Question

Is there any way to set a WPF accordion so all it’s items are collapsed by default, only when I click the expander button it should expand?

Update
According to the template I realized that what selects the item is the IsSelected property of the AccordionItem, the problem is, when I try to set this property (from code in a button click handler) I get the following InvalidOperationException:

Cannot modify the IsSelected property while item is locked.

StackTrace:

  at System.Windows.Controls.AccordionItem.OnIsSelectedPropertyChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e) in C:\dd\WPF_1\src\wpf\src\ControlsPack\WPFToolkit\Layout\Accordion\System\Windows\Controls\AccordionItem.cs:line 315
   at System.Windows.DependencyObject.OnPropertyChanged(DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.FrameworkElement.OnPropertyChanged(DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.DependencyObject.NotifyPropertyChange(DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs args)
   at System.Windows.DependencyObject.UpdateEffectiveValue(EntryIndex entryIndex, DependencyProperty dp, PropertyMetadata metadata, EffectiveValueEntry oldEntry, EffectiveValueEntry& newEntry, Boolean coerceWithDeferredReference, Boolean coerceWithCurrentValue, OperationType operationType)
   at System.Windows.DependencyObject.SetValueCommon(DependencyProperty dp, Object value, PropertyMetadata metadata, Boolean coerceWithDeferredReference, Boolean coerceWithCurrentValue, OperationType operationType, Boolean isInternal)
   at System.Windows.DependencyObject.SetValue(DependencyProperty dp, Object value)
   at System.Windows.Controls.AccordionItem.set_IsSelected(Boolean value) in C:\dd\WPF_1\src\wpf\src\ControlsPack\WPFToolkit\Layout\Accordion\System\Windows\Controls\AccordionItem.cs:line 284
   at WpfSampleApplication.MainWindow.btn_Click(Object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) in d:\users\shimmy\documents\visual studio 2010\Projects\WpfSampleApplication\MainWindow.xaml.vb:line 9
   at System.Windows.RoutedEventHandlerInfo.InvokeHandler(Object target, RoutedEventArgs routedEventArgs)
   at System.Windows.EventRoute.InvokeHandlersImpl(Object source, RoutedEventArgs args, Boolean reRaised)
   at System.Windows.UIElement.RaiseEventImpl(DependencyObject sender, RoutedEventArgs args)
   at System.Windows.UIElement.RaiseEvent(RoutedEventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Controls.Primitives.ButtonBase.OnClick()
   at System.Windows.Controls.Button.OnClick()
   at System.Windows.Controls.Primitives.ButtonBase.OnMouseLeftButtonUp(MouseButtonEventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.UIElement.OnMouseLeftButtonUpThunk(Object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Input.MouseButtonEventArgs.InvokeEventHandler(Delegate genericHandler, Object genericTarget)
   at System.Windows.RoutedEventArgs.InvokeHandler(Delegate handler, Object target)
   at System.Windows.RoutedEventHandlerInfo.InvokeHandler(Object target, RoutedEventArgs routedEventArgs)
   at System.Windows.EventRoute.InvokeHandlersImpl(Object source, RoutedEventArgs args, Boolean reRaised)
   at System.Windows.UIElement.ReRaiseEventAs(DependencyObject sender, RoutedEventArgs args, RoutedEvent newEvent)
   at System.Windows.UIElement.OnMouseUpThunk(Object sender, MouseButtonEventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Input.MouseButtonEventArgs.InvokeEventHandler(Delegate genericHandler, Object genericTarget)
   at System.Windows.RoutedEventArgs.InvokeHandler(Delegate handler, Object target)
   at System.Windows.RoutedEventHandlerInfo.InvokeHandler(Object target, RoutedEventArgs routedEventArgs)
   at System.Windows.EventRoute.InvokeHandlersImpl(Object source, RoutedEventArgs args, Boolean reRaised)
   at System.Windows.UIElement.RaiseEventImpl(DependencyObject sender, RoutedEventArgs args)
   at System.Windows.UIElement.RaiseTrustedEvent(RoutedEventArgs args)
