Ara3D.PropKit 1.6.1

Ara3D.PropKit

Ara3D.PropKit is a toolkit for generic run-time property management in C# which is compatible with WinForms and WPF data binding.

The primary use cases are auto UI, data serialization, change monitoring, and notification.

Overview

In the context of this library a "property" is any piece of data, whether it is a field, a property, or an entry into a dictionary, that has associated meta-data (such as a name, type, UI label) and a validation mechanism. Properties are described by PropDescriptor instances, which can validate values and provide metadata about the property.

It complements classes in System.ComponentModel, but is easier to work with and has improved separation of concerns.

For example the Ara3D.PropKit.PropDescriptor differs from System.ComponentModel.PropertyDescriptor in that it has no knowledge about getting / setting values. It simply describes a property, and how to validate it.

Getting and setting of property values is done via the PropAccessor class, which can be used to wrap any getter or setter function. The PropProvider class acts as a container around a collection of PropAccessors, and implements the IPropContainer interface.

The IPropContainer interface provides a way to get or set values by name, or all at once. It also inherits from INotifyPropertyChanged so that changes to properties can be monitored. It also implements ICustomTypeProvider so that it can be used in data binding scenarios by providing run-time type information about the properties it contains in a way that is compatible with existing frameworks that use System.ComponentModel, such as WPF and WinForms.

Values can be more easily validated, because they are typically passed and returned as PropValue instances which wrap the value and the PropDescriptor together. The construction of a PropValue forces validation of the value against the PropDescriptor.

You can use a PropContainerWrapper as a dynamic view model around any class, and you can then bind to any property or field on that class.

Classes and Interfaces

• PropDescriptor - A class which provides a type, name, UI label, default value, and validation mechanism for a specific kind of property.
• PropValue - A PropDescriptor and an associated value. Provides validation upon construction.
• PropAccessor - A class which associates a PropDescriptor with a getter and optional setter function.
• IPropContainer - An interface inheriting INotifyPropertyChanged and ICustomTypeProvider to provide access to get or set values individually by name, or in bulk as collections of PropValue
• PropProvider - Implements IPropContainer by wrapping a collection of PropAccessors.
• PropContainerDictionary - Implements IPropContainer. This is a generic key/value collection that stores PropValue.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Enjoy building dynamic, descriptor-driven UIs in WPF with Ara3D.PropKit!