MVVM and Navigation in Silverlight - mvvm

Suppose I'm using the MVVM approach (Silverlight)
I'm having all my buttons handled with commands.
Suppose I have a button used to navigate to a certain page, say we selected a customer in a grid and want to navigate to the customer's details view.
Can I handle this button with a DelegateCommand? How? Can I handle the navigation from the ViewModel? Am I forced to handle the navigation from the code-behind.

Here we go:
Xaml:
<Button Command="{Binding GoToCustomerDetailsPage}" Content="Customer Details"/>
ViewModel:
private INavigationService _navigationService;
public ViewModel(INavigationService navigationService)
{
_navigationService=navigationService;
}
public ICommand GoToCustomerDetailsPage
{
get{
return new DelegateCommand(GoToCustDetailsPage,CanGoToCustDetailsPage);
}
}
private void GoToCustDetailsPage()
{
_navigationService.Navigate(new Uri("/CustomerDetails", UriKind.Relative));
}
private bool CanGoToCustDetailspage()
{
return true;//Or some sensible code that determines if this is sensible.
}
Basically, the Command is bound to the button as per normal. The command is a property on the viewmodel. When the Command is executed it simply calls a private method in the viewmodel.

here INavigationService not available.. It gives error if we add the namespace System.Windows.Navigation..

Related

UWP Data-Binding not working with ViewModel

Fairly new to UWP and MVVM I came across a problem which might seem obvious to many of you.
In my project I have 3 folders named Views, ViewModels and Models which include some files as seen in the image bellow:
Can't upload image yet (reputation):
http://i.imgur.com/42f5KeT.png
The problem:
I am trying to implement MVVM. I have searched hours for articles and videos but it seems I am always missing something. I have some bindings in the LoginPage.xaml which I then modify in a class inside Models/LoginPageModel.cs. I have an INotifyPropertyChanged class in my LoginPageViewModel.cs where every time a property changes in my LoginPageModel.cs I want the INotifyPropertyChanged class to trigger which will then change the property in the LoginPage.xaml View. Below I have the content of those files.
This is a sample of my LoginPageModel.cs code:
using System;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Windows.UI.Xaml;
using Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls;
namespace App_Name.Models
{
class LoginPageModel
{
private NotifyChanges notify;
public async void LogIn()
{
if (something is true)
notify.LoginUIVisibility = Visibility.Visible;
}
}
}
This is my LoginPageViewModel.cs:
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
using Windows.UI.Xaml;
namespace App_Name.ViewModels
{
public class NotifyChanges : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
private void NotifyPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = "")
{
PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
private Visibility loginUIVisibility = Visibility.Collapsed;
public Visibility LoginUIVisibility
{
get
{
return loginUIVisibility;
}
set
{
if (value != loginUIVisibility)
{
loginUIVisibility = value;
NotifyPropertyChanged("LoginUIVisibility");
}
}
}
}
}
Here is an example of LoginPage.xaml:
<Page
x:Class="App_Name.LoginPage"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="using:App_Name"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:vm="using:App_Name.ViewModels"
mc:Ignorable="d">
<Page.DataContext>
<vm:NotifyChanges/>
</Page.DataContext>
<StackPanel Visibility="{Binding LoginUIVisibility}">
Here is my LoginPage.xaml.cs:
namespace App_Name
{
public sealed partial class LoginPage : Page
{
private LoginPageModel login;
public LoginPage()
{
InitializeComponent();
login.LogIn();
}
}
}
I don't know why this is not working. Bindings used not to work, but now at runtime it gives me an unhandled exception and I think it has to do with not assigning any value to the private NotifyChanges notify and private LoginPageModel login objects, but I don't know what. Thanks everyone for your time in advance!
Please if you need clarifications for my question just write a comment. Thank you!
I am trying to implement MVVM.
And you're not getting it right yet. Forget about the Bindings for a moment, let's focus on the architecture.
Going down the acronym, you need
a Model. It supports your business logic and usually is defined by your backend (database). It should not depend on (be aware of) the Views or ViewModels. A lightweight UWP app could do without a Model layer.
a View. This is the XAML part that we like to keep as simple as possible, a.o. reasons because it's hardest to test.
a ViewModel. It's purpose is to serve the View. It should contain properties and commands the View can directly bind to. It does as much conversion and aggregation as possible to keep the View light. It usually relies on (0 or more) Models or Services.
Given this, it is not the case that you should always have 1 Model for 1 ViewModel. A ViewModel could use multiple Models, or none.
It is clear that your LoginPageModel.Login() is in the wrong place. Login() should be a method (Command) on your ViewModel.
Your story should go like this:
I want a LoginView
So I need to support it with a LoginViewModel, implementing INPC
The ViewModel probably needs to use a LoginService or a UserModel. But it would only need a Model instance after a successful login. A LoginModel doesn't sound right.
Have a look at Template10 to get started with View, ViewModel and a thread-safe BindableBase.
You could also look a the picture over here for a full (over the top maybe) layout of MVVM.
And here is the call for change in the main class:
NotifyChanges notifyChanges = new NotifyChanges();
notifyChanges.LoginUIVisibility = Visibility.Visible;
You have instantiated notifyChanges in the XAML file by adding <vm:NotifyChanges/>. And add a binding to StackPanel by using <StackPanel Visibility="{Binding LoginUIVisibility}">. But you created a new notifyChanges, and you did not bind the new notifyChanges to StackPanel. So it won't work. You could initialize viewModel just like following code.
MainPage
private LoginViewModel viewModel;
public MainPage()
{
this.InitializeComponent();
viewModel = this.DataContext as LoginViewModel;
}
private void showDetail_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
viewModel.LoginUIVisibility = Visibility.Visible;
}
MainPage.xaml
<Page.DataContext>
<vm:LoginViewModel />
</Page.DataContext>
<StackPanel Background="{ThemeResource ApplicationPageBackgroundThemeBrush}">
<Button x:Name="loginButon" Content="Login" Visibility="{Binding LoginUIVisibility}" />
<Button x:Name="showDetail" Content="Show" Click="showDetail_Click" />
</StackPanel>

