Re: Custom Navigation Control - WPF Discussion Boards

Report Designer Suggestions

26-Apr-23 5:20

If content is a "string" (as in your case), the Button uses a TextBlock; if content is some UI element composite, a "ForeGround" color may make little sense. So, yes, I would have used a TextBlock (as "content") in the first place. (I sometimes use one or more FontIcons overlayed in a grid). (The "dynamic" resource binding also makes little sense in this case)

"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I

Kevin Marois13-Apr-23 13:37

Re: Report Designer Suggestions

13-Apr-23 13:37

I'm using DevExpress reporting. I'm looking for alternatives.

If it's not broken, fix it until it is.
Everything makes sense in someone's mind.
Ya can't fix stupid.

Pete O'Hanlon13-Apr-23 21:23

13-Apr-23 21:23

Is there a reason you need an alternative? If there's a missing feature, that could help people with providing you with suggestions.

Re: Report Designer Suggestions

Gerry Schmitz14-Apr-23 3:51

Custom Navigation Control

14-Apr-23 3:51

I use a "designer" almost never. You spend 90% of the time getting the last 10% to look / work right (if ever). Writing custom reports isn't that hard if that's what you did before "designers".

Kevin Marois12-Apr-23 16:23

12-Apr-23 16:23

Using WPF .Core 6

I am trying to create this custom control[^]. I'm open to a better way if anyone has one.

There is the outer Navigation Container, with Navigation Panes inside it. There can be any number of Navigation Panes. Each Navigation Pane will contain Navigation Items as links that the user can click on.

What I would like to happen when the Window shows is for the container to be there, and all the panes added and showing a spinning indicator that is visible as long as the pane is loading. Each pane must load independant of the other, and each could take any amount of time to load.

So far, the Navigation Container displays, and each NavigationPane shows, and the code begind for the Navigation Pane is receiving its data, but nothing shows up. And, the Spinning Indicator never goes away. The problem seems to be in the NavigationPane. The NavigationContainer is working as expected

Here's what I'm getting right now.[^]

I'm NOT getting any binding errors, and all relevant code is being hit - I just don't see anything.

Here's the NavigationContainer's Load() method. It adds each pane first, then retrieves the data for each. This all runs, and the data is assigned to the Items DP on the NavigationPane

private async Task Load()
        {
            if (NavigationPanes != null)
            {
                // Add a pane to the collection for each NavigationItemModel. This shows the panes
                // to the user BEFORE starting the data download
                foreach (var navigationPaneModel in NavigationPanes)
                {
                    var pane = new NavigationPane
                    {
                        Header = navigationPaneModel.Header ?? "",
                        NavigationItemType = navigationPaneModel.NavigationItemType
                    };
                    ContainerItems.Add(pane);
                }

                if (_apiProxy != null)
                {
                    // Go through each pane model
                    foreach (var navigationPaneModel in NavigationPanes)
                    {
                        await Task.Run(() =>
                        {
                            // Go the the back end & get the data
                            return _apiProxy.GetNavigationItems(navigationPaneModel.NavigationItemType);

                        }).ContinueWith(task =>
                        {
                            App.Current.Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(() =>
                            {
                                // Find the container for the data
                                var container = ContainerItems.FirstOrDefault(x => x.NavigationItemType == navigationPaneModel.NavigationItemType);
                                if (container != null && task.Result != null)
                                {
                                    // Assign the data to it
                                    container.Items = new ObservableCollection<NavigationEntity>(task.Result);
                                }
                            });
                        });

                    }
                }
            }

Here's the NavigationPane control from the Generic.xaml file

<Style TargetType="{x:Type ctrls:NavigationPane}">

    <Setter Property="Template">

        <Setter.Value>

            <ControlTemplate>

                <Grid>

                    <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
                        <ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
                    </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>

                    <Expander Header="{Binding Header, RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}"
                                IsExpanded="{Binding IsExpanded, RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}"
                                Padding="{Binding Padding, RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}"
                                Margin="{Binding Margin, RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}"
                                BorderBrush="{Binding BorderBrush, RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}"
                                BorderThickness="{Binding BorderThickness, RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}"
                                ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Auto"
                                ScrollViewer.VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto">

                        <Grid>

                            <ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding Items, RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}"
                                        ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Auto"
                                        ScrollViewer.VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto"
                                        Margin="2"
                                        BorderBrush="Transparent"
                                        BorderThickness="0">

