Question

When the user clicks on a row in the datagrid (or uses the keyboard), that row is selected, but the specific cell they clicked on is also given its own special focus. This is fine for a data editing grid, but I am trying to create something more like an open dialog that shows properties for each item in the list, so…

Is it possible to configure a (readonly) DataGrid so that the user can only select or focus on entire rows, not individual fields.

If that is not possible, is there a elegant way of making only the first element selectable – for example in the standard Windows Open dialog, if you change to Details view there are several columns for each row (Filename, Created Date, Size, etc), but you can only highlight items in the filename column.

Answer 1

Here is my (lame) version that adds a black background on the selected row and grey background on the current row. I had to overwrite the styles because I was painting the cells individually and the row selected was hidden.

Just add the pasted code to you DataGrid instance:

        <local:DataGrid.RowStyle>
            <Style TargetType="local:DataGridRow">
                <Setter Property="IsTabStop" Value="False" />
                <Setter Property="Template">
                    <Setter.Value>
                        <ControlTemplate TargetType="local:DataGridRow">
                            <localprimitives:DataGridFrozenGrid Name="Root">
                                <vsm:VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups>
                                    <vsm:VisualStateGroup x:Name="CommonStates">
                                        <vsm:VisualStateGroup.Transitions>
                                            <vsm:VisualTransition GeneratedDuration="0" />
                                        </vsm:VisualStateGroup.Transitions>
                                        <vsm:VisualState x:Name="Normal" />
                                        <vsm:VisualState x:Name="Normal AlternatingRow">
                                            <Storyboard>
                                                <DoubleAnimation Storyboard.TargetName="BackgroundRectangle" Storyboard.TargetProperty="Opacity" Duration="0" To="0"/>
                                            </Storyboard>
                                        </vsm:VisualState>
                                        <vsm:VisualState x:Name="MouseOver">
                                            <Storyboard>
                                                <DoubleAnimation Storyboard.TargetName="BackgroundRectangle" Storyboard.TargetProperty="Opacity" Duration="0" To=".5"/>
                                            </Storyboard>
                                        </vsm:VisualState>
                                        <vsm:VisualState x:Name="Normal Selected">
                                            <Storyboard>
                                                <DoubleAnimation Storyboard.TargetName="BackgroundRectangleSelected" Storyboard.TargetProperty="Opacity" Duration="0" To="1" />
                                            </Storyboard>
                                        </vsm:VisualState>
                                        <vsm:VisualState x:Name="MouseOver Selected">
                                            <Storyboard>
                                                <DoubleAnimation Storyboard.TargetName="BackgroundRectangleSelected" Storyboard.TargetProperty="Opacity" Duration="0" To="1"/>
                                            </Storyboard>
                                        </vsm:VisualState>
                                        <vsm:VisualState x:Name="Unfocused Selected">
                                            <Storyboard>
                                                <DoubleAnimation Storyboard.TargetName="BackgroundRectangleSelected" Storyboard.TargetProperty="Opacity" Duration="0" To="1"/>
                                                <ColorAnimationUsingKeyFrames BeginTime="0" Duration="0" Storyboard.TargetName="BackgroundRectangleSelected" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(Shape.Fill).(SolidColorBrush.Color)">
                                                    <SplineColorKeyFrame KeyTime="0" Value="Black"/>
                                                </ColorAnimationUsingKeyFrames>
                                            </Storyboard>
                                        </vsm:VisualState>
                                    </vsm:VisualStateGroup>
                                </vsm:VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups>
                                <Grid.RowDefinitions>
                                    <RowDefinition Height="*"/>
                                    <RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
                                    <RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
                                </Grid.RowDefinitions>
                                <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
                                    <ColumnDefinition Width="Auto" />
                                    <ColumnDefinition Width="*" />
                                </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>

                                <Grid.Resources>
                                    <Storyboard x:Key="DetailsVisibleTransition">
                                        <DoubleAnimation Storyboard.TargetName="DetailsPresenter" Storyboard.TargetProperty="ContentHeight" Duration="00:00:0.1" />
                                    </Storyboard>
                                </Grid.Resources>

                                <Rectangle x:Name="BackgroundRectangle" Grid.RowSpan="2" Grid.ColumnSpan="2" Opacity="0" Fill="#FFBADDE9"/>
                                <Rectangle x:Name="BackgroundRectangleSelected" Grid.RowSpan="2" Grid.ColumnSpan="2" Opacity="0" Fill="Black"/>

                                <localprimitives:DataGridRowHeader Grid.RowSpan="3" Name="RowHeader" localprimitives:DataGridFrozenGrid.IsFrozen="True" />
                                <localprimitives:DataGridCellsPresenter Margin="2" Grid.Column="1" Name="CellsPresenter" localprimitives:DataGridFrozenGrid.IsFrozen="True" />
                                <localprimitives:DataGridDetailsPresenter Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="1" Name="DetailsPresenter" />
                                <Rectangle Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="1" Name="BottomGridLine" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" Height="1" />
                            </localprimitives:DataGridFrozenGrid>
                        </ControlTemplate>
                    </Setter.Value>
                </Setter>
            </Style>
        </local:DataGrid.RowStyle>