Adding content to silver light controls from database using wcf ria services - xaml

I am trying to retrieve strings from the database and add it as content to the controls on my page before it loads(somewhat like a custom localization). I retrieve my strings from the database uing ria services as follows:
**
Web.DomainService1 context = new Web.DomainService1();
LoadOperation<Web.LocalizationTab>LoadOp=context.Load(context.GetLocalizationTabsQuery(currentCulture, moduleName));
Dictionary<string, string> localizationDictonary = new Dictionary<string, string>();
List<Web.LocalizationTab> localList = new List<Web.LocalizationTab>();
LoadOp.Completed += (s, e) =>
{
localList = LoadOp.Entities.ToList<Web.LocalizationTab>();
//System.Windows.MessageBox.Show(localList.Count.ToString());
foreach (Web.LocalizationTab item in localList)
{
// var control = this.FindName(item.Control_ID.ToString());
if (!localizationDictonary.ContainsKey(item.Control_ID))
{
localizationDictonary.Add(item.Control_ID, item.Control_Text);
}
}
};**
This piece of code is in a separate class called utilities.cs.
now in my Mainpage.xaml.cs i need to get this dictionary with values and then set the controls with the strings from the dictionary.
my problem is that when i do the following in the constructor of Mainpage.xaml.cs:
utilities.getDict(ModuleName);
button1.Content = localizationDictonary["button1"].ToString();
i get an exception as the dictionary doesnt contain values at that point of time.. The load completed event of getting data from the database gets fired only after my constructor is exited. now how do i go about setting my controls automatically in this particular scenario??

Try loading your dictionary in the Silverlight Application class StartUp event. This should ensure that your Dictionary is loaded (and could be placed in the Application Resources for retrieval elsewhere in your application).

You'll need to wait for the GetLocalizationTabsQuery to complete before instantiating your MainPage. In your App.xaml.cs file, you can start the query, add a query completed handler, and only create the MainPage when the query completed handler gets called.

Related

notifyDatasetchanged not working for ArrayAdapter

I am trying to implement 2 AutoCompleteTextView. First one holds the value, on click of one of them will populate the data in second AutoCompleteTextView, all works and data gets loaded correctly however when I try to call notifyDataSetChanged on the second adapter which populates the second field that does not get changed.
I also wrote that piece of code inside a Handler too, however that does not seems to work either.
branchAdapter = new ArrayAdapter(this,android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1,branchNames);
et7.setAdapter(branchAdapter);//et7 is the AutoCompleteTextView //branchname is the ArrayList
in some method I clean up the ArrayList and add the new data into it and then call notifyDataSetChanged like below
Handler handler = new Handler(Looper.getMainLooper());
handler.post(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
branchAdapter.notifyDataSetChanged();
}
});
Which is not updating the list. What should be the correct way here to update data?
#Saty, I guess i am a little late to the party. I am answering, keeping in mind that, it may help somebody in future.
Cleanup the adapter as well using branchAdapter.clear() method. Then add new items to the adapter using branchAdapter.addAll(String... items) method. Now, call branchAdapter.notifyDataSetChanged() method. This will work.
Try resetting listview instead.
ListView lv = (ListView)findViewById(R.id.lv);
ArrayAdapter adapter = new ArrayAdapter(/*with all parameters*/);
lv.setAdapter(adapter);

Does WP7 save variables on close?

When my app closes will the values i have set still be there when I re open it?
Or is there a way to save them somewhere?
No they won't,
When you jump-out from the application, application will go to a state called TombStoned, it is your responsibility to store and retrieve useful page elements.
In order to do this, you need to store information on the following event on your page:
public override void OnNavigatedFrom(...)
{
State["XXX"] = txtName.Text; // save your data on page state (keep it low in size!)
}
the same way you need to retrieve your data on the following event
public override void OnNavigatedTo(...)
{
txtName.Text = State["XXX"]; // read your data from page state
// also check if state has any entry with this key
}
If you need to store application level data, you need to do it in your App.xaml.cs in the following events:
public override void OnDeactivated(...)
{
// Store in IsolatedStorageSettings
}
public override void OnActivated(...)
{
// Read from IsolatedStorageSettings
}
For more details about Tombstoning read the following article:
http://www.scottlogic.co.uk/blog/colin/2011/05/a-simple-windows-phone-7-mvvm-tombstoning-example/
When you app closes, all data information is lost unless you save it somewhere. For transient data, like page state things (e.g. textboxes, checkbox etc..), you can use PhoneApplicationPage.State. If you need to store data permanently so that it's there the next time the user launches the app, you should store it in Isolated Storage. You can learn more about tombstoning and when you should store states in this MSDN page.
There is also a helper library on CodePlex called Tombstone Helper which will make it easier to store data during tombstoning.

Silverlight 4 dataform add new item

I'm using a Silverlight 4 dataform and attempting to use the inbuilt add button to create a new item in my collection. It works fine except that I have a number of properties that need to be set behind the scenes. I've tried hooking into the likely looking events such as AddingNewItem but the new item is readonly at that point and I can't set the properties.
Is there a trick to add new items using the Silverlight 4 dataform?
Finally stumbled on the way to do it after much searching and trial and error.
The rather counter-intuitive place to set the properties on a newly created dataform item is in the EditEnding event handler. The dataform Mode property is readonly in the AddingNewItem handler but is equal to AddNew in the EditEnding handler.
My EditEnding handler code is along the lines of:
private void EditEnding(object sender, DataFormEditEndingEventArgs e)
{
if (myDataForm.Mode == DataFormMode.AddNew)
{
MyItem item = myDataForm.CurrentItem as MyItem;
item.ID = Guid.NewGuid().ToString();
}
}

How to add a new entity to a domain context and immediately see it in data bound controls before SubmitChanges?