   at System.Windows.UIElement.RaiseEvent(RoutedEventArgs args, Boolean trusted)
   at System.Windows.Input.InputManager.ProcessStagingArea()
   at System.Windows.Input.InputManager.ProcessInput(InputEventArgs input)
   at System.Windows.Input.InputProviderSite.ReportInput(InputReport inputReport)
   at System.Windows.Interop.HwndMouseInputProvider.ReportInput(IntPtr hwnd, InputMode mode, Int32 timestamp, RawMouseActions actions, Int32 x, Int32 y, Int32 wheel)
   at System.Windows.Interop.HwndMouseInputProvider.FilterMessage(IntPtr hwnd, WindowMessage msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam, Boolean& handled)
   at System.Windows.Interop.HwndSource.InputFilterMessage(IntPtr hwnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam, Boolean& handled)
   at MS.Win32.HwndWrapper.WndProc(IntPtr hwnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam, Boolean& handled)
   at MS.Win32.HwndSubclass.DispatcherCallbackOperation(Object o)
   at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.InternalRealCall(Delegate callback, Object args, Int32 numArgs)
   at MS.Internal.Threading.ExceptionFilterHelper.TryCatchWhen(Object source, Delegate method, Object args, Int32 numArgs, Delegate catchHandler)
   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.InvokeImpl(DispatcherPriority priority, TimeSpan timeout, Delegate method, Object args, Int32 numArgs)
   at MS.Win32.HwndSubclass.SubclassWndProc(IntPtr hwnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam)
   at MS.Win32.UnsafeNativeMethods.DispatchMessage(MSG& msg)
   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.PushFrameImpl(DispatcherFrame frame)
   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.PushFrame(DispatcherFrame frame)
   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.Run()
   at System.Windows.Application.RunDispatcher(Object ignore)
   at System.Windows.Application.RunInternal(Window window)
   at System.Windows.Application.Run(Window window)
   at System.Windows.Application.Run()
   at WpfSampleApplication.Application.Main() in d:\users\shimmy\documents\visual studio 2010\Projects\WpfSampleApplication\obj\x86\Debug\Application.g.vb:line 64
   at System.AppDomain._nExecuteAssembly(RuntimeAssembly assembly, String[] args)
   at System.AppDomain.ExecuteAssembly(String assemblyFile, Evidence assemblySecurity, String[] args)
   at Microsoft.VisualStudio.HostingProcess.HostProc.RunUsersAssembly()
   at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart_Context(Object state)
   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state, Boolean ignoreSyncCtx)
   at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state)
   at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart()

Answer 1

You can control which item is selected with the SelectedIndex and SelectedItem properties of the Accordion control itself.

You can put a non-visible AccordionItem as the first item to show all items initially as collapsed:

<toolkit:AccordionItem Visibility="Collapsed"/>

To open a particular item, set the SelectedIndex property in the Loaded handler. Or you can do all in XAML if you are using behaviors:

<toolkit:Accordion>
    <i:Interaction.Triggers>
        <i:EventTrigger EventName="Loaded">
            <ei:ChangePropertyAction PropertyName="SelectedIndex" Value="2"/>
        </i:EventTrigger>
    </i:Interaction.Triggers>

Edit:

The “xmlns:i” namespace refers to System.Windows.Interactivity which is part of WPF4. The “xmlns:ei” namespace refers to Microsoft.Expression.Interactions which is part of the:

• Microsoft Expression Blend Software Development Kit (SDK) for .NET 4

After you have added the references to your project you can use this to set up the namespaces:

<Window ...
    xmlns:i="clr-namespace:System.Windows.Interactivity;assembly=System.Windows.Interactivity"
    xmlns:ei="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/2010/interactions"
    ...>