Show different text when DataGridComboBoxColumn is not in edit mode

Question

I have a DataGridComboBoxColumn which is bind to a collection of objects which is type is MyItem. MyItem has two string properties: Description and Shortcut.

If the column is not in edit mode I want to show the string from the Shortcut Property and if the column is in edit mode I want to show the string from the Description property.

Is this possible without a DataGridTemplateColumn?

Further information: At the moment I've set the DisplayMemberPath property to "Description".

Answer 1

The best way to do this, I have found, would be to use a DataGridTemplateColumn instead of a DataGridComboBoxColumn.

DataGridComboBoxColumn does not expose either a CellTemplate (displayed when not editing) nor a CellEditingTemplate (displayed when editing), and instead builds the ComboBox templates for you based on the bindings you hand the column. Since you want these to be different, you need a column which exposes both these members, which is DataGridTemplateColumn.

Simply make the CellTemplate a Label bound to your Shortcut Property, and the CellEditingTemplate a ComboBox with the same bindings as those you gave your DataGridComboBoxColumn.

After all that, your column should look something like this

<DataGridTemplateColumn Header="...">
    <DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>
        <DataTemplate>
            <Label Content="{Binding Shortcut}"/>
        </DataTemplate>
    </DataGridTemplateColumn.CellTemplate>

    <DataGridTemplateColumn.CellEditingTemplate>
        <DataTemplate>
            <ComboBox ItemsSource="..."
                        DisplayMemberPath="Description"
                        SelectedItem="..."/>
        </DataTemplate>
    </DataGridTemplateColumn.CellEditingTemplate>
</DataGridTemplateColumn>

Addendum - The reason I advocate use of Label over TextBlock here is because Label automatically includes alignment and margins. TextBlock, lacking these, looks very strange and needs some massaging to get looking right.