Question

I have a model with an enum property (in this case, related to Export Control Regulations). When displaying the value to the user, I want to show a corresponding string. Sometimes this is in ComboBox (where the user can select a value), and sometimes it is in a TextBlock (where it is read-only).

Example: for ExportRegulationType.EAR, I want to display "EAR", while for ExportRegulationType.DoNotExport, I want to display "Do Not Export". Note that I don’t have any language localization needs, but I recognize the issue…

Currently, in my ViewModel, I have a property that returns a string based on the current enum value, and also another property that returns a Dictionary<ExportRegulationType, string>. For the ComboBoxes, I can bind ItemsSource to the dictionary property, and for the TextBlocks, I can bind to the string property. This works, but is kind of clumsy.

Two questions:

1) It seems to me that I should be able to declare the dictionary (with keys and values) as a static resource in XAML (probably in App.xaml), and use that for the ItemsSource for the ComboBox version. However, I can’t figure out how to declare and reference such a thing. How can I do that?

2) Assuming the above is in place, I would think I could also set up a binding with the textblock, so based on the enum property, it will look up the string in the dictionary.

I have seen the following questions relating to a static or dynamic enum value. The first isn’t adequate, and the second isn’t answered…

These should be a XAML-only, and will enable me to remove the methods from my ViewModel (having only the one exposed ExportRegulationType enumerated property. Are these possible?

Edit: Additional information:

In the application, I will have many different sets of views, models, and ViewModels. However, as export control regulations are a common and consistent requirement, I am using composition to keep it DRY. i.e., Models A and B both have an ExportControl model. ViewModels A1, A2, B1 and B2 will have an ExportControlViewModel. The views will have controls bound to the ExportControlViewModel of their ViewModel. The views will have either a ComboBox or a TextBlock, but not both (Depending on if the user can change the value).

Answer 1

I don’t know if this will work for your case, but here is a possible solution. In your view model, expose a ExportRegulationType property and then create a value converter to display your desired string.

First create your value converter:

class ExportRegulationTypeToStringConverter: IValueConverter
{
    #region IValueConverter Members

    public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
    {
        ExportRegulationType regType = (ExportRegulationType)value;

        switch(regType)
        {
            case ExportRegulationType.EAR:
                return "EAR";
            case ExportRegulationType.DoNotExport:
                return "Do Not Export";

            //handle other cases
        }
    }

    public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter,    System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
    {
        return Binding.DoNothing;
    }

    #endregion
}

Then add a reference to your converter in your xaml. local is the namespace in which your class is located.

<local:ExportRegulationTypeToStringConverter x:Key="exportRegConverter" />

Finally, set the value of your text box to use the converter. pathToEnum is the property exposed on your ViewModel of type ExportRegulationType.

<TextBlock Text="{Binding pathToEnum, Converter={StaticResource exportRegConverter}}" />

Use ObjectDataProvider to fill the ComboBox with the values of the enum.

<Window.Resources>
 <ObjectDataProvider x:Key="dataFromEnum"
   MethodName="GetValues" ObjectType="{x:Type System:Enum}">
      <ObjectDataProvider.MethodParameters>
           <x:Type TypeName="local:ExportRegulationType"/>
      </ObjectDataProvider.MethodParameters>
 </ObjectDataProvider>
</Window.Resources>

Now we create the ComboBox and use a container style with our value converter to display the desired strings for our enum.

<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource dataFromEnum}}">
    <ComboBox.ItemContainerStyle>
        <Style TargetType="ComboBoxItem">
            <Setter Property="Content" Value="{Binding Converter={StaticResource exportRegConverter}}" />
        </Style>
    </ComboBox.ItemContainerStyle>
</ComboBox>