OneWayToSource binding from readonly property in Xaml

Question

I'm trying to bind to a Readonly property with OneWayToSource as mode, but it seems this cannot be done in XAML:

<controls:FlagThingy IsModified="{Binding FlagIsModified, 
                                          ElementName=container, 
                                          Mode=OneWayToSource}" />

I get:

The property 'FlagThingy.IsModified' cannot be set because it does not have an accessible set accessor.

IsModified is a readonly DependencyProperty on FlagThingy. I want to bind that value to the FlagIsModified property on the container.

To be clear:

FlagThingy.IsModified --> container.FlagIsModified
------ READONLY -----     ----- READWRITE --------

Is this possible using just XAML?

---

Update: Well, I fixed this case by setting the binding on the container and not on the FlagThingy. But I'd still like to know if this is possible.

Answer 1

WPF will not use the CLR property setter, but seems it does some odd validation based on it.

May be in your situation this can be ok:

    public bool IsModified
    {
        get { return (bool)GetValue(IsModifiedProperty); }
        set { throw new Exception("An attempt ot modify Read-Only property"); }
    }

Answer 2

You're doing the binding in the wrong direction right now. OneWayToSource will try and update FlagIsModified on container whenever IsModified changes on the control you are creating. You want the opposite, which is to have IsModified bind to container.FlagIsModified. For that you should use the binding mode OneWay

<controls:FlagThingy IsModified="{Binding FlagIsModified, 
                                          ElementName=container, 
                                          Mode=OneWay}" />

Full list of enumeration members: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.data.bindingmode.aspx

Answer 3

Some research results for OneWayToSource...

Option # 1.

// Control definition
public partial class FlagThingy : UserControl
{
    public static readonly DependencyProperty IsModifiedProperty = 
            DependencyProperty.Register("IsModified", typeof(bool), typeof(FlagThingy), new PropertyMetadata());
}

// XAML
<controls:FlagThingy x:Name="_flagThingy" />

// Binding Code
Binding binding = new Binding();
binding.Path = new PropertyPath("FlagIsModified");
binding.ElementName = "container";
binding.Mode = BindingMode.OneWayToSource;
_flagThingy.SetBinding(FlagThingy.IsModifiedProperty, binding);

Option # 2

// Control definition
public partial class FlagThingy : UserControl
{
    public static readonly DependencyProperty IsModifiedProperty = 
            DependencyProperty.Register("IsModified", typeof(bool), typeof(FlagThingy), new PropertyMetadata());

    public bool IsModified
    {
        get { return (bool)GetValue(IsModifiedProperty); }
        set { throw new Exception("An attempt ot modify Read-Only property"); }
    }
}

// XAML
<controls:FlagThingy IsModified="{Binding Path=FlagIsModified, 
    ElementName=container, Mode=OneWayToSource}" />

Option # 3 (True read-only dependency property)

System.ArgumentException: 'IsModified' property cannot be data-bound.

// Control definition
public partial class FlagThingy : UserControl
{
    private static readonly DependencyPropertyKey IsModifiedKey =
        DependencyProperty.RegisterReadOnly("IsModified", typeof(bool), typeof(FlagThingy), new PropertyMetadata());

    public static readonly DependencyProperty IsModifiedProperty = 
        IsModifiedKey.DependencyProperty;
}

// XAML
<controls:FlagThingy x:Name="_flagThingy" />

// Binding Code
Same binding code...

Reflector gives the answer:

    internal static BindingExpression CreateBindingExpression(DependencyObject d, DependencyProperty dp, Binding binding, BindingExpressionBase parent)
    {
        FrameworkPropertyMetadata fwMetaData = dp.GetMetadata(d.DependencyObjectType) as FrameworkPropertyMetadata;
        if (((fwMetaData != null) && !fwMetaData.IsDataBindingAllowed) || dp.ReadOnly)
        {
            throw new ArgumentException(System.Windows.SR.Get(System.Windows.SRID.PropertyNotBindable, new object[] { dp.Name }), "dp");
        }
     ....

Answer 4

This is 'by design' according to bug report on MS connect