                                <ListBox.ItemTemplate>
                                    <DataTemplate>
                                        <mctrls:MaroisHyperlink x:Name="link" 
                                                                LinkText="{Binding Caption}"
                                                                HorizontalAlignment="Left"
                                                                Margin="2">

                                            <i:Interaction.Triggers>
                                                <i:EventTrigger EventName="LinkClicked">
                                                    <i:InvokeCommandAction Command="{Binding ItemLinkClickedCommand,
                                                                            RelativeSource={RelativeSource FindAncestor,AncestorType={x:Type ctrls:NavigationPane}}}"
                                                                            CommandParameter="{Binding}"/>
                                                </i:EventTrigger>
                                            </i:Interaction.Triggers>

                                        </mctrls:MaroisHyperlink>
                                    </DataTemplate>
                                </ListBox.ItemTemplate>

                            </ListBox>

                            <mctrls:MaroisSpinningProgress HorizontalAlignment="Center" 
                                                            VerticalAlignment="Center"
                                                            BorderThickness="1"
                                                            Margin="5,5,5,5"
                                                            Visibility="{Binding IsBusyVisible, RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}"/>

                        </Grid>

                    </Expander>

                </Grid>

            </ControlTemplate>

        </Setter.Value>

    </Setter>

</Style>

Here's the NavigationPane.cs

public class NavigationPane : _ControlBase
{
    #region Properties
    public NavigationItemType NavigationItemType { get; set; }

    private Visibility _IsBusyVisible = Visibility.Visible;
    public Visibility IsBusyVisible
    {
        get { return _IsBusyVisible; }
        set
        {
            if (_IsBusyVisible != value)
            {
                _IsBusyVisible = value;
                RaisePropertyChanged(nameof(IsBusyVisible));
            }
        }
    }
    #endregion

    #region DP's
    public static readonly DependencyProperty HeaderProperty =
                DependencyProperty.Register("Header",
                typeof(string),
                typeof(NavigationPane),
                new PropertyMetadata(""));

    public string Header
    {
        get { return (string)GetValue(HeaderProperty); }
        set { SetValue(HeaderProperty, value); }
    }
    #endregion

    public static readonly DependencyProperty ItemsProperty =
                DependencyProperty.Register("Items",
                typeof(ObservableCollection<NavigationEntity>),
                typeof(NavigationPane),
                new PropertyMetadata(null, new PropertyChangedCallback(OnItemsChanged)));

    public ObservableCollection<NavigationEntity> Items
    {
        get { return (ObservableCollection<NavigationEntity>)GetValue(ItemsProperty); }
        set { SetValue(ItemsProperty, value); }
    }

    private static void OnItemsChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        var control = (NavigationPane)d;
        control.IsBusyVisible = Visibility.Collapsed;  //<==== THIS IS BEING HIT, BUT THE INDICATOR STILL SHOWS. AND NO DATA ITEMS APPEAR
    }
    #endregion

    #region CTOR
    public NavigationPane()
    {
    }
    static NavigationPane()
    {
        DefaultStyleKeyProperty.OverrideMetadata(typeof(NavigationPane),
            new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(typeof(NavigationPane)));
    }
    #endregion

}

If it's not broken, fix it until it is.
Everything makes sense in someone's mind.
Ya can't fix stupid.

Pete O'Hanlon13-Apr-23 21:36

13-Apr-23 21:36

My immediate thought is that the problem is in the task continuation. Have you checked the result of the FirstOrDefault, to make sure that it is actually finding the container?

Richard Deeming13-Apr-23 22:47

Richard Deeming

13-Apr-23 22:47

Kevin Marois wrote:
Each pane must load independant of the other

That doesn't seem to tally with:

Kevin Marois wrote:

foreach (var navigationPaneModel in NavigationPanes)
{
    await Task.Run(() =>
    {
        // Go the the back end & get the data
        return _apiProxy.GetNavigationItems(navigationPaneModel.NavigationItemType);
    }).ContinueWith(task =>
    {
        App.Current.Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(() =>
        {
            // Find the container for the data
            var container = ContainerItems.FirstOrDefault(x => x.NavigationItemType == navigationPaneModel.NavigationItemType);
            if (container != null && task.Result != null)
            {
                // Assign the data to it
                container.Items = new ObservableCollection<NavigationEntity>(task.Result);
            }
        });
    });
}

Your loop kicks off a task to load each pane, then waits for that task to complete before trying to load the next pane.

