How to bind WPF DataGrid to ObservableCollection

Question

Can you give me a tip how to bind a WPF DataGrid to ObservableCollection. I had seen some posts and didn't find a direct answer. There and everywhere intricate problems are described but my problem rather is not sophisticated. I have an observable collection and WPF DataGrid. Both of them are in WPF application which is a client of a duplex contract WCF service. Here is an ObservableCollection:

private ObservableCollection<MyClass> _myCollection = new ObservableCollection<MyClass>();
public ObservableCollection<MyClass> DownloadsCollection
{
    get { return this._downloadsCollection; }
}

Here is a XAML markup with DataGrid:

<Window x:Class="DownloadManager_Client.MainWindow"
. . . . . . . .>

    <DataGrid Name="dgDownloadsInfo" Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="0" AutoGenerateColumns="False" CanUserAddRows="False"
              CanUserDeleteRows="False" CanUserReorderColumns="False" CanUserResizeColumns="False"
              CanUserResizeRows="False" CanUserSortColumns="False" SelectionMode="Single" SelectionChanged="dgDownloadsInfo_SelectionChanged">
          <DataGrid.Columns>
                <DataGridTextColumn Header="DownloadId" Visibility="Hidden"/>
                <DataGridTextColumn Header="Target URL" FontFamily="Arial" />
                <DataGridTextColumn Header="Content Size" FontFamily="Arial"/>
                <DataGridTextColumn Header="Path to Save" FontFamily="Arial"/>
                <DataGridTextColumn Header="Bytes Downloaded" FontFamily="Arial"/>
                <DataGridTextColumn Header="Percent (%)" FontFamily="Arial"/>
                <DataGridTextColumn Header="Status" FontFamily="Arial"/>
          </DataGrid.Columns>
    </DataGrid>
. . . . . . . .
</Window>

And here is myClass class. It implemented in WCF service. Client receives instances of MyClass in callbacks from WCF service with duplex contract. After each instance of MyClass has been received then it is put in the ObservableCollection to substitute previous one with the same unique identifier.

[DataContract]
public class MyClass
{
    #region Properties

    /// <summary>
    /// Downloading unique ID.
    /// </summary>
    [DataMember]
    public Guid UniqueId { get; set; }
    /// <summary>
    /// Target URL.
    /// </summary>
    [DataMember]
    public String TargetUrl { get; set; }
    /// <summary>
    /// Path to Save.
    /// </summary>
    [DataMember]
    public String PathToSave { get; set; }
    /// <summary>
    /// Percentage.
    /// </summary>
    [DataMember]
    public Int32 Percentage { get; set; }
    /// <summary>
    /// Downloaded bytes number.
    /// </summary>
    [DataMember]
    public Int64 DownloadedBytesQuantity { get; set; }
    /// <summary>
    /// Content size.
    /// </summary>
    [DataMember]
    public Int64 RealContentLength { get; set; }
    /// <summary>
    /// Downloading status.
    /// </summary>
    [DataMember]
    public String Status { get; set; }

    #endregion
}

How can I bind DataGrid to ObservableCollection in my example? Give a hint on this topic. I bag your pardon for my poor English.

Answer 1

<DataGrid x:Name="employeeGrid" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" AlternatingRowBackground="LightBlue" AlternationCount="2" AutoGenerateColumns="False" ItemsSource="{Binding}">
    <DataGrid.Columns>
        <DataGridTextColumn Header="Emp #" Binding="{Binding EmpId}"/>
        <DataGridTextColumn Header="First Name" Binding="{Binding FirstName}"/>
        <DataGridTextColumn Header="Last Name" Binding="{Binding LastName}"/>
    </DataGrid.Columns>
</DataGrid>

Following goes in your corresponding .cs file:

employeeGrid.ItemsSource = employeeDetails;

Answer 2

You should be able to do so by using the ItemsSource property of the grid and referencing your collection (probably located in your view model), like this:

ItemsSource="{Binding Path=DownloadsCollection}" 

Then add a binding on your columns to show the info (properties) of your MyClass objects in the collection.

For a more detailed tutorial on how to do it, check this link.

Edit:

You can simply try something like this to see if everything works right and then move to custom columns:

<DataGrid ItemsSource="{Binding DownloadsCollection}" />

Answer 3

Datagrid binding in WPF check this answer. Basically you need to add ItemSource binding so your grid knows the datacontext.

Than you need to add binding for datagrid columns, so it knows what to display. Hope this helped.

Furthermore, you may want to add setter for your DownloadsCollection and binding mode if necessary. It is helpful if you need some updates.