I've got a Silverlight 4 RIA Services (SP1) app using Entity Frameworks 4 CTP5. I can databind a grid or listbox to the IEnumerable loaded by the domain context and it shows data from the server. Great.
Now I want to create a new instance of MyEntity and add it to the client-side data so that the user can see the newly added entity. MyEntity is a true entity descendant, not a POCO.
The only Add method I can find is domainContext.EntityContainer.GetEntitySet<MyEntity>().Add(newobj)
This does add the new entity to the domain context, and the domainContext.HasChanges does become true, but the new entity doesn't show up in the databound controls.
How do I get the new entity to show up in the databound controls prior to SubmitChanges?
(Probably related to this SO question from years ago that never got an answer)
Here's the server side declarations of the domain service, per requests:
[EnableClientAccess()]
public class MyDomainService : LinqToEntitiesDomainService<MyObjectContext>
{
protected override MyObjectContext CreateObjectContext()
{
return new MyObjectContext();
}
public IQueryable<MyEntity> GetMyEntities()
{
return this.ObjectContext.MyEntities;
}
public void InsertMyEntity(MyEntity MyEntity)
{
// ...
}
public void UpdateMyEntity(MyEntity currentMyEntity)
{
// ...
}
public void DeleteMyEntity(MyEntity MyEntity)
{
// ...
}
}
I've figured this out with a combination of my own trial and error and hints provided by some of the other responses to this question.
The key point I was missing was that it's not enough for the ViewModel to keep track of the DomainContext and hand out query results to the View for databinding. The ViewModel also has to capture and retain the query results if you want entity adds and deletes performed by the ViewModel to appear in the UI before DomainContext.SubmitChanges(). The ViewModel has to apply those adds to the collection view of the query results.
The ViewModel collection property for View databinding. In this case I'm using the Telerik QueryableDomainServiceCollectionView, but other collection views can be used:
public IEnumerable<MyEntity> MyEntities
{
get
{
if (this.view == null)
{
DomainContextNeeded();
}
return this.view;
}
}
private void DomainContextNeeded()
{
this.context = new MyDomainContext();
var q = context.GetMyEntitiesQuery();
this.view = new Telerik.Windows.Data.QueryableDomainServiceCollectionView<MyEntity>(context, q);
this.view.Load();
}
The ViewModel function that adds a new entity for the UI to display:
public void AddNewMyEntity(object selectedNode)
{
var ent = new MyEntity() { DisplayName = "New Entity" };
if (selectedNode == null)
{
this.view.AddNew(ent);
}
else if (selectedNode is MyEntity)
{
((MyEntity)selectedNode).Children.Add(ent);
}
}
Other responses mentioned ObservableCollection. The query results and the collection view may not return instances of ObservableCollection. They could be just IEnumerables. What is critical is that they implement INotifyCollectionChanged and IEditableCollectionView.
Thanks to those who contributed responses. I've +1'd each response that was helpful, but since none directly solved my problem I couldn't justify marking any as the definitive answer.
Your domainContext will have a property domainContext.MyEntities. Does it not show up in there when you add it?
Bind to that collection or watch that collection for changes.
domainContext.MyEntities.PropertyChanged += MyEventHandler;
I assume you bind your control to the IEnumerable which is provided by LoadOperation<TEntity>.Entities. In that case your binding source is not the DomainContext.GetEntitySet<MyEntity>().
DomainContext.GetEntitySet<MyEntity>() holds all your currently tracked instances of MyEntity, including the one you add with .Add().
LoadOperation<TEntity>.Entities only contains the instances of MyEntity that were actually loaded by your last LoadOperation/Query.
You have two options: Either add the new entity to the ItemsSource-collection for your control (I recommend that) or rebuild the collection with the contents of DomainContext.GetEntitySet<MyEntity>(). That may contain other elements that you have not cleared out before, though.

Silverlight + WCF Data Services getting InvalidOperationException :The context is already tracking a different entity with the same resource Uri

I'm trying to replace an object with a new one and am getting the mentioned exception. I've tried several combination and can't get around it.
I have a Playlist that has Items (the Items has another nested object, but I'm leaving it out to help make my question clearer. The user can change which items are in the playlist.
if (playlistChanged)
{
// remove selectedForRemoval
IEnumerable<PlaylistItemViewModel> nonSelectedItems = selectedDisplayTemplates.Where(pivm => pivm.IsSelectedForRemoval);
foreach (temViewModel ivm in nonSelectedItems)
{
context.DeleteObject(ivm.Model);
}
// clear out and remove old items
foreach (Item item in playlist.PlaylistItems)
{
context.DeleteObject(item);
}
playlist.PlaylistItems.Clear();
// add the selectedItem(s) to the playlist
// these items can be from the Media, or other tables
// so are newly created in code on the client
foreach (ItemViewModel ivm in selectedItems)
{
playlist.Items.Add(ivm.PlaylistItemModel);
context.AddToItems(ivm.PlaylistItemModel);
}
context.BeginSaveChanges(SaveChangesOptions.Batch, new AsyncCallback((iar) =>
{
try
{
// Callback method for the async request, retrieves the status of the requested action
DataServiceResponse response = context.EndSaveChanges(iar);
}
catch (DataServiceRequestException)
{
throw;
}
}), context);
}
Any help is appreciated.
EDIT: I was overriding the Equals and ToString in Playlist partial class. After I removed those, it started working.
I was overriding the Equals and ToString in Playlist partial classes in Silverlight. After I removed those, it started working. I'm going to avoid that from now on with WCF Data Services.
If you fetched the data using a different context from the one you are trying to add/delete with, you will get the exception you posted. Either dispose of the original context you fetched the data with or explicitly call Detach on the item you are calling AddItem/DeleteObject on.