Best practice MVVM navigation using Master Detail page?

I want to follow the MVVM pattern as much as possible, but I don't know if I am doing the navigation quite well. Note that I am using a MasterDetail page and I want to maintain the Master page, changing only the Detail side when I navigate.
Here is the way I navigate from my ViewModel. In this example, from ViewModelOne to ViewModelTwo:
public class ViewModelOne : ViewModelBase
{
private void GoToViewTwo()
{
var viewTwo = new ViewTwo(new ViewModelTwo());
((MasterView)Application.Current.MainPage).NavigateToPage(viewTwo);
}
}
MasterView implementation:
public class MasterView : MasterDetailPage
{
public void NavigateToPage(Page page)
{
Detail = new NavigationPage(page);
IsPresented = false;
}
}
ViewTwo implementation:
public partial class ViewTwo : PageBase
{
public MenuView(ViewModelTwo vm)
: base(vm)
{
InitializeComponent();
}
}
PageBase implementation:
public class PageBase : ContentPage
{
public PageBase(ViewModelBase vmb)
{
this.BindingContext = vmb;
}
}
Is this the best approach (and best performance) for do the navigation? When I do some navigations, the app starts to run slower and maybe there is something I am not doing fine.
Is this the best approach for do the navigation showing always a MasterDetail page?
Thanks.
I think you're certainly on the right track, however there are a few issues here:
Firstly, you should not be instantiating Views in your view model. As soon as your View Model becomes aware of the view, then you've pretty much broken the pattern.
var viewTwo = new ViewTwo(new ViewModelTwo());
Your view creation should be the responsibility of the master view. In fact, you don't even need to worry about creating views, as you can use a DataTemplate for that. I'll explain that later.
Firstly, we need to separate your View Models from the Views, here is what I propose:
You'll need some kind of base class or interface for your view models in order to keep things generic, you'll see why in a moment. Let's start out with a simple example:
public abstract class ViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public event EventHandler OnClosed;
public event EventHandler OnOpened;
//Don't forget to implement INotifyPropertyChanged.
public bool IsDisplayed { get; private set; }
public void Open()
{
IsDisplayed = true;
//TODO: Raise the OnOpened event (Might be a better idea to put it in the IsDisplayed getter.
}
public void Close()
{
IsDisplayed = false;
//TODO: Raise the OnClosed event.
}
}
This of course is a very simple base view model, you can extend on this later, the main reason for this is to allow you to create a master view model which will be responsible for displaying your current page. Here's a simple example of a master view model:
public class MasterViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
//Don't forget to implement INotifyPropertyChanged.
public ViewModel CurrentPage { get; private set; }
public MasterViewModel()
{
//This is just an example of how to set the current page.
//You might want to use a command instead.
CurrentPage = new MovieViewModel();
}
//TODO: Some other master view model functionality, like exiting the application.
}
Please note that INotifyPropertyChanged would probably be better in some kind of base class, instead of having to re-implement the same code over and over.
Now the MasterViewModel is pretty simple, it just holds the current page, however the purpose of having the master is to allow for application level code to be executed, like closing the app, that way you're keeping this logic away from your other view models.
Right, now onto the good stuff.
Your detail has a relationship to it's parent, therefore it would make sense to say that it is the responsibility of the parent to manage it. In this case, your master-detail view model would look something like this:
public class MovieViewModel : ViewModel
{
protected PickGenreViewModel ChildViewModel { get; private set; }
public MovieViewModel()
{
ChildViewModel = new PickGenreViewModel();
//TODO: Perhaps subscribe to the closed event?
}
//Just an example but an important thing to note is that
//this method is protected because it's the MovieViewModel's
//responsibility to manage it's child view model.
protected void PickAGenre()
{
ChildViewModel.Open();
}
//TODO: Other view model functionality.
}
So, now we've got some kind of view model structure here, I bet you're asking "What about the views?", well, that's where the DataTemplate comes in.
In WPF, it's possible to assign a view to a Type, for example, you can assign the MovieView to the MovieViewModel in XAML, like this:
xmlns:Views="clr-namespace:YourNamespace.Views"
xmlns:ViewModels="clr-namespace:YourNamespace.ViewModels"
...
<DataTemplate DataType="{x:Type ViewModels:MovieViewModel}">
<Views:MovieView/>
</DataTemplate>
Ok great!, now to get the Master View to actually display the current page's view, you simply need to create a ContentPresenter, and bind it's Content to the CurrentPage. Your Master View will look something like this:
<Window
...
xmlns:ViewModels="clr-namespace:YourNamespace.ViewModels">
<Window.DataContext>
<ViewModels:MasterViewModel/>
</Window.DataContext>
<Grid>
<ContentPresenter Content="{Binding CurrentPage}"/>
</Grid>
To extend this further, it's not only the MasterView that needs to contain a ContentPresenter for it's child, it is also the MovieView which needs one for it's child PickGenreViewModel. You can use the same method again:
<Grid>
<!-- The main view code for the movie view -->
...
<Border Visibility="{Binding ChildViewModel.IsDisplayed, Converter=...">
<ContentPresenter Content="{Binding ChildViewModel}"/>
</Border>
</Grid>
Note: Use a boolean to Visibility converter to determine whether to display the child content.
Using this method you don't have to worry about instantiating any views, as the DataTemplate and ContentPresenter handles that for you, all you need to worry about is mapping the view models to the appropriate view.
Phew! That was a lot to take in.
The main points to take away from this are:
You shouldn't be creating views in your view models, remember, UI is UI, Data is Data.
View model responsibilities lie with whoever owns them, for a parent-child relationship, it makes sense to let the parent manage the child, as opposed to a view model manager.
A final note is that there are certainly more than one other ways of achieving this, as I just mentioned, some kind of view and view model manager to be responsible for creating/removing views and view models.

