Question

I wrote a customcontrol. It is a textbox with a button which opens a OpenFileDialog.

The Text property of the TextBox is bound to my dependency property “FileName”. And if the user selects a file via the OpenFileDialog, i set the result to this property.

The TextBox gets the right value through binding.

But now my problem. For my view I’m using a ViewModel. So I have a Binding to my DependencyProperty “FileName” to the property in my ViewModel.
After changing the “FileName” property (changes direct to the textbox or selecting a file via the dialog), the viewmodel property doesn’t update.

CustomControl.xaml.cs

using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using Microsoft.Win32;

namespace WpfApplication1.CustomControl
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Interaction logic for FileSelectorTextBox.xaml
    /// </summary>
    public partial class FileSelectorTextBox
        : UserControl, INotifyPropertyChanged
    {
        public FileSelectorTextBox()
        {
            InitializeComponent();

            DataContext = this;
        }

        #region FileName dependency property

        public static readonly DependencyProperty FileNameProperty = DependencyProperty.Register(
            "FileName",
            typeof(string),
            typeof(FileSelectorTextBox),
            new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(string.Empty,
                FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.BindsTwoWayByDefault,
                new PropertyChangedCallback(OnFileNamePropertyChanged),
                new CoerceValueCallback(OnCoerceFileNameProperty)));

        public string FileName
        {
            get { return (string)GetValue(FileNameProperty); }
            set { /*SetValue(FileNameProperty, value);*/ CoerceFileName(value); }
        }

        private bool _shouldCoerceFileName;
        private string _coercedFileName;

        private object _lastBaseValueFromCoercionCallback;
        private object _lastOldValueFromPropertyChangedCallback;
        private object _lastNewValueFromPropertyChangedCallback;
        private object _fileNameLocalValue;
        private ValueSource _fileNameValueSource;

        private static void OnFileNamePropertyChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
        {
            if (d is FileSelectorTextBox)
            {
                (d as FileSelectorTextBox).OnFileNamePropertyChanged(e);
            }
        }

        private void OnFileNamePropertyChanged(DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
        {
            LastNewValueFromPropertyChangedCallback = e.NewValue;
            LastOldValueFromPropertyChangedCallback = e.OldValue;

            FileNameValueSource = DependencyPropertyHelper.GetValueSource(this, FileNameProperty);
            FileNameLocalValue = this.ReadLocalValue(FileNameProperty);
        }

        private static object OnCoerceFileNameProperty(DependencyObject d, object baseValue)
        {
            if (d is FileSelectorTextBox)
            {
                return (d as FileSelectorTextBox).OnCoerceFileNameProperty(baseValue);
            }
            else
            {
                return baseValue;
            }
        }

        private object OnCoerceFileNameProperty(object baseValue)
        {
            LastBaseValueFromCoercionCallback = baseValue;

            return _shouldCoerceFileName ? _coercedFileName : baseValue;
        }

        internal void CoerceFileName(string fileName)
        {
            _shouldCoerceFileName = true;
            _coercedFileName = fileName;
            CoerceValue(FileNameProperty);
            _shouldCoerceFileName = false;
        }

        #endregion FileName dependency property

        #region Public Properties

        public ValueSource FileNameValueSource
        {
            get { return _fileNameValueSource; }
            private set
            {
                _fileNameValueSource = value;
                OnPropertyChanged("FileNameValueSource");
            }
        }

        public object FileNameLocalValue
        {
            get { return _fileNameLocalValue; }
            set
            {
                _fileNameLocalValue = value;
                OnPropertyChanged("FileNameLocalValue");
            }
        }

        public object LastBaseValueFromCoercionCallback
        {
            get { return _lastBaseValueFromCoercionCallback; }
            set
            {
                _lastBaseValueFromCoercionCallback = value;
                OnPropertyChanged("LastBaseValueFromCoercionCallback");
            }
        }

        public object LastNewValueFromPropertyChangedCallback
        {
            get { return _lastNewValueFromPropertyChangedCallback; }
            set
            {
                _lastNewValueFromPropertyChangedCallback = value;
                OnPropertyChanged("LastNewValueFromPropertyChangedCallback");
            }
        }

        public object LastOldValueFromPropertyChangedCallback
        {
            get { return _lastOldValueFromPropertyChangedCallback; }
            set
            {
                _lastOldValueFromPropertyChangedCallback = value;
                OnPropertyChanged("LastOldValueFromPropertyChangedCallback");
            }
        }

