Question

If I have this structure:

public class Parent
{
  public string Name{get; set;}
  public List<Child> Childs {get; set;}
}

public class Child
{
  public string Name{get; set;}
  public string Value{get; set;}
  public enum ValueType {get; set;}
}

public enum ValueType
{
    Int,
    Boolean,
    String
};

public class ParentFactory
{
   public List<Parent> Parents {get; set;}

   public ParentFactory()
   {
      Child child1 = new Child() {Name="Filter1", Value="1", ValueType=ValueType.String};
      Child child2 = new Child() {Name="isExecuted", Value="true", ValueType=ValueType.Boolean};
      Child child3 = new Child() {Name="Width", Value="10", ValueType=ValueType.Int};

      Parent parent1 = new Parent(){Name="Adam", Childs = new List<Child>(){child1, child2}};
      Parent parent2 = new Parent(){Name="Kevin", Childs = new List<Child>(){child3}};

      Parents = new List<Parent>(){parent1, parent2};
   }
}

I want to bind the object: ParentFactory parentFactory = new ParentFactory() to ItemsControl:

<DockPanel>
    <ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding Parents}">
    </ItemsControl>
</DockPanel>

 <Window.Resources>
     <DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type Parent}">
         <StackPanel Margin="2,2,2,1">
              <Expander Header="{Binding Name}">
                  <ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding Childs}" />
              </Expander>
         </StackPanel>
     </DataTemplate>
        <DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type Child}">
            <StackPanel>
                    <TextBox Grid.Column="0" Text="{Binding Name}" />
                    <TextBox Grid.Column="1" Text="{Binding Value}"/>
                    <TextBox Grid.Column="2" Text="{Binding ValueType}"/>
            </StackPanel>
        </DataTemplate>
 </Window.Resources>

In the Stackpanel, there are one control: TextBox. However, I want it to be more dynamic: if the ValueType is a Boolean then use a Checkbox and else use a Textbox for the: <TextBox Grid.Column="1" Text="{Binding Value}"/>.

Is this possible, and if so, how can I achieve it?

Answer 1

I think the easiest way to do it is to have both of them in your panel and define two new boolean properties that will control their Visibility through a Boolean To Visibility ValueConverter.

public bool IsValueTypeBoolean
{
    get
    {
         ...Conditions that will return true for CheckBox.
    }
}

public bool IsValueTypeOther
{
    get
    {
         return !this.IsValueBoolean;
    }
}

<TextBox Grid.Column="2" Visibility="{Binding IsValueTypeOther, Converter={StaticResource visibilityConverter}}"/> 
<CheckBox Grid.Column="2" Visibility="{Binding IsValueTypeBoolean, Converter={StaticResource visibilityConverter}}"/> 

Boolean To VisibilityConverter

[ValueConversion(typeof(bool), typeof(Visibility))]
public class BooleanToVisibilityConverter : IValueConverter
{
    public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
    {
        bool myValue = (bool)value;

        if (myValue)
            return Visibility.Visible;
        else
            return Visibility.Collapsed;
    }

    public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
    {
        throw new NotImplementedException();
    }
}

Add this as a resource to your XAML:

 <local:BooleanToVisibilityConverter x:Key="visibilityConverter"></local:VisibilityConverter>

I hope there are no typos…