Set focus on TextBox in WPF from view model

Question

I have a TextBox and a Button in my view.

Now I am checking a condition upon button click and if the condition turns out to be false, displaying the message to the user, and then I have to set the cursor to the TextBox control.

if (companyref == null)
{
    var cs = new Lipper.Nelson.AdminClient.Main.Views.ContactPanels.CompanyAssociation(); 

    MessageBox.Show("Company does not exist.", "Error", MessageBoxButton.OK,
                    MessageBoxImage.Exclamation);

    cs.txtCompanyID.Focusable = true;

    System.Windows.Input.Keyboard.Focus(cs.txtCompanyID);
}

The above code is in the ViewModel.

The CompanyAssociation is the view name.

But the cursor is not getting set in the TextBox.

The xaml is:

<igEditors:XamTextEditor Name="txtCompanyID" 
                         KeyDown="xamTextEditorAllowOnlyNumeric_KeyDown"
                         ValueChanged="txtCompanyID_ValueChanged"
                         Text="{Binding Company.CompanyId,
                                        Mode=TwoWay,
                                        UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}"
                         Width="{Binding ActualWidth, ElementName=border}"
                         Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="0"
                         VerticalAlignment="Top"
                         HorizontalAlignment="Stretch"
                         Margin="0,5,0,0"
                         IsEnabled="{Binding Path=IsEditable}"/>

<Button Template="{StaticResource buttonTemp1}"
        Command="{Binding ContactCommand}"
        CommandParameter="searchCompany"
        Content="Search"
        Width="80"
        Grid.Row="0" Grid.Column="2"
        VerticalAlignment="Top"
        Margin="0"
        HorizontalAlignment="Left"
        IsEnabled="{Binding Path=IsEditable}"/>

Answer 1

I use WPF / Caliburn Micro a found that "dfaivre" has made a general and workable solution here: http://caliburnmicro.codeplex.com/discussions/222892

Answer 2

I have found solution by editing code as per following. There is no need to set Binding property first False then True.

public static class FocusExtension
{

    public static bool GetIsFocused(DependencyObject obj)
    {
        return (bool)obj.GetValue(IsFocusedProperty);
    }


    public static void SetIsFocused(DependencyObject obj, bool value)
    {
        obj.SetValue(IsFocusedProperty, value);
    }


    public static readonly DependencyProperty IsFocusedProperty =
        DependencyProperty.RegisterAttached(
         "IsFocused", typeof(bool), typeof(FocusExtension),
         new UIPropertyMetadata(false, OnIsFocusedPropertyChanged));


    private static void OnIsFocusedPropertyChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        if (d != null && d is Control)
        {
            var _Control = d as Control;
            if ((bool)e.NewValue)
            {
                // To set false value to get focus on control. if we don't set value to False then we have to set all binding
                //property to first False then True to set focus on control.
                OnLostFocus(_Control, null);
                _Control.Focus(); // Don't care about false values.
            }
        }
    }

    private static void OnLostFocus(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
    {
        if (sender != null && sender is Control)
        {
            (sender as Control).SetValue(IsFocusedProperty, false);
        }
    }
}

Answer 3

For those trying to use Anvaka's solution above, I was having issues with the binding only working the first time, as lostfocus would not update the property to false. You can manually set the property to false and then true every time, but a better solution could be to do something like this in your property:

bool _isFocused = false;
    public bool IsFocused 
    {
        get { return _isFocused ; }
        set
        {
            _isFocused = false;
            _isFocused = value;
            base.OnPropertyChanged("IsFocused ");
        }
    }

This way you only ever need to set it to true, and it will get focus.

Answer 4

I think the best way is to keep the MVVM principle clean, so basically you must use the Messenger Class provided with the MVVM Light and here is how to use it:

in your viewmodel(exampleViewModel.cs):write the following

 Messenger.Default.Send<string>("focus", "DoFocus");

now in your View.cs(not the XAML the view.xaml.cs) write the following in the constructor

 public MyView()
        {
            InitializeComponent();

            Messenger.Default.Register<string>(this, "DoFocus", doFocus);
        }
        public void doFocus(string msg)
        {
            if (msg == "focus")
                this.txtcode.Focus();
        }

that method owrks just fine and with less code and maintaining MVVM standards

Answer 5

public class DummyViewModel : ViewModelBase
    {
        private bool isfocused= false;
        public bool IsFocused
        {
            get
            {
                return isfocused;
            }
            set
            {
                isfocused= value;
                OnPropertyChanged("IsFocused");
            }
        }
    }

Answer 6

An alternative approach based on @Sheridan answer here

 <TextBox Text="{Binding SomeText, Mode=TwoWay, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}">
        <TextBox.Style>
            <Style>
                <Style.Triggers>
                    <DataTrigger Binding="{Binding SomeTextIsFocused, Mode=TwoWay, UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}" Value="True">
                        <Setter Property="FocusManager.FocusedElement" Value="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self}}" />
                    </DataTrigger>
                </Style.Triggers>
            </Style>
        </TextBox.Style>
    </TextBox>

In your view model set up your binding in the usual way and then set the SomeTextIsFocused to true to set the focus on your text box