Binding to a DataSet and related rows

I have a DataSet filled with two tables:

Person [PersonID,First,Last]
PhoneNumber [PersonID,PhoneNumber,PhoneType]

I want to display a tree of each person and their list of phone numbers. The
top level is easy - I bind to a DataView on the Person table. But I can't
figure out how to also show the associated phone numbers (as a DataView so it
gets updated automatically). One idea I had was to create a Method on the
DataSet something like this:

DataView GetPhoneNumbers(DataRow person)

I don't know how to refer to this method in the ItemsSource in the XAML.
Binding to properties seems straightforward, but not to methods. The
templates look something like this:

<DataTemplate x:Key="PhoneRowTemplate">
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=PhoneType}"/>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=PhoneNumber}"/>
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>

<DataTemplate x:Key="PersonRowTemplate">
<StackPanel Orientation="Vertical">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=First}"/>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Last}"/>
<ListBox ItemsSource="?????" ItemTemplate="{StaticResource
PhoneRowTemplate}"></ListBox>
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>

I implemented a major hack to solve this. For each row in the parent table, I
created a column of type DataView called RelatedPhoneNumbers and filled it
with a custom built DataView. Each time a row is added to the parent table,
the TableNewRow event fills in this special column automatically. Then I just
set the ItemsSource property to "RelatedPhoneNumbers". There must be a better
way.

Ideas anyone?

"jmagaram" wrote:

> I have a DataSet filled with two tables:
>
> Person [PersonID,First,Last]
> PhoneNumber [PersonID,PhoneNumber,PhoneType]
>
> I want to display a tree of each person and their list of phone numbers. The
> top level is easy - I bind to a DataView on the Person table. But I can't
> figure out how to also show the associated phone numbers (as a DataView so it
> gets updated automatically). One idea I had was to create a Method on the
> DataSet something like this:
>
> DataView GetPhoneNumbers(DataRow person)
>
> I don't know how to refer to this method in the ItemsSource in the XAML.
> Binding to properties seems straightforward, but not to methods. The
> templates look something like this:
>
> <DataTemplate x:Key="PhoneRowTemplate">
> <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
> <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=PhoneType}"/>
> <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=PhoneNumber}"/>
> </StackPanel>
> </DataTemplate>
>
> <DataTemplate x:Key="PersonRowTemplate">
> <StackPanel Orientation="Vertical">
> <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=First}"/>
> <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Last}"/>
> <ListBox ItemsSource="?????" ItemTemplate="{StaticResource
> PhoneRowTemplate}"></ListBox>
> </StackPanel>
> </DataTemplate>

You could use a Converter (see IValueConverter). This is similar to calling
your GetPhoneNumbers method.

<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding Converter={...}}"
ItemTemplate="{StaticResource ...

Assuming you can crawl back up the data structure to get the DataSet from a
Person row.

- Doug

"jmagaram" <jmagaram@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:CB22A3FE-34BD-4991-A195-46675765A8AF@microsoft.com...
>I have a DataSet filled with two tables:
>
> Person [PersonID,First,Last]
> PhoneNumber [PersonID,PhoneNumber,PhoneType]
>
> I want to display a tree of each person and their list of phone numbers.
> The
> top level is easy - I bind to a DataView on the Person table. But I can't
> figure out how to also show the associated phone numbers (as a DataView so
> it
> gets updated automatically). One idea I had was to create a Method on the
> DataSet something like this:
>
> DataView GetPhoneNumbers(DataRow person)
>
> I don't know how to refer to this method in the ItemsSource in the XAML.
> Binding to properties seems straightforward, but not to methods. The
> templates look something like this:
>
> <DataTemplate x:Key="PhoneRowTemplate">
> <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
> <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=PhoneType}"/>
> <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=PhoneNumber}"/>
> </StackPanel>
> </DataTemplate>
>
> <DataTemplate x:Key="PersonRowTemplate">
> <StackPanel Orientation="Vertical">
> <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=First}"/>
> <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Last}"/>
> <ListBox ItemsSource="?????" ItemTemplate="{StaticResource
> PhoneRowTemplate}"></ListBox>
> </StackPanel>
> </DataTemplate>

Hi,

"jmagaram" <jmagaram@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:29DEC174-5E49-4876-B333-9E848354452B@microsoft.com...
>I implemented a major hack to solve this. For each row in the parent table,
>I
> created a column of type DataView called RelatedPhoneNumbers and filled it
> with a custom built DataView. Each time a row is added to the parent
> table,
> the TableNewRow event fills in this special column automatically. Then I
> just
> set the ItemsSource property to "RelatedPhoneNumbers". There must be a
> better
> way.
>

If you add a "Person-PhoneNumber" DataRelation to the DataSet, then the
DataView of the Person table will already have an extra column (with the
same name as the relation) which returns a child DataView of the PhoneNumber
table.

HTH,
Greetings


> Ideas anyone?
>
> "jmagaram" wrote:
>
>> I have a DataSet filled with two tables:
>>
>> Person [PersonID,First,Last]
>> PhoneNumber [PersonID,PhoneNumber,PhoneType]
>>
>> I want to display a tree of each person and their list of phone numbers.
>> The
>> top level is easy - I bind to a DataView on the Person table. But I can't
>> figure out how to also show the associated phone numbers (as a DataView
>> so it
>> gets updated automatically). One idea I had was to create a Method on the
>> DataSet something like this:
>>
>> DataView GetPhoneNumbers(DataRow person)
>>
>> I don't know how to refer to this method in the ItemsSource in the XAML.
>> Binding to properties seems straightforward, but not to methods. The
>> templates look something like this:
>>
>> <DataTemplate x:Key="PhoneRowTemplate">
>> <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
>> <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=PhoneType}"/>
>> <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=PhoneNumber}"/>
>> </StackPanel>
>> </DataTemplate>
>>
>> <DataTemplate x:Key="PersonRowTemplate">
>> <StackPanel Orientation="Vertical">
>> <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=First}"/>
>> <TextBlock Text="{Binding Path=Last}"/>
>> <ListBox ItemsSource="?????" ItemTemplate="{StaticResource
>> PhoneRowTemplate}"></ListBox>
>> </StackPanel>
>> </DataTemplate>