To bind MultiSelect to a data source, follow these steps:

1. Add a Resources folder to your application and add an XML file, Northwind.xml, as a database to the folder.
2. Add a Data folder to the application.
3. Add a class named NorthWindData.cs to the Data folder, which contains all the properties related to the data in Northwind.xml and to access the XML file using the following code.
   • VB
   • C#

   • VB

   Imports System
   Imports System.IO
   Imports System.Reflection
   Imports System.Collections.Generic
   Imports System.Xml.Serialization
   Imports Windows.Storage
   Imports System.Threading.Tasks
   Imports System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations
   Imports System.Collections.ObjectModel
   
   Namespace MultiSelect_UWP
   
       Public Class NorthwindData
   
           <Display(Name:="CustomerID")>
           Public Property CustomerID As String
   
           <Display(Name:="CompanyName")>
           Public Property CompanyName As String
   
           <Display(Name:="ContactName")>
           Public Property ContactName As String
   
           <Display(Name:="ContactTitle")>
           Public Property ContactTitle As String
   
           <Display(Name:="Address")>
           Public Property Address As String
   
           <Display(Name:="City")>
           Public Property City As String
   
           <Display(Name:="PostalCode")>
           Public Property PostalCode As String
   
           <Display(Name:="Country")>
           Public Property Country As String
   
           <Display(Name:="Phone")>
           Public Property Phone As String
   
           <Display(Name:="Fax")>
           Public Property Fax As String
       End Class
   
       Public Class NorthwindStorage
   
           Public Shared Async Function Load() As Task(Of ObservableCollection(Of NorthwindData))
               Try
                   Dim resourceUri As Uri = New Uri("ms-appx:///Resources/Northwind.xml")
                   Dim file = Await StorageFile.GetFileFromApplicationUriAsync(resourceUri)
                   Dim fileStream = Await file.OpenAsync(FileAccessMode.Read)
                   Dim xmls = New XmlSerializer(GetType(ObservableCollection(Of NorthwindData)))
                   Return CType(xmls.Deserialize(fileStream.AsStream()), ObservableCollection(Of NorthwindData))
               Catch e As Exception
                   Throw New FileNotFoundException("File not found")
               End Try
           End Function
       End Class
   End Namespace
   

   • C#

   using System;
   using System.IO;
   using System.Reflection;
   using System.Collections.Generic;
   using System.Xml.Serialization;
   using Windows.Storage;
   using System.Threading.Tasks;
   using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;
   using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
   
   namespace MultiSelect_UWP
   {
       public class NorthwindData
       {
           [Display(Name = "CustomerID")]
           public string CustomerID { get; set; }
   
           [Display(Name = "CompanyName")]
           public string CompanyName { get; set; }
   
           [Display(Name = "ContactName")]
           public string ContactName { get; set; }
   
           [Display(Name = "ContactTitle")]
           public string ContactTitle { get; set; }
   
           [Display(Name = "Address")]
           public string Address { get; set; }
   
           [Display(Name = "City")]
           public string City { get; set; }
   
           [Display(Name = "PostalCode")]
           public string PostalCode { get; set; }
   
           [Display(Name = "Country")]
           public string Country { get; set; }
   
           [Display(Name = "Phone")]
           public string Phone { get; set; }
   
           [Display(Name = "Fax")]
           public string Fax { get; set; }
       }
   
       public class NorthwindStorage
       {
           public static async Task<ObservableCollection<NorthwindData>> Load()
           {
               try
               {
                   Uri resourceUri = new Uri("ms-appx:///Resources/Northwind.xml");
                   
                   var file = await StorageFile.GetFileFromApplicationUriAsync(resourceUri);
                   var fileStream = await file.OpenAsync(FileAccessMode.Read);
                   var xmls = new XmlSerializer(typeof(ObservableCollection<NorthwindData>));
                   return (ObservableCollection<NorthwindData>)xmls.Deserialize(fileStream.AsStream());
               }
               catch (Exception e)
               {
                   throw new FileNotFoundException("File not found");
               }
           }
       }
   }
   

4. Switch to MainPage.xaml.cs and add the following code to the class constructor to populate MultiSelect.
   • VB
   • C#

   • VB

   Private Shadows Sub DispatchedHandler(ByVal  As PopulateUnboundGrid)
   

   • C#

   Dispatcher.RunAsync(CoreDispatcherPriority.Normal,
           new DispatchedHandler(PopulateUnboundGrid));
   

5. Add the following code to fill MultiSelect with data.
   • VB
   • C#

   • VB

   Private Async Sub PopulateUnboundGrid()
       Dim data = Await NorthwindStorage.Load()
       c1MultiSelect1.ItemsSource = data
       c1MultiSelect1.DisplayMemberPath = "CustomerID"
   End Sub
   

   • C#

   private async void PopulateUnboundGrid()
   {
        var data = await NorthwindStorage.Load();
        c1MultiSelect1.ItemsSource = data;
        c1MultiSelect1.DisplayMemberPath = "CustomerID";
   }