DataBinding and EventToCommand - xaml

Question

I'm attempting to use EventToCommand to initialize my ViewModel, but the command isn't firing. I suspect it's because the Triggers section is not within the databound container, but how can I do that in my example? I'm trying to stick to straight XAML if possible.
<Window x:Class="MVVMSample.Home"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:viewModels="clr-namespace:MVVMSample.ViewModels"
xmlns:i="clr-namespace:System.Windows.Interactivity;assembly=System.Windows.Interactivity"
xmlns:cmd="clr-namespace:GalaSoft.MvvmLight.Command;assembly=GalaSoft.MvvmLight.Extras.WPF4"
d:DataContext="{d:DesignInstance Type=viewModels:HomeViewModel, IsDesignTimeCreatable=True}"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
<Window.Resources>
<viewModels:HomeViewModel x:Key="ViewModel" x:Name="ViewModel" />
</Window.Resources>
<i:Interaction.Triggers>
<i:EventTrigger EventName="Loaded">
<cmd:EventToCommand Command="{Binding LoadedCommand}" />
</i:EventTrigger>
</i:Interaction.Triggers>
<Grid DataContext="{StaticResource ViewModel}">
<TextBlock Text="{Binding PersonCount}" />
</Grid>
</Window>

Answer 1

You are right, the datacontext is part of the problem,but I would solve it by using mvvm-light as it was designed.
If you are using MVVM_Light then your should use the view model locator. Its the main backbone of the framework. I used mvvm light to learn about the mvvm principle. I liked it a lot because it was simple and allowed me to learn with as quick a learning curve as possible.
In mvvm-light you declare your viewmodellocator in your app.xaml
<Application.Resources>
<ResourceDictionary>
<!--Global View Model Locator-->
<vm:ViewModelLocator x:Key="Locator" d:IsDataSource="True" />
</ResourceDictionary>
</Application.Resources>
then in your view (be it a usercontrol or window etc) you "attach" you viewmodel to your view as follows: Notice the DataContext declaration.
<UserControl x:Class="FTC.View.TrackingListView"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:i="clr-namespace:System.Windows.Interactivity;assembly=System.Windows.Interactivity"
xmlns:cmd="http://www.galasoft.ch/mvvmlight"
mc:Ignorable="d"
DataContext="{Binding YourViewModel, Source={StaticResource Locator}}"
d:DesignHeight="700" d:DesignWidth="1000">
This way the view model locator from mvvm light can either create a singleton of your viewmodel or a unique instance as you need. It can also use IOC to inject services into the constructor of your viewmodel.
So for example, if I have a viewmodel that deals with people objects from a datamodel, i create a people service that performs the CRUD operation and then reference it in the viewmodel constructor parameters. This allows me to use either fake design time data or real data from the model. It also keep all concerns decoupled, which is the purpose of mvvm.
I recommend reading more about the MVVM-light framwork and building one of the samples from thier site a galasoft.
See this video
hope this helps