How do I bind a WPF DataGrid to a variable number of columns?

Question

Here's a workaround for Binding Columns in the DataGrid. Since the Columns property is ReadOnly, like everyone noticed, I made an Attached Property called BindableColumns which updates the Columns in the DataGrid everytime the collection changes through the CollectionChanged event.

If we have this Collection of DataGridColumn's

public ObservableCollection<DataGridColumn> ColumnCollection
{
    get;
    private set;
}

Then we can bind BindableColumns to the ColumnCollection like this

<DataGrid Name="dataGrid"
          local:DataGridColumnsBehavior.BindableColumns="{Binding ColumnCollection}"
          AutoGenerateColumns="False"
          ...>

The Attached Property BindableColumns

public class DataGridColumnsBehavior
{
    public static readonly DependencyProperty BindableColumnsProperty =
        DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached("BindableColumns",
                                            typeof(ObservableCollection<DataGridColumn>),
                                            typeof(DataGridColumnsBehavior),
                                            new UIPropertyMetadata(null, BindableColumnsPropertyChanged));
    private static void BindableColumnsPropertyChanged(DependencyObject source, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        DataGrid dataGrid = source as DataGrid;
        ObservableCollection<DataGridColumn> columns = e.NewValue as ObservableCollection<DataGridColumn>;
        dataGrid.Columns.Clear();
        if (columns == null)
        {
            return;
        }
        foreach (DataGridColumn column in columns)
        {
            dataGrid.Columns.Add(column);
        }
        columns.CollectionChanged += (sender, e2) =>
        {
            NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs ne = e2 as NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs;
            if (ne.Action == NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Reset)
            {
                dataGrid.Columns.Clear();
                foreach (DataGridColumn column in ne.NewItems)
                {
                    dataGrid.Columns.Add(column);
                }
            }
            else if (ne.Action == NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Add)
            {
                foreach (DataGridColumn column in ne.NewItems)
                {
                    dataGrid.Columns.Add(column);
                }
            }
            else if (ne.Action == NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Move)
            {
                dataGrid.Columns.Move(ne.OldStartingIndex, ne.NewStartingIndex);
            }
            else if (ne.Action == NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Remove)
            {
                foreach (DataGridColumn column in ne.OldItems)
                {
                    dataGrid.Columns.Remove(column);
                }
            }
            else if (ne.Action == NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Replace)
            {
                dataGrid.Columns[ne.NewStartingIndex] = ne.NewItems[0] as DataGridColumn;
            }
        };
    }
    public static void SetBindableColumns(DependencyObject element, ObservableCollection<DataGridColumn> value)
    {
        element.SetValue(BindableColumnsProperty, value);
    }
    public static ObservableCollection<DataGridColumn> GetBindableColumns(DependencyObject element)
    {
        return (ObservableCollection<DataGridColumn>)element.GetValue(BindableColumnsProperty);
    }
}

I've continued my research and have not found any reasonable way to do this. The Columns property on the DataGrid isn't something I can bind against, in fact it's read only.

Bryan suggested something might be done with AutoGenerateColumns so I had a look. It uses simple .Net reflection to look at the properties of the objects in ItemsSource and generates a column for each one. Perhaps I could generate a type on the fly with a property for each column but this is getting way off track.

Since this problem is so easily sovled in code I will stick with a simple extension method I call whenever the data context is updated with new columns:

public static void GenerateColumns(this DataGrid dataGrid, IEnumerable<ColumnSchema> columns)
{
    dataGrid.Columns.Clear();

    int index = 0;
    foreach (var column in columns)
    {
        dataGrid.Columns.Add(new DataGridTextColumn
        {
            Header = column.Name,
            Binding = new Binding(string.Format("[{0}]", index++))
        });
    }
}

// E.g. myGrid.GenerateColumns(schema);

I have found a blog article by Deborah Kurata with a nice trick how to show variable number of columns in a DataGrid:

Populating a DataGrid with Dynamic Columns in a Silverlight Application using MVVM

Basically, she creates a DataGridTemplateColumn and puts ItemsControl inside that displays multiple columns.

I managed to make it possible to dynamically add a column using just a line of code like this:

MyItemsCollection.AddPropertyDescriptor(
    new DynamicPropertyDescriptor<User, int>("Age", x => x.Age));

Regarding to the question, this is not a XAML-based solution (since as mentioned there is no reasonable way to do it), neither it is a solution which would operate directly with DataGrid.Columns. It actually operates with DataGrid bound ItemsSource, which implements ITypedList and as such provides custom methods for PropertyDescriptor retrieval. In one place in code you can define "data rows" and "data columns" for your grid.