Try extracting the "load a pane" code to a separate method:

private async Task LoadPane(NavigationPane navigationPaneModel)
{
    var result = await Task.Run(() => _apiProxy.GetNavigationItems(navigationPaneModel.NavigationItemType);
    if (result is null) return;
    
    var container = ContainerItems.FirstOrDefault(x => x.NavigationItemType == navigationPaneModel.NavigationItemType);
    if (container is null) return;
    
    container.Items = new ObservableCollection<NavigationEntity>(result);
}

Then change the loop to:

List<Task> tasks = new List<Task>(NavigationPanes.Count);
foreach (var navigationPaneModel in NavigationPanes)
{
    tasks.Add(LoadPane(navigationPaneModel));
}

await Task.WhenAll(tasks);

Kevin Marois wrote:

control.IsBusyVisible = Visibility.Collapsed;  //<==== THIS IS BEING HIT, BUT THE INDICATOR STILL SHOWS. AND NO DATA ITEMS APPEAR

You've declared the IsBusyVisible property as a regular property, but your NavigationPane class is a DependencyObject. The WPF binding system will only observe changes to DependencyProperty properties on a DependencyObject-derived class. Change the property to a dependency property:

public static readonly DependencyProperty IsBusyVisibleProperty = DependencyProperty.Register(
    "IsBusyVisible", typeof(Visibility), typeof(NavigationPane),
    new PropertyMetadata(Visibility.Visible));

public Visibility IsBusyVisible
{
    get { return (Visibility)GetValue(IsBusyVisibleProperty); }
    set { SetValue(IsBusyVisibleProperty, value); }
}

"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer

Kevin Marois15-Apr-23 10:22

15-Apr-23 10:22

Thanks. This make much more sense. So I extracted all the Nav stuff into a demo project to get it out of my app, and I still can get this to work. It looks like the panes never get added.

I put it in a repo here[^].

I would appreciate more help if you wouldn't mind.

If it's not broken, fix it until it is.
Everything makes sense in someone's mind.
Ya can't fix stupid.

modified 16-Apr-23 18:57pm.

Pete O'Hanlon16-Apr-23 21:54

16-Apr-23 21:54

I was going to take a look, but it looks like your repo is private.

Kevin Marois17-Apr-23 5:10

17-Apr-23 5:10

Oops. It's public now.

Thanks Pete!

If it's not broken, fix it until it is.
Everything makes sense in someone's mind.
Ya can't fix stupid.

Pete O'Hanlon17-Apr-23 10:52

17-Apr-23 10:52

I'll have a look in the morning.

Kevin Marois22-Apr-23 17:54

22-Apr-23 17:54

Hey Pete, just following up to see if had a chance to look at this?

If it's not broken, fix it until it is.
Everything makes sense in someone's mind.
Ya can't fix stupid.

Pete O'Hanlon23-Apr-23 21:09

23-Apr-23 21:09

I have spent some time digging into your sample and I am at a loss. I can't see anything obvious in there, and it's an absolute stumper.

Richard Deeming23-Apr-23 23:07

Richard Deeming

23-Apr-23 23:07

The first obvious issue: the ContainerItems property is not a dependency property. As I said, for a DependencyObject-derived class, WPF will only observe property changes for dependency properties.

public static readonly DependencyProperty ContainerItemsProperty
    = DependencyProperty.Register("ContainerItems",
        typeof(List<NavigationPane>),
        typeof(NavigationContainer),
        new PropertyMetadata(null));

public List<NavigationPane> ContainerItems
{
    get { return (List<NavigationPane>)GetValue(ContainerItemsProperty); }
    set { SetValue(ContainerItemsProperty, value); }
}

Next problem: since you're using a List<T> rather than an ObservableCollection<T>, WPF will only notice when you set the property. Since you do that before adding any items to the list, WPF will never notice the panes being loaded. Change the code to set the property after populating the list:

private async Task Load()
{
    if (NavigationPanes != null)
    {
        var items = new List<NavigationPane>();

        List<Task> tasks = new List<Task>(NavigationPanes.Count);
        foreach (var navigationPaneModel in NavigationPanes)
        {
            tasks.Add(LoadPane(navigationPaneModel, items));
        }

        await Task.WhenAll(tasks);
		ContainerItems = items;
	}
}

private async Task LoadPane(NavigationPaneModel navigationPaneModel, List<NavigationPane> containerItems)

With those changes in place (and dropping the Thread.Sleep values so it loads in a reasonable time), I now get four expanders in the list. However, although they have different headers, none of them contain any data.

