This walkthrough shows you how to create a UXSearchBox to search item in collection of data. This walkthrough demonstrates the following concept:

• Create ClientUI MVVM Application project using Intersoft ClientUI MVVM Application project template.
• Create the Model class that represents the SampleData data entity.
• Create the View page that represents the user interface of the application.
• Create the ViewModel class that describes the View.
• Bind the ViewModel to the View. 
• Use UXSearchBox to represent a search input control.

Prerequisites

You need the following components to complete this walkthrough:

• Visual Studio 2010
• Silverlight 4 Tools for Visual Studio 2010
• Intersoft ClientUI

Creating a new ClientUI MVVM Application Project

The first step is to create a new ClientUI MVVM Application project using Intersoft ClientUI MVVM Application project template in Visual Studio.

To create the ClientUI MVVM Application project

1. Start Visual Studio 2010.
2. Create a new ClientUI MVVM Application project using Intersoft ClientUI MVVM Application project template. To learn more, see Walkthrough: Create New Intersoft ClientUI MVVM Application Template.
3. In project reference, add System.Xml.Linq.dll. This assembly is required to perform LINQ query to xml data.

To add the data file

1. In your project, copy the Samples.xml from [Intersoft Installation Folder]\Intersoft WebUI Studio 2010 R1\Samples\SL4\ClientUI Samples\Intersoft.ClientUI.Samples.InputControls].
2. Click on the Samples.xml file and press F4 to open the Property Window. Change the Build Action property to Resources. 

Creating the Model

This section shows how to create a Model class in SampleData.cs. The model will map  information in the data entity to a property.

To create the SampleData model

1. Create SampleData.cs in the Models folder and inherit the ModelBase class.
2. Create a private variable and a public property to hold DisplayName attribute with a String data type. OnPropertyChanged method must be called after the property is assigned a new value.
   

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   private string _displayName; public string DisplayName { get { return this._displayName; } set { if (this._displayName != value) { string description = value; description = description.Replace("||", "\r\n"); this._displayName = description; this.OnPropertyChanged("DisplayName"); } } }

3. Repeat the above process for Name and Uri attribute. Both require String data type.
4. Create SampleData constructor using XElement parameter to map each attribute to the property.
   

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   public SampleData(XElement i) { this.Name = i.Attribute("Name").Value.ToString(); string displayName = i.Attribute("DisplayName").Value.ToString(); this.DisplayName = (string.IsNullOrEmpty(displayName) ? this.Name : displayName); this.Uri = i.Attribute("Uri").Value.ToString(); }

Creating the ViewModel

This section shows how to create a ViewModel to hold the collection of SampleData and the selected SampleData model object . In order to implement search, the UXSearchBox requires IsSearching, QueryText and SearchResult property.

To create the SearchViewModel ViewModel

1. Create the SearchViewModel.cs in ViewModels folder.
2. Create two collection to hold SampleData object. One will be used to hold all the SampleData object and the other one will hold the search result. The search result property need to call OnPropertyChanged method after a new value is assigned.
   

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   public ObservableCollection<SampleData> Samples { get; set; } private ObservableCollection<SampleData> _searchResult; public ObservableCollection<SampleData> SearchResult { get { return this._searchResult; } set { if (this._searchResult != value) { this._searchResult = value; this.OnPropertyChanged("SearchResult"); } } }

3. Create a property to hold the text inputted in the UXSearchBox.
   

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   private string _queryText; public string QueryText { get { return this._queryText; } set { if (this._queryText != value) { this._queryText = value; this.OnPropertyChanged("QueryText"); } } }

4. Create a constructor which will load and parse the SampleData.xml.
   

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   public SearchViewModel() { this.LoadSamples(); } private void LoadSamples() { StreamResourceInfo resource = System.Windows.Application.GetResourceStream(new Uri("/ClientUIMVVMSearchBox;component/Samples.xml", UriKind.Relative)); XDocument doc = XDocument.Load(resource.Stream); var samples = from d in doc.Descendants("SampleItem") select new SampleData(d); foreach (SampleData sample in samples) { this.Samples.Add(sample); } resource.Stream.Close(); }

5. Create a property to indicate the searching status of the UXSearchBox. Assigning a new value triggers the searching logic. The searching logic is implemented in the next step using a method.
   

