WPF Combobox DefaultValue (Please Select)

Question

Hi I have a WPF Combobox which shows a list of Enums. Code is below.

    <ComboBox HorizontalAlignment="Left" 
              Margin="139,299,0,0" 
              VerticalAlignment="Top" 
              ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource Enum}}"
              Width="78"/> 

However, when the view is loaded, it shows the first enum in the list, but I would like it to show 'Please Select', so is there XAML to do this (C# in the view if needs be..)

Thanks

Solution 1

All good answers that has been supplied, but I used the following to solve my problem

<ComboBox SelectedIndex="0">
    <ComboBox.ItemsSource>
        <CompositeCollection>
            <ListBoxItem>Please Select</ListBoxItem>
            <CollectionContainer Collection="{Binding Source={StaticResource YOURDATASOURCE}}" />
        </CompositeCollection>
    </ComboBox.ItemsSource>
</ComboBox>

Thanks for everyone who has helped!

Solution 2

Add these properties to your combobox and you can set a default 'Please Select' Text on a combobox.

<ComboBox IsEditable="True" IsReadOnly="True" Text="Please Select"/>

For a more versatile solution you can create a watermark for the combobox

Solution 3

I did this with mine, works for me, since I have static items.

<ComboBox Name="cbxType" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="116,41,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="192">
    <ComboBoxItem Name="create" IsSelected="True">create database</ComboBoxItem>
    <ComboBoxItem Name="update">update database</ComboBoxItem>
</ComboBox>

Solution 4

You could achieve that with the following code:

<Grid>
                <ComboBox
                    MinWidth="120"
                    x:Name="MyCombo"
                    ItemsSource="{Binding FileTypes}"  
                    SelectedItem="{Binding SelectedFileType}"/>
                <TextBlock
                    VerticalAlignment="Center"
                    HorizontalAlignment="Center"
                    Visibility="{Binding SelectedItem, ElementName=MyCombo, Converter={StaticResource NullToVisibilityConverter}}"
                    IsHitTestVisible="False"
                    Text="Select Option...  " />
</Grid>

Whenever you need the above text (the textbox) you can use the VisibilityConverter to display your text on top of the combobox...

Add something like this to your resources:

<local:NullToVisibilityConverter x:Key="NullToVisibilityConverter" />

Solution 5

Add the value "Please select" to your EnumCollection

Set the default value in the combobox stylesetter

<Style x:Key="ComboStyle" TargetType="{x:Type ComboBox}">
    <Setter Property="SelectedIndex" Value="0"/>
</Style>

XAML:

<ComboBox HorizontalAlignment="Left" 
              Margin="139,299,0,0" 
              Style="{StaticResource ComboStyle}"
              VerticalAlignment="Top" 
              ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource ComboBox}}"
              Width="78"/> 

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