Where is good place to register Messenger responsible for showing Windows to ensure MVVM pattern Separation of Concerns and Testability not violated?

Scenario:
MainWindow has a Menu About which relates to AboutWindow.
About Meny is triggered by command:
<MenuItem Header="_About" Command="{Binding OpenAbout}"/>
OpenAbout is property like that:
private RelayCommand _openAbout;
public RelayCommand OpenAbout
{
get
{
return _openAbout ?? (_openAbout = new RelayCommand(() => Messenger.Default.Send(new NotificationMessage("ShowAboutView"))));
}
}
Notification message is registered in App.cs class as follows:
static App()
{
DispatcherHelper.Initialize();
}
public App()
{
RegisterMessenger();
}
public void RegisterMessenger()
{
Messenger.Default.Register<NotificationMessage>(this, ProcessShowAboutView);
}
private void ProcessShowAboutView(NotificationMessage message)
{
AboutWindow view = new AboutWindow();
view.Show();
}
I analysed another questions like that:
How to open a new window using MVVM Light Toolkit
WPF MVVM - How to Show a view from MainWindowViewModel upon Clicking on button
I like Messenger functionality but however I am not sure If above solution is a good one.
I would be thankful for any advise!
As depicted above, Registering messages is done in App Config.
I consider it not be a good place therefore I need to know what place would be better.
Another place to consider would be Locator
I personaly would register the messages in App.xaml.cs in the OnStartup method (WPF) and in the set up method of the unit test (dont forget to unregister everything in the tear down method).

