Question

I have an ObservableCollection of Entity Framework 4 entities bound to a ListView. If I modify any of the normal, scalar properties of the entity, the values displayed in the ListView are updated.

Any relationship (navigation) properties are not updated in the ListView if they change, because the entity object doesn’t implement change notifications for these properties.

Right now, I’m removing the entity from the collection and then reinserting it back into the same position to force the ListView to update.

There must be a better solution. What is it, if it exists?

Here’s the generated code from VS2010’s EF designer:

[EdmEntityTypeAttribute(NamespaceName="RovingAuditDb", Name="AuditRecord")]
[Serializable()]
[DataContractAttribute(IsReference=true)]
public partial class AuditRecord : EntityObject
{
    #region Factory Method

    /// <summary>
    /// Create a new AuditRecord object.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="id">Initial value of the Id property.</param>
    /// <param name="date">Initial value of the Date property.</param>
    public static AuditRecord CreateAuditRecord(global::System.Int32 id, global::System.DateTime date)
    {
        AuditRecord auditRecord = new AuditRecord();
        auditRecord.Id = id;
        auditRecord.Date = date;
        return auditRecord;
    }

    #endregion
    #region Primitive Properties
    // Deleted for this post
    #endregion

    #region Navigation Properties

    /// <summary>
    /// No Metadata Documentation available.
    /// </summary>
    [XmlIgnoreAttribute()]
    [SoapIgnoreAttribute()]
    [DataMemberAttribute()]
    [EdmRelationshipNavigationPropertyAttribute("RovingAuditDb", "AuditRecordCell", "Cell")]
    public Cell Cell
    {
        get
        {
            return ((IEntityWithRelationships)this).RelationshipManager.GetRelatedReference<Cell>("RovingAuditDb.AuditRecordCell", "Cell").Value;
        }
        set
        {
            ((IEntityWithRelationships)this).RelationshipManager.GetRelatedReference<Cell>("RovingAuditDb.AuditRecordCell", "Cell").Value = value;
        }
    }
    /// <summary>
    /// No Metadata Documentation available.
    /// </summary>
    [BrowsableAttribute(false)]
    [DataMemberAttribute()]
    public EntityReference<Cell> CellReference
    {
        get
        {
            return ((IEntityWithRelationships)this).RelationshipManager.GetRelatedReference<Cell>("RovingAuditDb.AuditRecordCell", "Cell");
        }
        set
        {
            if ((value != null))
            {
                ((IEntityWithRelationships)this).RelationshipManager.InitializeRelatedReference<Cell>("RovingAuditDb.AuditRecordCell", "Cell", value);
            }
        }
    }
    // Rest of the Navigation properties removed for this post

Answer 1

Those entities are not suitable for WPF two-way binding, which is based in INotifyPropertyChanged. I suggest you take a look at Self Tracking Entities, which are best suited for use in client/server type WPF application.