Looking in the Generic.xaml file, you're binding the Header property, but not the Items property:

XAML

<ctrls:NavigationPane BorderBrush="Yellow" 
    BorderThickness="1"
    Background="Red"
    HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"
    Header="{Binding Header}"
    Margin="0,0,0,1"/>

Once you add Items="{Binding Items}" to that, the listboxes are now populated.

"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer

Kevin Marois25-Apr-23 19:02

25-Apr-23 19:02

It's working now. Thanks Richard.

If it's not broken, fix it until it is.
Everything makes sense in someone's mind.
Ya can't fix stupid.

Kevin Marois27-Apr-23 7:21

27-Apr-23 7:21

Richard, after implementing your changes, the loading works fine, but I now have this problem[^] with the expander headers.

I would appreciate your input.

If it's not broken, fix it until it is.
Everything makes sense in someone's mind.
Ya can't fix stupid.

Path in Style Question

Kevin Marois10-Apr-23 13:43

10-Apr-23 13:43

Is it possible to put this path in a style? I'd like to add a data trigger to change the fill color on mouse over

<Path Grid.Column="0" 
        x:Name="path"
        Width="16"
        Height="16"
        Data="M19,19H5V5H19M19,3H5A2,2 0 0,0 3,5V19A2,2 0 0,0 5,21H19A2,2 0 0,0 21,19V5A2,2 0 0,0 19,3M13.96,12.29L11.21,15.83L9.25,13.47L6.5,17H17.5L13.96,12.29Z"
        Fill="{DynamicResource pathActiveColor}"
        Stretch="Uniform"
        Margin="4,2,2,2"/>

If it's not broken, fix it until it is.
Everything makes sense in someone's mind.
Ya can't fix stupid.

Gerry Schmitz12-Apr-23 6:18

12-Apr-23 6:18

Since there's "data", it's more a resource (to be styled) than a style.

Kevin Marois12-Apr-23 6:33

12-Apr-23 6:33

This did it. Thanks!

<Window.Resources>

<pre>
<Path x:Key="PathKey"
        Width="20"
        Height="20"
        Data="M15,9H5V5H15M12,19A3,3 0 0,1 9,16A3,3 0 0,1 12,13A3,3 0 0,1 15,16A3,3 0 0,1 12,19M17,3H5C3.89,3 3,3.9 3,5V19A2,2 0 0,0 5,21H19A2,2 0 0,0 21,19V7L17,3Z"
        Fill="Red"
        Stretch="Uniform" />

<Style TargetType="{x:Type Button}">

    <Setter Property="Content">
        <Setter.Value>
            <DynamicResource ResourceKey='PathKey' />
        </Setter.Value>
    </Setter>

</Style>

If it's not broken, fix it until it is.
Everything makes sense in someone's mind.
Ya can't fix stupid.

modified 12-Apr-23 12:55pm.

Gerry Schmitz12-Apr-23 7:01

12-Apr-23 7:01

I typically bind "Fill" or "ForeGround", etc. to an expression in the "view model" (=> ...) if it can vary from one object to the next; I use "styling" only when a group is all styled the same. (Brushes can be shared).

(UWP doesn't have XAML "data triggers" so I stopped thinking about them).

How do you reference a Path stored as a resource?

Kevin Marois12-Apr-23 7:06

12-Apr-23 7:06

Ya, I'm going to. Ultimately it will be in a theme with data trigger to change the color for state, such as Enabled, Disabled, MouseOver, etc.

Thanks

If it's not broken, fix it until it is.
Everything makes sense in someone's mind.
Ya can't fix stupid.

Kevin Marois18-Apr-23 14:45

18-Apr-23 14:45

FYI, here's what I came up with. Thanks for your help!

