Value and Multivalue Converters

Parameters#

Parameter	Details
value	The value produced by the binding source.
values	The values array, produced by the binding source.
targetType	The type of the binding target property.
parameter	The converter parameter to use.
culture	The culture to use in the converter.
## Remarks#
## What IValueConverter and IMultiValueConverterthey are

IValueConverter and IMultiValueConverter - interfaces that provides a way to apply a custom logic to a binding.

What they are useful for

You have a some type value but you want to show zero values in one way and positive numbers in another way
You have a some type value and want to show element in one case and hide in another
You have a numeric value of money but want to show it as words
You have a numeric value but want to show different images for defferent numbers

These are some of the simple cases, but there are many more.

For cases like this, you can use a value converter. These small classes, which implement the IValueConverter interface or IMultiValueConverter, will act like middlemen and translate a value between the source and the destination. So, in any situation where you need to transform a value before it reaches its destination or back to its source again, you likely need a converter.

Build-In BooleanToVisibilityConverter [IValueConverter]

Converter between boolean and visibility. Get bool value on input and returns Visibility value.

NOTE: This converter have already exists in System.Windows.Controls namespace.

public sealed class BooleanToVisibilityConverter : IValueConverter
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Convert bool or Nullable bool to Visibility
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="value">bool or Nullable bool</param>
    /// <param name="targetType">Visibility</param>
    /// <param name="parameter">null</param>
    /// <param name="culture">null</param>
    /// <returns>Visible or Collapsed</returns>
    public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
    {
        bool bValue = false;
        if (value is bool)
        {
            bValue = (bool)value;
        }
        else if (value is Nullable<bool>)
        {
            Nullable<bool> tmp = (Nullable<bool>)value;
            bValue = tmp.HasValue ? tmp.Value : false;
        }
        return (bValue) ? Visibility.Visible : Visibility.Collapsed;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Convert Visibility to boolean
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="value"></param>
    /// <param name="targetType"></param>
    /// <param name="parameter"></param>
    /// <param name="culture"></param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
    {
        if (value is Visibility)
        {
            return (Visibility)value == Visibility.Visible;
        }
        else
        {
            return false;
        }
    }
}

Using the converter

Define Resource
Use it in binding

Converter with property [IValueConverter]

Show how to create simple converter with parameter via property and then pass it in declaration. Convert bool value to Visibility. Allow invert result value by setting Inverted property to True.

public class BooleanToVisibilityConverter : IValueConverter
{
    public bool Inverted { get; set; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Convert bool or Nullable bool to Visibility
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="value">bool or Nullable bool</param>
    /// <param name="targetType">Visibility</param>
    /// <param name="parameter">null</param>
    /// <param name="culture">null</param>
    /// <returns>Visible or Collapsed</returns>
    public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
    {
        bool bValue = false;
        if (value is bool)
        {
            bValue = (bool)value;
        }
        else if (value is Nullable<bool>)
        {
            Nullable<bool> tmp = (Nullable<bool>)value;
            bValue = tmp ?? false;
        }

        if (Inverted)
            bValue = !bValue;
        return (bValue) ? Visibility.Visible : Visibility.Collapsed;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Convert Visibility to boolean
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="value"></param>
    /// <param name="targetType"></param>
    /// <param name="parameter"></param>
    /// <param name="culture"></param>
    /// <returns>True or False</returns>
    public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
    {
        if (value is Visibility)
        {
            return ((Visibility) value == Visibility.Visible) && !Inverted;
        }

        return false;
    }
}

Using the converter

Define namespace

xmlns:converters="clr-namespace:MyProject.Converters;assembly=MyProject"

Define Resource

<converters:BooleanToVisibilityConverter x:Key=“BoolToVisibilityInvertedConverter” Inverted=“False”/>
Use it in binding

Simple add converter [IMultiValueConverter]

Show how to create simple IMultiValueConverter converter and use MultiBinding in xaml. Get summ of all values passed by values array.

public class AddConverter : IMultiValueConverter
{
    public object Convert(object[] values, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
    {
        decimal sum = 0M;

        foreach (string value in values)
        {
            decimal parseResult;
            if (decimal.TryParse(value, out parseResult))
            {
                sum += parseResult;
            }
        }

        return sum.ToString(culture);
    }

    public object[] ConvertBack(object value, Type[] targetTypes, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
    {
        throw new NotSupportedException();
    }
}

Using the converter

Define namespace

xmlns:converters=“clr-namespace:MyProject.Converters;assembly=MyProject”
Define Resource

<converters:AddConverter x:Key=“AddConverter”/>
Use it in binding

Usage converters with ConverterParameter

Show how to create simple converter and use ConverterParameter to pass parameter to converter. Multiply value by coefficient passed in ConverterParameter.

public class MultiplyConverter : IValueConverter
{
    public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
    {
        if (value == null)
            return 0;

        if (parameter == null)
            parameter = 1;

        double number;
        double coefficient;

        if (double.TryParse(value.ToString(), out number) && double.TryParse(parameter.ToString(), out coefficient))
        {
            return number * coefficient;
        }

        return 0;
    }

    public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
    {
        throw new NotSupportedException();
    }
}

Using the converter

Define namespace

xmlns:converters=“clr-namespace:MyProject.Converters;assembly=MyProject”
Define Resource

<converters:MultiplyConverter x:Key=“MultiplyConverter”/>
Use it in binding

Group multiple converters [IValueConverter]

This converter will chain multiple converters together.

public class ValueConverterGroup : List<IValueConverter>, IValueConverter
{
    public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
    {
        return this.Aggregate(value, (current, converter) => converter.Convert(current, targetType, parameter, culture));
    }

    public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
    {
        throw new NotSupportedException();
    }
}

In this example, the boolean result from EnumToBooleanConverter is used as input in BooleanToVisibilityConverter.

