How to display a different value for dropdown list values/selected item in a WPF ComboBox?

Question

I have a WPF combobox bound to a list of items with long descriptions.

The type bound to the ComboBox has both short and long description as properties. Currently, I am binding to the full description.

comboBox.DisplayMemberPath = "FullDescription";

How to ensure that when the item is selected and displayed as a single item in the combobox, it will be displayed as a value of the ShortDescription property while the dropdown will display FullDescription?

Answer 1

Better solution..

<SolidColorBrush x:Key="SelectedBackgroundBrush" Color="#DDD" />
<SolidColorBrush x:Key="DisabledForegroundBrush" Color="#888" />

<ControlTemplate x:Key="FullDescriptionTemplate" TargetType="ComboBoxItem">
    <Border Name="Border" Padding="2" SnapsToDevicePixels="true">
        <StackPanel>
            <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=FullDescription}"/>
        </StackPanel>
    </Border>
    <ControlTemplate.Triggers>
        <Trigger Property="IsHighlighted" Value="true">
            <Setter TargetName="Border" Property="Background" Value="{StaticResource SelectedBackgroundBrush}"/>
        </Trigger>
        <Trigger Property="IsEnabled" Value="false">
            <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="{StaticResource DisabledForegroundBrush}"/>
        </Trigger>
    </ControlTemplate.Triggers>
</ControlTemplate>

<ComboBox Name="c_comboBox" ItemsSource="{Binding}">
    <ComboBox.ItemTemplate>
        <DataTemplate>
            <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=ShortDescription}"/>
        </DataTemplate>
    </ComboBox.ItemTemplate>
    <ComboBox.ItemContainerStyle>
        <Style TargetType="{x:Type ComboBoxItem}">
            <Setter Property="Template" Value="{StaticResource FullDescriptionTemplate}" />
        </Style>
    </ComboBox.ItemContainerStyle>
</ComboBox>

This results in the following behavior