Question

I have a collection consisting of two different object types, with the same base class. subclass A needs to display a button in a cell and subclass B needs to display a checkbox in a cell (the same column).

How do I accomplish this in a wpf datagrid?

Answer 1

The code below is purely for guidance and is not tested for compilation…

1. You should use DataGridTemplateColumn for this.

2. Specify the DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate as follows

   <DataTemplate>
      <Grid>
          <Button Visibility="{Binding BaseClassPropertyValue,
                        Converter={StaticResource SubclassToVisibilityConverter},
                             ConverterParameter='Button'}"/>
          <ChecBox Visibility="{Binding BaseClassPropertyValue,
                        Converter={StaticResource SubclassToVisibilityConverter},
                             ConverterParameter='CheckBox'}"/>
      </Grid> 
   </DataTemplate>
   

3. In SubclassToVisibilityConverter.Convert() method use the following logic…

   if (parameter == "Button")
   {
     if (value is ClassA)
     {
        return Visibility.Visible;
     }
     else
     {
        return Visbility.Collapsed;
     }
   }
   else if (parameter == "CheckBox")
   {
     if (value is ClassB)
     {
        return Visibility.Visible;
     }
     else
     {
        return Visbility.Collapsed;
     }
   }
   

Let me know if this helps.