MvvmCross navigation on screen

Our designer created a layout something like the screen above. The main idea was to create an application with only one screen, just the red part of the screen is changing (i.e. 2 textbox instead of 1 textbox) when you tap on a button. This application will be a multiplatform application and I'm using MvvmCross to create it. My question is that how can i achieve this behavior in Mvvm? My first thought was sg. like the code below, but I'm not satisfied with this solution. Do you have any better solution to this problem? Should i somehow overwrite default navigation on ShowViewModel()?
public class MainViewModel : MvxViewModel
{
private MvxViewModel _currentViewModel;
public MvxViewModel CurrentViewModel
{
get { return _currentViewModel; }
set { _currentViewModel = value; RaisePropertyChanged(() => CurrentViewModel); }
}
public MainViewModel()
{
CurrentViewModel = new DefaultViewModel();
}
public void OnButtonClick()
{
CurrentViewModel = new SecondViewModel();
}
}
public partial class MainViewModel : MvxViewController
{
public override void ViewDidLoad ()
{
base.ViewDidLoad ();
FirstViewModel.WeakSubscribe(ViewModelPropertyChanged);
}
private void ViewModelPropertyChanged(object sender, PropertyChangedEventArgs args)
{
if (args.PropertyName == "CurrentViewModel")
{
if (Model.CurrentViewModel != null)
{
if (Model.CurrentViewModel is SecondViewModel)
{
//remove bindings
//change View
//bind new viewmodel
}
}
}
}
The alternatives for this kind of 'non-page navigation' are similar to those in MvvmCross Dialog:
You can:
Customize the MvxPresenter to allow ShowViewModel to be used
Put a special interface in the Core project and use Inversion of Control to inject the implementation from the UI project to the Core project
Use the MvxMessenger plugin and share messages between the Core and UI project which trigger this type of navigation.
Use a property with a special interface (like IInteractionRequest) on the ViewModel - that property will fire an event when the UI needs to change.
Personally, for your situation, I quite like the first of these options - intercepting ShowViewModel using a presenter.
One other alternative which I might consider is to use some kind of 'Adapter-driven' control which could very easily update it's child contents based on the CurrentViewModel property. On Android, this would be as easy as using an MvxLinearLayout with an adapter. On iOS, however, I think you'd have to write something new to do this - just because iOS doesn't really have a LinearLayout/StackPanel control.

MVVM: IView vs. databinding

I am reading about MVVM in order to adopt this across my presentation layers' views. Ideally I would like to use the same approach for WinForms, ASP.NET and SL.
I came across 2 distinct approaches and I would like to gather opinions in these (and possibly others):
The 'View with interface' and where the View is databound to the ViewModel
'View with interface'
In this approach we have an interface IView that contains:
- Set/Get properties for the typical field values
- Events for actions that happen on the View
The way this works is by a concrete implementation of the IView being injected into the ViewModel. The ViewModel then wires up the
events. It also then 'pushes' and pulls field values via the properties. It is also aware of what happens on the View by means of
the events. Controls can be activated and deactivated through the IView properties.
Concrete implementations of the view is easy in WinForms, not sure about the other technologies and the 'Blendability' in SL.
public interface IMyView
{
event EventHandler SomeActionClicked;
Boolean CanEditField1 { get;set; }
string Field1 { get;set; }
}
public class MyConcreteView: Form,IMyView
{
public event EventHandler SomeActionClicked;
public Boolean CanEditField1
{
get { return edtField1.Enabled; }
set { edtField1.Enabled = value; }
}
public string Field1
{
get { return edtField1.Text; }
set { edtField1.Text = value; }
}
private void btnAction_Click(object sender,EventArgs e)
{
SomeActionClicked(sender,e);
}
}
public class ViewModel
{
public ViewModel(IMyView view)
{
this.view = view;
view.SomeActionClicked += SomeActionHandler;
}
private void SomeActionHandler(object sender,EventArgs e)
{
view.CanEditField = !view.CanEditField; // Or whatever 'state' the ViewModel or Model is
view.Field1 = DateTime.Now.ToString(...);
}
private IMyView view;
}
Databound View
The other approach is a ViewModel that has several properties that reflect the Model (data/field values, UI control states, etc.
The View then uses databinding to 'present' the field values (Model) in the UI controls on the View. The ViewModel also controls
UI control states through properties being databound to. Actions in the View is fed to the ViewModel through methods in the
ViewModel that are hooked to.
Any (non-apparent) pros & cons to each of these methods?
Maybe you would actually only need the view as a "presenter" of the properties in winforms, while in SL all the wiring up is done trough the xaml, that would require less boiler plate.
So keep your view models in a common code base, while the view is specific to winforms.
For ASP.NET, those viewmodel events are not so sweet to hook up, unless you go for ugly oldschool webforms controls and postbacks.
I dont really see the difference between the two approaches, both would work with SL.
Keep it simple.