How to bind RadioButtons to an enum?

Question

I've got an enum like this:

public enum MyLovelyEnum
{
  FirstSelection,
  TheOtherSelection,
  YetAnotherOne
};

I got a property in my DataContext:

public MyLovelyEnum VeryLovelyEnum { get; set; }

And I got three RadioButtons in my WPF client.

<RadioButton Margin="3">First Selection</RadioButton>
<RadioButton Margin="3">The Other Selection</RadioButton>
<RadioButton Margin="3">Yet Another one</RadioButton>

Now how do I bind the RadioButtons to the property for proper two-way-binding?

Answer 1

This work for Checkbox too.

public class EnumToBoolConverter:IValueConverter
{
    private int val;
    public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
    {
        int intParam = (int)parameter;
        val = (int)value;

        return ((intParam & val) != 0);
    }

    public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo culture)
    {
        val ^= (int)parameter;
        return Enum.Parse(targetType, val.ToString());
    }
}

Binding a single enum to multiple checkboxes.

Answer 2

I've created a new class to handle binding RadioButtons and CheckBoxes to enums. It works for flagged enums (with multiple checkbox selections) and non-flagged enums for single-selection checkboxes or radio buttons. It also requires no ValueConverters at all.

This might look more complicated at first, however, once you copy this class into your project, it's done. It's generic so it can easily be reused for any enum.

public class EnumSelection<T> : INotifyPropertyChanged where T : struct, IComparable, IFormattable, IConvertible
{
  private T value; // stored value of the Enum
  private bool isFlagged; // Enum uses flags?
  private bool canDeselect; // Can be deselected? (Radio buttons cannot deselect, checkboxes can)
  private T blankValue; // what is considered the "blank" value if it can be deselected?

  public EnumSelection(T value) : this(value, false, default(T)) { }
  public EnumSelection(T value, bool canDeselect) : this(value, canDeselect, default(T)) { }
  public EnumSelection(T value, T blankValue) : this(value, true, blankValue) { }
  public EnumSelection(T value, bool canDeselect, T blankValue)
  {
    if (!typeof(T).IsEnum) throw new ArgumentException($"{nameof(T)} must be an enum type"); // I really wish there was a way to constrain generic types to enums...
    isFlagged = typeof(T).IsDefined(typeof(FlagsAttribute), false);

    this.value = value;
    this.canDeselect = canDeselect;
    this.blankValue = blankValue;
  }

  public T Value
  {
    get { return value; }
    set 
    {
      if (this.value.Equals(value)) return;
      this.value = value;
      OnPropertyChanged();
      OnPropertyChanged("Item[]"); // Notify that the indexer property has changed
    }
  }

  [IndexerName("Item")]
  public bool this[T key]
  {
    get
    {
      int iKey = (int)(object)key;
      return isFlagged ? ((int)(object)value & iKey) == iKey : value.Equals(key);
    }
    set
    {
      if (isFlagged)
      {
        int iValue = (int)(object)this.value;
        int iKey = (int)(object)key;

        if (((iValue & iKey) == iKey) == value) return;

        if (value)
          Value = (T)(object)(iValue | iKey);
        else
          Value = (T)(object)(iValue & ~iKey);
      }
      else
      {
        if (this.value.Equals(key) == value) return;
        if (!value && !canDeselect) return;

        Value = value ? key : blankValue;
      }
    }
  }

  public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;

  private void OnPropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = "")
  {
    PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
  }
}

And for how to use it, let's say you have an enum for running a task manually or automatically, and can be scheduled for any days of the week, and some optional options...

