Entity Framework & WPF Datagrid binding

Question

I have a pretty simple little app that is using EF and WPF. I'm trying to create a very lightweight 'project tracker' for our small team at work. The classes look like:

class Project
{
    public int ProjectId { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }

    public List<ProjectNote> ProjectNotes { get; set; }

    public string Status { get; set; }
    public string Description { get; set; }

    public string ProjectLead { get; set; }
}

class ProjectNote
{


    public int ProjectNoteId { get; set; }
    public DateTime DateCreated { get; set; }
    public DateTime DateEdited { get; set; }
    public string CreatedBy { get; set; }
    public string LastEditedBy { get; set; }
    public string Detail { get; set; }
    public int ProjectId { get; set; }

}

I want to be able to display the following fields in a datagrid:

Project.Name
Project.Description
(Most Recent)ProjectNote.Detail

Basically, I want to have a Datagrid that allows my user to see the most recent notes for a Project and edit them if need be.

I'm having trouble figuring out how to structure my code (I'm using Code First/POCO) to allow the user to create a new ProjectNote from the Datagrid view. I don't know if I need another property of my Project class to allow for a single ProjectNote, or if I can code this (through a ViewModel) to properly instantiate a new ProjectNote when the user is editing a Datagrid that contains the Project data.

How can I create a datagrid that allows editing/creation across multiple entities?

You should have a ProjectNote property on your View Model, called something like NewNote and then structure your data grid to include the details required for that new property so the user can enter them. — Mathew Thompson
– Mathew Thompson, Commented May 7, 2013 at 14:30
If I do that though, how can I make sure (or where should I put the code anyway) that I am getting the most recent note for that Project in that property? — Andy Poquette
– Andy Poquette, Commented May 7, 2013 at 14:48

Brian S · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-07 14:38:06Z

2

I would suggest creating a ViewModel, perhaps ProjectNoteViewModel, which contains the Note as well as the Project. Then, you bind your collection/list of ProjectNoteViewModels to the DataGrid.

Alternatively, you could add a Project navigation property to the ProjectNote class, which would allow you to include the Project.Name and Project.Description in the DataGridRow for the ProjectNote. If there is little or no business logic/complexity to this relationship, then this approach will work, but if there is any complexity or business rules you need to enforce, I'd recommend using a ViewModel.

This article provides a good walk through of using the DataGrid and MVVM together. Basically, if you have DataBound the DataGrid to a list of some sort, the DataGrid will automatically create a new instance of your object for you and insert it into the collection when the user clicks the empty row at the bottom of the grid.

answered May 7, 2013 at 14:38

Brian S

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2 Comments

Andy Poquette Over a year ago

It is amazing that after searching for three days and reading A LOT of posts I didn't find that link. Thank you for the advice! I should be able to get this to work now.

Brian S Over a year ago

I hear you, sometimes it's like finding the needle in a haystack! Good luck.

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