If you would have:

IList<string> ColumnNames { get; set; }
//dict.key is column name, dict.value is value
Dictionary<string, string> Rows { get; set; }

you could use for example:

var descriptors= new List<PropertyDescriptor>();
//retrieve column name from preprepared list or retrieve from one of the items in dictionary
foreach(var columnName in ColumnNames)
    descriptors.Add(new DynamicPropertyDescriptor<Dictionary, string>(ColumnName, x => x[columnName]))
MyItemsCollection = new DynamicDataGridSource(Rows, descriptors) 

and your grid using binding to MyItemsCollection would be populated with corresponding columns. Those columns can be modified (new added or existing removed) at runtime dynamically and grid will automatically refresh it's columns collection.

DynamicPropertyDescriptor mentioned above is just an upgrade to regular PropertyDescriptor and provides strongly-typed columns definition with some additional options. DynamicDataGridSource would otherwise work just fine event with basic PropertyDescriptor.

Made a version of the accepted answer that handles unsubscription.

public class DataGridColumnsBehavior
{
    public static readonly DependencyProperty BindableColumnsProperty =
        DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached("BindableColumns",
                                            typeof(ObservableCollection<DataGridColumn>),
                                            typeof(DataGridColumnsBehavior),
                                            new UIPropertyMetadata(null, BindableColumnsPropertyChanged));

    /// <summary>Collection to store collection change handlers - to be able to unsubscribe later.</summary>
    private static readonly Dictionary<DataGrid, NotifyCollectionChangedEventHandler> _handlers;

    static DataGridColumnsBehavior()
    {
        _handlers = new Dictionary<DataGrid, NotifyCollectionChangedEventHandler>();
    }

    private static void BindableColumnsPropertyChanged(DependencyObject source, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        DataGrid dataGrid = source as DataGrid;

        ObservableCollection<DataGridColumn> oldColumns = e.OldValue as ObservableCollection<DataGridColumn>;
        if (oldColumns != null)
        {
            // Remove all columns.
            dataGrid.Columns.Clear();

            // Unsubscribe from old collection.
            NotifyCollectionChangedEventHandler h;
            if (_handlers.TryGetValue(dataGrid, out h))
            {
                oldColumns.CollectionChanged -= h;
                _handlers.Remove(dataGrid);
            }
        }

        ObservableCollection<DataGridColumn> newColumns = e.NewValue as ObservableCollection<DataGridColumn>;
        dataGrid.Columns.Clear();
        if (newColumns != null)
        {
            // Add columns from this source.
            foreach (DataGridColumn column in newColumns)
                dataGrid.Columns.Add(column);

            // Subscribe to future changes.
            NotifyCollectionChangedEventHandler h = (_, ne) => OnCollectionChanged(ne, dataGrid);
            _handlers[dataGrid] = h;
            newColumns.CollectionChanged += h;
        }
    }

    static void OnCollectionChanged(NotifyCollectionChangedEventArgs ne, DataGrid dataGrid)
    {
        switch (ne.Action)
        {
            case NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Reset:
                dataGrid.Columns.Clear();
                foreach (DataGridColumn column in ne.NewItems)
                    dataGrid.Columns.Add(column);
                break;
            case NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Add:
                foreach (DataGridColumn column in ne.NewItems)
                    dataGrid.Columns.Add(column);
                break;
            case NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Move:
                dataGrid.Columns.Move(ne.OldStartingIndex, ne.NewStartingIndex);
                break;
            case NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Remove:
                foreach (DataGridColumn column in ne.OldItems)
                    dataGrid.Columns.Remove(column);
                break;
            case NotifyCollectionChangedAction.Replace:
                dataGrid.Columns[ne.NewStartingIndex] = ne.NewItems[0] as DataGridColumn;
                break;
        }
    }

    public static void SetBindableColumns(DependencyObject element, ObservableCollection<DataGridColumn> value)
    {
        element.SetValue(BindableColumnsProperty, value);
    }

    public static ObservableCollection<DataGridColumn> GetBindableColumns(DependencyObject element)
    {
        return (ObservableCollection<DataGridColumn>)element.GetValue(BindableColumnsProperty);
    }
}