XML Data Binding in Windows 8 apps Using C#

Introduction

What's Data Binding: Data binding is the process that establishes a connection between the application User Interface and business logic.

This sample explain how to Bind Data to a Grid View using XML file.

This is a simple way the store Data because you just need an XML file to store and transport Data.

So this sample is very helpful for your windows store applications:

Building the Sample

I used Visual Studio 2012 Ultimate edition.

I created a new project (Blank application C#) and rename it DataBinding.

Description

How does this sample solve the problem?

First, I added a Grid View Control with item and data templates to bind data to the GridView control as follows :

 <Grid Background="{StaticResource ApplicationPageBackgroundThemeBrush}">
         <GridView x:Name="DataGrid1">
             <GridView.ItemTemplate>
                 <DataTemplate>
                     <Grid Background="Red" Width="300" Height="100">
                         <TextBlock Text="{Binding Title}"></TextBlock>
                     </Grid>
                 </DataTemplate>
             </GridView.ItemTemplate>
        </GridView>
    </Grid>

Than, created a XML file Fruits.XML in the common file to store the data of solution explorer:

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
 <Fruits>
    <Fruits name="Apple"/>
    <Fruits  name="Apricot "/>
    <Fruits  name="Banana"/>
    <Fruits  name="Blackberry"/>
    <Fruits  name="Blackcurrant "/>
    <Fruits  name="Lemon"/>
    <Fruits  name="Mango"/>

 </Fruits>

Also, created a new Class Fruits.cs

And added two statments.

using System.Xml.Linq; using Windows.ApplicationModel;

using System.Xml.Linq; //(Contains the classes for LINQ to XML. LINQ to XML is an in-memory XML programming interface that enables you to modify XML documents efficiently and easily.).

  using System;
  using System.Collections.Generic;
  using System.Linq;
  using System.Text;
  using System.Threading.Tasks;
  using System.Xml.Linq;
  using Windows.ApplicationModel;
  namespace DataBinding
  {
       class Fruits
      {
          public string Title { get; set; }
      }
  }

Finally the XML file will automaticlly synchronize with our controls after adding this code:

 protected override void OnNavigatedTo(NavigationEventArgs e)
 {
      //reading xml path
      string peopleXMLPath = Path.Combine(Package.Current.InstalledLocation.Path, "Common/Fruits.xml");
      XDocument loadedData = XDocument.Load(peopleXMLPath);
      //retriving data from xml using LINQ
      var data = from query in loadedData.Descendants("Fruits")
      select new Fruits
      {
            Title = (string)query.Attribute("name")
      };
      //assigning source to GridView Control
      DataGrid1.ItemsSource = data;
 }