Using underscores in WPF menu items when binding

Question

I've created a Recent Files menu item to which I bind a collection of recent file view models.

<MenuItem Header="_Recent Files" ItemsSource="{Binding RecentFiles}" Command="{x:Static pm:MainWindow.RecentFileListCommand}">
    <MenuItem.ItemContainerStyle>
        <Style>
            <Setter Property="MenuItem.Header" Value="{Binding}"/>
            <Setter Property="MenuItem.Command" Value="{x:Static pm:MainWindow.RecentFileOpenCommand}"/>
            <Setter Property="MenuItem.CommandParameter" Value="{Binding FilePath}"/>
        </Style>
    </MenuItem.ItemContainerStyle>
</MenuItem>

I want the list numbered, and I want the numbers to be used as the shortcut (exactly how Visual Studio does it). My view models have a Number field and Name field. I override the ToString() method to return a header including the underscore:

return string.Format("_{0} {1}", Number, FilePath);

However, when bound, the underscore is seen as a literal and displays as part of the header text (not the shortcut). I also tried using HeaderStringFormat without luck:How can I get WPF to see the underscore as the shortcut and not a literal string?

You might try giving the menuitem a ContentTemplate with an `AccessText` control in it, [as in this answer](http://stackoverflow.com/a/7416523/424129) (that's for a button, but MenuItem as a ContentTemplate property too -- inherited from the same ancestor class IIRC). — 15ee8f99-57ff-4f92-890c-b56153, Jun 30 '16 at 19:52

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:52

1

Could try to return an AccessText, though it might break separation of concerns.

As mentioned by Matthew Whited, a cleaner way would be to return the string only and use a converter to turn it into an AccessText. Alternatively use the HeaderTemplate and create it there.

edited May 23 '17 at 11:52

Community

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answered Jun 30 '16 at 19:37

H.B.

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If you just want to return a string from the view model couldn't you just use a TypeConverter to change to an `AccessText`? – Matthew Whited Jun 30 '16 at 19:42
I think you'd want a *value converter*, but yes, that'd probably work just fine. – H.B. Jun 30 '16 at 20:01
yeah... i was trying to fix my comment but ran out of time :) – Matthew Whited Jun 30 '16 at 20:05
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.data.ivalueconverter(v=vs.110).aspx – Matthew Whited Jun 30 '16 at 20:06
Thanks, I was already using a ValueConverter in order to truncate file paths with ellipsis. Instead of returning a string, I changed it to return AccessText and now it works. – Jason Butera Jun 30 '16 at 20:31

Using underscores in WPF menu items when binding

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