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 How to: Implement the INotifyProper...

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

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Windows Forms Programming
How to: Implement the INotifyPropertyChanged Interface

The following code example demonstrates how to implement the INotifyPropertyChanged interface. Implement this interface on business objects that are used in Windows Forms data binding. When implemented, the interface communicates to a bound control the property changes on a business object.

Visual Basic
' This class implements a simple customer type 
' that implements the IPropertyChange interface.

Public Class DemoCustomer
    Implements INotifyPropertyChanged

    ' These fields hold the values for the public properties.
    Private idValue As Guid = Guid.NewGuid()
    Private customerName As String = String.Empty
    Private companyNameValue As String = String.Empty
    Private phoneNumberValue As String = String.Empty

    Public Event PropertyChanged As PropertyChangedEventHandler _
      Implements INotifyPropertyChanged.PropertyChanged

    Private Sub NotifyPropertyChanged(ByVal info As String)
        RaiseEvent PropertyChanged(Me, New PropertyChangedEventArgs(info))
    End Sub


    ' The constructor is private to enforce the factory pattern.
    Private Sub New() 
        customerName = "no data"
        companyNameValue = "no data"
        phoneNumberValue = "no data"

    End Sub 'New


    ' This is the public factory method.
    Public Shared Function CreateNewCustomer() As DemoCustomer 
        Return New DemoCustomer()

    End Function

    ' This property represents an ID, suitable
    ' for use as a primary key in a database.
    Public ReadOnly Property ID() As Guid
        Get
            Return Me.idValue
        End Get
    End Property


    Public Property CompanyName() As String 
        Get
            Return Me.companyNameValue
        End Get 
        Set
            If value <> Me.companyNameValue Then
                Me.companyNameValue = value
                NotifyPropertyChanged("CompanyName")
            End If
        End Set
    End Property

    Public Property PhoneNumber() As String 
        Get
            Return Me.phoneNumberValue
        End Get 
        Set
            If value <> Me.phoneNumberValue Then
                Me.phoneNumberValue = value
                NotifyPropertyChanged("PhoneNumber")
            End If
        End Set
    End Property
End Class

C#
// This class implements a simple customer type 
// that implements the IPropertyChange interface.
public class DemoCustomer : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
    // These fields hold the values for the public properties.
    private Guid idValue = Guid.NewGuid();
    private string customerName = String.Empty;
    private string companyNameValue = String.Empty;
    private string phoneNumberValue = String.Empty;

    public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;

    private void NotifyPropertyChanged(String info)
    {
        if (PropertyChanged != null)
        {
            PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(info));
        }
    }

    // The constructor is private to enforce the factory pattern.
    private DemoCustomer()
    {
        customerName = "no data";
        companyNameValue = "no data";
        phoneNumberValue = "no data";
    }

    // This is the public factory method.
    public static DemoCustomer CreateNewCustomer()
    {
        return new DemoCustomer();
    }

    // This property represents an ID, suitable
    // for use as a primary key in a database.
    public Guid ID
    {
        get
        {
            return this.idValue;
        }
    }

    public string CompanyName
    {
        get {return this.companyNameValue;}

        set
        {
            if (value != this.companyNameValue)
            {
                this.companyNameValue = value;
                NotifyPropertyChanged("CompanyName");
            }
        }
    }
    public string PhoneNumber
    {
        get { return this.phoneNumberValue; }

        set 
        {
            if (value != this.phoneNumberValue)
            {
                this.phoneNumberValue = value;
                NotifyPropertyChanged("PhoneNumber");
            }
        }
    }
}

To compile the previous code example:

  • Paste the code into an empty code file. Use the business object in a Windows Forms application that contains a Main method.

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This sample does not correspond to .NET design guidelines around the Event pattern. It should.      Kevin R Moore   |   Edit   |   Show History
  • The NotifyPropertyChanged method should be named OnPropertyChanged
  • It should take in PropertyChangedEventArgs instead of string
  • It should probably be protected virtual

Please change the samples to follow the .NET design guidelines      omjbe   |   Edit   |   Show History
I agree absolutely with Kevin. The examples of this help topic should follow the .NET design guidelines.

One of the drawbacks the sample contains: When someone inherits from DemoCustomer and creates a new property in the sub class then this property cannot raise the PropertyChanged event. This is because the method NotifyPropertyChanged is private.

Implementing the INotifyPropertyChanged interface isn’t easy at all. See this discussion for more information: http://compositeextensions.codeplex.com/Thread/View.aspx?ThreadId=53731
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