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   private bool _isSearching; public bool IsSearching { get { return this._isSearching; } set { if (this._isSearching != value) { this._isSearching = value; this.OnPropertyChanged("IsSearching"); this.DoSearch(); } } }

6. Create a method to implement the searching logic.
   

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   private void DoSearch() { var query = from q in this.Samples where q.DisplayName.ToLower(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture).Contains(this.QueryText.ToLower(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)) select q; ObservableCollection<SampleData> data = new ObservableCollection<SampleData>(); foreach (SampleData d in query) { data.Add(d); } this.SearchResult = data; this.IsSearching = false; }

7. Add a new private variable and public property to hold the UXSearchBox SelectedItem. Selecting a new item cause a MessageBox with the Uri information to appear.
   

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   private SampleData _selectedSampleData; public SampleData SelectedData { get { return _selectedSampleData; } set { if (_selectedSampleData != value) { _selectedSampleData = value; this.OnPropertyChanged("SelectedData"); MessageBoxServiceProvider.Show("Navigate to uri: " + _selectedSampleData.Uri, null); } } }

Creating the View

This section describes how to create the view with the UXSearchBox.

To create the Search view

1. Add a new UXPage to the Views folder in your Silverlight project and name it Search.xaml.

   For more information on how to add a new item in Visual Studio, see Walkthrough: Add New Item such as Page, Dialog Box and Window in VS 2010

2. Declare the namespace that maps to the SearchViewModel class.
   

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   <Intersoft:UXPage ... xmlns:ViewModels="clr-namespace:ClientUIMVVMSearchBox.ViewModels" ... > ... </Intersoft:UXPage>

3. Reference the SearchViewModel as the page DataContext.
   

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   <Intersoft:UXPage.DataContext> <ViewModels:SearchViewModel/> </Intersoft:UXPage.DataContext>

4. Add UXSearchBox. Set the following properties:
   

   Property	Value
   HorizontalAlignment	Left
   VerticalAlignment	Top
   Margin	12,12,0,0
   Width	300
   DisplayMemberPath	DisplayName
   AutoShowResultBox	True
   WatermarkTextVisibility	Visible
   WatermarkText	Enter keyword
   WatermarkForeground	Black

   Locate the IsSearching property.
   1. Click the ellipsis button in the header property column, a context menu will appear
   2. Select the Apply DataBinding Options...
   3. From the Tab Path, select IsSearching 
   4. From the Tab Options, set Mode to TwoWay
   Locate the QueryText property.
   1. Click the ellipsis button in the header property column, a context menu will appear
   2. Select the Apply DataBinding Options...
   3. From the Tab Path, select QueryText
   4. From the Tab Options, set Mode to TwoWay
   Locate the SearchResult property.
   1. Click the ellipsis button in the header property column, a context menu will appear
   2. Select the Apply DataBinding Options...
   3. From the Tab Path, select SearchResult
   Locate the SelectedData property.
   1. Click the ellipsis button in the header property column, a context menu will appear
   2. Select the Apply DataBinding Options...
   3. From the Tab Path, select SelectedData
   4. From the Tab Options, set Mode to TwoWay

   XAML

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   <Intersoft:UXSearchBox HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="12,12,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="300" DisplayMemberPath="DisplayName" WatermarkTextVisibility="Visible" WatermarkText="Enter keyword" AutoShowResultBox="True" WatermarkForeground="Black" IsSearching="{Binding IsSearching, Mode=TwoWay}" QueryText="{Binding QueryText, Mode=TwoWay}" SearchResult="{Binding SearchResult}" SelectedItem="{Binding SelectedData, Mode=TwoWay}"/>

Viewing the Result

In order to view the result, you will need to build the Silverlight project and run the test page in the browser.

To view the result

1. Try inputting or in the UXSearchBox.
   
2. The dropdown will be populated with SampleData which contains or in its DisplayName.
3. Selecting an item will popup a MessageBox with the Uri information.

Conclusion

In this walkthrough, you have learned how to create ClientUI MVVM Application project using Intersoft ClientUI MVVM Application project template, and create classes and page based on the MVVM pattern. You also learned how to utilize search feature in UXSearchBox.

For more information about application development using MVVM pattern, see MVVM Pattern Overview. For more information about UXSearchBox control, see UXSearchBox Overview.

Complete Code Listing

This section lists the complete code used in this walkthrough.

SampleData.cs

SearchViewModel.cs

Search.xaml

See Also