MVVM : how to pass parameter to ViewModel's constructor

Question

I'm using L. Bugnion's MVVM Light Framework.
What are some of the recommended approaches to pass parameters such as Customer's ID to ViewModel's constructor?

Edit: The parameter I need for each ViewModel is not something that is shared across models. it is something unique to each viewmodel instance.

Answer 1

//Create a container class to pass via messenger service
    public class CarSelectedArgs
    {
      #region Declarations

      public Car Car { get; set; }

      #endregion

      #region Constructor

      public CarSelectedArgs(Car car)
      {
        Car = car;
      }

      #endregion
    }


    //example of view model sending message.
    public class SendingViewModel : ViewModelBase
    {
      private Car _car;
      public Car SelectedCar
      {
        get { return _car; }
        set
        {
          _car = value;
          if (value != null)
          {
            //messenger will notify all classes that have registered for a message of this type
            Messenger.Default.Send(new CarSelectedArgs(value));
          }
        }
      }
    }


    //Example of ViewModel registering to recieve a message
    public class SampleViewModel : ViewModelBase
    {
      #region Constructor

      public SampleViewModel()
      {
        Messenger.Default.Register<CarSelectedArgs>(this, OnCarSelected);
      }
      #endregion

      #region LocalMethods

      void OnCarSelected(CarSelectedArgs e)
      {

        var NewCar = e.Car;
      }

      #endregion
    }

Answer 2

For me the whole point of using MVVM Light is to avoid injecting anything into the constructor of a View Model. MVVM Light provides a Messaging facility that allows you to send your parameters to a listener registered inside of the View Model.

For example, this is my View Model from my WordWalkingStick project using VSTO and WPF:

using System;
using System.Xml.Linq;
using GalaSoft.MvvmLight.Messaging;

namespace Songhay.Wpf.WordWalkingStick.ViewModels
{
    using Songhay.Office2010.Word;
    using Songhay.OpenXml;
    using Songhay.OpenXml.Models;
    using Songhay.Wpf.Mvvm;
    using Songhay.Wpf.Mvvm.ViewModels;

    /// <summary>
    /// View Model for the default Client
    /// </summary>
    public class ClientViewModel : ViewModelBase
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="ClientViewModel"/> class.
        /// </summary>
        public ClientViewModel()
        {
            if(base.IsInDesignMode)
            {
                #region

                this._flatOpcSourceString = ApplicationUtility
                    .LoadResource(
 new Uri("/Songhay.Wpf.WordWalkingStick;component/PackedFiles/FlatOpcToHtml.xml",
                         UriKind.Relative));
                this._xhtmlSourceString = ApplicationUtility
                    .LoadResource(
 new Uri("/Songhay.Wpf.WordWalkingStick;component/PackedFiles/FlatOpcToHtml.html", 
                         UriKind.Relative));

                #endregion
            }
            else
            {
                this._flatOpcSourceString = "Loading…";
                this._xhtmlSourceString = "Loading…";

                //Receive MvvmLight message:
                Messenger.Default.Register(this, 
                     new Action<GenericMessage<TransformationMessage>>(
                message =>
                {
                    var tempDocFolder = 
 Environment.ExpandEnvironmentVariables("%UserProfile%/Desktop/");
                    var inputPath = tempDocFolder + "temp.docx";
                    var outputPath = tempDocFolder + "temp.html";

                    var flatOpcDoc = 
                            XDocument.Parse(message.Content.TransformationResult);
                    OpenXmlUtility.TransformFlatToOpc(flatOpcDoc, inputPath);

                    this.FlatOpcSourceString = flatOpcDoc.Root.ToString();

                    var settings = new SonghayHtmlConverterSettings()
                    {
                        PageTitle = "My Page Title " + DateTime.Now.ToString("U"),
                        UseEntityMap = false
                    };

                    OpenXmlUtility.WriteHtmlFile(inputPath, outputPath, settings);

                    var xhtmlDoc = XDocument.Load(outputPath);
                    this.XhtmlSourceString = xhtmlDoc.Root.ToString();

                }));
            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Gets or sets the flat opc source string.
        /// </summary>
        /// <value>The flat opc source string.</value>
        public string FlatOpcSourceString
        {
            get
            {
                return _flatOpcSourceString;
            }
            set
            {
                _flatOpcSourceString = value;
                base.RaisePropertyChanged("FlatOpcSourceString");
            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Gets or sets the XHTML source string.
        /// </summary>
        /// <value>The XHTML source string.</value>
        public string XhtmlSourceString
        {
            get
            {
                return _xhtmlSourceString;
            }
            set
            {
                _xhtmlSourceString = value;
                base.RaisePropertyChanged("XhtmlSourceString");
            }
        }

        string _flatOpcSourceString;
        string _xhtmlSourceString;
    }
}

You can see that MVVM Light is messaging (not injecting) values into the constructor (Messenger.Default.Register) with its Messenger.