Question

I have added an object called fixture to a listbox. I look in a directory and sub directories for all XML files. I then get the name of the files and all them to the list.

public void CreateLibrary()
{
        List<string> fixtureList = new List<String>();
        string[] dirs = Directory.GetFiles(@"C:\Windows.old\Users\Michael\Desktop\data\fixtures\", "*.xml",
                                     SearchOption.AllDirectories);
        foreach (string dir in dirs)
        {
            string fixture = System.IO.Path.GetFileName(dir);


            lbxLibrary.Items.Add(fixture);
        }

I would like to be able to get the file url from the currently selected item in the listbox. I am aware that I might need to change the way I am importing the files which is fine, but Im after some advice and some docs to read.

Cheers in advance 🙂

Michael.

Answer 1

Instead of adding strings directly to the ListBox I would suggest you create a class called something like XmlFileInfo where you store info for each of your loaded xml files.

public class XmlFileInfo
{
    public XmlFileInfo(string fixture, string path)
    {
        Fixture = fixture;
        Path = path;
    }
    public string Fixture { get; set; }
    public string Path { get; set; }
}

Then create an ObservableCollection with XmlFileInfo and bind your ListBox to that collection like this

<ListBox Name="lbxLibrary"
         ItemsSource="{Binding XmlFileInfoCollection}"
         DisplayMemberPath="Fixture"
         SelectionChanged="lbxLibrary_SelectionChanged"/>

Example of how code behind could look

public MainWindow()
{
    InitializeComponent();
    XmlFileInfoCollection = new ObservableCollection<XmlFileInfo>();
    this.DataContext = this;
}
public ObservableCollection<XmlFileInfo> XmlFileInfoCollection
{
    get;
    private set;
}
private void Window_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    CreateLibrary();
}
public void CreateLibrary()
{
    string[] dirs = Directory.GetFiles(@"C:\Windows.old\Users\Michael\Desktop\data\fixtures\", "*.xml",       
                                       SearchOption.AllDirectories);
    foreach (string dir in dirs)
    {
        string fixture = System.IO.Path.GetFileName(dir);
        XmlFileInfo xmlFileInfo = new XmlFileInfo(fixture, dir);
        XmlFileInfoCollection.Add(xmlFileInfo);
    }
}

And in some event, say SelectionChanged, you can easily find the URL for the selected item like this

private void lbxLibrary_SelectionChanged(object sender, SelectionChangedEventArgs e)
{
    XmlFileInfo xmlFileInfo = lbxLibrary.SelectedItem as XmlFileInfo;
    string path = xmlFileInfo.Path;
    // ...
}

Update

Uploaded sample project here