Page Navigation using MVVM in Store App

Question

I\'m having a serious headache with this problem. I really dislike store apps but am forced to use it in this case. I\'ve only worked with XAML for a few weeks.

My q

Answer 1

I don't really like when a ViewModel references Views to navigate to. So I prefer to a ViewModel-first approach. By using ContentControls, DataTemplates for ViewModel types & some kind of navigation pattern in my ViewModels.

My navigation looks like this:

[ImplementPropertyChanged]
public class MainNavigatableViewModel : NavigatableViewModel
{
    public ICommand LoadProfileCommand { get; private set; }

    public ICommand OpenPostCommand { get; private set; }

    public MainNavigatableViewModel ()
    {
        LoadProfileCommand = new RelayCommand(() => Navigator.Navigate(new ProfileNavigatableViewModel()));
        OpenPostCommand = new RelayCommand(() => Navigator.Navigate(new PostEditViewModel { Post = SelectedPost }), () => SelectedPost != null);
    }
}

My NavigatableViewModel looks like:

[ImplementPropertyChanged]
public class NavigatableViewModel
{
    public NavigatorViewModel Navigator { get; set; }

    public NavigatableViewModel PreviousViewModel { get; set; }

    public NavigatableViewModel NextViewModel { get; set; }

}

And my Navigator:

[ImplementPropertyChanged]
public class NavigatorViewModel
{
    public NavigatableViewModel CurrentViewModel { get; set; }

    public ICommand BackCommand { get; private set; }

    public ICommand ForwardCommand { get; private set; }

    public NavigatorViewModel()
    {
        BackCommand = new RelayCommand(() =>
        {
            // Set current control to previous control
            CurrentViewModel = CurrentViewModel.PreviousViewModel;
        }, () => CurrentViewModel != null && CurrentViewModel.PreviousViewModel != null);

        ForwardCommand = new RelayCommand(() =>
        {
            // Set current control to next control
            CurrentViewModel = CurrentViewModel.NextViewModel;
        }, () => CurrentViewModel != null && CurrentViewModel.NextViewModel != null);
    }

    public void Navigate(NavigatableViewModel newViewModel)
    {
        if (newViewModel.Navigator != null && newViewModel.Navigator != this)
            throw new Exception("Viewmodel can't be added to two different navigators");

        newViewModel.Navigator = this;

        if (CurrentViewModel != null)
        {
            CurrentViewModel.NextViewModel = newViewModel;
        }

        newViewModel.PreviousViewModel = CurrentViewModel;
        CurrentViewModel = newViewModel;
    }
}

My MainWindows.xaml:

App.xaml.cs:

public partial class App
{
    protected override void OnStartup(StartupEventArgs e)
    {
        base.OnStartup(e);

        new MainWindow {DataContext = new MyAppViewModel()}.Show();
    }
}

MyAppViewModel:

[ImplementPropertyChanged]
public class MyAppViewModel
{
    public NavigatorViewModel Navigator { get; set; }

    public MyAppViewModel()
    {
        Navigator = new NavigatorViewModel();
        Navigator.Navigate(new MainNavigatableViewModel());
    }
}

App.xaml:

The downside is that you have more ViewModel-code which manages the state of what you are looking at. But obviously that is also a huge advantage in terms of Testability. And of course your ViewModels do not need to depend on your Views.

Plus I use Fody/PropertyChanged, that's what the [ImplementPropertyChanged] is about. Keeps me from writing OnPropertyChanged code.