How to use ArcGIS for WPF custom symbol with data binding?

Question

Esri's ArcGIS for WPF does not seem to have any real MVVM support or binding support; unless I'm mistaken.

Anyway, I am creating a tracking application and it needs to track objects via GPS coordinates.

I have implemented a custom IGeoPositionWatcher<GeoCoordinate> which is used with the GpsLayer. This all works perfectly. I can modify the GPS coordinates and my little dot on the map moves smoothly to it's final resting place. My problem is that I can't use the little dot and arrow that comes with the GpsLayer. I need a custom MarkerSymbol to be something similar to the following:

<Grid>
 <Image Source={Binding Pogostick.HeightImage} />
 <TextBlock Text={Binding Pogostick.PogoId} />
</Grid>

I have a list (amount unknown and changes at any given moment) of these "pogosticks" which are always tracking by GPS and need to have the symbol update according to its status. The problem is that I can't get the Pogostick object to be the DataContext for the custom MarkerSymbol.ControlTemplate and there for my image source and text do not show.

I'm trying to avoid using a Graphic in a GraphicLayer and would like this to work with the GpsLayer. Is there a way to do this at all? Am I even approaching this correctly... should I be using a GraphicLayer or a FeatureLayer?

I want to render these tracked pogosticks on the user's desktop app and not by editing layers or features on the map service. Perhaps I should be using a custom renderer?

Answer 1

I've solved the problem on my own and posted the answer over on StackOverflow

I posted the question on StackOverflow before I realized there was a StackExchange site for GIS. So I'll ask my GIS related questions here from now on.