C# – How to bind an enum to a combobox control in WPF

cdata-bindingnetwpfxaml

I am trying to find a simple example where the enums are shown as is. All examples I have seen tries to add nice looking display strings but I don't want that complexity.

Basically I have a class that holds all the properties that I bind, by first setting the DataContext to this class, and then specifying the binding like this in the xaml file:

<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Path=EffectStyle}"/>

But this doesn't show the enum values in the ComboBox as items.

Best Answer

You can do it from code by placing the following code in Window Loaded event handler, for example:

yourComboBox.ItemsSource = Enum.GetValues(typeof(EffectStyle)).Cast<EffectStyle>();

If you need to bind it in XAML you need to use ObjectDataProvider to create object available as binding source:

<Window x:Class="YourNamespace.MainWindow"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        xmlns:System="clr-namespace:System;assembly=mscorlib"
        xmlns:StyleAlias="clr-namespace:Motion.VideoEffects">
    <Window.Resources>
        <ObjectDataProvider x:Key="dataFromEnum" MethodName="GetValues"
                            ObjectType="{x:Type System:Enum}">
            <ObjectDataProvider.MethodParameters>
                <x:Type TypeName="StyleAlias:EffectStyle"/>
            </ObjectDataProvider.MethodParameters>
        </ObjectDataProvider>
    </Window.Resources>
    <Grid>
        <ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource dataFromEnum}}"
                  SelectedItem="{Binding Path=CurrentEffectStyle}" />
    </Grid>
</Window>

Draw attention on the next code:

xmlns:System="clr-namespace:System;assembly=mscorlib"
xmlns:StyleAlias="clr-namespace:Motion.VideoEffects"

Guide how to map namespace and assembly you can read on MSDN.