Using IDataErrorInfo in M-V-VM

Asked 2008-12-04T19:42:16.263

If my domain objects implement IDataErrorInfo, and I am using M-V-VM, how do I propagate errors through the ViewModel into the View? If i was binding directly to the model, I would set the "ValidateOnExceptons" and "ValidateOnErrors" properties to true on my binding. But my ViewModel doesn't implement IDataErrorInfo. Only my model. What do I do?

Clarification I am dealing with an existing codebase that implements IDataErrorInfo in the domain objects. I can't just implement IDataErrorInfo in the my view model.

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2 Answers

You can implement IDataErrorInfo additionally in your VM and route the calls to the VM to your corresponding domain objects. I think this is the only way without exposing domain objects directly to the view.

answered 2008-12-08T15:17:54.640

There is a good MSDN Magazine article on this topic, WPF Apps With The Model-View-ViewModel Design Pattern: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd419663.aspx

According to this article, in The Data Model and Repository section (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd419663.aspx#id0090102) you will find a simple implementation. The Customer is the entity class and the ViewModel gets the error indicators from the entity.

You can use ValidationsRule to check data validity:

<TextBox x:Name="title" VerticalAlignment="Top" TextWrapping="Wrap" Grid.Column="1" MinWidth="20">
  <TextBox.Text>
    <Binding Path="Title" UpdateSourceTrigger="LostFocus">
      <Binding.ValidationRules>
        <Validators:StringRangeValidationRule MinimumLength="1" MaximumLength="30" 
                                            ErrorMessage="Address is required and must be less than 30 letters." />
      </Binding.ValidationRules>
    </Binding>
  </TextBox.Text>
</TextBox>

This is an example of validator styling:

<Application.Resources>
  <Style TargetType="{x:Type TextBox}">
  <Setter Property="Validation.ErrorTemplate">
    <Setter.Value>
      <ControlTemplate>
        <DockPanel LastChildFill="True">
          <Image Source="/Images/error.png" Width="25" Height="25" ToolTip="{Binding ElementName=MyAdorner, Path=AdornedElement.(Validation.Errors)[0].ErrorContent}" />
          <TextBlock DockPanel.Dock="Right"
              Foreground="Orange"
              Margin="5" 
              FontSize="12pt"
              Text="{Binding ElementName=MyAdorner, Path=AdornedElement.(Validation.Errors)[0].ErrorContent}">
          &


                        
                        
                            answered 2009-10-19T22:07:48.343



        
        
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