WPF copy/paste column names on DataGrid

I always forget that you can easily include column names when copying a DataGrid by setting

ClipboardCopyMode="IncludeHeader"

in the XAML of the DataGrid.

WPF ComboBox and XAML parser

For the past few days I have been trying to figure out why my ComboBox didn't work when I selected an item from a list of data-bound items. I've gone through the code over and over, tried different types of collections and different ways of accessing the selected item (SelectedValue or SelectedItem as int, string or object). Nothing worked.

Data-binding to a ComboBox in WPF/Silverlight isn't always as smooth as one would assume. People have problems here, here and there. The XAML was fairly easy to lay out, I thought. I had:

<ComboBox SelectedItem="{Binding Path=ReferenceType}"

ItemsSource="{Binding Path=ReferenceTypes}" />

It wasn't until I read "I always set the ItemSource before the SelectedItem and all works fine." that I thought I'd try switching my code to:

<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Path=ReferenceTypes}" 

SelectedItem="{Binding Path=ReferenceType}" />

This way I define ItemsSource before SelectedItem. However, I never thought for a second that the XAML parser would care. I assumed the parser would figure out that it needs to know about the collection before it cared about what was selected. Obviously, if this were c# code I'd always specify the collection first, but this was XML, what does it care about the order of attributes?

I had broken the first rule of programming, never assume.

WPF, TextBox and currency

Getting data to look right in WPF can be a bit tricky. I wanted integers to appear as currency, but without any decimal points. After a bit of stuffing around I went from:

<TextBox Text="StringFormat=C}" />

to

<TextBox Text="StringFormat=\{0:$###\,##0\}}" />

Subversion

I have decided to hide subversive quotes in the software I am working on.

If you find them all, you unlock "The Revolution Complete" achievement.

ToolTips and ShowDuration

This took me a while to figure out, so I thought I'd mention it for others searching. If you want to set a global ToolTip show duration in WPF, you can do it for each type of control as a style in the XAML file. E.g.

<Window.Resources>
      <Style TargetType="Label">
          <Setter Property="ToolTipService.ShowDuration" Value="120000" />
      </Style>
</Window.Resources>

This means that for the Window, all the Label ToolTips will remain for two minutes.

If you want good looking ToolTips, go here.