Using Custom Converter in XAML

In my previous post : WPF-LINQ To SQL Sample, I had to resort to modifying .dbml file to get the images stored as varbinary into the WPF ListView control. I had to change the Type of image fields to System.Byte[], instead of using System.Data.Linq.Binary. A better way to do this is to use a custom converter. WPF allows you to specify custom converter as part of the Binding in .xaml, like this –

<Image Grid.Row="2"
Source="{Binding Path=ThumbNailPhoto ,
Converter={StaticResource imageConverter}}"></Image>

The custom converter is declared in the same .xaml file as a resource –

<Window.Resources>
<local:ImageDataConverter x:Key="imageConverter" />
</Window.Resources>

ImageDataConverter is implemented in .xaml.cs file –

public class ImageDataConverter : IValueConverter
{
   public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter,
   System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
   {
      byte[] image = ((System.Data.Linq.Binary)value).ToArray();
      return image;
   }

   public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter,
   System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
   {
      throw new NotSupportedException();
   }
}

The updated sample code can be downloaded here : WPF-LINQ to SQL Sample
License : Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.