Can a WPF ComboBox display alternative text when its selection is null?

Question

G'day!

I want my WPF ComboBox to display some alternative text when its data-bound selection is null.

The view model has the expected properties:

public ThingoSelectionViewModel : INotifyPropertyChanged {
    public ThingoSelectionViewModel(IProvideThingos) {
        this.Thingos = IProvideThingos.GetThingos();
    }

    public ObservableCollection<Thingo> Thingos { get; set; }

    public Thingo SelectedThingo { 
        get { return this.selectedThingo; }
        set { // set this.selectedThingo and raise the property change notification
    }

    // ...

}

The view has XAML binding to the view model in the expected way:

<ComboBox x:Name="ComboboxDrive" SelectedItem="{Binding Path=SelectedThingo}"
          IsEditable="false" HorizontalAlignment="Left" MinWidth="100" 
          IsReadOnly="false" Style="{StaticResource ComboboxStyle}"
          Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1" Margin="5" SelectedIndex="0">
    <ComboBox.ItemsSource>
        <CompositeCollection>
        <ComboBoxItem IsEnabled="False">Select a thingo</ComboBoxItem>
        <CollectionContainer 
            Collection="{Binding Source={StaticResource Thingos}}" />
        </CompositeCollection>
    </ComboBox.ItemsSource>
</ComboBox>

The ComboBoxItem wedged into the top is a way to get an extra item at the top. It's pure chrome: the view model stays pure and simple. There's just one problem: the users want "Select a thingo" displayed whenever the ComboBox' selection is null.

The users do not want a thingo selected by default. They want to see a message telling them to select a thingo.

I'd like to avoid having to pollute the viewmodel with a ThingoWrapper class with a ToString method returning "Select a thingo" if its .ActualThingo property is null, wrapping each Thingo as I populate Thingos, and figuring out some way to prevent the user from selecting the nulled Thingo.

Is there a way to display "Select a thingo" within the ComboBox' boundaries using pure XAML, or pure XAML and a few lines of code in the view's code-behind class?

Answer 1

How strict is your MVVM requirement? Can you have a little code-behind in the view?

Perhaps you could contain the ComboBox in a grid, something like this:

<Grid>
    <ComboBox x:Name="ComboBoxControl"
              SelectionChanged="ComboBoxControl_SelectionChanged"
              HorizontalAlignment="Left" VerticalAlignment="Top" 
              MinWidth="{Binding ElementName=UnselectedText, Path=ActualWidth}">
        <ComboBoxItem>One</ComboBoxItem>
        <ComboBoxItem>Two</ComboBoxItem>
        <ComboBoxItem>Three</ComboBoxItem>
    </ComboBox>
    <TextBlock IsHitTestVisible="False" 
               x:Name="UnselectedText" 
               HorizontalAlignment="Left" 
               Text="Select an option..." 
               VerticalAlignment="Top" Margin="4" 
               Padding="0,0,30,0" />
</Grid>

Then, in the code-behind, insert some logic in an event handler:

Private Sub ComboBoxControl_SelectionChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Controls.SelectionChangedEventArgs)
    If ComboBoxControl.SelectedIndex = -1 Then
        UnselectedText.Visibility = Windows.Visibility.Visible
    Else
        UnselectedText.Visibility = Windows.Visibility.Hidden
    End If
End Sub

Setting the IsHitTestVisible="False" DependencyProperty on the TextBlock lets mouse events through so that you can click on the ComboBox, and setting the visibility to Hidden in the code-behind keeps the layout of a default ComboBox's appearance from jumping around when the prompt text is hidden.