        #endregion FileName dependency property

        private void btnBrowse_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
        {
            FileDialog dlg = null;

            dlg = new OpenFileDialog();

            bool? result = dlg.ShowDialog();

            if (result == true)
            {
                FileName = dlg.FileName;
            }

            txtFileName.Focus();
        }

        #region INotifyPropertyChanged

        public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;

        private void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
        {
            if (PropertyChanged != null)
            {
                PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
            }
        }

        #endregion INotifyPropertyChanged
    }
}

CustomControl.xaml

<UserControl x:Class="WpfApplication1.CustomControl.FileSelectorTextBox"
             xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
             xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
             xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
             mc:Ignorable="d"
             d:DesignHeight="23" d:DesignWidth="300">
    <Border BorderBrush="#FF919191"
            BorderThickness="0">
        <Grid>
            <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
                <ColumnDefinition Width="*" MinWidth="80" />
                <ColumnDefinition Width="30" />
            </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>

            <TextBox Name="txtFileName"
                     HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"
                     VerticalAlignment="Center"
                     Grid.Column="0"
                     Text="{Binding FileName}" />

            <Button Name="btnBrowse"
                    Click="btnBrowse_Click"
                    HorizontalContentAlignment="Center"
                    ToolTip="Datei auswählen"
                    Margin="1,0,0,0"
                    Width="29"
                    Padding="1"
                    Grid.Column="1">
                <Image Source="../Resources/viewmag.png"
                       Width="15"
                       Height="15" />
            </Button>
        </Grid>
    </Border>
</UserControl>

Using in a view:

<Window x:Class="WpfApplication1.MainView"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        xmlns:vm="clr-namespace:WpfApplication1.ViewModels"
        xmlns:controls="clr-namespace:WpfApplication1.CustomControl"
        Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
    <Window.DataContext>
        <vm:MainViewModel />
    </Window.DataContext>
    <Grid>
        <Grid.RowDefinitions>
            <RowDefinition Height="*" />
            <RowDefinition Height="10" />
            <RowDefinition Height="*" />
        </Grid.RowDefinitions>

        <DataGrid ItemsSource="{Binding Files}" AutoGenerateColumns="False">
            <DataGrid.Columns>
                <DataGridTemplateColumn Header="File name" Width="*">
                    <DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
                        <DataTemplate>
                            <controls:FileSelectorTextBox FileName="{Binding .}" Height="30" />
                        </DataTemplate>
                    </DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
                </DataGridTemplateColumn>
            </DataGrid.Columns>
        </DataGrid>

        <ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding Files}" Grid.Row="2">
            <ListBox.ItemTemplate>
                <DataTemplate>
                    <TextBlock Text="{Binding}" />
                </DataTemplate>
            </ListBox.ItemTemplate>
        </ListBox>
    </Grid>
</Window>

And the ViewModel:

using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
using System.ComponentModel;

namespace WpfApplication1.ViewModels
{
    internal class MainViewModel
        : INotifyPropertyChanged
    {
        public MainViewModel()
        {
            Files = new ObservableCollection<string> { "test1.txt", "test2.txt", "test3.txt", "test4.txt" };
        }

        #region Properties

        private ObservableCollection<string> _files;

        public ObservableCollection<string> Files
        {
            get { return _files; }
            set
            {
                _files = value;
                OnPropertyChanged("Files");
            }
        }

        #endregion Properties

        #region INotifyPropertyChanged Members

        public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;

        private void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
        {
            if (PropertyChanged != null)
            {
                PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
            }
        }

        #endregion INotifyPropertyChanged Members
    }
}

Is there any wrong using of the dependency property?
Note: The problem only occurs in DataGrid.

Answer 1

You need to set binding Mode to TwoWay, because by default binding works one way, i.e. loading changes from the view model, but not updating it back.

<controls:FileSelectorTextBox FileName="{Binding FileName, Mode=TwoWay}" Height="30" />

Another option is to declare your custom dependency property with BindsTwoWayByDefault flag, like this:

public static readonly DependencyProperty FileNameProperty =
            DependencyProperty.Register("FileName", 
                                        typeof(string), 
                                        typeof(FileSelectorTextBox), 
                                        new FrameworkPropertyMetadata(default(string), FrameworkPropertyMetadataOptions.BindsTwoWayByDefault));

Also when you change your custom dependency property from inside your control use SetCurrentValue method instead of directly assigning the value using property setter. Because if you assign it directly you will break the binding.

So, instead of:

FileName = dlg.FileName;

Do like this:

SetCurrentValue(FileNameProperty, dlg.FileName);