Question

I know there are several ways to do it, but I would like to make it even easier if possible because I have a lot of comboboxes to bind in this way. There is a suggestion using ObjectDataProvider here. The problem is that I have to create a resource entry for each enum and that’s a lot. So far, I have been using the code-behind way because it’s much shorter:

cmb.ItemsSource = Enum.GetValues(typeof(MyTypes));

I’m wondering if an equivalent can be produced in Xaml. I thought we could archive this by using a converter. We could convert the type to an array and then bind the array to combobox’ ItemsSource. But I got stuck on how to specify my enum to the converter. Here is my code:

My enum:

public enum MyTypes { Type1, Type2, Type3 }; 

This is my converter:

public class EnumToArrayConverter : IValueConverter
{
    public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
    {
        return Enum.GetValues(value.GetType());
    }

    public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
    {
        return null; // I don't care about this
    }
}

My Xaml Resource:

<lib:EnumToArrayConverter x:Key="E2A"/>

Here is how to use it:

<ComboBox SelectedItem="{Binding MyType}" ItemsSource="{Binding MyTypes, Converter={StaticResource E2A}}"/>

So, my question is how to specify my enum “MyTypes” to the converter. I also tried to prepend namespace, but it doesn’t help.

Answer 1

You would be better off with a MarkupExtension, like this one.