How to implement BINDING between drawing shapes and properties?

Question

See this background info:
Can we have BINDING between drawing shapes and properties?
This needs more specific info. My application reads a number of XML files, and places the data in an Excel worksheet. Let's say that there are 20 XML files, the app creates 20 lower tabs (spreadsheets) named: "Item 1", "Item 2", ...,
"Item 20".
That is the current version. I am told by the users, however, that in some cases there are some XML files which create more than 1 Excel lower tab.  For example, the file: "Items 8-11.xml" needs to fill tabs 8, 9, 10 and 11.
In that particular case the user will modify the default map (a 45-degree diagonal, equivalent to the
identity function F(x) = x), by clicking around. The resulting new map will look as follows:
Since the number of XML files does not change, the number of rows is constant. However, each time a black square is moved from its canonical (45-degree) location, a spreadsheet becomes "orphan" and therefore the application must create a new Excel
lower tab (which is a grid column). IOW: The number of columns keeps on growing to the right.
List<Model>
I figure that (as opposed to DataGrids which grow and shrink vertically, which each Model being 1 row) this thing should use the column as fundamental Model.
Before running the main app (the XML file reading procedures), the user will select a menu item named "Configure XML to Excel Mapping" and an interface similar to the image above will be shown.
In addition to the property binding, which has been discussed, how should I implement the drawing and erasing of black and white squares? I guess I will need some sort of "ConvertTo" bidirectional bridge from/to boolean and square drawing?

Answer 1

You lost me with the xml file and the tab and the wossname to the thingummybob.
I don't follow the explanation, sorry.
The way to show stuff like that isn't dependent on how the data is stored where though.
I probably wouldn't draw them, as such.
I'd probably just make each a usercontrol which bound the fill brush of a rectangle for the black white bit and used a border for the outline.
To simplify that:
<Grid> <Border>
<Rectangle Fill={Binding FillBrush}"/>
</Border>
</Grid>
FillBrush
Would be a public property solidcolorbrush exposed from your cellvm
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows.Media;
using GalaSoft.MvvmLight;
namespace wpf3
public class CellVM : ViewModelBase
private SolidColorBrush fillBrush;
public SolidColorBrush FillBrush
get { return fillBrush; }
set
fillBrush = value;
RaisePropertyChanged();
You can then have some logic somewhere which tells that viewmodel to show black or white fill.  Which would be that converter bridge thingy equivalent.  This thing is true then FillBrush = whiteBrush else FillBrush = blackBrush.
You could probably do it with just rectangle, lose the border and set the Stroke on the rectangle.
The stroke is the outside line round a rectangle ( or any shape).
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.shapes.shape.stroke(v=vs.110).aspx
And you would of course do other stuff like sizing the usercontrol and arranging an list in a list as I explained in your other thread.
Oh.................
But to answer the question in the title.
Yes you can bind all sorts of things including the point making up a polygon, brush used to draw the line and all sorts.  You could even do flashing cells if you wanted.
Hope that helps.
Recent Technet articles: Property List Editing;
Dynamic XAML