How to: Alternate the Background Color for Rows in a ListView
This example shows three methods that you can use to alternate the Background color for rows in a ListView.
Example
The following sections provide three methods to create a ListView with rows that alternate in Background color. The example also discusses a method for updating the view when you add or remove rows.
Method 1: Define a Style That Uses an IValueConverter to Alternate Background Color
The following example shows how to define a Style for a ListViewItem control that binds the value of the Background property to an IValueConverter.
<Style x:Key="myItemStyle" TargetType="{x:Type ListViewItem}">
<Setter Property="Background">
<Setter.Value>
<Binding RelativeSource="{RelativeSource Self}"
Converter="{StaticResource myConverter}"/>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
The following example defines a ResourceKey for the IValueConverter.
<namespc:BackgroundConverter x:Key="myConverter"/>
The following example shows the definition of the IValueConverter that sets the Background property according to the row index.
public sealed class BackgroundConverter : IValueConverter
{
public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter,
CultureInfo culture)
{
ListViewItem item = (ListViewItem)value;
ListView listView =
ItemsControl.ItemsControlFromItemContainer(item) as ListView;
// Get the index of a ListViewItem
int index =
listView.ItemContainerGenerator.IndexFromContainer(item);
if (index % 2 == 0)
{
return Brushes.LightBlue;
}
else
{
return Brushes.Beige;
}
}
The following example shows how to define a ListView that uses Style as its ItemContainerStyle in order to provide the required layout.
<ListView Name="theListView"
ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource EmployeeData},
XPath=Employee}"
ItemContainerStyle="{StaticResource myItemStyle}" >
<ListView.View>
<GridView>
<GridViewColumn DisplayMemberBinding="{Binding XPath=FirstName}"
Header="First Name" Width="120"/>
<GridViewColumn DisplayMemberBinding="{Binding XPath=LastName}"
Header="Last Name" Width="120"/>
<GridViewColumn DisplayMemberBinding="{Binding XPath=FavoriteCity}"
Header="Favorite City" Width="120"/>
</GridView>
</ListView.View>
</ListView>
Method 2: Derive a New Class from ListView to Alternate Background Color
The following example shows how to define a class that derives from ListView. This class overrides the PrepareContainerForItemOverride method in order to create rows that have alternating Background colors.
public class SubListView : ListView
{
protected override void
PrepareContainerForItemOverride(DependencyObject element,
object item)
{
base.PrepareContainerForItemOverride(element, item);
if (View is GridView)
{
int index = ItemContainerGenerator.IndexFromContainer(element);
ListViewItem lvi = element as ListViewItem;
if (index % 2 == 0)
{
lvi.Background = Brushes.LightBlue;
}
else
{
lvi.Background = Brushes.Beige;
}
}
}
}
The following example shows how to create an instance of this class. The namespc prefix maps to a common language runtime (CLR) namespace and the corresponding assembly where the StyleSelector is defined.
<namespc:SubListView
ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource EmployeeData},
XPath=Employee}">
<namespc:SubListView.View>
<GridView>
<GridViewColumn DisplayMemberBinding="{Binding XPath=FirstName}"
Header="First Name" Width="120"/>
<GridViewColumn DisplayMemberBinding="{Binding XPath=LastName}"
Header="Last Name" Width="120"/>
<GridViewColumn DisplayMemberBinding="{Binding XPath=FavoriteCity}"
Header="Favorite City" Width="120"/>
</GridView>
</namespc:SubListView.View>
</namespc:SubListView>
Method 3: Use a StyleSelector to Alternate Background Color
The following example shows how to define a StyleSelector that defines a Style for a row. This example defines the Background color according to the row index.
public class ListViewItemStyleSelector : StyleSelector
{
public override Style SelectStyle(object item,
DependencyObject container)
{
Style st = new Style();
st.TargetType = typeof(ListViewItem);
Setter backGroundSetter = new Setter();
backGroundSetter.Property = ListViewItem.BackgroundProperty;
ListView listView =
ItemsControl.ItemsControlFromItemContainer(container)
as ListView;
int index =
listView.ItemContainerGenerator.IndexFromContainer(container);
if (index % 2 == 0)
{
backGroundSetter.Value = Brushes.LightBlue;
}
else
{
backGroundSetter.Value = Brushes.Beige;
}
st.Setters.Add(backGroundSetter);
return st;
}
}
The following example shows how to define a ResourceKey for the StyleSelector. The namespc prefix maps to a CLR namespace and the corresponding assembly where the StyleSelector is defined. For more information, see XAML Namespaces and Namespace Mapping.
<namespc:ListViewItemStyleSelector x:Key="myStyleSelector"/>
The following example shows how to set the ItemContainerStyleSelector property of a ListView to this StyleSelector resource.
<ListView
ItemsSource="{Binding Source={StaticResource EmployeeData},
XPath=Employee}"
ItemContainerStyleSelector="{DynamicResource myStyleSelector}" >
<ListView.View>
<GridView>
<GridViewColumn DisplayMemberBinding="{Binding XPath=FirstName}"
Header="First Name" Width="120"/>
<GridViewColumn DisplayMemberBinding="{Binding XPath=LastName}"
Header="Last Name" Width="120"/>
<GridViewColumn DisplayMemberBinding="{Binding XPath=FavoriteCity}"
Header="Favorite City" Width="120"/>
</GridView>
</ListView.View>
</ListView>
Update the ListView After a Change in the ListViewItem Collection
If you add or remove a ListViewItem from a ListView control, you must update the ListViewItem controls in order to recreate the alternating Background color. The following example shows how to update the ListViewItem controls.
ICollectionView dataView =
CollectionViewSource.GetDefaultView(theListView.ItemsSource);
dataView.Refresh();
See Also
Reference
Concepts
ListView Overview
GridView Overview