UWP "compound" binding (binding Data.Name instead of Name) - xaml

Question

I have a simple page with text block and a button. I want to change the text when I press the button. But using a text from a Data.Name property of the Page.
I know I can have this simpler (having just Name instead of Data.Name), but I need Data.Name, don't ask why.
For this I have a class DataType which has the Name property and object named Data of that class. I want to have Data inside this Page, and bind the text to the Data.Name property.
When I click on the button, nothing happens, the question is how canI make this work?
XAML:
<Page
x:Class="App1.MainPage"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="using:App1"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
mc:Ignorable="d">
<Grid Background="{ThemeResource ApplicationPageBackgroundThemeBrush}">
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="auto" />
<RowDefinition Height="auto" />
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<TextBlock Grid.Row="0" Text="{Binding Data.Name, Mode=OneWay}"/>
<Button Grid.Row="1" Content="Change" Click="Button_Click"/>
</Grid>
</Page>
Class DataType
public ref class DataType: public INotifyPropertyChanged {
public:
property String^ Name
{
String^ get() {
return m_Name;
}
void set(String^ value) {
m_Name = value;
OnPropertyChanged("Name");
}
}
virtual event PropertyChangedEventHandler^ PropertyChanged;
private:
void OnPropertyChanged(Platform::String^ propertyName)
{
PropertyChanged(this, ref new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
String^ m_Name;
};
Class MainPage
public ref class MainPage sealed: public INotifyPropertyChanged
{
public:
MainPage();
property DataType^ Data {
DataType^ get() {
return m_Data;
}
void set(DataType^ value) {
m_Data = value;
OnPropertyChanged("Data");
}
}
virtual event PropertyChangedEventHandler^ PropertyChanged;
private:
void OnPropertyChanged(Platform::String^ propertyName)
{
PropertyChanged(this, ref new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
}
void Button_Click(Platform::Object^ sender, Windows::UI::Xaml::RoutedEventArgs^ e)
{
Data->Name = rand() & 1 ? "Test1" : "Test2";
OnPropertyChanged("Data");
}
DataType^ m_Data;
};

Answer 1

In UWP, there are x:Bind and Binding markup extension, they have some differences when you use them. You can learn the details from the document of above two links.
Now we will discuss the reason that caused your above issue.
In your xaml, you use the Binding markup extension to bind the property path, since Binding uses the DataContext as a default source. Simplely to say, when you use Binding property path, you bind the DataContext.Property path, you just need use the Bind source object's property but not need to specify the Source data object on the xaml. As the introduction of Traversing an object graph:
"{Binding Path=Customer.Address.StreetAddress1}"
Here's how this path is evaluated:
The data context object (or a Source specified by the same Binding) is searched for a property named "Customer".
The object that is the value of the "Customer" property is searched for a property named "Address".
The object that is the value of the "Address" property is searched for a property named "StreetAddress1".
See the Property-path syntax for the details.
So your code will work just binding the Name property and set the DataContext. (Note that: your MainPage class don't need to implement the INotifyPropertyChanged interface.)
<TextBlock Grid.Row="0" Text="{Binding Name, Mode=OneWay}"/
And
this->DataContext = Data;
Also note: If you're using Visual C++ component extensions (C++/CX) then, because we'll be using {Binding}, you'll need to add the BindableAttribute attribute to the DataType class.
[Windows::UI::Xaml::Data::Bindable]
public ref class DataType sealed : public INotifyPropertyChanged {
...
}
On the other hand, you can use the x:Bind instead of the Binding, since x:Bind don't use the DataContext as a default source—instead, it uses the page or user control itself. So it will look in the code-behind of your page or user control for properties, fields, and methods. To expose your view model to {x:Bind}, you will typically want to add new fields or properties to the code behind for your page or user control. For example: in a page, Text="{x:Bind Employee.FirstName}" will look for an Employee member on the page and then a FirstName member on the object returned by Employee.

Answer 2

The issue is that DataType properties isn't visible from XAML, because "DataType.h" isn't included in "pch.h"
Once I included it in precompiled header, everything worked.
BTW, looks like Binding is not checking for type visibility from XAML or whatever, but x:Bind does. Using x:Bind, the compiler complains about unknown Data.Name, and that allowed me to figure out the problem.