cannont bind to ActiveWindow/LastActiveDocument

Hi Joachim,

You would need to use OneWayToSource if you put a binding on ActiveWindow or LastActiveDocument, as those properties are read-only. The problem with a "SelectedDocument" property, is that there can be several selected windows (some of which may be floating).

You would probably have to hook into the WindowActivated/WindowDeactivated event of the DockSite. If OneWayToSource doesn't work for you.

Hi,

there is no difference as to whether I use "OneWay" or "OneWayToSource". I get the same compiler error saying "...not accesible set accessor". It seems that the read-only dp property is not correctly implemented here.

I would very much like to avoid registering to events and do it rather the MVVM way. Actually the MVVM support of your control is the only reason why I am evaluating it.

Hi Joachim,

Unfortunately, this appears to be a limitation imposed by WPF, which is supposedly by design:

http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/540833/onewaytosource-binding-from-a-readonly-dependency-property
https://connect.microsoft.com/WPF/feedback/details/523865/read-only-dependency-properties-does-not-support-onewaytosource-bindings

We've marked down a TODO item to see about making the ActiveWindow property read/write in the future.

Ok, i broke my mvvm pattern for now and registered to the Window.Activated event. But I am running into the next problem:

I have a rather simple scenario where I have several DocumentWindows containing different kind of documents, with a different ui. Now I need to show certain Toolwindows dependent on the DocumentWindow selected. In other words, I need to show/hide Toolwindows on ActiveDocument changed.

The logic of which tool window to show with which document window I want to put in my document´s view model. But again how can I do simple operations like showing/hiding a toolwindow via mvvm? I tried to bind the DockingWindow.IsOpen property, but again, this is read-only!

Hi Joachim,

We don't currently have a proeprty that can be used to close ToolWindows. As you mention, the IsOpen property tells you whether the window is open, but it's currently read-only.

We've updated this to be a read/write property for the next maintenance release, so you can add a two-way binding or set it explicitly. Keep in mind though, that setting IsOpen to true is the same as calling Open() and setting it to false is the same as calling Close(). So the only real benefit of it being read/write is being able to add a two-way binding.

Hi, yes, having IsOpen as a writable dp will definitely improve the mvvm capability.

But I am still struggling with controlling toolwindows that are dependend on docwindows.

I registered the DockingSite.WindowActivated event to find out when the user selects a certain tabpage (DocumentWindow). Through this event I set the "ActiveDocumentViewModel" property in my ViewModel. One Document now makes sure that a certain ToolWindow is displayed (AdminMode) and another Document makes sure that if that Toolwindow is open, it has to be closed (UserMode).

The problem now is, that whenever I close a ToolWindow from my view model by calling

DockSite.ToolWindows.Remove(myAdminToolWindow);

this will raise a WindowActivate event of the first Tab in the document window!? This results in a strange User Experience, whenever the user selects a document tab that hides a tool window, the first document tab is selected and the user has to click again on the tab page to change back.

Hi Joachim,

It's very hard to tell without seeing it in action. If you can please put together a small sample project that reproduces your issue and email it over then we can take a closer look. Be sure to remove any executables or change the extension of the zip file to ensure it gets past our email filters.

Assuming you have the DockItem.ToolItemsSource property bound to a collection of your tool window view-models, you shouldn't need to explicitly remove the ToolWindow from the DockSite like have above.