Control

public class MaroisPathImageButton : Button
{
    #region CTOR
    static MaroisPathImageButton()
    {
        DefaultStyleKeyProperty.OverrideMetadata(typeof(MaroisPathImageButton), new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(typeof(MaroisPathImageButton)));
    }
    #endregion

    #region Dependency Properties
    #region DP Caption
    public static readonly DependencyProperty CaptionProperty =
                DependencyProperty.Register("Caption",
                typeof(string),
                typeof(MaroisPathImageButton),
                new PropertyMetadata(""));

    public string Caption
    {
        get { return (string)GetValue(CaptionProperty); }
        set { SetValue(CaptionProperty, value); }
    }
    #endregion

    #region DP PathData
    public static readonly DependencyProperty PathDataProperty =
                DependencyProperty.Register("PathData",
                typeof(System.Windows.Media.Geometry),
                typeof(MaroisPathImageButton),
                new PropertyMetadata(null, new PropertyChangedCallback(OnPathDataChanged)));

    public System.Windows.Media.Geometry PathData
    {
        get { return (System.Windows.Media.Geometry)GetValue(PathDataProperty); }
        set { SetValue(PathDataProperty, value); }
    }

    private static void OnPathDataChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        MaroisPathImageButton control = (MaroisPathImageButton)d;
    }
    #endregion

    #endregion
}

Theme

<!--PATH DATA-->
<Geometry x:Key="toolbarHomeButtonPathData">
    M12 5.69L17 10.19V18H15V12H9V18H7V10.19L12 5.69M12 3L2 12H5V20H11V14H13V20H19V12H22
</Geometry>

<!BASE PATH IMAGE BUTTON STYLE>
<Style x:Key="pathImageButtonStyle" 
        TargetType="{x:Type mctrls:MaroisPathImageButton}">

    <Setter Property="Background" Value="Transparent"/>
    <Setter Property="Height" Value="40"/>
    <Setter Property="Width" Value="65"/>

    <Setter Property="Template">

        <Setter.Value>

            <ControlTemplate>

                <Grid x:Name="Grid">

                    <Border x:Name="border"
                            Margin="2" 
                            Background="{TemplateBinding Background}" 
                            BorderBrush="{TemplateBinding BorderBrush}" 
                            BorderThickness="0" 
                            CornerRadius="3">

                        <StackPanel Orientation="Vertical">

                            <Path x:Name="path"
                                    Width="20"
                                    Height="20"
                                    Data="{Binding PathData, RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}"
                                    Fill="{StaticResource Button.Normal.Background}"
                                    Stretch="Uniform"/>

                            <TextBlock Grid.Row="1" 
                                        Grid.Column="0" 
                                        x:Name="caption" 
                                        Text="{Binding Caption, RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}"
                                        Foreground="{StaticResource Button.Normal.Background}"
                                        HorizontalAlignment="Center"
                                        VerticalAlignment="Center"
                                        Margin="0,0,0,2"/>

                        </StackPanel>

                    </Border>

                </Grid>

                <ControlTemplate.Triggers>

                    <Trigger Property="IsMouseOver" Value="true">
                        <Setter TargetName="path" Property="Fill" Value="{StaticResource Button.Normal.Foreground}" />
                        <Setter TargetName="caption" Property="Foreground" Value="{StaticResource Button.Hover.Foreground}" />
                        <Setter TargetName="border" Property="BorderBrush" Value="{StaticResource Button.Hover.Foreground}" />
                        <Setter TargetName="border" Property="BorderThickness" Value="1" />
                    </Trigger>
                    <Trigger Property="IsEnabled" Value="false">
                        <Setter TargetName="path" Property="Fill" Value="{StaticResource Button.Disabled.Foreground}" />
                        <Setter TargetName="caption" Property="Foreground" Value="{StaticResource Button.Disabled.Foreground}" />
                        <Setter TargetName="border" Property="BorderBrush" Value="{StaticResource Button.Disabled.Foreground}" />
                        <Setter TargetName="border" Property="BorderThickness" Value="1" />
                    </Trigger>

                </ControlTemplate.Triggers>

            </ControlTemplate>

        </Setter.Value>

    </Setter>

</Style>

<!TOOLBAR HOME BUTTON STYLE>
<Style x:Key="toolbarHomeButtonStyle" 
        BasedOn="{StaticResource pathImageButtonStyle }"
        TargetType="{x:Type mctrls:MaroisPathImageButton}">

    <Setter Property="Caption" Value="Home"/>
    <Setter Property="PathData" Value="{StaticResource toolbarHomeButtonPathData}"/>

</Style>

If it's not broken, fix it until it is.
Everything makes sense in someone's mind.
Ya can't fix stupid.

Draw Images

Kevin Marois4-Apr-23 14:24