<local:ValueConverterGroup x:Key="EnumToVisibilityConverter">
    <local:EnumToBooleanConverter/>
    <local:BooleanToVisibilityConverter/>
</local:ValueConverterGroup>

The button will only be visible when the CurrentMode property is set to Ready.

<Button Content="Ok" Visibility="{Binding Path=CurrentMode, Converter={StaticResource EnumToVisibilityConverter}, ConverterParameter={x:Static local:Mode.Ready}"/>

Using MarkupExtension with Converters to skip recource declaration

Usually to use the converter, we have to define it as resource in the following way:

<converters:SomeConverter x:Key="SomeConverter"/>

It is possible to skip this step by defining a converter as MarkupExtension and implementing the method ProvideValue. The following example converts a value to its negative:

namespace MyProject.Converters
{
public class Converter_Negative : MarkupExtension, IValueConverter
{
    public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
    {
        return this.ReturnNegative(value);
    }

    public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
    {
        return this.ReturnNegative(value);
    }

    private object ReturnNegative(object value)
    {
        object result = null;
        var @switch = new Dictionary<Type, Action> {
            { typeof(bool), () => result=!(bool)value },
            { typeof(byte), () => result=-1*(byte)value },
            { typeof(short), () => result=-1*(short)value },
            { typeof(int), () => result=-1*(int)value },
            { typeof(long), () => result=-1*(long)value },
            { typeof(float), () => result=-1f*(float)value },
            { typeof(double), () => result=-1d*(double)value },
            { typeof(decimal), () => result=-1m*(decimal)value }
        };

        @switch[value.GetType()]();
        if (result == null) throw new NotImplementedException();
        return result;
    }

    public Converter_Negative()
        : base()
    {
    }

    private static Converter_Negative _converter = null;

    public override object ProvideValue(IServiceProvider serviceProvider)
    {
        if (_converter == null) _converter = new Converter_Negative();
        return _converter;
    }
}
}

Using the converter:

Define namespace

xmlns:converters=“clr-namespace:MyProject.Converters;assembly=MyProject”

Example use of this converter in binding

<RichTextBox IsReadOnly="{Binding Path=IsChecked, ElementName=toggleIsEnabled, Converter={converters:Converter_Negative}}"/>

Use IMultiValueConverter to pass multiple parameters to a Command

It is possible to pass multiple bound values as a CommandParameter using MultiBinding with a very simple IMultiValueConverter:

namespace MyProject.Converters
{
    public class Converter_MultipleCommandParameters : MarkupExtension, IMultiValueConverter
    {
        public object Convert(object[] values, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
        {
            return values.ToArray();
        }
        public object[] ConvertBack(object value, Type[] targetTypes, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
        {
            throw new NotSupportedException();
        }

        private static Converter_MultipleCommandParameters _converter = null;

        public override object ProvideValue(IServiceProvider serviceProvider)
        {
            if (_converter == null) _converter = new Converter_MultipleCommandParameters();
            return _converter;
        }

        public Converter_MultipleCommandParameters()
            : base()
        {
        }
    }
}

Using the converter:

Example implementation - method called when SomeCommand is executed (note: DelegateCommand is an implementation of ICommand that is not provided in this example):

 private ICommand _SomeCommand;
 public ICommand SomeCommand
 {
     get { return _SomeCommand ?? (_SomeCommand = new DelegateCommand(a => OnSomeCommand(a))); }
 }

 private void OnSomeCommand(object item)
 {
     object[] parameters = item as object[];

     MessageBox.Show(
         string.Format("Execute command: {0}\nParameter 1: {1}\nParamter 2: {2}\nParamter 3: {3}",
         "SomeCommand", parameters[0], parameters[1], parameters[2]));
 }

Define namespace

xmlns:converters=“clr-namespace:MyProject.Converters;assembly=MyProject”

Example use of this converter in binding

<Button Width="150" Height="23" Content="Execute some command" Name="btnTestSomeCommand"
     Command="{Binding Path=SomeCommand}" >
     <Button.CommandParameter>
         <MultiBinding Converter="{converters:Converter_MultipleCommandParameters}">
             <Binding RelativeSource="{RelativeSource Self}" Path="IsFocused"/>
             <Binding RelativeSource="{RelativeSource Self}" Path="Name"/>
             <Binding RelativeSource="{RelativeSource Self}" Path="ActualWidth"/>
         </MultiBinding>
     </Button.CommandParameter>
 </Button>