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 :

  1. <Grid Background="{StaticResource ApplicationPageBackgroundThemeBrush}">
  2. <GridView x:Name="DataGrid1">
  3. <GridView.ItemTemplate>
  4. <DataTemplate>
  5. <Grid Background="Red" Width="300" Height="100">
  6. <TextBlock Text="{Binding Title}"></TextBlock>
  7. </Grid>
  8. </DataTemplate>
  9. </GridView.ItemTemplate>
  10. </GridView>
  11. </Grid>
Than, created a XML file Fruits.XML in the common file to store the data of solution explorer:
  1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
  2. <Fruits>
  3. <Fruits name="Apple"/>
  4. <Fruits name="Apricot "/>
  5. <Fruits name="Banana"/>
  6. <Fruits name="Blackberry"/>
  7. <Fruits name="Blackcurrant "/>
  8. <Fruits name="Lemon"/>
  9. <Fruits name="Mango"/>
  11. </Fruits>
Also, created a new Class Fruits.cs

And added two statments.
  1. using System.Xml.Linq; using Windows.ApplicationModel;
  3. 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.).
  1. using System;
  2. using System.Collections.Generic;
  3. using System.Linq;
  4. using System.Text;
  5. using System.Threading.Tasks;
  6. using System.Xml.Linq;
  7. using Windows.ApplicationModel;
  8. namespace DataBinding
  9. {
  10. class Fruits
  11. {
  12. public string Title { get; set; }
  13. }
  14. }
Finally the XML file will automaticlly synchronize with our controls after adding this code:
  1. protected override void OnNavigatedTo(NavigationEventArgs e)
  2. {
  3. //reading xml path
  4. string peopleXMLPath = Path.Combine(Package.Current.InstalledLocation.Path, "Common/Fruits.xml");
  5. XDocument loadedData = XDocument.Load(peopleXMLPath);
  6. //retriving data from xml using LINQ
  7. var data = from query in loadedData.Descendants("Fruits")
  8. select new Fruits
  9. {
  10. Title = (string)query.Attribute("name")
  11. };
  12. //assigning source to GridView Control
  13. DataGrid1.ItemsSource = data;
  14. }