And the WPF Data Binding wierdness/frustration continues …

I have a DataTemplate where DataType is defined. (In other words, WPF magic figures out when to use the template based on the type that is being bound). The Template includes a ComboBox which is bound to a static object in my UserControl class. The SelectedItem of the combobox is bound to a property of the DataTemplate’s type (which, in this case, is a linq entity object).

It looks something like this:

My problem was that when I changed the DataContext of the UserControl which in turn changed the DataContext of this DataTemplate’s parent control and the DataTemplate itself, the data in the ComboBox didn’t change. In other words, while all the controls around it were being re-bound, this particular control wasn’t.

Grrr.

After much googling, I found a cheap – but helpful – solution. Force the ComboBox to rebind every single time but adding a IValueConverter (which does nothing but return the value) to the binding.

Here is the article with the solution.

Seriously, these WPF Data Binding issues are ridiculous. I mean what exactly was Microsoft testing this shite for? It surely wasn’t real-world examples or even with it’s own new technology (Linq to SQL for example).