Question

I have an object of Type MyTypeOneViewModel that is displayed in the first column of ListView and I have an object of Type MyTypeTwoViewModel that is displayed in the 2nd column of my ListView. Both types have a property of type MyNestedViewModel. Now I would like to display a different DataTemplate for each cell in the ListView depending on the actual Type of that Property. For example if the property actually holds a MyDoubleNestedViewModel I want to display a Textbox in that cell and if that property holds a MyBooleanNestedViewModel I want to display a ComboBox in that particular cell of the ListView. Note that The DataTemplate could vary in each row and column.

Can I achieve this without a TemplateSelector? WPF is able to autmatically chose the right DataTemplate based on the bound Type. But does that work in this nested scenario in a ListView too somehow?

Answer 1

Consider these options:

1. Bind directly to the sub-property.

Bind the column to the sub-property (of type MyNestedViewModel) rather than the parent. WPF will then pick a template based on the type of the nested view model, rather than the type of the parent view model.

<GridViewColumn DisplayMemberBinding='{Binding TheChildViewModel}'/> 

2. Include a ContentControl in your cell template.

In your grid column templates, bind a ContentControl to the child property:

<GridViewColumn.CellTemplate>     <DataTemplate>         <StackPanel>             <Label Content='{Binding SomePropertyOnParentViewModel}'/>             <ContentControl Content='{Binding TheChildViewModel}'/>         </StackPanel>     </DataTemplate> </GridViewColumn.CellTemplate>