Converters Overview

GenHub provides a comprehensive suite of IValueConverter and IMultiValueConverter implementations for UI binding scenarios. These converters help transform data between ViewModels and UI elements.

Categories

Boolean Converters

Converters that transform boolean values into UI-friendly representations like colors, visibility states, or custom values.

Null Converters

Converters that handle null values and convert them to boolean or visibility states.

String Converters

Converters that work with string values, converting them to booleans, images, or other formats.

Color Converters

Converters that transform Colors or ContentTypes into brushes, opacity values, contrast-appropriate text colors, and badge background tints (ContentTypeToBrushConverter, ContentTypeToBadgeBackgroundConverter).

Profile Converters

Converters specific to profile-related data like cover images, color opacity, and profile selection multi-value binding (ProfileSelectionConverter).

Enum Converters

Converters that map enum values (like GameType, ContentType) to UI elements like icons or badges.

Navigation Converters

Converters for tab navigation, UI control binding, and navigation-related data transformations.

Data Type Converters

Converters for numeric types, nullable values, and data type transformations for form inputs.

Usage in GenHub

In GenHub, converters are registered locally in each XAML view or accessed via singleton instances:

Local Registration Pattern

<UserControl xmlns:conv="clr-namespace:GenHub.Infrastructure.Converters">
    <UserControl.Resources>
        <conv:ContrastTextColorConverter x:Key="ContrastTextColorConverter" />
        <conv:ProfileCoverConverter x:Key="ProfileCoverConverter" />
        <conv:StringToImageConverter x:Key="StringToImageConverter" />
        <conv:NullSafePropertyConverter x:Key="NullSafeConverter"/>
        <conv:BoolToValueConverter x:Key="NotConverter" TrueValue="False" FalseValue="True" />
    </UserControl.Resources>
</UserControl>

Static Instance Pattern

Several modern converters provide static singleton instances for convenient zero-allocation XAML references:

<!-- Direct static singleton reference without local resource dictionary declaration -->
<Border Background="{Binding ContentType, Converter={x:Static conv:ContentTypeToBadgeBackgroundConverter.Instance}}" />

Examples from the codebase

GameProfileCardView.axaml:

<!-- Profile color with opacity for semi-transparent backgrounds -->
<Border Background="{Binding ColorValue, Converter={StaticResource ProfileColorToOpacityConverter}, ConverterParameter=0.6}" />

<!-- Text color that contrasts with background -->
<TextBlock Foreground="{Binding ColorValue, Converter={StaticResource ContrastTextColorConverter}}" />

<!-- Safe property access for optional data -->
<TextBlock Text="{Binding BuildInfo.Compiler, Converter={StaticResource NullSafeConverter}, ConverterParameter='Unknown'}" />

ContentCardView.axaml / ContentDetailView.axaml:

<!-- Badge border and foreground colored by content type (via StaticResource) -->
<Border Classes="type-badge"
        BorderBrush="{Binding ContentType, Converter={StaticResource ContentTypeToBrushConverter}}">
    <TextBlock Text="{Binding ContentTypeDisplay}"
               Foreground="{Binding ContentType, Converter={StaticResource ContentTypeToBrushConverter}}" />
</Border>

<!-- Translucent tinted pill background in ContentDetailView -->
<Border Background="{Binding ContentType, Converter={StaticResource ContentTypeToBadgeBackgroundConverter}}"
        BorderBrush="{Binding ContentType, Converter={StaticResource ContentTypeToBrushConverter}}">
    <TextBlock Text="{Binding ContentType, Converter={StaticResource ContentTypeDisplayConverter}}"
               Foreground="{Binding ContentType, Converter={StaticResource ContentTypeToBrushConverter}}" />
</Border>