WPF: How to bind object to ComboBox

Question

Trying to learn how to bind objects to various types of controls. In this instance, I want to get sample data in my object to appear in ComboBox. The code runs but what appears instead of values (David, Helen, Joe) is text "TheProtect.UserControls.Client")

XAML: (ucDataBindingObject.xaml)

<UserControl x:Class="TheProject.UserControls.ucDataBindingObject"              xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"              xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"              xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"              xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"              Width="Auto"              Height="Auto"              mc:Ignorable="d">      <Grid Width="130"           Height="240"           Margin="0">              <ComboBox Width="310"                       HorizontalAlignment="Left"                       VerticalAlignment="Top"                       ItemsSource="{Binding Path=Clients}" />     </Grid> </UserControl> 

C#: ucDataBindingObject.xaml.cs

using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; using System.Windows.Controls; namespace TheProject.UserControls {     public partial class ucDataBindingObject : UserControl     {          public List<Client> Clients { get; set; }           public ucDataBindingObject()         {             Clients = new List<Client>();             Clients.Add(new Client(1, "David")); // sample data             Clients.Add(new Client(2, "Helen"));             Clients.Add(new Client(3, "Joe"));               InitializeComponent();             this.DataContext = this;         }     } 

C# Client.cs

using System; using System.Linq;  namespace TheProject.UserControls {     public class Client     {         public int ID { get; set; }         public string Name { get; set; }          public Client(int id, string name)         {             this.ID = id;             this.Name = name;         }     } } 

Answer 1

There are several ways to tell the framework what to display

1) Use DisplayMemberPath on the ComboBox (this will display the named property):

<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Path=Clients}"            DisplayMemberPath="Name" /> 

2) Set ItemTemplate on the ComboBox. This is like #1, except allows you to define a template to display, rather than just a property:

<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Path=Clients}">     <ComboBox.ItemTemplate>         <DataTemplate>             <Border BorderBrush="Green" BorderThickness="1" Padding="5">                 <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Name,StringFormat='Name: {0}'}" />             </Border>         </DataTemplate>     </ComboBox.ItemTemplate> </ComboBox> 

3) Add a ToString() override to source class. Useful if you always want to display the same string for a given class. (Note that the default ToString() is just the class type name, which is why you see "TheProtect.UserControls.Client".)

public class Client {     // ...      public override string ToString()     {         return string.Format("{0} ({1})", Name, ID);     } } 

4) Add a DataTemplate to the XAML resources. This is useful for associating a given class type with a more complex or stylized template.

<UserControl xmlns:local="clr-namespace:TheProject.UserControls">     <UserControl.Resources>         <DataTemplate DataType="local:Client">             <TextBlock Text="{Binding Name}" />         </DataTemplate>     </UserControl.Resources>      // ...  </UserControl>     

Answer 2

In DisplayMemberPath, give the name of the property which you want to show in the comboBox. In SelectedValuePath, give the name of the property which you want to select. When you do a ComboBox.SelectedValue, you will get the value of this property.