while also having the item source pointed at an obervable collection.

Thanks

/EDIT: XAML I'm now using but it does not shut the combo box when the dummy first item is clicked

<ComboBox x:Class="TestManager.Controls.NullableComboBox"
         xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
         xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
         xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" 
         xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008" 
         xmlns:w="clr-namespace:System.Windows.Controls;assembly=PresentationFramework"
         xmlns:Microsoft_Windows_Themes="clr-namespace:Microsoft.Windows.Themes;assembly=PresentationFramework.Aero"
         mc:Ignorable="d" 
         d:DesignHeight="300" d:DesignWidth="300" MouseUp="ComboBox_MouseUp">
<ComboBox.Resources>
    <Geometry x:Key="DownArrowGeometry">M 0 0 L 3.5 4 L 7 0 Z</Geometry>
    <Style x:Key="ComboBoxReadonlyToggleButton" TargetType="{x:Type ToggleButton}">
        <Setter Property="OverridesDefaultStyle" Value="true"/>
        <Setter Property="IsTabStop" Value="false"/>
        <Setter Property="Focusable" Value="false"/>
        <Setter Property="ClickMode" Value="Press"/>
        <Setter Property="Template">
            <Setter.Value>
                <ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type ToggleButton}">
                    <Microsoft_Windows_Themes:ButtonChrome x:Name="Chrome" SnapsToDevicePixels="true" Background="{TemplateBinding Background}" BorderBrush="{TemplateBinding BorderBrush}" RenderMouseOver="{TemplateBinding IsMouseOver}" RenderPressed="{TemplateBinding IsPressed}">
                        <Grid HorizontalAlignment="Right" Width="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemParameters.VerticalScrollBarWidthKey}}">
                            <Path x:Name="Arrow" Fill="Black" HorizontalAlignment="Center" Margin="3,1,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Center" Data="{StaticResource DownArrowGeometry}"/>
                        </Grid>
                    </Microsoft_Windows_Themes:ButtonChrome>
                    <ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                        <Trigger Property="IsChecked" Value="true">
                            <Setter Property="RenderPressed" TargetName="Chrome" Value="true"/>
                        </Trigger>
                        <Trigger Property="IsEnabled" Value="false">
                            <Setter Property="Fill" TargetName="Arrow" Value="#AFAFAF"/>
                        </Trigger>
                    </ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                </ControlTemplate>
            </Setter.Value>
        </Setter>
    </Style>

    <ControlTemplate x:Key="ComboBoxMessageTemplate" TargetType="{x:Type ComboBox}">
        <Grid x:Name="MainGrid" SnapsToDevicePixels="true">
            <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
                <ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
                <ColumnDefinition MinWidth="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemParameters.VerticalScrollBarWidthKey}}" Width="0"/>
            </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
            <Popup x:Name="PART_Popup" Margin="1" AllowsTransparency="true" IsOpen="{Binding IsDropDownOpen, RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}" Placement="Bottom" PopupAnimation="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemParameters.ComboBoxPopupAnimationKey}}" Grid.ColumnSpan="2">
                <Microsoft_Windows_Themes:SystemDropShadowChrome x:Name="Shdw" MaxHeight="{TemplateBinding MaxDropDownHeight}" MinWidth="{Binding ActualWidth, ElementName=MainGrid}" Color="Transparent">
                    <Border x:Name="DropDownBorder" Background="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.WindowBrushKey}}" BorderBrush="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.WindowFrameBrushKey}}" BorderThickness="1">
                       <ScrollViewer CanContentScroll="true">
                                <StackPanel>
                                    <TextBlock x:Name="SelectMessage" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Text="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}, Path=Tag}" VerticalAlignment="Center" Margin="{TemplateBinding Padding}" Visibility="Visible"/>
                                <ItemsPresenter SnapsToDevicePixels="{TemplateBinding SnapsToDevicePixels}" KeyboardNavigation.DirectionalNavigation="Contained"/>
                                </StackPanel>
                            </ScrollViewer>
                    </Border>
                </Microsoft_Windows_Themes:SystemDropShadowChrome>
            </Popup>
            <ToggleButton Style="{StaticResource ComboBoxReadonlyToggleButton}" Background="{TemplateBinding Background}" BorderBrush="{TemplateBinding BorderBrush}" Grid.ColumnSpan="2" IsChecked="{Binding IsDropDownOpen, Mode=TwoWay, RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}"/>
            <ContentPresenter HorizontalAlignment="{TemplateBinding HorizontalContentAlignment}" Margin="{TemplateBinding Padding}" VerticalAlignment="{TemplateBinding VerticalContentAlignment}" IsHitTestVisible="false" SnapsToDevicePixels="{TemplateBinding SnapsToDevicePixels}" Content="{TemplateBinding SelectionBoxItem}" ContentStringFormat="{TemplateBinding SelectionBoxItemStringFormat}" ContentTemplate="{TemplateBinding SelectionBoxItemTemplate}" ContentTemplateSelector="{TemplateBinding ItemTemplateSelector}"/>

