TextBlockEditor : Use Label instead of TextBlock to allow customizing template

[Nfactor26]

Issue Description

1. TextBlockEditor : TypeEditor<TextBlock> is used in PropertyGrid for displaying readonly properties.
   However, TextBlock control in WPF doesn't allow to override it's Template using a style.
2. Margin is set to (5,0,0,0) from inside SetControlProperties() of TextBlockEditor which takes precedence over any margin applied from style.

Suggested Solution
Use a Label control instead of TextBlock control for displaying readonly properties since WPF Label control allows overriding it's control template using a style.

[Nfactor26]

Created pull request #1540 for this issue.
Using TextBox instead of Label however as Label required a custom converter to work properly.

[XceedBoucherS]

Hi,
You are right, TextBlockEditor.SetControlProperties() modify the Margin and TextTrimming of the editor so a style can't override those values. But if we remove those 2 properties from TextBlockEditor.SetControlProperties() and set them in the style targeting PropertyGridEditorTextBlock (from Aero2.NormalColor.xaml), it fixes the issue.

A user then simply needs to do this in is xaml in order to modify the style:
<Window.Resources> <Style TargetType="{x:Type xctk:PropertyGridEditorTextBlock}"> <Setter Property="FontSize" Value="25" /> <Setter Property="Margin" Value="30,0,0,0" /> </Style> </Window.Resources>

This will be fixed in v3.9.
Thank you.

[Nfactor26]

True . However, that only solves a part of problem..I was trying to give property grid a custom look to match my application theme and i wanted to have a border around TextBlock with border thickness : (0,0,0,1) . However, i can't do this if TextBlock is used to display property.

[XceedBoucherS]

Hi,
If you know which properties are readonly, you can always use a custom editor made of a border(with a BorderThickness and a TextBlock) for those :
<xctk:PropertyGrid.EditorDefinitions> <xctk:EditorTemplateDefinition TargetProperties="LastName"> <xctk:EditorTemplateDefinition.EditingTemplate> <DataTemplate> <Border BorderThickness="0,0,0,1" BorderBrush="Red"> <TextBlock Text="{Binding Value}" Foreground="Gray" Margin="5,0,0,0" TextTrimming="CharacterEllipsis"/> </Border> </DataTemplate> </xctk:EditorTemplateDefinition.EditingTemplate> </xctk:EditorTemplateDefinition> </xctk:PropertyGrid.EditorDefinitions>

If you don't know which properties are readonly, you can do the same in code-behind:
` <Window.Resources>
< DataTemplate x:Key="BorderTextBlock">
< Border BorderThickness="0,0,0,1"
BorderBrush="Red">
< TextBlock Text="{Binding Value}"
Foreground="Gray"
Margin="5,0,0,0"
TextTrimming="CharacterEllipsis" />
< /Border>
< /DataTemplate>
</Window.Resources>

<xctk:PropertyGrid SelectedObject="{Binding}"
IsPropertyBrowsable="PropertyGrid_IsPropertyBrowsable" /> `

private void PropertyGrid_IsPropertyBrowsable( object sender, Xceed.Wpf.Toolkit.PropertyGrid.IsPropertyBrowsableArgs e ) { var propertyGrid = sender as PropertyGrid; if( propertyGrid != null ) { if( e.PropertyDescriptor.IsReadOnly ) { var etd = new EditorTemplateDefinition() { TargetProperties = new List<string>() { e.PropertyDescriptor.DisplayName } }; etd.EditingTemplate = this.Resources[ "BorderTextBlock" ] as DataTemplate; propertyGrid.EditorDefinitions.Add( etd ); } } }

[Nfactor26]

Thanks @XceedBoucherS ....I believe the code behind approach should work fine..Wondering , however, whether propertyGrid.EditorDefintions is cleared every time the selected object changes ? Otherwise, there might be a possibility if there is some property X in type A which is readonly and EditorDefintion is now added to propertyGrid and then we try to set type B having property X as well but not marked as readonly , in this case B.X will also be rendered in a readonly mode.
Assuming , above is the case , another option i can think of is to set the editor directly for the PropertyItem while handling PreparePropertyItem event. However, i am not sure how much of a performance penalty that will be , as it will end up creating lots of TextBlock controls when there are several readonly property on each model and selectedobject is changing very frequently.

[XceedBoucherS]

Hi,
Modifying the Property.SelectedObject do not clear the EditorDefinitions collection. It might be useful to keep it alive when defined in XAML and the SelectedObject is changed.

What I would suggest, is to register to the PropertyGrid.SelectedObjectChanged event and use the callback to clear the EditorDefinitions collection:
private void PropertyGrid_SelectedObjectChanged( object sender, RoutedPropertyChangedEventArgs<object> e ) { var propertyGrid = sender as PropertyGrid; if( (propertyGrid != null) && (propertyGrid.EditorDefinitions != null) ) { propertyGrid.EditorDefinitions.Clear(); } }

You can also use the PreparePropertyItem callback to set the PropertyItem.Editor. It shouldn't affect the performance since all PropertyItems will end up with an Editor (either set by the user or the Default PropertyGrid editors).

[Nfactor26]

Thanks for sharing !! Appreciate your time !! I should be able to get my stuff working with this information. I will close the issue.