Combo box becomes invisible with custom made style - WPF?

Question

I have this combo box XAML code:

<ComboBox 
            Grid.Column="0"
            Width="250" 
            Height="25"         
            Foreground="#545454"
            ItemsSource="{StaticResource  ParametersArray}">
    <ComboBox.Style>
        <Style TargetType="{x:Type ComboBox}">
            <Setter Property="Template">
                <Setter.Value>
                    <ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type ComboBox}">
                        <ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                            <Trigger Property="IsMouseOver" Value="true">
                                <Setter 
                                                Property="Background" 
                                                Value="Blue" />
                            </Trigger>
                            <Trigger Property="IsMouseOver" Value="false">
                                <Setter 
                                                Property="Background" 
                                                Value="Red" />
                            </Trigger>
                        </ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                    </ControlTemplate>
                </Setter.Value>
            </Setter>
        </Style>
    </ComboBox.Style>
    <ComboBox.ItemContainerStyle>
        <Style TargetType="{x:Type ComboBoxItem}">
            <Setter Property="Template">
                <Setter.Value>
                    <ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type ComboBoxItem}">
                        <Border x:Name="Bd"
                                    SnapsToDevicePixels="true"
                                    Background="{TemplateBinding Background}"
                                    Padding="{TemplateBinding Padding}">
                            <ContentPresenter 
                                        HorizontalAlignment="{TemplateBinding HorizontalContentAlignment}"
                                        VerticalAlignment="{TemplateBinding VerticalContentAlignment}"
                                        SnapsToDevicePixels="{TemplateBinding SnapsToDevicePixels}" />
                        </Border>
                        <ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                            <Trigger Property="IsHighlighted" Value="true">
                                <Setter 
                                            Property="Background" 
                                            Value="#C5C5C5" />
                            </Trigger>
                        </ControlTemplate.Triggers>
                    </ControlTemplate>
                </Setter.Value>
            </Setter>
        </Style>
    </ComboBox.ItemContainerStyle>
</ComboBox>

Instead of changing color when mouse is over, it becomes completely invisible. You cannot even click it.

My goal is to achieve this look:

What do I do wrong?

Answer 1

Your ControlTemplate is empty. If you remove the element, you should see the control.

When creating a custom control, it's easier to start from an existing working template and then edit it as per your requirements. You can copy the default template of a control into your XAML markup by right-clicking on the control in design mode in Visual Studio or in Blend and choose Edit Template->Edit a Copy.

Here is for example how the default Style for the built-in ComboBox control is defined:

<ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type ComboBox}">
    <Grid x:Name="templateRoot" SnapsToDevicePixels="true">
        <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
            <ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
            <ColumnDefinition MinWidth="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemParameters.VerticalScrollBarWidthKey}}" Width="0"/>
        </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
        <Popup x:Name="PART_Popup" AllowsTransparency="true" Grid.ColumnSpan="2" IsOpen="{Binding IsDropDownOpen, Mode=TwoWay, RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}" Margin="1" PopupAnimation="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemParameters.ComboBoxPopupAnimationKey}}" Placement="Bottom">
            <Themes:SystemDropShadowChrome x:Name="shadow" Color="Transparent" MaxHeight="{TemplateBinding MaxDropDownHeight}" MinWidth="{Binding ActualWidth, ElementName=templateRoot}">
                <Border x:Name="dropDownBorder" BorderBrush="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.WindowFrameBrushKey}}" BorderThickness="1" Background="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.WindowBrushKey}}">
                    <ScrollViewer x:Name="DropDownScrollViewer">
                        <Grid x:Name="grid" RenderOptions.ClearTypeHint="Enabled">
                            <Canvas x:Name="canvas" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="0">
                                <Rectangle x:Name="opaqueRect" Fill="{Binding Background, ElementName=dropDownBorder}" Height="{Binding ActualHeight, ElementName=dropDownBorder}" Width="{Binding ActualWidth, ElementName=dropDownBorder}"/>
                            </Canvas>
                            <ItemsPresenter x:Name="ItemsPresenter" KeyboardNavigation.DirectionalNavigation="Contained" SnapsToDevicePixels="{TemplateBinding SnapsToDevicePixels}"/>
                        </Grid>
                    </ScrollViewer>
                </Border>
            </Themes:SystemDropShadowChrome>
        </Popup>
        <ToggleButton x:Name="toggleButton" BorderBrush="{TemplateBinding BorderBrush}" BorderThickness="{TemplateBinding BorderThickness}" Background="{TemplateBinding Background}" Grid.ColumnSpan="2" IsChecked="{Binding IsDropDownOpen, Mode=TwoWay, RelativeSource={RelativeSource TemplatedParent}}" Style="{StaticResource ComboBoxToggleButton}"/>
        <ContentPresenter x:Name="contentPresenter" ContentTemplate="{TemplateBinding SelectionBoxItemTemplate}" ContentTemplateSelector="{TemplateBinding ItemTemplateSelector}" Content="{TemplateBinding SelectionBoxItem}" ContentStringFormat="{TemplateBinding SelectionBoxItemStringFormat}" HorizontalAlignment="{TemplateBinding HorizontalContentAlignment}" IsHitTestVisible="false" Margin="{TemplateBinding Padding}" SnapsToDevicePixels="{TemplateBinding SnapsToDevicePixels}" VerticalAlignment="{TemplateBinding VerticalContentAlignment}"/>
    </Grid>
    <ControlTemplate.Triggers>
        <Trigger Property="HasDropShadow" SourceName="PART_Popup" Value="true">
            <Setter Property="Margin" TargetName="shadow" Value="0,0,5,5"/>
            <Setter Property="Color" TargetName="shadow" Value="#71000000"/>
        </Trigger>
        <Trigger Property="HasItems" Value="false">
            <Setter Property="Height" TargetName="dropDownBorder" Value="95"/>
        </Trigger>
        <MultiTrigger>
            <MultiTrigger.Conditions>
                <Condition Property="IsGrouping" Value="true"/>
                <Condition Property="VirtualizingPanel.IsVirtualizingWhenGrouping" Value="false"/>
            </MultiTrigger.Conditions>
            <Setter Property="ScrollViewer.CanContentScroll" Value="false"/>
        </MultiTrigger>
        <Trigger Property="ScrollViewer.CanContentScroll" SourceName="DropDownScrollViewer" Value="false">
            <Setter Property="Canvas.Top" TargetName="opaqueRect" Value="{Binding VerticalOffset, ElementName=DropDownScrollViewer}"/>
            <Setter Property="Canvas.Left" TargetName="opaqueRect" Value="{Binding HorizontalOffset, ElementName=DropDownScrollViewer}"/>
        </Trigger>
    </ControlTemplate.Triggers>
</ControlTemplate>

You will at least need to add the <ItemsPresenter /> element to your Style.