How to populate a WPF grid based on a 2-dimensional array

Question

I have a 2-dimensional array of objects and I basically want to databind each one to a cell in a WPF grid. Currently I have this working but I am doing most of it procedurally. I create the correct number of row and column definitions, then I loop through the cells and create the controls and set up the correct bindings for each one.

At a minimum I would like to be able to use a template to specify the controls and bindings in xaml. Ideally I would like to get rid of the procedural code and just do it all with databinding, but I'm not sure that's possible.

Here is the code I am currently using:

public void BindGrid()
{
    m_Grid.Children.Clear();
    m_Grid.ColumnDefinitions.Clear();
    m_Grid.RowDefinitions.Clear();

    for (int x = 0; x < MefGrid.Width; x++)
    {
        m_Grid.ColumnDefinitions.Add(new ColumnDefinition() { Width = new GridLength(1, GridUnitType.Star), });
    }

    for (int y = 0; y < MefGrid.Height; y++)
    {
        m_Grid.RowDefinitions.Add(new RowDefinition() { Height = new GridLength(1, GridUnitType.Star), });
    }

    for (int x = 0; x < MefGrid.Width; x++)
    {
        for (int y = 0; y < MefGrid.Height; y++)
        {
            Cell cell = (Cell)MefGrid[x, y];                    

            SolidColorBrush brush = new SolidColorBrush();

            var binding = new Binding("On");
            binding.Converter = new BoolColorConverter();
            binding.Mode = BindingMode.OneWay;

            BindingOperations.SetBinding(brush, SolidColorBrush.ColorProperty, binding);

            var rect = new Rectangle();
            rect.DataContext = cell;
            rect.Fill = brush;
            rect.SetValue(Grid.RowProperty, y);
            rect.SetValue(Grid.ColumnProperty, x);
            m_Grid.Children.Add(rect);
        }
    }

}

Answer 1

The purpose of the Grid is not for real databinding, it is just a panel. I am listing down the easiest way to accomplish the visualization of a two dimensional list

<Window.Resources>
    <DataTemplate x:Key="DataTemplate_Level2">
            <Button Content="{Binding}" Height="40" Width="50" Margin="4,4,4,4"/>
    </DataTemplate>

    <DataTemplate x:Key="DataTemplate_Level1">
        <ItemsControl ItemsSource="{Binding}" ItemTemplate="{DynamicResource DataTemplate_Level2}">
            <ItemsControl.ItemsPanel>
                <ItemsPanelTemplate>
                    <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal"/>
                </ItemsPanelTemplate>
            </ItemsControl.ItemsPanel>
        </ItemsControl>
    </DataTemplate>

</Window.Resources>
<Grid>
    <ItemsControl x:Name="lst" ItemTemplate="{DynamicResource DataTemplate_Level1}"/>
</Grid>

And in the code behind set the ItemsSource of lst with a TwoDimentional data structure.

  public Window1()
    {
        List<List<int>> lsts = new List<List<int>>();

        for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
        {
            lsts.Add(new List<int>());

            for (int j = 0; j < 5; j++)
            {
                lsts[i].Add(i * 10 + j);
            }
        }

        InitializeComponent();

        lst.ItemsSource = lsts;
    }

This gives you the following screen as output. You can edit the DataTemplate_Level2 to add more specific data of your object.