Why does WPF Style to show validation errors in ToolTip work for a TextBox but fails for a ComboBox?

c#, data-binding, styles, validation, wpf

Solution

Your getting this error because when you validation finds that there are no issues, the Errors collection returns with no items, and the following binding logic fails:

Path=(Validation.Errors)[0].ErrorContent}"

you are accessing the validation collection by a specific index. I'm currently working on a DataTemplate Suggestion for replacing this text.

I love that Microsoft listed this in their standard example of a validation template.

update so replace the code above with the following, and the binding logic will know how to handle the empty validationresult collection:

Path=(Validation.Errors).CurrentItem.ErrorContent}"

(following xaml was added as a comment)

<ControlTemplate x:Key="ValidationErrorTemplate" TargetType="Control">
    <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
        <TextBlock Foreground="Red" FontSize="24" Text="*" 
                   ToolTip="{Binding .CurrentItem}">
        </TextBlock>
        <AdornedElementPlaceholder>
        </AdornedElementPlaceholder>
    </StackPanel>
</ControlTemplate>

Update in 2019

As of currently, the correct path syntax to use is:

Path=(Validation.Errors)/ErrorContent

Problem

I am using a typical Style to display validation errors as a tooltip from IErrorDataInfo for a textbox as shown below and it works fine. ``` <Style TargetType="{x:Type TextBox}"> <Style.Triggers> <Trigger Property="Validation.HasError" Value="true"> <Setter Property="ToolTip" Value="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self}, Path=(Validation.Errors)[0].ErrorContent}"/> </Trigger> </Style.Triggers> </Style> ``` But when i try to do the same thing for a ComboBox like this it fails ``` <Style TargetType="{x:Type ComboBox}"> <Style.Triggers> <Trigger Property="Validation.HasError" Value="true"> <Setter Property="ToolTip" Value="{Binding RelativeSource={RelativeSource Self}, Path=(Validation.Errors)[0].ErrorContent}"/> </Trigger> </Style.Triggers> </Style> ``` The error I get in the output window is: System.Windows.Data Error: 17 : Cannot get 'Item[]' value (type 'ValidationError') from '(Validation.Errors)' (type 'ReadOnlyObservableCollection`1'). BindingExpression:Path=(0)[0].ErrorContent; DataItem='ComboBox' (Name='ownerComboBox'); target element is 'ComboBox' (Name='ownerComboBox'); target property is 'ToolTip' (type 'Object') ArgumentOutOfRangeException:'System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException: Specified argument was out of the range of valid values.Parameter name: index' Oddly it also attempts to make invalid Database changes when I close the window if I change any ComboBox values (This is also when the binding error occurs)!!! Cannot insert the value NULL into column 'EmpFirstName', table 'OITaskManager.dbo.Employees'; column does not allow nulls. INSERT fails. The statement has been terminated. Simply by commenting the style out everyting works perfectly. How do I fix this? Just in case anyone needs it one of the comboBox' xaml follows: ``` <ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Path=Employees}" SelectedValuePath="EmpID" SelectedValue="{Binding Path=SelectedIssue.Employee2.EmpID, Mode=OneWay, ValidatesOnDataErrors=True}" ItemTemplate="{StaticResource LastNameFirstComboBoxTemplate}" Height="28" Name="ownerComboBox" Width="120" Margin="2" SelectionChanged="ownerComboBox_SelectionChanged" /> <DataTemplate x:Key="LastNameFirstComboBoxTemplate"> <TextBlock> <TextBlock.Text> <MultiBinding StringFormat="{}{1}, {0}" > <Binding Path="EmpFirstName" /> <Binding Path="EmpLastName" /> </MultiBinding> </TextBlock.Text> </TextBlock> </DataTemplate> ``` SelectionChanged: (I do plan to implement commanding before long but, as this is my first WPF project I have not gone full MVVM yet. I am trying to take things in small-medium sized bites) ``` // This is done this way to maintain the DataContext Integrity // and avoid an error due to an Object being "Not New" in Linq-to-SQL private void ownerComboBox_SelectionChanged(object sender, SelectionChangedEventArgs e) { Employee currentEmpl = ownerComboBox.SelectedItem as Employee; if (currentEmpl != null && currentEmpl != statusBoardViewModel.SelectedIssue.Employee2) { statusBoardViewModel.SelectedIssue.Employee2 = currentEmpl; } } ```

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