WPF combobox is empty when binding enum

Question

I am trying to bind values of an enum to a combo box but the combo box remain empty with no options to choose.

This is the combo box xaml defintion:

<ComboBox Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="1" ItemsSource="{Binding Path=SkillItemSource}" SelectedItem="{Binding Path=neededSkill, Mode=TwoWay}" SelectedIndex="0" Margin="5" MinWidth="100"></ComboBox>

And this is the items source and selected item which are defined in the window's cs:

public Skill neededSkill = Skill.FirstSkill;

public string[] SkillItemSource
    {
        get
        {
            return Enum.GetNames(typeof(Skill));
        }
    }

What is missing for the values to appear in the combobox?

[This](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6145888/how-to-bind-an-enum-to-a-combobox-control-in-wpf) might be what you're looking for. — dotNET, May 22 '19 at 12:53
You cannot set SelectedItem to type Skill while the ItemsSource of Combobox is type string[]. — Mathivanan KP, May 22 '19 at 12:55

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited May 22 '19 at 13:23

1

What is missing for the values to appear in the combobox?

You need to set the DataContext of the ComboBox, or a parent element, to an instance of the class where the SkillItemSource property is defined. If the property is defined in the code-behind, you could just set the DataContext to the view itself: this.DataContext = this;

Also, you can't mix types. If the ItemsSource is bound to an IEnumerable<string>, the SelectedItem property should be bound to a string property.

Also note that neededSkill must be defined as a public property for you to be able to bind to it.

Try this:

public Skill neededSkill { get; set; } = Skill.FirstSkill;

public IEnumerable<Skill> SkillItemSource { get; } = Enum.GetValues(typeof(Skill)).Cast<Skill>();

edited May 22 '19 at 13:23

CodeMonkey

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answered May 22 '19 at 13:04

mm8

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Do I need to set the DataContext even if it's defined in the xaml.cs of that same window? – CodeMonkey May 22 '19 at 13:16
1

Yes. If the property is defined in the code-behind, you could just set the DataContext to the view itself: `this.DataContext = this;` – mm8 May 22 '19 at 13:17

WPF combobox is empty when binding enum

1 Answers1