blog

Bug in ObservableCollection?

Published on
2 minute read

I seam to be having a little problem. Now, this may be me being stupid, but I can’t get an ObservableCollection to work if you pass it a generic type!

For example, consider the following code:

Public Class ItemBitCollection(Of TItem)
    Inherits ObservableCollection(Of ItemBit(Of TItem))


End Class

Public Class ItemBit(Of TItem)

    Private m_item As TItem

End Class

Now, if you create an instance of ItemBitCollection you will see an error on the IDE regardless of wither you use a custom object type or a String type to initialise it:

Bug in ObservableCollection?  

Why does this not work? What is ObservableCollection doing that maybe it should not? Time to get Reflector out…

After some looking at the source I am still none the wiser. Even if you dumb down your classes to the bare minimum you cant pass a generic type into an ObservableCollection.

This is a limitation if you ask me…

Annoying solution:

If you create a fixed class type:

Public Class ItemBitCollection(Of TItemBit)
    Inherits ObservableCollection(Of TItemBit)

End Class

Public MustInherit Class ItemBit(Of TItem)

    Private m_item As TItem

End Class

Public Class DefaultItemBit
    Inherits ItemBit(Of String)

End Class

And then pass that class in it does work:

Dim o As New ItemBitCollection(Of DefaultItemBit)

 

Although this is a work around, it causes other problems in my code… Ahh well… worth a try…

Technorati Tags: .NET    WPF 

code-and-complexity problems-and-puzzles blog code develop wpf

Connect with Martin Hinshelwood

If you've made it this far, it's worth connecting with our principal consultant and coach, Martin Hinshelwood, for a 30-minute 'ask me anything' call.

Our Happy Clients​

We partner with businesses across diverse industries, including finance, insurance, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, technology, engineering, transportation, hospitality, entertainment, legal, government, and military sectors.​

Xceptor - Process and Data Automation Logo
Cognizant Microsoft Business Group (MBG) Logo
Freadom Logo
Lockheed Martin Logo
Capita Secure Information Solutions Ltd Logo
Philips Logo
Sage Logo
Alignment Healthcare Logo
Jack Links Logo
Slaughter and May Logo
Hubtel Ghana Logo
Schlumberger Logo

CR2

YearUp.org Logo
ALS Life Sciences Logo
Akaditi Logo
Qualco Logo
Graham & Brown Logo
Department of Work and Pensions (UK) Logo
Ghana Police Service Logo
Royal Air Force Logo
New Hampshire Supreme Court Logo
Nottingham County Council Logo
Washington Department of Transport Logo
Xceptor - Process and Data Automation Logo
Slicedbread Logo
Workday Logo
Deliotte Logo
Slaughter and May Logo
Ericson Logo