Question

I am coding a simple login UserControl with two TextBoxes (Username and Password) and a Login button. I want the Login button to be enabled only when the username and password fields are filled in. I am using Prism and MVVM. The LoginViewModel contains a property called LoginCommand that is bound to the Login button. I have a CanLoginExecute() method in my ViewModel but it fires only when the application comes up and then never again. So the Login button is never enabled. What am I missing?

Here’s my xaml:

<TextBox x:Name="username"
    Text="{Binding Path=Username, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged, ValidatesOnDataErrors=True}" />
<TextBox x:Name="password"
    Text="{Binding Path=Password, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged, ValidatesOnDataErrors=True}" />
<Button Content="Login"
    cmnd:Click.Command="{Binding LoginCommand}" />

Here’s my ViewModel

class LoginViewModel : IDataErrorInfo, INotifyPropertyChanged
{
    public LoginViewModel()
    {
        this.LoginCommand =
            new DelegateCommand<object>(
                this.LoginExecute, this.CanLoginExecute);
    }

    private Boolean CanLoginExecute(object dummyObject)
    {
        return (string.IsNullOrEmpty(Username) ||
                string.IsNullOrEmpty(Password)) ? false : true;
    }

    private void LoginExecute(object dummyObject)
    {
        if (CheckCredentials(Username, Password))
        {
            ....
        }
    }

    #region IDataErrorInfo Members

    public string Error
    {
        get { throw new NotImplementedException(); }
    }

    public string this[string columnName]
    {
        get
        {
            string result = null;
            if (columnName == "Username")
            {
                if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(Username))
                    result = "Please enter a username";
            }
            else if (columnName == "Password")
            {
                if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(Password))
                    result = "Please enter a password";
            }
            return result;
        }
    }

    #endregion // IDataErrorInfo Members

    #region INotifyPropertyChanged Members

    public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;

    void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
    {
        if (PropertyChanged != null)
            PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
    }

    #endregion // INotifyPropertyChanged Members

    #region Properties

    private String _username;
    public String Username
    {
        get { return _username; }
        set
        {
            if (value == _username)
                return;
            _username = value;
            this.OnPropertyChanged("Username");
        }
    }

    private String _password;
    public String Password
    {
        get { return _password; }
        set
        {
            if (value == _password)
                return;
            _password = value;
            this.OnPropertyChanged("Password");
        }
    }

    public ICommand LoginCommand { get; private set; }

    #endregion // Properties
}

Answer 1

It is most likely that the bound control is never asking for the CanExecute state again. You need to call the RaiseCanExecuteChanged method on the DelegateCommand whenever you detect a condition that changes the command’s CanExecute state. This signals the bound control to update the CanExecute state.