Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Dell PremierColor Display Splitter on XPS15 9550

I've been setting up a Dell XPS15-9550 today. It comes with Windows 10 and the most awful Dell addin you have ever seen. I normally use Dell because they refrain from adding too much crapware or useless third party apps. However, this addin, enabled by default, is awful. It adds a popup menu whenever you try and drag a window (or dialog box or popup borderless window) to reposition it on the screen. It's totally unnecessary as Windows 10 already includes a perfectly good "Windows Snap" feature. The popup window is always "in the way" and when you release the mouse the window then flies off to an illogical place on the screen. Truly awful UI design.
 
Finally I've worked out how to stop it. It turns out it's a feature of "Dell PremierColor". To disable this right click on the "Dell PremierColor" icon in the notification area and select "Disable Display Splitter".
 
Why oh why are you including this enabled by default? Crazy. Please ensure it is disabled by default ASAP at it is confusing and totally unnecessary.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Getting field names from anonymous types using WPF DataGrid

Often it is useful to use a bit of LINQ to prepare data for display in a WPF control. Here is a very simple example. The WPF window contains a DataGrid used to display the data.

<Window x:Class="DCView.Window15"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
        xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
        xmlns:local="clr-namespace:DCView"
        mc:Ignorable="d"
        Title="Window15" Height="300" Width="300" Loaded="Window_Loaded">
    <Grid>
        <DataGrid x:Name="DataGrid1" AutoGenerateColumns="False" SelectionChanged="DataGrid1_SelectionChanged">
            <DataGrid.Columns>
                <DataGridTextColumn Header="Number" Binding="{Binding NumberX1}" />
                <DataGridTextColumn Header="Number x 10" Binding="{Binding NumberX10}" />
            </DataGrid.Columns>
        </DataGrid>
    </Grid>
</Window>

The data might be prepared for display with a bit of LINQ. A new anonymous type is created using field names that are then used in the WPF control bindings.

private void Window_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
 {
 List<int> data = Enumerable.Range(1, 10).ToList();
 
 var query = from d in data
      select new { NumberX1 = d, NumberX10 = d * 10 };
 
 DataGrid1.ItemsSource = query;
 }

The problem comes when you respond to selection changed events. How do you get to the fields in the anonymous type. You could create a new class instead of using the anonymous type but the advantage of LINQ is it is quick and easy.

private void DataGrid1_SelectionChanged(object sender, SelectionChangedEventArgs e)
 {
 dynamic dynamictype1 = DataGrid1.SelectedItem;
 int number = dynamictype1.NumberX10;
 
 Title = number.ToString();
 }

The problem is DataGrid1.SelectedItem returns an object and you can't cast it to an anonymous type. To solve the problem you can use a bit of dynamic black magic to get to the fields in the anonymous type. The example above shows how to use dynamic to get to the anonymous fields. There is no Visual Studio Smart Completion to help but as long as the field names match it will work.

Saturday, February 07, 2015

Changing the rear light cluster on 2013 VW Sharan (VW part VAG 7N0945096G)

A Cambridge cyclist managed to smash the rear light cluster on our car on Thursday night (thanks for riding off without having the courtesy to stop!). A new one is just £73 and really quite easy to fit yourself once you know this little trick.
 
The 12V power socket slides down to reveal a single screw that holds the light cluster in place. Press the top of the 12V socket  panel and slide it downwards. 
 
Using a 11mm socket set simply unscrew the central white nut which holds the light cluster in place. Once the light cluster is unscrewed unclip the power cable and replace the light unit. Total time about 5 minutes.
 
Sorry for a slightly random blog post. Please let me know if it was helpful to you!