        </Grid>
        <ControlTemplate.Triggers>
            <Trigger Property="SelectedItem" Value="{x:Null}">
                <Setter Property="Visibility" TargetName="SelectMessage" Value="Visible"/>
            </Trigger>                
            <Trigger Property="HasDropShadow" SourceName="PART_Popup" Value="true">
                <Setter Property="Margin" TargetName="Shdw" Value="0,0,5,5"/>
                <Setter Property="Color" TargetName="Shdw" Value="#71000000"/>
            </Trigger>
            <Trigger Property="HasItems" Value="false">
                <Setter Property="Height" TargetName="DropDownBorder" Value="95"/>
            </Trigger>
            <Trigger Property="IsEnabled" Value="false">
                <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.GrayTextBrushKey}}"/>
                <Setter Property="Background" Value="#FFF4F4F4"/>
            </Trigger>
            <Trigger Property="IsGrouping" Value="true">
                <Setter Property="ScrollViewer.CanContentScroll" Value="false"/>
            </Trigger>
        </ControlTemplate.Triggers>
    </ControlTemplate>
</ComboBox.Resources>    

A: 

Will this help you http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2343446/default-text-for-templated-combo-box

Veer
Thanks. That's got me part way there.Now I need to force the drop down to close when the dummy item is clicked...Any ideas ?
James
whose answer did you use?
Veer
I had to use the first one in that linked post as the second relies on modifying the itemsource. So i now (with some modification) have a textblock in my dropdown that when selected sets the selected index to -1 .... But clicking it doesnt make the combo box collapse.
James
Can you post the complete xaml of your working version? You can edit your post.
Veer
Thanks: The above post has been edited to the xaml. The part I changed was to put the textblock above the 'item presenter' to give me a dummy first entry. Though clicking it doesn't close the list; I have added codebehind to set the selected index to -1.
James
You can instead change the selectedIndex in a trigger. But the textblock does not have any property raised when it is clicked. Fortunately Button has an isPressed property. You can replace the textblock by a button and change its appearance accordingly to make use of the isPressed property if at all you wanted to avoid codebehind in this case.
Veer
Did you try to set the ComboBox's IsDropDownOpen property to false to have it close when the 'none' text is clicked?
Fyodor Soikin
+1  A: 

You could wrap the ObservableCollection, which would allow you to use ComboBox unmodified. The wrapper would look something like this:

class PrefixedObservableCollection<T> : Collection<T>, INotifyCollectionChanged, INotifyPropertyChanged
{
    private readonly ObservableCollection<T> _wrappedCollection;
    private readonly T _prefix;

    public IEnumerator<T> GetEnumerator()
    {
        yield return _prefix;
        foreach (T item in _wrappedCollection)
            yield return item;
    }

    // ...  Implement interfaces, etc. Forward along change notifications from wrapped collection.
}
Edward Brey