a·gen·tic a·gil·i·ty

Infragistics WPF

TL;DR; Overview of using Infragistics WPF controls, focusing on dynamic menu generation with data binding and templates, and challenges with documentation and template selection.

Published on
2 minute read
Image
https://nkdagility.com/resources/qNzd15yz5fn
Subscribe

Infragistics WPF  

I am currently getting to grips with the Infragistics WPF controls that they call NetAdvantage for WPF . So far I have found them easy to use, but the documentation of examples is very lax. Do not mistake me, these components are fantastic and do way more work for me than I would care to do myself, but if you Google a particular piece of their API invariable you will get pure documentation and no samples. If you are lucky someone has asked a specific question about it and you can skim their answers, but the likely hood of finding an answer to your question is negligible in my experience.

I still love the components, it just makes it a little more difficult to develop with them…

An example would maybe get us all on the same page:

I am using their Ribbon components in one of my applications and wanted to dynamically generate (using a binding) the menu options.

1   1: <igRibbon:XamRibbon.ApplicationMenu>
1   2: 
1   3:             <igRibbon:ApplicationMenu>
1   4:                 <igRibbon:MenuTool x:Name="uxTeamServerMenuTool" Caption="Team Server" ItemsSource="{Binding AvailableServers}"                                           ItemTemplate="{DynamicResource tAvailableServers}" ButtonType="DropDown"                                           LargeImage="ResourcesImagesTeamServerSelectIcon.png">
1   5:                 </igRibbon:MenuTool>
1   6:                 <igRibbon:MenuTool x:Name="uxTeamProjectMenuTool" Caption="Team Project" ItemsSource="{Binding AvailableProjects}"                                             ButtonType="DropDown" SmallImage="ResourcesImagesTeamProjectSelectIcon.png">
1   7:                 </igRibbon:MenuTool>
1   8:                 <igRibbon:MenuTool x:Name="uxHeatConnectionMenuTool" Caption="Heat Server" ButtonType="DropDown">
1   9:                 </igRibbon:MenuTool>
1  10:                 <igRibbon:MenuTool x:Name="uxHeatApplicationMenuTool" Caption="Heat App" ButtonType="DropDown" >
1  11:                 </igRibbon:MenuTool>
1  12:                 <!-- Place a button in the footer of the ApplicationMenu that allows the user to quit the application. -->
1  13:                 <igRibbon:ApplicationMenu.FooterToolbar>
1  14:                     <igRibbon:ApplicationMenuFooterToolbar>
1  15:                         <igRibbon:ButtonTool Caption="Settings" Command="local:Commands.ClearSettingsCommand" />
1  16:                         <igRibbon:ButtonTool Caption="Exit" />
1  17:                     </igRibbon:ApplicationMenuFooterToolbar>
1  18:                 </igRibbon:ApplicationMenu.FooterToolbar>
1  19:             </igRibbon:ApplicationMenu>
1  20:         </igRibbon:XamRibbon.ApplicationMenu>

As you can see in line 4 there is a binding that does indeed populate the list. But I am having trouble getting the template to take. I want the Items listed as a set of radio buttons (kinda) and so I added a Template:

1   1: <DataTemplate x:Key="tAvailableServers" DataType="{x:Type tfs:TeamFoundationServer}">
1   2:            <igRibbon:RadioButtonTool
1   3:                            Caption="{Binding Name}"
1   4:                            Tag="{Binding}"
1   5:                            LargeImage="ResourcesImagesTeamServerSelectIcon.png"
1   6:                            igRibbon:MenuToolBase.MenuItemDescription="{Binding Url.ToString}"/>
1   7:        </DataTemplate>

This should have displayed what I wanted, but it seams to be ignored.

To allow this to work, all I needed to do was remove the x:Key from the template. But why can’t I specify a template by name. What if I wanted to have two templates and choose which one was displayed…

Technorati Tags: ALM   WPF   TFS

Subscribe

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.​

Teleplan Logo

Teleplan

Hubtel Ghana Logo

Hubtel Ghana

Jack Links Logo

Jack Links

Capita Secure Information Solutions Ltd Logo

Capita Secure Information Solutions Ltd

Emerson Process Management Logo

Emerson Process Management

NIT A/S

Cognizant Microsoft Business Group (MBG) Logo

Cognizant Microsoft Business Group (MBG)

Flowmaster (a Mentor Graphics Company) Logo

Flowmaster (a Mentor Graphics Company)

Alignment Healthcare Logo

Alignment Healthcare

ALS Life Sciences Logo

ALS Life Sciences

Milliman Logo

Milliman

Akaditi Logo

Akaditi

SuperControl Logo

SuperControl

Bistech Logo

Bistech

CR2

YearUp.org Logo

YearUp.org

Boeing Logo

Boeing

MacDonald Humfrey (Automation) Ltd. Logo

MacDonald Humfrey (Automation) Ltd.

Ghana Police Service Logo

Ghana Police Service

Washington Department of Transport Logo

Washington Department of Transport

Department of Work and Pensions (UK) Logo

Department of Work and Pensions (UK)

Nottingham County Council Logo

Nottingham County Council

Royal Air Force Logo

Royal Air Force

New Hampshire Supreme Court Logo

New Hampshire Supreme Court

Ericson Logo

Ericson

Akaditi Logo

Akaditi

Qualco Logo

Qualco

MacDonald Humfrey (Automation) Ltd. Logo

MacDonald Humfrey (Automation) Ltd.

Philips Logo

Philips

SuperControl Logo

SuperControl