Data Binding in .Net

Luther Stanton presents some straight forward answers to Object Data Binding questions within the .Net framework: “Data binding is not a new concept for developers. It has been an essential part of any application; it is the most basic way to move information between an application’s end users and the processing logic. Many times this has been done by brute force, manually writing code to move values between properties on objects and GUI elements such as text boxes, data grids, and check boxes. What is new, however, is that the .NET Framework provides a rich set of functionality out of the box. Specifically, the framework provides a great deal of motivation to start using data binding within applications:

• A “set and forget” approach to maintaining synchronization between GUI controls and object properties
• Built in type conversion, such as mapping a decimal type property on an object to the “text” string type property on a text box
• A built in system based on delegates and events to “watch” objects for property changes
• Building of rich UI experiences by allowing objects to manage the GUI control properties with minimal developer interaction- such as not enabling a save button until values are changed
• A rich set of events to allow developers to override the default parsing and formatting of values into the assigned control properties
• Built in data type validation of controls, such as ensuring only valid dates are entered in a text box tied to a date time property on an object.

In my experiences, the built-in data binding functionality has not been utilized to its fullest potential. I still see a lot of clients continuing to write large amounts of code to marshal data between the GUI and application objects. Perhaps it is lack of realization of what .NET has to offer or a lack of understanding of how.NET manages data binding behind the scenes. It is my hope to eliminate both of these hurdles with this article and begin to open up the possibilities of data binding to your applications.”

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