public enum StartTask
{
  Manual,
  Automatic
}

[Flags()]
public enum DayOfWeek
{
  Sunday = 1 << 0,
  Monday = 1 << 1,
  Tuesday = 1 << 2,
  Wednesday = 1 << 3,
  Thursday = 1 << 4,
  Friday = 1 << 5,
  Saturday = 1 << 6
}

public enum AdditionalOptions
{
  None = 0,
  OptionA,
  OptionB
}

Now, here's how easy it is to use this class:

public class MyViewModel : ViewModelBase
{
  public MyViewModel()
  {
    StartUp = new EnumSelection<StartTask>(StartTask.Manual);
    Days = new EnumSelection<DayOfWeek>(default(DayOfWeek));
    Options = new EnumSelection<AdditionalOptions>(AdditionalOptions.None, true, AdditionalOptions.None);
  }

  public EnumSelection<StartTask> StartUp { get; private set; }
  public EnumSelection<DayOfWeek> Days { get; private set; }
  public EnumSelection<AdditionalOptions> Options { get; private set; }
}

And here's how easy it is to bind checkboxes and radio buttons with this class:

<StackPanel Orientation="Vertical">
  <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
    <!-- Using RadioButtons for exactly 1 selection behavior -->
    <RadioButton IsChecked="{Binding StartUp[Manual]}">Manual</RadioButton>
    <RadioButton IsChecked="{Binding StartUp[Automatic]}">Automatic</RadioButton>
  </StackPanel>
  <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
    <!-- Using CheckBoxes for 0 or Many selection behavior -->
    <CheckBox IsChecked="{Binding Days[Sunday]}">Sunday</CheckBox>
    <CheckBox IsChecked="{Binding Days[Monday]}">Monday</CheckBox>
    <CheckBox IsChecked="{Binding Days[Tuesday]}">Tuesday</CheckBox>
    <CheckBox IsChecked="{Binding Days[Wednesday]}">Wednesday</CheckBox>
    <CheckBox IsChecked="{Binding Days[Thursday]}">Thursday</CheckBox>
    <CheckBox IsChecked="{Binding Days[Friday]}">Friday</CheckBox>
    <CheckBox IsChecked="{Binding Days[Saturday]}">Saturday</CheckBox>
  </StackPanel>
  <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
    <!-- Using CheckBoxes for 0 or 1 selection behavior -->
    <CheckBox IsChecked="{Binding Options[OptionA]}">Option A</CheckBox>
    <CheckBox IsChecked="{Binding Options[OptionB]}">Option B</CheckBox>
  </StackPanel>
</StackPanel>

1. When the UI loads, the "Manual" radio button will be selected and you can alter your selection between "Manual" or "Automatic" but either one of them must always be selected.
2. Every day of the week will be unchecked, but any number of them can be checked or unchecked.
3. "Option A" and "Option B" will both initially be unchecked. You can check one or the other, checking one will uncheck the other (similar to RadioButtons), but now you can also uncheck both of them (which you cannot do with WPF's RadioButton, which is why CheckBox is being used here)

Answer 3

You could use a more generic converter

public class EnumBooleanConverter : IValueConverter
{
  #region IValueConverter Members
  public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
  {
    string parameterString = parameter as string;
    if (parameterString == null)
      return DependencyProperty.UnsetValue;

    if (Enum.IsDefined(value.GetType(), value) == false)
      return DependencyProperty.UnsetValue;

    object parameterValue = Enum.Parse(value.GetType(), parameterString);

    return parameterValue.Equals(value);
  }

  public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
  {
    string parameterString = parameter as string;
    if (parameterString == null)
        return DependencyProperty.UnsetValue;

    return Enum.Parse(targetType, parameterString);
  }
  #endregion
}

And in the XAML-Part you use:

<Grid>
    <Grid.Resources>
      <l:EnumBooleanConverter x:Key="enumBooleanConverter" />
    </Grid.Resources>
    <StackPanel >
      <RadioButton IsChecked="{Binding Path=VeryLovelyEnum, Converter={StaticResource enumBooleanConverter}, ConverterParameter=FirstSelection}">first selection</RadioButton>
      <RadioButton IsChecked="{Binding Path=VeryLovelyEnum, Converter={StaticResource enumBooleanConverter}, ConverterParameter=TheOtherSelection}">the other selection</RadioButton>
      <RadioButton IsChecked="{Binding Path=VeryLovelyEnum, Converter={StaticResource enumBooleanConverter}, ConverterParameter=YetAnotherOne}">yet another one</RadioButton>
    </StackPanel>
</Grid>